Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 20

The 3 Ingredients of Gospel Culture

Every week, without fail my community group begins the same way, with a reminder of our purpose—our pursuit of what we call a gospel culture. Here’s here’s what we say:

Because of the gospel, this is a safe place. What is said here stays here. No one has anything to fear because if God is for us, who can be against us?
Through the gospel, we are a family and you belong here. If one suffers, all suffer together; if one is honored, all rejoice together.
To further the gospel, we are on mission to...

3 reasons why reading the Bible feels like a chore

Christian, if reading the Bible isn’t really your thing, can we chat for a minute?

While Christianity isn’t dependent upon our academic inclinations, nor our interest in reading in general—to suggest those who are illiterate, have a learning disability or simply aren’t big readers are excluded from the kingdom of God is ridiculous—all Christians should strive to be students of the Bible.

We are, after all, a people of the Book. We know God’s will, his character, and his promises through t...

Should we pray imprecatory prayers?

When is it right for Christians to pray imprecatory prayers? Is it right at all?

Imprecatory prayers are effectively a curse. They are prayers calling down God’s judgment upon the enemies of His people. The language is visceral in these prayers, as you can see when you read just a few like Psalms 7, 35, 55, 58, 59, 69, 79, 109, 137, and 139. The anger, the frustration, of the one praying is palpable. But these kinds of prayers aren’t mere venting—they are an appeal to God’s power and authori...

Introducing aaronarmstrong.co

I started my first writing website back in 2009. I had been a Christian for just shy of four years at the time, and full of all kinds of ideas and opinions. Some of them were even helpful.

When I started, I was just trying to do two things: to learn to write well, and to process what I was reading in the Bible and other books. I was working as a marketing copywriter at a non-profit in Canada. I had no real aspirations to publish, speak, or do anything else. I was just writing, and people sta...

Beginning again, but not from the beginning

It’s been more than five years since I had a first day at work. But here I am: starting my first day at my new job, as a Marketing Director for Thomas Nelson Bibles. And doing the job at my same desk where I worked at my previous job just a week ago.

Starting a new job is a strange experience, especially when doing it remotely. I won’t meet anyone face-to-face, only in a mediated form, through a screen and camera. All the same first-day jitters are there, the imposter complex, everything. It...

A personal update

Five years, one month, and 24 days ago, I started the job that changed my life: I began working for Lifeway Christian Resources as the Brand Manager of The Gospel Project.

Since 2016, it’s been one of the most difficult and rewarding professional roles I have held. Every day gave me the opportunity to serve the church as a champion for gospel-centered ministry on an international scale. To write content, to occasionally speak, to produce videos—to work with some of the most brilliant and...

44,444 words and 4 months

Back in 2015, while I still lived in Canada, I began working on a blog series for For the Church reflecting on my first 10 years as a Christian, and what I wish I’d known then. While at an event in Nashville in May of that year, Jared Wilson were talking about the series. He said five words that stuck with me: “This should be a book.”

I started noodling with it, working on a rough proposal, figuring out the outline, and playing with rough content for certain chapters. Then, I got my job with ...

Prime Day Deals I Like (and Use)

I’ve been a bit lax on updating the blog of late, largely because of work constraints and writing five books in four years. But even so, I wanted to actually share some things that I thought were pretty rad that I’ve seen in Amazon’s Prime Day sale. Although I went looking for different options for resources to help you grow in your faith, there really weren’t any to speak of. So, this list is entirely comprised of items I like (and, with rare exception, own and use).

Amazon Echo Device...

The Trial Separation

Dave and Aaron have to have a talk. It’s a hard talk, but it’s a good one. Feel the randomness as we discuss:

The realities of our lives right nowIf Grease 2 is the best sequel of all time (and why does Dave think the answer is yes)The best horror writers (since we don’t read those books)A Stranger Things and Lonesome Dove connectionIntroducing kids to Nicolas CageA few of the books we mentioned Superman: Exile & Other Stories Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir The Book Thief by Markus ...

Sitting at the Top of the Christian Publishing World

Our friend Mary Wiley joins us this week for a chat about publishing, writing theology books for kids, why we need more books like Gentle and Lowly, and the time a group of people lost their minds when Dave told them about a little book she wrote.

A few of the books mentioned on today’s episode Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund The Gospel Story and Everyday Theology by Mary Wiley The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry