Here Is the Church, There is the Steeple, Open the Door and See All the People

John H. Armstrong February 15th, 2010

As a small child there was a quaint little saying that was common. We folded out hands and said, "Here is the church." We then put our two index fingers together and said, "There is the steeple." Then we turned our hands over and wiggled our fingers and said, "Open the door and see all the people." I know, it's dumb, really dumb. But I do remember it. There was one thing we felt really good about, back in the 1950s and 60s. The church was full of people. Some t … (Read More)

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What Has Happened to Evangelicalism in America?

John H. Armstrong January 5th, 2010

The famous historian of theology, H. Richard Niebuhr, once called theological liberalism a religion devoted to "a God without wrath [who] brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross" [The Kingdom of God in America, (The Wesleyan University Press, orig. 1937; 1988), p. 193].

I can’t think of a statement that better sums up much of the problem inside the church in our time. Where once liberal theology ravaged the older c … (Read More)

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The Illusion of Knowledge

John H. Armstrong October 20th, 2009

The late historian Daniel Boorstin once said, “The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge.” I have found that Christians are not immune from this obstacle to real discovery. When it comes to teaching from the Scripture and the Christian tradition the real obstacle in people is not ignorance. In fact, a person who knows there is a lot that they don’t know is often very teachable. The issue is really whether or not they want to discover something they d … (Read More)

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Trust

John H. Armstrong September 8th, 2009

A key to any business, and its economic success, is building trust with both its employees and its customers. The world financial markets nearly collapsed last fall because people in the financial industry lacked trust. Credit almost stopped flowing. Even the biggest banks refused to lend to each other because they were not sure they would be repaid. This is the way Dov Seidman, the founder and CEO of LRN, sees it. LRN is a company that helps businesses develop ethical corporate cultures. Seidma … (Read More)

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Clement on Unity & Schism

John H. Armstrong August 4th, 2009

The church father, Clement of Rome (died c. A. D. 90 to 100), intervened in a local congregational schism while serving as an early church overseer in the first century. Some historians believe that this same Clement was identified by Paul in Philippians 4:3. That may be. Later tradition saw Clement as the third pope, something that I do not believe is terribly clear in the record that we actually possess from the era in which he lived and died.

In Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians (this … (Read More)

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Losing America & Fathers - John Armstrong & Larry Gelwix on SBE

Erik Guzman June 19th, 2009

News flash! Christians are losing America.

Should we try to get it back? Should we even care? If so, what can the average ham and egger Christian do about it?

Join founder and president of ACT 3, John Armstrong, on this edition of SBE as we talk about the end of Christian America, Oprah and civil religion.

(If you're on the front page of the site, click "Read More" to see audio player options.)

Then, a nod to Father's Day with Coach Larry Gelwix. Coach Gelwix is arguabl … (Read More)

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