John H Armstrong

Are You Filled with Hope?

The Bible says hope is one of the three great virtues of grace: faith, hope and love. Faith and hope will disappear someday but love endures forever. Yet in this life we live by faith and without hope our faith will fail. This faith is not blindly following a set of propositions about God but rather a living, vital, intensely personal relationship with the Trinity. 

Hope allows us to focus with joy on what is ahead. It is not optimism or pessimism. In fact both optimists and pessimists can and should be filled with hope, provided they are filled with the Holy Spirit. There is a reason to be pessimistic about a great deal if you are honest. But hope is not connected to these "seen" factors. It is connected with what is unseen. 

Eternity is only a "hands-breadth off" said J. B. Phillips. "At present we are largely blind and deaf and insensitive to reality. And this is not entirely out fault. But if reality were to break through, then we should see that the things we hope for are true, far more true than we ever supposed" (Phillips).

Our hope will in no way be disappointed. Indeed, what we hope for will be infinitely exceeded by the magnificence of what we shall see in the real world which is to come. We cannot begin to explain the glory which is to come and at best we only stammer when we try to speak about it. What fills me with wonder is that so few of us who profess to know and love Christ seem fixed on this great hope. It is ours for the taking by the Spirit but we remain dull and uninterested. Could it be that we are so "earthly minded" that we have separated our hope from the course of everyday life in this world. If anything about Christian faith is real at all it must be this: Jesus lives and so shall I.  

Death on a Friday Afternoon

Today, the world over, Christians remember the death of their Savior, Jesus Christ. We take part in various remembrances, some elaborate and some simple, even Puritan. Regardless, many of us will participate in some service of remembrance and express our thanks to God for the gift of his Son.

I have participated in many different death rituals in various countries and cultures. The most unusual was in India. I will never get over what transpired on my second extended trip there in the 1980s. One of the leaders of the mission we worked with had come to meet us at the airport, a drive of about four hours or more. His van had run into the back of a large truck, stopped in the middle of the road in typical Indian fashion. He had been thrown forward off the back seat (where he was sleeping) and was internally injured and died after some hours of suffering by the side of the highway with no medical help. Our team picked up his body late in the evening, drove for hours to the town where we were to lodge and the next day, a Sunday, I did a funeral. We marched through town with the body and sang songs of Christian faith while the people watched us in some degree of astonishment, or so it seemed to me. The whole experience is rather surreal to me and yet I remember it as if it was just yesterday. Mourners were connected to their grief in open and tangible ways that shocked my Western understanding.

Our culture places little or no importance on funeral rituals and their importance. We want to get it over and done with so we can act as if death is not really the end. It is like a big denial of the awful reality of the grim reaper. We isolate the dying and rush through arrangements once the finality of it all sets in on us.

In our cultural context we have little real understanding and appreciation for the rich and amazing biblical texts that explain Christ’s death. We do not know how to grieve the death of the person we profess to love more than all other people. One has noted that because of this we consequently find ourselves too apathetic to the resurrection. But death should neither be ignored nor celebrated. I know that will not go down quite right with some Christians, especially since many of us were taught from childhood that the day Jesus died was a great day!

I remind you death is an enemy. It was such for Jesus on this day. His death, even more than yours and mine, was because of sin, not his but the sins of the world. The awful foe got his grips on him that day and broke him. The only problem was that by his death he broke the power of the foe. This we can celebrate but this is the result of the resurrection more than the death.

Alexander McLaren said, “The grave is in the garden because all our joys and works have sooner or later death associated with them. Every relationship. Every occupation. Every joy. The grave in the garden bids us bring the wholesome contemplation of death into all life. It may be a harm, a weakening to think of it; but it should be a strength.”

My dear friend Jim Packer puts it well: “We can face death knowing that when it comes we shall not find ourselves alone. He has been there before us, and he will see us through.” Amen.

May Good Friday be good for you because you come to his death in faith and hope knowing that by his stripes you are healed for here your sins are covered once and for all.

