Blog - Page 68 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Is There a Bias From the Bottom?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:54-05:00February 8th, 2013|Categories: Culture, Hermeneutics, Jesus, Politics, Poverty, The Church|

The words of Fr. Richard Rohr have very often been used by the Holy Spirit to work deep grace and peace into my soul. Rohr is clearly not everyone’s cup of tea, that much I can tell you with real assurance. I would not have personally been interested in his writing as recently as ten years ago. There are a number of reasons for this but most of them have more to do with my small mindedness than with Richard Rohr’s profoundly rich and helpful ideas. (Rohr will most likely offend very conservative Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, so be forewarned. Some suggest that he is not orthodox but the evidence for such a dire response has never been very convincing to me.) I plan to attend a retreat/conference with Fr. Rohr in late April in New Mexico, where his Center for Action and Contemplation is located. I am looking forward to hearing him in person and meeting him face-to-face.

My dear friend James P. Danaher, professor of philosophy at Nyack College in New York, helped me to […]

Why Politics Matters and How We Got the Wrong End of the Stick (4)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:54-05:00February 7th, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Books, Culture, Current Affairs, Freedom, Ideology, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional Church, Politics, The Church, The Future|

Readers of James Davison Hunter’s magnificent critique of how Christians have sought to transform culture in America will know that he critiques Stanley Hauerwas and Jim Wallis unfavorably, just as he does conservative icons Charles Colson and Richard John Neuhaus. Hunter argues for what he calls, in a memorable phrase, “faithful presence” – which he defines as an ideal of Christian practice that is both individual and institutional; a model that plays out not only in all our relationships but in our work and the various spheres of our social (shared) common life.

I generally follow Hunter’s arguments but I believe his emphasis upon “how” culture is impacted, and made from the top down, is not altogether right. I believe his big picture solution, that of “faithful presence,” is quite right but I also believe that Christians should act as salt and light in the daily hubbub of life by being there and being faithful to their calling. Colson is not altogether wrong about the impact of the “little platoons” (a term he popularized in his […]

Why Politics Matters and How We Got the Wrong End of the Stick (3)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:54-05:00February 6th, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Books, Culture, Discipleship, Ethics, Ideology, Missional Church, Politics, The Church, The Future|

The liberal church’s response, against the backdrop of the social presumptions that I discussed in yesterday’s blog, has very often been a weak-kneed call for “peace with justice.” Hauerwas and Willimon (photo at left) put it this way: “Most of our social activism is formed on the presumption that God is superfluous to the formation of a world of peace with justice. Fortunately, we are powerful people who, because we live in a democracy, are free to use out power. It is all up to us” (Resident Aliens, 36).

The problem with this liberal response is that it is formed on the general presumption that we are not actually active participants in God’s continuing history of creation and redemption. Does the Bible teach that war and injustice arise because we have taken matters into our own hands? So what is wrong with the thinking of the National Council of Churches when it responds to peace and justice issues in a way that has become so common that it is entirely predictable?

Why can’t the National Council […]

Why Politics Matters and How We Got the Wrong End of the Stick (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:54-05:00February 5th, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Discipleship, Ethics, Ideology, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional Church, The Church, The Future|

It has become our unquestioned assumption, in the modern American context, that we have the “right’ to develop our potential to the fullest extent possible. This assumption is constantly fed by pop-psychology and a goodly number of new unexamined religious ideas. We are a culture in love with power and the power we love is our own to be very precise. The only ultimate check on this personal “right” is the “rights of others.” We live, after all, in a democracy. Whether we are politically liberal, conservative or moderate (all slippery and notoriously difficult terms to define in our present context) we generally believe that it is our God-given right to change the leadership of our nation, state or local community. We then translate this idea of political rights into our everyday lives. Because we deeply cherish, without questioning why this is so, our personal freedom to have and use power we then assume that all good communities, including religious communities, should be built on the assumption that a good society, or a good church, encourages us to express our views and seek to make changes […]

Why Politics Matters and How We Got the Wrong End of the Stick (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:54-05:00February 4th, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, American Evangelicalism, Culture, Current Affairs, Emergent Church, Freedom, Ideology, Missional Church, Politics, Religion, Separation of Church & State, The Church, The Future|

Two weeks ago I sought to show how the church in America has become subject to a condition of moral, cultural and spiritual exile. Like Israel of old, we are now living away from our true home, separated from our real calling–to live out the life of Christ with one another (cf. John 13:34–35). We have forgotten who we really are, through the cozy relationship that we enjoyed between culture and church, and now we have collectively lost our distinctively Christian way. Because of this loss I suggested that we are now living in a time I referred to as the “Babylonian Captivity of the Church.”

