Blog - Page 7 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Live the Life You Imagined

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00January 5th, 2018|Categories: Friendship, Personal|

The famous Henry David Thoreau wrote:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Live the life you have imagined.

That’s not a biblical way of putting it but it is a good way to lay hold of God’s love and purpose for your life.

I will soon by sixty-nine years old. I can now confidently say that I have not lived every part of my life in the way I wish I had. Who can? But I say I have confidently moved in the direction of my dreams. I have lived a life than very close to what I imagined as a young man in college and my twenties. I am satisfied, deeply so. I have made mistakes but I have learned from them, or so I hope.

In the end I am at peace with God, my wife, my children, grandchildren and my friends. Those who are not at peace with me, so far is it is within me, I have tried to be at peace with them. I have enemies but I love them. I have friends […]

The Document of the Origins of Jesus of Nazareth

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:10-05:00December 20th, 2017|Categories: Advent, Biblical Theology, Christ/Christology, Kingdom of God|

Matthew’s Gospel has always caused modern readers some consternation when they read the first chapter. Why is this long “genealogy” put here at the beginning of the first Gospel?

I prefer to first think of this list of names here in terms of what is clearly said in the first verse, Jesus is “the son of David, son of Abraham.” But genealogy might sound confusing. One version says, “This is the document of the origins of Jesus Christ.” I like that. It is clear and connects with me in a different way. Why?

The Bible is careful to connect events and persons from the history of God’s redemption. The entire Bible draws strength from a continuity of history and thus from the fidelity of God to his own promises. This is the key to this list, or document, of the origins of Jesus.

There are 42 names in this list. They are arranged into three series of 14 names each. It is quite obvious this list is not complete nor does Matthew mean it to be so. Why Abraham? He is the father of the faithful, of true believers. […]

Theologians Unite for Reformation Panel (Audio Recording)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00December 20th, 2017|Categories: Media|

The Historical Committee of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina sponsored a Reformation Symposium panel discussion during this year’s Annual Meeting. An audio file of the discussion is available below.

Joseph’s Utterly Unique Vocation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00December 19th, 2017|Categories: Advent, Discipleship, Jesus|

The late philosopher and atheist Jean Paul Sartre one wrote a Christmas play called Bariona. In this play he tries to imagine Joseph in Bethlehem, and writes: “He [Joseph] feels himself slightly out of it. He suffers because he sees how much this woman whom he loves resembles God; how she is already at the side of God. For God has burst like a bomb into the intimacy of this family. Joseph and Mary are separated forever by this explosion of light. And I imagine that all through his life Joseph will be learning to accept this.”

Think of this and ponder it anew. Joseph’s vocation is utterly unique. He is the foster-father of the Son of God. I see in this man a model for making good decisions and for dealing with profound doubts. But the text of Matthew 1:24-25 says: “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,but had no marital relations with her […]

Living My Way Into the Life of the Trinity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00December 8th, 2017|Categories: Christ/Christology, Contemplation, Discipleship, Forgiveness, God's Character, Jesus, Love, Personal, Prayer, Scripture, The Trinity|

No truth is (perhaps) more complex than that of the Trinity, one God in three persons. But I am persuaded that no truth is more central to living well as a follower of Christ. The Trinity is not a debate, at least for me. It is revealed yet it is a stunning mystery. A professor, playing on an earlier line, once said, “If you deny the Trinity you may loose your soul but if you accept the Trinity (and truly embrace it) you will likely find life and freedom.” So true.

My journey into God has been deeply Trinitarian for decades but much more so in the last twenty-plus years. My first memories of God, as a young child, were a mixture of terror with that of a friendly person who loved me. So far as I remember I always believed in God. But I also believed in hell and believed I might go there. (Massive confusion helps create this fear yet Scripture does, quite plainly, warn us of judgment.) I also believed in Holy God, […]

Hearts and Minds Book Notes

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00September 14th, 2017|Categories: ACT 3, Biblical Theology, Books|

One of my good friends is Byron Borger, the owner/manager of Hearts and Minds Books in Pennsylvania. Byron regularly prepares a great review of a wide array of books. I encourage you to read his reviews (which you can get by email) and buy books from him. Yes, you can buy books for a larger discount at Amazon but Byron will help you personally and guide you with a human and thoughtful response about new (and old) books. I know no other resource like Byron Borger if you love Christian books. In a recent review of new books he wrote the following about me and my book:

Costly Love: The Way to True Unity for All the Followers of Jesus, John H. Armstrong (New City Press) $15.95. I will tell you more about this later but I truly wanted to list it here. This is one of the most provocative and thoughtful and thorough studies of the Biblical teaching about love I have yet seen. It is serious and well researched, drawing on writers both […]

A Sleepless Night and a Gentle and Powerful Morning Reminder

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00August 21st, 2017|Categories: Biblical Theology, Discipleship, Faith, Friendship, Jesus, Love, Personal|

In Matthew 19 Jesus welcomes little children to himself, (gently) touches them and prays over them. The disciples, in contrast, seem too stern and busy to feel the is important kingdom work. The story tells us:

¹³Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; ¹⁴but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” ¹⁵And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

It is easy to rebuke the disciples in this story. But perhaps we have this wrong. Could it be that love made them desire to protect Jesus and seeing he was tired and drained (they had seen multiple miracles of healing, great teaching, etc.). It is likely they were concerned for his well-being. After all, he was now talking about a cross, which puzzled them. I think the tension in his heart […]

A Sermon on Trinity Sunday: “The Great Commission”

By John Armstrong|2017-06-24T19:04:27-05:00June 24th, 2017|Categories: ACT 3, Discipleship, Evangelism, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional-Ecumenism, Sacraments, The Church, The Trinity|

How Does Jesus Speak to Our Modern Religious and Social Context?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00April 25th, 2017|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Culture, Current Affairs, Economy/Economics, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Love|

I am currently reading, rather slowly I confess, through the Gospel of Mark. It is a fast-paced narrative a rooted in oral tradition, something easily forgotten by modern readers. At the beginning of the second century CE this Gospel was affirmed in several texts as the work of Mark. It was also attributed to Peter, who was his companion. Because this writing was based on oral texts it was rooted in stories about Jesus passed around from community to community. But Mark wrote for a definite type of community: Christians of non-Jewish and pagan origin. He desire is to show them the mystery and glory of Jesus. His way of doing this is to relate the words and deeds by which Jesus revealed himself as the “Son of God” to humankind.

Mark’s Gospel does not include an infancy narrative nor does it relate Jesus to Jewish scripture or tradition the way Matthew does. It begins: “This is the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Boom! Here it is: the […]

War: The Most Dreaded Enemy of Liberty

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:11-05:00April 19th, 2017|Categories: America and Americanism, Culture, Current Affairs, Ethics, History, The War on Terrorism|

During the course of my lifetime (b. 1949) America has fought many wars. In fact, we have been engaged in foreign struggles and combat for almost the entirety of my lifetime, with the exception of the four years of President Carter’s administration (1977-1981). This simple fact got me to thinking recently about an anniversary of a historic document in American history that is 222 years old tomorrow, April 20.

This statement goes as follows:

Of all the enemies of true liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.

War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.

In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people.

The same malignant aspect in republicanism may […]