Hereafter

Clint Eastwood’s new film, Hereafter, tackles a subject that seems to have been emerging in Eastwood’s body of work for some years. When you listen to Eastwood talk about Hereafter, you can readily see this film is a significant departure from his earlier films, though Gran Torino, one of his best and most iconic films, seems to lead you right to the door of Hereafter in its famous closing scene. Josh Hurst, writing for Christianity Today, says: “Eastwood called this his ‘French’ film, which is only partly true on a literal level—about a third of the movie is set in France, and in the French language—but is a reasonable enough way to summarize its comparatively artsy feel, as well as its structure of three initially unrelated but eventually intersecting stories. He's also called this his ‘chick flick,’ which is, again, an exaggeration, but only a slight one; by Eastwood standards, there's very little violence here, and a larger-than-usual role for romance.” Having seen the movie on opening day I have to agree with Hurst’s assessment almost entirely.

But, as was so powerfully seen in Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood (the director) has been obsessed with human mortality for nearly two decades. Eastwood, who turned 80 at his last birthday, seems more prolific as a producer and director than ever. Hurst reflects in the following way: “Much of his career as a filmmaker has been spent toiling in the shadow of death. Is it a natural reaction to his age and his long, storied career—or is he simply drawn to the subject in the same way Scorsese is drawn to the causes and ramifications of violence?” This is not easy to answer based upon what the man says in various articles and television interviews. But most of his films do have the theme of human mortality and death in them at some point. This film could thus be seen as a logical place for this extremely gifted man to be at this point in a long and illustrious career. Hurst right on: “Some of these films [since 1992] are pretty terrific, some not so much; taken together, though, they make for an interesting, running discussion about death and what it means.” Hereafter, like very few modern movies, addresses death and the afterlife throughout. But the end result will be very disappointing to thoughtful Christians. There is one scene, maybe no more than fifteen seconds, in which Jesus is mentioned but it is in a not-too-flattering context that is passed off. Alongside this is a YouTube clip of a Muslim preacher ranting about judgment.

The plot of Hereafter involves three stories that eventually become one in a fairly interesting resolution. One character dies and comes back to life. She has had a vision of the afterlife that transforms her from a secular French television personality into a seeker after an explanation for her “out of body experience.” What makes this interesting is that her French peers are all faithful secularists who think she has totally lost it.

Matt Damon plays the role central to the second story. He is a San Francisco psychic who can communicate with dead spirits by holding the hands of another person. He sees this “gift” as a curse and tries to escape it in various ways. In the third story two young boys, who are twins, live in London with their drunkard/drug addicted mother. This story is so deeply human and heart-moving. One of the boys dies and the other goes looking for evidence that his brother still exists and asks if he has something to tell him from beyond the grave. Eastwood wonderfully weaves his three strands together and uses some moving musical arrangements in the process. Hurst says the film is: “Decidedly irreligious and spiritual only in the vaguest possible terms . . . [and] a rather toothless movie that purports to ponder big issues but has no voice, no vision, and absolutely nothing substantive to say.” Though this is true I would still encourage most thoughtful people to see the film since it will likely become “water cooler” discussion in many contexts.

I agree with Hurst on at least this one level but I think the film does say something most people actually agree on in a time in history when we should have all become secularists by now, or so we are told by “smart” (rational) people. People do believe in an afterlife no matter what the experts tell us. This is especially true in America. But what I agree with Hurst about is that this particular film never deals with serious points of view about life after death. It refuses to say much other than what everyone already says: “Somewhere, somehow, we all exist beyond the grave.” There is, as in most popular culture in America, no serious argument for anything explicit about the role real faith plays in preparing for life after death. Thus this is a decidedly non-religious movie dealing with a very religious topic. In this way it is most unlike Gran Torino, a much, much better film.

The name of God is never invoked once in Hereafter, except for the mention of Jesus by the stereotypical fundamentalist preacher on the Internet and a few words, with no weight, offered by a liberal minister at a hopeless funeral service. Theodicy, which could easily have become a theme in this movie, is entirely avoided. The plot moves on without any serious dealing with a whole series of threads that could have been explored. Hurst concludes, rightly I believe, that, “There is only the unerring inward gaze of a film that refuses to engage spiritual matters with honesty or integrity, instead honing in on the vague, impressionistic platitudes it has clearly accepted from the outset.”

I admit I rather enjoyed seeing the film but left the theater with a sense of lost opportunity for something worthwhile that could have been added to our cultural moment. If all these people believe in life after death why not at least explore some of the ways people have actually understood this belief in the hereafter based upon the teaching of religious traditions?

