Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 13

Harsh language: should Christians use it—and if so, how?

Some time ago, I wrote about how we can be more thoughtful literary evangelists. In that article, I shared about my distaste for Christians using harsh language. Now, I’m not talking about swearing or profanity. That’s a whole different thing.

Instead, I’m talking about angry and fiery rhetoric—the kind that gets rewarded by social media algorithms and ratings. The kind that demonizes people with whom we disagree, and labels anyone who disagrees with us because… Well, more often than not, I ...

3 tricks to help you memorize Scripture

When I was a new Christian, I was determined to learn as much as I could as quickly as possible. I wanted to read the Bible in full. But I also wanted to dig into some of the wilder stuff, like Revelation.1 I also wanted to figure out how to memorize Scripture.

There were people I knew who could rhyme off different verses verbatim in a way that I’d never seen before. I, meanwhile, could rhyme off quotes from Star Trek and High Fidelity. Eventually, though, I managed to memorize a few verses—...

Your Next Favorite Book: Neverwhere

In the 1990s, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman was the comic book of choice for the self-described sophisticated reader (and I should know, because I was kind of one of them). Post-modern and progressive, the story of the Dream King paved the way for Gaiman’s career as a celebrated—and bestselling—novelist.

In this episode, I’m sharing a favorite novel by Neil Gaiman, which is also one of his earliest. It is the story of a young Scotsman who moved to London and had his world turned upside down. And...

Your Next Favorite Book 1.1. Neverwhere

In the 1990s, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman was the comic book of choice for the self-described sophisticated reader (and I should know, because I was kind of one of them). Post-modern and progressive, the story of the Dream King paved the way for Gaiman’s career as a celebrated—and bestselling—novelist.

In this episode, I’m sharing a favorite novel by Neil Gaiman, which is also one of his earliest. It is the story of a young Scotsman who moved to London and had his world turned upside down. And...

5 types of books new Christians should read

Something I noticed early on as a Christian was all the books about how to live faithfully. And by a lot, I mean a lot. In all caps. Underlined. With multiple exclamation points. (Ahem.) Shelves at the local big box bookstore were full of them. The Christian bookstores were jam packed with offerings.1

Figuring out where to start was kind of overwhelming, to be honest. What were the books I should read first? Which ones were the ones I should avoid entirely?

Helping you find your first goo...

The gospel in 14 words

One of my all-time favorite verses in the entire Bible is early in John’s Gospel. It’s place in the narrative almost feels like an aside, but it is the gospel. The gospel in 14 words, but the gospel nonetheless.

After the grand picture of the eternal Word, who was with God and was God in the beginning, who came and dwelt among us, John wrote, “This was John’s testimony” (John 1:19). He preached in the wilderness, and baptized in the Jordan River. His ministry was causing a stir among the reli...

An update on my next book & an invitation

It’s been more 17 years since I became a Christian. I still remember what it was like to try to figure out what that meant—both what happened to me, and how to live in light of this thing I now believed.

That’s why I wrote I’m a Christian—Now What? A Guide to Your New Life With Christ. It is a practical and (I hope) friendly book that helps you take those important first steps as as new believer. This means it’s as much about the basics of developing healthy habits to grow your faith as it is...

Three reasons to study church history

What comes to mind when you read the word “history?”

I grew up going to Canada School, so I remember struggling through every class. It was the class I loathed almost as much as Gym.1 Now, I love history. It’s fascinating. And Canada’s is actually really, really interesting (read this book and tell me I’m wrong). But it’s hard to care about subjects where it’s pretty obvious your teachers don’t.

As a Christian, especially as I think about our current time, I am drawn to history. Specific...

3 Bible passages we don’t like (even if we don’t want to admit it)

It’s okay to admit it. No one’s judging… Well, maybe some dude on Twitter is judging, but I’m not. There are some Bible passages we don’t like.

Oh, the many Bible passages we love

There are some passages of Scripture that we all absolutely love and adore:

Our hearts soar as we read the hopeful promise of John 3:16: “For God loved the world in this way: he gave his one and only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”We love Paul’s confidence...

4 questions to improve your personal Bible reading

With a new calendar year upon us, I’m sure a number of us have started a new Bible reading plan. Whether you’re reading straight through, using the M’Cheyne method, or trying something something else entirely. (There are no shortage of approaches.) But whatever one we use, we should all read with the same goal in mind. We want to grow in our love for and obedience to the God we meet in the Bible’s pages.

That’s the whole point. It’s not to gain mere knowledge or, worse, check a box off on yo...