Blog - Page 88 of 318 - John H Armstrong

A Prayer for Maundy Thursday

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:45-05:00April 6th, 2012|Categories: Christ/Christology|

Several years ago I met Pastor Mark Moore at a conference in Colorado. Recently we have become real friends. I began reading his blogs in the past few days and have found them quite helpful. Mark describes himself, on his blog site, with this personal information: "I have the honor of being married to the most wonderful woman in the world and have been blessed with three amazing kids. Several years ago, as a young and inexperienced pastor, I started Providence Community Church and since that time I have had the unbelievable privilege of serving this great community."

Yesterday, Maundy Thursday, Mark posted a fine blog that reflects upon the mystery of Christ's passion. I encourage you to read this over Easter weekend. You can read this particular blog at: http://markmooreblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/a-maundy-thursday-prayer/

I will be in Dallas in late May to build an ACT 3 Cohort Group for the fall of this year. If you would like to […]

Listening to God's Word with the Heart

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00April 5th, 2012|Categories: Contemplation, Mysticism, Scripture|

Yesterday I made a point about the Hebrew word (dabhar) that is used for God's Word. This word means much more than the sound of words in our ear or the registry of a meaning upon our mind. The same Hebrew word is used for God's creating the world by his word. And this is the same word that expresses God's revelation in Jesus Christ. When the word became incarnate it was this creative, powerful, faith producing word, which became the Logos of God (cf. John 1:1).

We listen to words at many different levels and in many different contexts. Words come at us in many forms and at many levels. Some words go no further than our ears. We hear sounds and that is it. Others enter our minds and make us think. (I am convinced that this is how most people read the Bible!) Some words touch us on the surface of our emotions and bring shallow feelings of joy or sadness.

Jesus […]

God's Word

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00April 4th, 2012|Categories: Scripture|

The Hebrew word dahbar is used to describe God's word in the Old Testament. Dahbar means much more than a sound in our ear or a thought in our head. It is used to describe the power of Yahweh in creating the world. Dahbar is a creative word. It is, in other words, "word-event." God's word never leaves the listener to same. When a word from God is received with an open mind and teachable spirit the person who hears is gently, and powerfully, changed. Most of us hear the Bible read in church, or read it quietly each day, but few of us actually encounter the dahbar on a regular basis.

In Jesus Christ God spoke this deepest Word to Jesus. Jesus became dahbar incarnate. The humanity of Jesus was the full manifestation of all that God is. And every word Jesus spoke was God's word. This is why we need to read the four Gospels with […]

Repentance and Faith: God's Gifts to Us in Christ

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00April 3rd, 2012|Categories: Biblical Theology, Faith, Gospel/Good News|

The first words of true mission are an invitation to repentance. To repent means to change, to turn, to believe the good news. Repentance and faith, so far as I can tell, are like two sides of the same coin. While some theologians separate them, in order to distinguish them, the gospel seems to keep them closely bound together. In some texts we read about faith in our Lord Jesus Christ while in others people are urged to repent and then believe the good news. John the Baptist began his ministry of preparation for the coming Messiah by saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:1-2).

The Greek word metanoia is used in the LXX (OT Greek translation) to describe both God and man having repented about something. We read, for example, that God repented of having made Saul king of Israel. The rabbis used the word to primarily express how a person changes their […]

One Person's Report on the Conversation on Unity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00April 2nd, 2012|Categories: ACT 3, Roman Catholicism, Unity of the Church|

One of my Missional-Ecumenical Cohort members, in the class of April 2012, is Kevin Jesmer. Kevin is a lay-missionary with UBF serving in DeKalb, Illinois. I am impressed with how well Kevin listened to the conversation last Monday (March 26). On his personal blog he wrote an account of what he heard. I share it here so that my readers can hear about the event through the eyes and ears of someone else. Interestingly Kevin grew up in the Catholic Church but came to personal faith through a UBF Bible Study group. He is learning how to love and respect Catholics and the Catholic Church with new eyes and ears. This is one of my many goals in having such an event.

Before you read Kevin's report let me remind you that the entire event is now available for viewing on our ACT 3 home page.

Here is Kevin's blog about the […]

The Life and Witness of Brother Roger: An Icon of Love and Unity

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00March 30th, 2012|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, Roman Catholicism, Unity of the Church|

Yesterday I wrote about Brother Roger of Taizé in my post. I confess that Brother Roger was one of my genuine spiritual role models in helping form my view of life, love and ecumenism.