When I saw the film it was at the first showing on opening day last week, at 1:20 p.m. I appeared to be the youngest person in the theater. (I am quite serious about this.) I watched these so many elderly folks file out and wondered (and even prayed): “What do people see when they watch this kind of film? Are they moved in any way to think about preparing for life after death in a meaningful way?” The answer, in this case, has to be no. What people saw in Hereafter was American cultural religion---everyone will die, life after death is most likely true and what you do on earth has little or nothing to do with it. We who preach the gospel do have our work cut out for us in a culture like this, where religious vestiges remain but real faith is so totally undefined. Millions believe in God, and life after death but so many have no clue what to do to prepare for meeting God and entering the hereafter. We are very spiritual, and even religious in some ways, but we are almost clueless about the “faith that comes by hearing the Word of God.”

Donald G. Bloesch: On the Death of My Friend

Donald G. Bloesch, a prominent evangelical theologian who was an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, passed away last Tuesday, August 24. This news deeply moved me since Dr. Bloesch was one of my most trusted and beloved mentors. This was true even though I never formally studied under Don as a professor. My relationship was far more interesting in its own way.

Back in the 1970s I first heard the name of Donald Bloesch but at first I didn’t think much about him since I was fairly shut off in my own sectarian world of thought and practice. One summer, in the late 1970s I believe, I attended a small gathering associated with the ministry of a popular magazine of the time called Present Truth. The magazine actually opened my eyes to the need for recovering gospel truths in an age that was fast losing its grasp on the grace of God. Two teachers were leading this small gathering and there could not have been more than 75 people in the room. One of those in the audience, and sharing insights only as a humble participant, was Dr. Don Bloesch. I was impressed that a man of such profound scholarship would take the time to share in a small event where he was not a featured speaker. Don believed something important was going on in that room and wanted to interact with it. So did I.

Fast forward to the late 1980s and I would meet Dr. Bloesch again, this time in Iowa. Don taught for a lifetime at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, a PCUSA seminary. He had taught at UDTS during a time when he was likely one of only two or three seriously evangelical theologians on the faculty. Don was a graduate of Elmhurst College and the University of Chicago Divinity School and had been a mainline Christian his whole life. He had grown up in a minister’s home and personally knew both Reinhold Niebuhr and H. Richard Niebuhr. He had listened to Barth and Brunner and shared conversation with the greatest theological voices in the Western world. Yet he remained both evangelical and humble throughout his entire life.

The way I connected with Don personally was through a copy of the theological journal I edited in the 1990s. He liked both the concept and the content of this journal a great deal and began to warm up to me as a friend. I was making more and more trips to Dubuque in those days because I had a standing offer to use a ranch near Galena (IL) for a retreat place. I would always make time to see Donald and Brenda, his lovely wife. We became friends and began to talk about personal concerns as well as theology. We prayed together, shared some dreams and enjoyed frequent table fellowship. I worshiped with Don and Brenda, visited several monasteries and through him got to know many of the faculty in Dubuque, some of whom remain good friends.

By the end of the ‘90s Don and I had forged a relationship for the renewal of the church, especially the mainline church. We decided to host a conference in 1999 at UDTS. We invited various mainline renewal speakers to do workshops. The plenary theologians included J. I.Packer, William Abraham, Carl Braaten, Donald and myself. It was a rich time for me since I was moving away continually. And Brenda was a lovely host and extremely intelligent conversationalist too. She always cheerfully thanked me for something I had said or done. I began to phone Don regularly, and he would phone me now and then as well. He had a most unusual , abrupt and odd way of answering the phone. He would pick up the receiver and simply say, “Yes.” When the conversation ended he would say something like, “Well, good bye.” That was it. Don was, as I discovered, simple, humble and quite shy in his own way. He was a man of the mind who liked people but was much more comfortable with writing and teaching.

Don’s magnum opus was his seven-volume work, Christian Foundations, a survey of modern theology published by InterVarsity Press. The first volume, which I have read several times and cannot recommend too highly as an introduction to understanding theology, is A Theology of Word and Spirit.

When I am asked by students what they should read to begin to deal with theology I recommend this book be first. If you have used the typical conservative theology books, especially those written by popular authors like Wayne Grudem, you owe it to yourself to read Donald Bloesch if you really want to understand how to do good theology. Grudem provides a recipe book, with a myriad of proof texts and propositions, while Bloesch opens windows to the mind and soul and shows you how to think in a Christocentric and careful way that does not slavishly follow philosophical systems. Bloesch provides evangelical and catholic theology at its very best, with an eye on the past and a keen perception of the present and the future.

