Month: January 2018

Judges 2:6-15

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            The Old Testament book of Judges reads something like a soap opera.  The main characters are the ancient Israelites, fresh from coming into the Promised Land; God, the One who brought them into the land with a series of miraculous events and divine interventions; and, of course, the Judges, the men and women who ruled in the land.
            Moving through the chapters of Judges is full of adventures and misadventures.  It is a sad downward spiral of people forsaking the worship of God; God getting their attention; the people awakening to their dire condition and crying out to God; God sending a Judge to save them; the people slipping into a worse condition; and, the cycle starting all over again with more disastrous results and brokenness than before.
            In chapter 2, we get the clue as to where it all began and why it kept happening.  Tucked away in the middle of these verses is this cryptic and passive phrase: “After a while the people of Joshua’s generation died, and the next generation did not know the LORD or any of the things he had done for Israel.”
 
            There we have it.  The first generation of Israelites just plain failed to pass on their values, their experiences, and their knowledge to their children.  They simply were not intentional about providing the kind of education to their kids that would let them know who God is and what He did for them.
            The next generation will not know God unless this present generation takes to heart the mandate to graciously teach and develop their children in the words and ways of Jesus Christ.  It doesn’t just magically happen.
            What are some ways you can pass on the grace and truth of Jesus to the next generation?  How can you do it in a way that is loving and compelling, and not boring and pedantic?  If you are not confident in your familiarity of God, how might you go on a discovery with your kids or grandkids to find out more?

 

            Lord God Almighty, you have acted in the past with mighty deeds and gracious ways.  Help and enable your people to pass on their love for Jesus to the next generation so that your kingdom breaks into the generations and your will be done here on earth as it is always done in heaven.  Amen.

Jesus and Failure

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

Alexander Pope quote

Failure is whole lot more common than success.  In his book, Break Open the Sky, Steven Bauman writes: “Despite our near-phobic fear of failure, the facts suggest that it’s a common, almost universal, experience:

  • 75 percent of venture-capital-backed start-ups fail, and 95 percent do not meet the initial expectations.
  • 40 percent of CEOs don’t last eighteen months.
  • 70 to 90 percent of mergers and acquisitions fail to add shareholder value.
  • 81 percent of new hires don’t work out.
  • 99 percent of new patents never earn a penny.
  • 95 percent of new products introduced in any given year fail.
  • 68 percent of information technology projects fail to meet their goals.
  • 88 percent of New Year’s resolutions end in failure.
  • 100 percent of all human bodies fail.

You and I put up our best faces, especially on social media.  Like a seasoned political spin doctor, we take bits and pieces of our lives and paste them into the world for all to see our good points – how witty, or beautiful, or privileged, or wealthy, or whatever is important to us – or, how right we are about everything from creating mouth-watering smoked ribs, to communicating how the economy should really work, to punching-out opinions on others like a boxing glove to the face.

Oh, my, little do we realize this is soul draining activity that only feeds the ego and places us at arms-length to the grace of God which longs for us to be real, vulnerable, and admit our deep need for the love of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus chose to identify himself with lowly failures, the poor, and maladjusted sinners, it was the successful, wealthy, and upstanding people who thought this was a waste of time.  This was not the way to build your portfolio.  The Messiah paparazzi were aghast at what they were seeing.  Jesus was spending time with failures, and he was going to become one, at least in the eyes of those who always kept a clean social media profile.

But Jesus said to them: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.  I didn’t come to invite good people to turn to God.  I came to invite sinners.” (Luke 5:31-32)

Posturing and preening aren’t practices that get you into the kingdom of God.  In the end, they get you nowhere.

I have failed at a whole lot more things than I’ve been successful at in life.  Truth be told, all of us have a few wild successes at things that we like to highlight, and a house full of failure that we try to cram into that one closet nobody is allowed to open.

We all share the common human condition of failure.  You can’t put the pure living water of Jesus in the cup of your life if its already full of the toilet water that looks clean but is full of nasty bacteria.

What to do?  Empty yourselves.  Pour out the potty water of peacocking your way through life, and simply let Jesus dwell in you through faith.  Sit at his feet.  Drink him in.  Let your plans go.  Let new goals seep into your soul.  Be filled with the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  And you will find yourself full of life, love, and devotion to serve the common good of all people.  Even if you fail doing it, you’re in good company.