There were a number of things about him I found attractive. For example, he believed that the spiritual leader should always keep a low profile. He rarely gave interviews and refused to permit any personality "cult" to grow up around himself. (How refreshing is that?) Prior to his death in 2005, he was due to give up his community functions because of his advanced age and ill-health. He had begun to suffer from incredible fatigue and often used a wheelchair.

Brother Roger was awarded a number of honors and wrote many books on prayer and reflection, always asking young people to be confident in God and committed to their local church community and to humanity. He also wrote books about Christian […]

Chicago Taizé: An Event You Should Know About

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00March 29th, 2012|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, Spirituality, Unity of the Church|

The Taizé Community was begun after World War II by a young Reformed minister by the name of Frère Roger, or Brother Roger as we know his name in English. Roger Louis Schütz-Marsauche (1915-2005) was the ninth and youngest child of Karl Ulrich Schütz, a Reformed pastor from Bachs in the Swiss Lowlands. His mother was Amélie Henriette, a French Protestant from Burgundy (France).

From 1937 to 1940, Roger studied Reformed theology in Strasbourg and Lausanne. He was a leader in the Swiss Student Christian Movement, part of the World Student Christian Federation.

In 1940, Roger rode a bicycle from Geneva to Taizé, a very small town about 240 miles southeast of Paris. Taizé was just beyond the line of demarcation to the zone occupied by German troops. For two years Brother Roger hid Jewish refugees before being forced to leave Taizé. In 1944, he returned to Taizé to found a Christian monastic community which […]

The Problem with Nondiscrimination Laws and the Rights of Homosexuals

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00March 28th, 2012|Categories: Homosexuality, Politics, Race and Racism, The Future|

I hate discrimination. I believe that when it comes to barring people from public places civil rights laws are quite necessary. I also believe that discrimination against homosexuals, because of their sexual orientation or private practice, is wrong. We presently face a number of legal struggles about discrimination that will impact all of us in one way or another. Let me explain what I mean with an intriguing development out of Great Britain.

Fifteen years ago Peter and Hazelmary Bull made headlines when some reporters saw their "stodgy guest policy" (Wall Street Journal, 3/16/12) in these words: "No double rooms for unmarried couples." Since 1986 the Bulls had been turning away unwed couples at their Cornish B & B. No one bothered much until very recently. They just considered the Bulls out of touch. But things have changed now and this change is happening all across the West.

A British appeals court recently upheld a […]

A New Understanding of Mission and Evangelism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:46-05:00March 27th, 2012|Categories: Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism|

Since 1982 there has been only one official statement of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on mission and evangelism. Evangelicals have written their own statements and produced their own efforts at unity in mission. Now, in 2012, the WCC's Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) is preparing another statement to invoke a new understanding of mission and evangelism amidst our changing world and divided ecclesial contexts. This new statement comes at a unique time in Christian history. For nearly sixty years evangelicals and historic churches have been enmeshed in deep opposition to one another, especially when it came to defining and understanding Christian mission in the world. In the past five years there has been a growing thaw in this impasse. I welcome it for the good of all Christ's people.

The statement, titled “Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes”, will be presented at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, South Korea, in 2013 once it is approved by the WCC Central Committee. This potentially landmark document draws on insights gleaned from Protestant, Evangelical, Orthodox […]

A Conversation on Unity in Christ's Mission

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:16:47-05:00March 26th, 2012|Categories: ACT 3, Missional-Ecumenism, Roman Catholicism|

As most readers of this blog know tonight is the long anticipated public ACT 3 conversation with Francis Cardinal George and myself. The time is 7 p.m. (CDT) and the place is Edman Chapel at Wheaton College. If you live in the Chicago area I hope you will come. If you cannot come, or live outside this region, you can watch the event live on video stream on your computer. If you go to www.act3online.com you will find an icon that takes you into the event when it begins at 7 p.m. If you go to the Wheaton College site at www.wheaton.edu (WETN radio) you will find a link that takes you to the broadcast as well. If all goes as planned sometime next week we will have the event on our web site for you to view if you miss it in real time.

To say the least preparing for this event has been a huge ordeal. The ACT 3 staff consists of me and my daughter at the moment. Between us, with the help of […]