Don Bloesch devoted years and years to this huge writing project. It will serve, I believe, as a major theological project for at least one generation to come and maybe many more. I treasure it as among my most valuable theological sets. I encourage everyone to read these books; pastors, students or lay readers. You might even start a reading group and work through them one-by-one. When the final volume appeared a few years ago I was stunned that my friend dedicated it to my mission. He never told me this was coming until the book came out. That was one of the great joys of my professional life.

Another great joy came when the seventh and final volume was completed and InterVarsity decided to honor Donald in Dubuque with a special evening. Three speakers were asked to give ten minutes on how Donald Bloesch’s work has shaped their lives. Donald chose two academics, one of whom was a current professor and a former student, and me. I still do not know why he asked me but I was in another zone that night. It was also the same evening in which I met some of my finest Catholic friends who are monks and who also loved Dr. Bloesch. Donald had friends across every part of the catholic church. In this he modeled which now shapes my life too.

Donald Bloesch understood the deep problems of the mainline church. He also understood that most conservative churches had their own problems. He believed ideology was at the center of our problems. We have substituted our political and social ideology for the gospel. He thus became a model of missional-ecumenism in his theology, embracing catholicity while remaining committed to Christ and the evangel. More than I think Don knew he helped me to form my mind and direction over these last twenty years and what I now do owes a great deal of debt to him.

The church lost one of its greatest modern theologians last Tuesday but I lost more because I lost a friend and dear mentor. Don was not only a man who prayed for me but he supported me financially as well. I grieve for Brenda, Don’s beautiful companion for decades. (They were both academics and met later in life. They lived a simple life together and Brenda was the brilliant editor of all Don’s work. She is a gifted academic in her own right.)

There are four or five older men that I have counted as my theological mentors in a unique personal way. These brothers have shaped my journey as a minister. I lost two of them in recent years; Robert Webber and now Donald Bloesch. (Two more remain and encourage me profoundly.) In the passing of friends like Bob Webber and Don Bloesch I realize that even more is expected of me as I seek to pass along what these giants taught me as their mentoree/student/friend. I rose up this morning giving thanks for my friend Donald G. Bloesch and feeling again my great loss.

Dead Man Walking: The Quest for the Impossible Life

Today’s post is a guest blog by my good friend Dr. Monte E. Wilson, the President of African American Self-Help Foundation. Monte resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Only the idea of death makes a warrior sufficiently detached so that he is capable of abandoning himself to anything. He knows his death is stalking him and won’t give him time to cling to anything, so he tries, without craving, all of everything. –Carlos Castaneda

One of the strongest of human instincts is self-preservation: maybe the strongest. We will do most anything to save our lives. On one hand, this is a healthy impulse for it keeps us from playing Russian roulette with .45 caliber handguns, drinking poison or telling our boss what we really think of him. On the other hand, this instinct can go from preserving our life to defending our ego.

The ego prefers remaining in its intellectual-psychological comfort zone to facing the challenges of new choices, new learning and new perspectives. Somehow I want to be different—without being different! I want to get from here to there while remaining here. And, above all else, I certainly do not want to stand out and appear strangely different from my peers. But really now, do corpses care what they look like?

Lao Tzu wrote, “Those who know how to live can walk abroad without fear of rhinoceros or tiger. They can enter battle without being wounded. The rhinoceros can find no place to thrust its horn, the tiger no place to use its claws, and weapons no place to pierce.” Why is this? Because they are “beyond death.” (Tao Te Ching 50)

And how do we get “beyond death”?

We see ourselves as already dead: dead to other people’s standards of evaluation, dead to societal approbation, dead to making other people happy at the expense of our own ultimate happiness. Think about it: What does it say about those individuals who wish for us to disregard our God-created uniqueness for the sake of their happiness?

Yes, our reputation is important. I am not suggesting otherwise. What I am suggesting is that without self-respect, of what worth is the applause of others? If I deny what I was created to become in order to please others, exactly what is it that these people are honoring in me? Certainly they are not honoring my true self.

All Hail, Monte Wilson … for he is now made in my image: thinking my thoughts through his brain, behaving as I deem best, and emoting in ways that keep me happy. Well done, sir!

