Blog - Page 9 of 318 - John H Armstrong

On Reading Fiction in 2016

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:13-05:00December 29th, 2016|Categories: Books, Culture, Current Affairs, Fiction, Israel|

Daniel Silva has been called one of our generation’s finest writers of international intrigue, a spy novelist extraordinaire. I was introduced to one of Silva’s novels by a pastor friend several years ago. I confess the book he recommended was so compelling, haunting, and brilliant that I could hardly put it down. I finished it in just a few days. Thus began what turned out to be a “love affair” with the fiction of this popular writer. Almost all of Silva’s books have reached #1 New York Times bestselling status within months of their publication. His fan base is huge. I am numbered among them now.

Silva’s first book, situated in World War II, was The Unlikely Spy (1997). It is a novel of love and deception set around the Allied invasion of France. His second and third novels, The Mark of the Assassin and The Marching Season, were instant New York Times bestsellers and starred two of Silva’s most memorable characters: CIA officer Michael Osbourne and international hit man Jean-Paul Delaroche. I was hooked by […]

Our Population Decrease and Missional-Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:14-05:00December 27th, 2016|Categories: Culture, Current Affairs, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, The Future|

Population growth in the United States is slowing each year. It reached its lowest rate since the Great Depression in 2015-16. Demographers say that this slow growth is largely due to the aging of our population. But immigration growth is also declining, though during the past three years our levels of immigration have grown for the first time since the 2007-2009 recession. The lead cause in these shifts is our declining birth rate. Yet in spite of the numbers we still have a positive natural increase while countries like Germany and Japan do not. Demographers predict this decrease will continue for some years to come. This will stress our social systems such as Medicare and Social Security, stressing again the warnings we’ve had for several decades but rarely had the political will to resolve.

What solutions do we have to protect the needs of our aging population and the well-being of our society overall? Answer: invest in a serious immigration strategy that shores up the younger segment of our society overall. Do we have the resolve […]

“I tweet, therefore I am!”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:14-05:00December 19th, 2016|Categories: Advent, Books, Friendship, Love, Spirituality|

It seems difficult to imagine, but there was once a time when human beings did not feel the need to share every waking moment with hundreds of millions, even billions, of complete and utter strangers. If one went to a shopping mall to purchase an article of clothing, one did not post minute-by-minute details on a social networking site; and if one made a fool of oneself at a party, one did not leave a photographic record of the sorry episode in a digital scrapbook that would survive for all eternity. But now, in the era of lost inhibition, it seemed no detail of life was too mundane or humiliating to share. In the online age, it was more important to live out loud than to live with dignity. Internet followers were more treasured than flesh-and-blood friends, for they held the illusive promise of celebrity, even immortality. Were Descartes alive today, he might have written: I tweet, therefore I am. (Daniel Silva, The Heist, 2014).

When I read these words in Daniel Silva’s novel this weekend and could […]

Prayer for Christian Unity: January 28, 2017, Service

By Benjamin Wechsler|2016-12-21T14:05:30-06:00December 18th, 2016|Categories: ACT 3, Media, Missional-Ecumenism, Prayer, Unity of the Church|

For several years now ACT3 Network, and the Chicago Focolare, have jointly sponsored a unique prayer service for Christian unity. This year we gather on Saturday, January 28, at 7:00 p.m. in Wheaton. Our host is Gary Methodist Church. There is no charge and everyone is welcome. This is a wonderful evening and I hope many will share it with us in 2017.

Adventus Christi: A Christmas Poem

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:14-05:00December 14th, 2016|Categories: ACT 3, Advent, Jesus, Poetry, Spirituality|

Adventus Christi

(The Coming of Christ)

In the desert of my heart,

I hear the voice,

“Prepare the way;”

in the chaos and the clutter,

the confusion of my making,

now I turn, to see Him standing

at the door.

And where do I begin, Lord?

I have placed so many obstacles

before the gate. Is it too late

to move them now, or to make straight

the path that I have twisted

to my stubborn will?

I turn away, but cannot hide

from such a Light, from such a Star,

that shows me who I am, oh Lord,

and who You are.

Be born in me, oh Gift of Grace,

that from the cradle to the Cross

my path might be the path of Love,

my way, the Way of Light, of Hope,

of Peace.

Author: Stephanie Stover is a writer and poet who lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This Advent poem is used by her permission. […]

Gaudet Sunday: Advent 3 “Rejoice”

By John Armstrong|2016-12-13T21:32:56-06:00December 13th, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|

https://soundcloud.com/act3network/the-third-sunday-of-advent-rejoice?in=act3network/sets/sermons#t=0:01

The Letter to Ephesus

By John Armstrong|2016-10-18T14:27:15-05:00July 14th, 2016|Categories: Biblical Theology, Church History, Current Affairs, The Church|

This summer my local congregation, Lutheran Church of the Master, is engaged with a series of sermons from Revelation 2-3. I am filling in for our pastor for many Saturday evening vespers services. So far I have preached on the first three churches of the Revelation. Here is the first, The Letter of Jesus to the Church in Ephesus.

Note: These seven letters were all given by Jesus to John to deliver to the angel/messenger/bishop of each church.

Jesus’ Upside-Down Kingdom

By John Armstrong|2016-07-08T09:30:33-05:00July 11th, 2016|Categories: ACT 3, Biblical Theology, Homiletics/Preaching, Jesus, Kingdom of God, The Church|

The kingdom of Jesus turns everything “upside down.” We settle far too easily for a tame and non-threatening gospel where grace does not surprise us. This sermon was preached at Lutheran Church of the Master, Carol Stream, IL, on June 11-12. I share it because I hope it will edify and encourage you if you like to hear a biblical sermon as an audio file.

Should Ecclesiastes Be in the Biblical Canon?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:14-05:00July 8th, 2016|Categories: Biblical Theology, Current Affairs, God's Character, History, Spirituality|

My question will likely startle some. It seems obvious to others. Count me among the latter group. I have read the book many, many times but it has never seemed clearly apparent to me that it belongs, even among the books that we call the “wisdom literature.”

I recently read Ecclesiastes again, this time in The Message. Same question: Why is it here? How does it belong?

The writer undertakes an investigation of experience at all levels. He asks questions about creation, justice, the wise versus the foolish, and the just versus the unjust. He insists that though God is sovereign over all things we cannot know exactly what God is doing or why he is doing it. What then is our proper human response? To take what we get now and use it as best we can. (Here is the observation that I wish I had learned much sooner! I tried to connect the dots of providence in my life overmuch and quite often I did so way too simplistically.)

So when various theologians and preachers tell you […]

The Life and Last Days of a Saint: Dr. Ben Campbell Johnson

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:13:14-05:00May 19th, 2016|Categories: Evangelism, Love, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Spirituality|

Dr. Ben Campbell Johnson, a Presbyterian minister, and author, served as Professor of Evangelism and Director of Spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia (1981-2000). Since his retirement at CTS Ben has been a professor emeritus and taught many classes, written more books, and touched countless lives. I read several Ben Johnson books decades ago. Several of his better books are Hearing God’s Call, Life’s Transitions, and To Pray God’s Will. Ben was a Presbyterian pastor and a leader with a heart for reaching out to those way outside the church. He was also a practitioner of deep spirituality. I see the two as vitally connected thus I had admired Ben Johnson from a distance but never dreamed I would get to meet him in this life. Then last fall a serendipitous moment happened on a glorious October day in Decatur (GA).

I happened to be on the campus of Columbia Seminary to meet with the president and professor of theology, Dr. Leanne Van Dyk. (Leanne has previously taught theology at Western Seminary in […]