Last week I wrote about our “alien” status and what this means for us in 2013. Fundamentally, living as “aliens” in the world means that we have been called to a new way of living, not simply to a new way of thinking and understanding. Most of Christianity is content to live the Christ-life in the mind, in the area of a few beliefs. We can accomplish this with no […]

The Life and Mission of Pauline Jaricot

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:55-05:00February 1st, 2013|Categories: Church History, Evangelism, Missional Church, Personal, Roman Catholicism, The Church|

Pauline-Marie Jaricot (1799 – 1862) was a French Catholic laywoman who founded the Society of the Propagation of the Faith. The Society was founded in Lyon, France, in 1822, as a result of the distress of Catholic mission in both the East and the West. Today the SPF is a highly esteemed mission movement in the Roman Catholic Church. The story of how this happened moves me to see again the power of mission to move the hearts of God’s people into deeper and deeper love for Jesus our Lord.

I knew absolutely nothing about Pauline Jaricot (the last name is pronounced Jericho) until last Saturday, January 26th. I learned about Pauline through my friend, Sister Madge Karecki. Madge, who directs the office of mission for the archdiocese of Chicago, invited me to a special day of celebration for Pauline’s life. This event, held on the south side of Chicago at the Cardinal Meyer Center, included the presentation of the first ever “Pauline Jaricot Award.” The award given to a Polish priest who is serving […]

Missional-Ecumenism in Milwaukee (4)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:55-05:00January 31st, 2013|Categories: Evangelism, Gospel/Good News, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Prayer, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

One of the most pressing questions in my life is really not complicated. In a certain way my pressing question is two questions: (1) Why do those who embrace the need for mission not realize that God’s way to reach the world is by bringing Christians together in deep oneness and unity so that the world can see the Father’s love? (2) Why do those who love unity, and work in the area of what has been called ecumenism, not see that all the work for ecumenism in the world will prove fruitless if this effort is not closely linked with mission, compassion, justice and mercy? We must not divide what God has joined together. Consider again the words of our Lord who prayed for us all, nearly twenty centuries ago, by saying:

20 “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they […]

Missional-Ecumenism in Milwaukee (3)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:55-05:00January 30th, 2013|Categories: ACT 3, Culture, Education, Gospel/Good News, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

When I visited City on a Hill, the urban Milwaukee mission center that I wrote about yesterday, I sensed the presence of God in this place instantly. The people were warm, caring and joyful. The place was clean and the work of serving God’s people was going on all around me. The whole place spoke of the love of Jesus, thus of the works of mercy and reconciliation.

The lunch meeting I attended began with prayer and some simple introductions, led by the director of BASICS, Mark Mallwitz. BASICS has served in four Milwaukee Public Schools with four primary areas of focus: (1) Prayer – praying for the schools, prayer walking in the schools and praying for the staff. (2) Care, or acts of compassion and kindness. (3) Share – to share the good news of Jesus Christ with students and faculty/staff. (4) Prepare – by helping those interested in preparing themselves for life.

Mark Mallwitz has embraced my son, and the ministry of Crossroads Kids Club, as a partner, not as a Chicago ministry seeking […]

Missional-Ecumenism in Milwaukee (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:55-05:00January 29th, 2013|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

Yesterday I wrote about my experience with various Christian leaders working for Christ and his kingdom in the urban schools of Milwaukee. The day that this group came together was meant to be a “to get to know one another” as ministry volunteers and educators and administrators who work inside the Milwaukee Public Schools. These were busy people, who carved out the heart of a busy day in their work week, to share, listen and pray. This in itself is remarkable. I felt, as soon as I walked into the room we occupied at the City on a Hill Ministry Center that God’s Spirit was going to be working in the room this day. I was not disappointed at all. City on a Hill is a catalyst working to transform the lives of youth and families in Milwaukee’s central city neighborhoods, and to overcome poverty and injustice, through a collaborative and Christ-centered model of service.

In 2009 the U. S. Census Bureau pegged Milwaukee as the fourth-poorest city in the nation. Homelessness is rampant and […]

Missional-Ecumenism in Milwaukee (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:55-05:00January 28th, 2013|Categories: ACT 3, Gospel/Good News, Kingdom of God, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

On Thursday of last week I traveled 90 miles north to visit with Christian leaders in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I made the journey at the invitation of my son, Matthew Armstrong, the founder and director of Crossroads Kids Club. Crossroads is a ministry that partners with local churches to begin and develop after-school children’s Bible clubs in public elementary schools. These church-based clubs intentionally share the gospel with kids in the public sphere. (It still amazes me the number of Christians who think that this cannot be legally done in public schools but what amazes me even more is the disinterest churches have in doing it even when they realize that they can.) Matt has begun two Crossroads Clubs in urban Milwaukee. Through the development of his ministry in Milwaukee he has been able to forge a friendship with leaders of several similar missions.

In Milwaukee I saw and heard the story of missional-ecumenism in one of America’s more challenging “rust-belt” urban centers. There are about 175 schools in the Milwaukee Public School system, a […]