The discipline of death requires that we see ourselves as dead to the old, ineffective or debilitating ways of believing and behaving. This doesn’t mean that some of what we have learned in the past will not serve us in our Quest: it does mean that such learning will need to be evaluated and inspected for beliefs, values and attitudes that would impede our journey.

The blessing of our mortality is that we are constantly faced with the challenge of choices. Do I do this with my allotted time or do I do that? The danger is in forgetting our mortality and living as if we have all the time in the world. It is best then, I think, to see our selves as always standing in the shadow of our own gravestone and asking, What Now?

This is not merely an intellectual concept to which you acquiesce. If you do not get this, if you do not chose to allow your soul to fully embrace that you are a “dead man walking,” then you will refuse to press beyond the safe and possible … to the Quest for (what others would call) The Impossible Life.

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2010

Letters to God: How and Why Evangelical Movies Often Fail

I am absolutely certain that many who read these blogs will like the new movie Letters to God. It is directed by David Nixon, the producer of the two highly successful films Facing the Giants and Fireproof. I am just as certain that others, who appreciate good film as art, and understand the medium in much the way I do, will find this new film a mixed-bag. Let me explain.

First, the story is quite good. It is actually rooted in a true story, with liberty taken to write the script. The film’s co-director, Patrick Doughtie lost his real-life son Tyler to cancer in 2005. He wrote the original screen play based upon this experience. I think that this explains why Letters works in a deeply personal way. The material is moving and the viewer, especially a sincere Christian viewer, will be easily drawn into this story. Further, this film is technically far better than either Facing the Giants or Fireproof. The reasons are clear. The budget for this film was $3 million, which is six-times more than was spent on Fireproof. And the musical quality of the film is considerably better than Nixon’s two previous hits. This film looks bigger and stronger from the start.

Second, there are some great scenes in this film. The actors are generally good. Tanner Maguire (photo right) plays a good Tyler, a challenging role for a young boy. And Jeffrey S. Johnson, the protagonist who is the mailman, reveals a deeply human person in both his strengths and weaknesses. But here is the problem. A moving, even tear-jerking, story does not necessarily make for a great movie. Letters to God is plainly not a great movie. The film is even confusing at times. The way the story unfolds shows that the editing was simply not well done. Way too much film remained and instead of the 110 minutes of run time it seemed like a good 90 minutes would have made the film stronger. At times the story goes in one direction and then you feel led in another with little or no context to support what has happened on screen.

Third, as Carolyn Arends noted in her review in Christianity Today, the theme of the film is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. Like Facing the Giants and Fireproof this film feels far too expressly evangelical. By this I mean it fits into all the preconceived molds that viewers have of evangelical Christianity and its simplistic and predictable answers. Plus, it lacks the kind of action that keeps the viewer in the middle of the story itself. Put very simply, this film feels like something too overtly evangelistic. Arends notes that this makes for “awkward filmmaking, partly because the language will be foreign to non-churched viewers and mostly because films thrive on action and it is very hard to depict quiet, introspective prayer with dramatic impact.” I could not agree more.

But the real saving grace of this film is found in the fact that young Tyler’s Letters are actually his prayers. This fact comes out slowly and subtly, just the way it should for maximum effect. Tyler explains to his brother, whom he urges to write to God, that this is sorta “like texting a friend.” That image works superbly in our modern context. But then there are responses from Tyler, and a few others like his grandmother, that feel way too formulaic. Here the dialogue left me unmoved, if not turned off.

The better moments of the film are the occasions when I wondered if the writer and director wanted me to be deeply moved. When Tyler’s mom, played quite well by Robyn Lively (photo left), has had just enough Bible quoting from her mother she finally loses it. I identified with this scene far more than the ones I think the film makers wanted me to embrace. Tyler’s mom wrestles quite honestly with the question of where was God in her suffering and loss. (Her husband had died, one senses in a tragic accident perhaps, and now her youngest child is slowly dying!) Here real faith is affirmed but not in the patterned evangelical way that I am used to hearing touted way too often.

This kind of problem is captured by Justin Chang in Variety when he says Letters to God is a “clunkily earnest Christian-themed tearjerker.” He adds that the film allows no one to escape the “saintlike glow of its terminally ill protagonist.” Sadly, I have to agree, though this story generally rings true with what people of personal faith can know in deep trial and death.

The U. S. Catholic Conference of Bishops has a film review site and there I found a review of this evangelical film. The writer said, “Though its underlying theology is evangelical, Catholic viewers—and Christian believers of every stripe—will welcome the inspirational and touching drama.” The Catholic review notes that the only noticeable divergence from Catholic teaching comes late in the script when Tyler’s “perky best friend Samantha expresses assurance, rather than the trusting hope, that her acceptance of Jesus into her heart will lead her to eternal life.” This is a common Catholic response to evangelical presentations of “accepting Jesus” and then equating this prayer of faith with the full assurance of living faith for an entire  lifetime. Though I do not doubt that a person, including a young person, can have assurance I do understand why these lines troubled this Catholic reviewer. They troubled me too, but not for precisely the same reason. They just sound too “evangelical” for my taste. You are told to pray the sinner’s prayer and it is done, no doubts and no problems.

Like so many such films Letters to God may reach a few nominal Christians with the good news. It will also play well with predictably evangelical audiences who can relate to the sentimentality of the film and the lack of profoundly troubling questions. I wanted Tyler to be a little more normal, more like his mother. And I wanted the gospel to be presented with a little less reliance upon the predictable lines that we all know. The story here is quite good. It reveals solid Christian values and concerns. But Arends is surely right when she concludes that if she could talk to the directors and producers of Letters to God she would : “Ask them, next time, to explain a little less and trust their story (and their audience, and the Spirit of God for that matter) a little more.” That says it perfectly.

I want to see human reality, expressed in a good story through a script that moves viewers through the action of the film itself. Very few films with Christian subjects can pull this off. The reasons are complex and would require another post.

A Life Well Lived: On the Death of Erwin Lutzer's Father

Since I was a young pastor in my early twenties Erwin Lutzer and I have shared a deep friendship. This has led to many wonderful times of conversation, ministry and prayer. Erwin's dad and mom are both over 100 years of age. This in itself is a remarkable fact but then his dad and mom are two rather amazing people. Erwin's dad finally passed away this week at the ripe old age of 106! Since I have heard so much about Erwin's dad for most of my adult life I thought it only right to share Erwin's account of his dad and his passing with all my readers. (If course, I have Erwin's permission to share this story with you. I also ask you to pray for him in light of this loss.)

Here is Erwin's brief account of his dad's amazing life and his death this week.

My father, age 106, laid his burdens down and entered the presence of our Lord this Wednesday morning at 5:00 AM. Dad did not have an easy life. He was born in 1902 to a German family living in the Ukraine, and during World War I, (1914) Russia insisted that all of the Germans within its boarders had to become refugees (lest they side with Germany in the war). My father's family was forced to make the difficult trek to Afghanistan, and there his mother (my grandmother) died at the age of 46 and was buried in a mass grave in Kabul. My father, age 12, did not have a chance to say goodbye to his mother and thought he'd never stop crying. 

When the war was over in 1918, Dad and his father and two brothers, were able to return to their farm and several years later he was able to immigrate to Canada. There in a church, he met my mother who had just been born again through the preaching of an evangelist. Dad walked her home, asked her to marry him, and within three weeks they were married. That was 77 years ago.

I will spare you all the hardship my father endured both in Europe and also the challenge of raising five children on a small farm. To this day, we as children don't understand how he did it all: for example, having to shovel countless loads of grain years before grain augers were invented. Of course we also had cows, chickens, and pigs, all of which needed care. Added to this, he had panic attacks, and couldn't work for days at a time. We as children said "goodbye" to him a number of times, because he thought he was dying. My mother shouldered these burdens and had to cope with all of these uncertainties. We never dreamed we would see Dad live a long life.

We were wrong.

Dad had come to know Christ as Savior in the Ukraine and throughout his long life he loved God, read the Bible consistently and cared deeply only about that which was most important. "I read the whole book of Ephesians today" he told me when we visited him in Canada when he was about 101.

When he was a hundred, I knelt next to him and asked him to give me a blessing as the patriarchs did in Old Testament times. He held my head in both of his hands and prayed a prayer that "would make heaven shake" as I put it. 

When we visited my parents this past May, Dad, now in a wheelchair, spoke very little. He recognized us, but only occasionally. So while we were sitting and talking with my mother, he appeared to be sleeping and was quiet the whole time. Then to our surprise, he said in a complete German sentence, "We have been speaking about the present…now it is time for us to speak about eternity and the Glory of God!"

Well, Dad, now you can speak of eternity and the glory of God in a way that you have never done before. Thanks for all the hard work…the care you gave to me and my siblings. Thanks for the hundreds of hours of prayers offered up on behalf of all of us. I can only hope those prayers will be answered.

Now my dear mother, who enjoyed her 100th birthday party three weeks ago, is a widow, anxiously awaiting her own entry into glory. She often prayed Dad would die before she did so that she would know he was well taken care of. God answered that prayer.

Rebecca and I are planning to fly to Canada Sunday afternoon for the funeral which will be on Monday.  We don't know yet when we will return, but I'm sure I'll miss the Christmas Eve service. We accept all of this in God's timing. All the details are pending.

Thanks for your love and prayers

Pastor Lutzer
 

On Living and Dying Well

I have told many friends, over many years, that nothing sobers and strengthens my soul like leading a funeral service. I remember many funny, unusual and delightful moments about scores of weddings I have conducted but I remember almost every funeral in a much more powerful way. I have preached a funeral service for friends of all sorts and for both my parents. I always know, as I stand by a grave, "Someday they will bring your body to such a place. Are you ready?" Nothing moves the mind and heart so powerfully.

I have conducted several funerals this summer. A recent service was for a dear friend whose husband I wrote an entire article about four and a half years ago. This appeared in one of my weekly articles. Her husband's legacy marked my life profoundly. He was a mentor figure who helped me time and time again. He taught me how to get involved in the lives of men and thus how to make a one-on-one difference in doing so. His name was John Shoop.

On July 16 I led the funeral for his widow, Ardella Shoop. The service consisted of about 15 people, almost all family. This allowed me to say and do some things reserved for such private moments. And it also allowed me to reflect upon the life of this godly woman who lived and died so very well.

When I came to Wheaton as a pastor in 1976 John and Ardella Shoop were really the reason I took the call from my church. I did not want to come really. I saw nothing but problems on the horizon and time proved that my judgment would be correct. I took John and Ardella aside during the candidate process and said, "I will take this call if you will stand by me." John was, at that time, the executive director of the Christian Business Men's Committee (CBMC), based in Illinois. He was also the best elder in the leadership of the church. Within a year CBMC would move their national office to Chattanooga and I would thus lose my best elder and dearest friend in the church. This loss was huge. But John and Ardella stuck by me and prayed for me for many decades. They also refused to listen to my critics without also listening to my side of a story and they offered wise and thoughtful counsel to me without simply telling me: "You are OK."

I reflected on their lives this week at Ardella's grave site and remembered that they had met both my parents before my dad died and the Shoops moved on to Tennessee. Eventually John would leave the national position of CBMC. He much preferred to disciple men, not run a national organization! He moved to the Dallas area and took up a city ministry for CBMC once again. When he retired, so to speak, he just kept doing the same things he had always done. He met men all the time. He asked them great questions about their walk with God. He insisted they stay in the Word and pray regularly. He would ask you, point blank, if you were doing these things and get very specific so you were not too comfortable if things were not right.

John could not have done all that he did without a godly, supportive and very spiritually mature wife. Ardella and John both lost they mates when they were around forty years of age, give or take. They were in the same congregation in Elgin, Illinois, and then later were married. This is a case where a second marriage, following two tragedies, produced great blessing for so many people. When I met them in 1976 they were beginning to "hit their stride" and their maturity and ministry were deep at that point.

Ardella devoted her life to John but more than this she devoted it to Christ. She had many gifts in her own right and used them widely. She was not only a loving mother to children from two marriages but she had her own ministry as a counselor, confidant, mentor and "mom" to students and young adults. Her gifts of mercy, comfort, discernment and hospitality stand out to me. Her home was always warm, charming and inviting. I could relax there and share my heart.

At the funeral, which we held at the grave site, I used Ardella's own Bible. Her daughter Marsha, who cared for her over the last four-plus years in New York, loaned it to me. I read inscriptions and notes from her worn out Bible that revealed where she got her depth and power. It was deeply moving for me to hold and use her own Bible. Several from her family shared stories and we concluded with the Lord's Prayer. It was a blessed season of praise, and a commitment to the earth of her remains, in the sure hope of the resurrection to come.

I learn again and again, at such times as these, one simple lesson: If you want to really be prepared for the end of life then live each day well and put your life in his hands and your heart into his Word day-by-day. There is no other way to live well and finish well.

A Christian Service of Worship and Thanksgiving

Here is the memorial service that we have planned for this Sunday in Huntsville. I would ask you to pray for me as I preach twice in the morning at Southwood Presbyterian Church, from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 on giving thanks in all circumstances, and then do my mom's funeral service at 2 p.m. using Hebrews 12:28-29 as my text. Amazingly, the preaching was planned several weeks ago. God's timing was perfect and my prayer is that many will see and hear the love of Christ powerfully displayed. Your intercession would be a means of grace to me personally.

A Service of Christian Worship and Remembrance of Marie Freeman Armstrong

November 21, 1915 €“--- November 19, 2007

Sunday, November 25, 2007 @ Southwood Presbyterian Church, Huntsville, Alabama


Prelude

Invocation                                                   Dr. Michael Honeycutt

Hymn                                €œ"It Is Well with My Soul"€

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
"€œIt is well with my soul."€

Though Satan should buffet, tho'€™ trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.

My sin,€” O, the glorious thought,
My sin, €”not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
Even so; €”it is well with my soul.

Refrain

It is well (it is well), with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Solo        "Give Me Jesus"                            Mrs. Angie Reed

A Pastoral Remembrance                             Dr. Michael Honeycutt

Old Testament Reading    Psalm 23              Dr. Michael Honeycutt

Words of Remembrance                                 

Dr. Greg Armstrong, Mr. Tom Tollett and Mrs. Della Park
                                                                   
New Testament Reading    Hebrews 11:1-16 Dr. Michael Honeycutt

Solo        "Amazing Grace"€                           Mrs. Angie Reed


Remembering the Life of Marie Armstrong    Dr. John H. Armstrong
and the Kingdom that Cannot Be Shaken

Hymn                                 "My Jesus I Love Thee"€

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, My Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ‘tis now.

I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary'€™s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus '€˜tis now.

I'€™ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'€™ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I'€™ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus '€˜tis now.

Concluding Words and Benediction                 Dr. Michael Honeycutt


Internment of the earthly body of Marie Armstrong will follow the memorial service at Memory Gardens, located at 6810 University Drive, Huntsville. Everyone is invited to this brief service of committal.

A meal for family and out-of-town guests will be held at Southwood Presbyterian Church at 5:00 p.m., following the graveside service.

Vera Marie (Freeman) Amstrong, RIP

I wrote an obituary for my mother to run in the Friday newspaper in Huntsville, Alabama. Here is the simple story of her long life. At $1.00 per word you have to be brief, unless you are wealthy and vain, so this is the best I could do in a short few sentences totals less than 300 words.

Vera Marie Freeman Armstrong
November 21, 1915---November 19, 2007

After a long, fulfilling and healthy life Vera Marie Freeman Armstrong, 91, of Huntsville, went to be with her beloved Lord on Monday, November 19. She was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas, on November 21, 1915, the youngest of seven children.

Marie was an incredibly social person with an amazing passion for life and the gospel of Jesus Christ. She loved good meal times with friends, reading Christian literature, studying the Holy Scriptures intensely and earnest praying. She was a widely respected Bible teacher for well over 60 years and took great joy in intercessory prayer for the hundreds of friends she taught, as well as for all of her family members. She was extremely generous person to everyone in need and cared deeply for the oppressed. She actively served in professional dental organizations and the Gideons International, both with her late husband of fifty years, Dr. Thomas H. Armstrong (1912-1986).

She is survived by her two sons, Dr. Thomas W. Armstrong (Nora Anne), of Huntsville, and Dr. John H. Armstrong (Anita), of Carol Stream, Illinois. She was cherished as “Mamame” to her five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A Christian service of worship and thanksgiving will be held this Sunday at 2 p.m. at Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville. Burial will follow in Huntsville Memorial Gardens. Visitation with the family will occur between 4 and 6 p.m. on Saturday at Laughlin Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to ACT 3, P. O. Box 88216, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. ACT 3 (www.act3online.com) is a mission of renewal for all Christian Churches begun in 1991 by Marie’s son, John. She actively supported this work with her fervent prayers and sacrificial gifts.

For information call (256) 534-2471. An online registry is also available at: www.laughlinservice.com