Isaiah 41:14-20

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Each morning I rise and read God’s Holy Word.  It is a discipline I’ve been doing for nearly 40 years.  In the past few years, I have begun reading more slowly and with greater contemplation –  because the goal is not to check off that you have read some verses on a Bible reading plan.  The aim is to connect meaningfully with God.  The desired result is to hear from him, and to let the Scriptures do their incredible work in our hearts.
            One of the ways I connect with Scripture, after having read the verses for the day several times, is to write it in my own words, using personal pronouns.  This morning is one of those days.  Here is today’s Old Testament lesson interpreted and personalized with God being the speaker….
“My dear servant, there is no need whatsoever to worry yourself,
though others say about you,
            ‘That guy is nothing, only a wormy maggot!’
I am your holy God,
            who saves and protects you.
I’ll let you be like a big ol’ log
            covered with sharp spikes.
You will grind and crush
every mountain and hill in front of you
            until they turn to dust.
A strong wind will scatter the dust of unholy jerks
            in all directions.
Then you will celebrate
and praise me, your LORD,
            The holy God who watches your life.
When your financial budget doesn’t budge
and your bank accounts lie empty
            and you have no idea where to turn,
I, your LORD and your God
will come to your rescue.
            I will not forget you.
I will make rivers of abundance flow
            on the desolate mountain peaks in your life.
I will send streams of life
to fill your empty valley of life’s tribulations.
Dry and barren places in your life
will flow with springs
            and become a lake of grace and goodness.
I will fill the parched desert areas of your needy life
            with all kinds of fruitful trees –
apple trees, olive trees, fig trees,
oak and walnut, elm and maple, fir and pine,
like in the original garden,
all your needs will be met in and through me, your God.
Everyone will see this
            and know that I,
the holy LORD God whom you love and serve,

 

            created every bit of it.”

Church Outlaws

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
            My wife’s family loves Westerns.  In fact, the first time I went to Mary’s house the first thing I noticed was the rather large print of John Wayne above the TV.  So, as you can imagine, I’ve watched my share of gun-slinging cinema.  Probably the classic Western is one in which the band of outlaws comes into town every so often and shoots it up, drinking and carousing and having their way.  The town sheriff might have the authority as the law, but he can’t face the outlaws by himself.  In typical Western movie build-up, the final shoot-out of the film has the town folk convinced to quit hiding in their homes and businesses.  The outlaws come into town thinking they will have their way again, but this time the people are ready with rifles on their roof tops, and a plan to bring them down to size.  It works, and the town once again restores law and order, having found their courage to not only survive in the Old West, but to thrive.
            Christian pastors are some of the loneliest people on earth.  They’re that way because far too many congregations are like the old Western town folk.  They don’t have the gumption to stand up to the church outlaws.  So, they let their sheriff get shot in the street by the bad guys while they cower in fear behind the bar.
            No pastor can stand alone.  He/she needs the strong support of church members who will stand with that pastor when the outlaws ride into church on their high horse.  When individual church members have had their way with a congregation for too long, they use every trick in the book (even trying to use the Bible for their backup) to keep the status quo because the way things are keeps them in power.
            Make no mistake about it, keeping power is what the outlaws want.  They will appeal to the fact that:  they are charter members; they give more money than anybody else; they did a certain ministry for decades; they know what the congregation is really thinking and feeling; and, they’ve seen pastors come and go and they’re still there.  Therefore, you should always listen to them and do what they say.
            Never mind that the church outlaws have never led another person to Jesus Christ (even though they’ll tell you how to do it).  Never mind that they don’t read their Bibles (even though they’ll let you know how many thousands of sermons they’ve heard over the years).  Never mind that they don’t worship God as a lifestyle (even though they’ll fight to the end over what a worship service is supposed to be like).
            If you’re reading this right now, chances are that you are not one of the church outlaws.  That’s because church outlaws are never learners and growers in Christ – they are only power-brokers in the church system.  This is precisely why you need to support your local sheriff and get that rifle out and head for the roof top.  If you don’t, the outlaws will keep throwing their bluster and weight around to get what they want.  And what will get lost in it all is God’s kingdom getting extended to the people who need it the most, and God’s will done on earth, as it is done in heaven.
            What’s at stake is not only your church’s reputation, but your community’s need for Jesus Christ.  Church outlaws don’t need to hold your congregation hostage.  Conflict in and of itself is not bad – it’s how you go about it.  But leaving a pastor out in the street to be hung by the outlaw mob in the name of keeping the peace is very bad and is not at all becoming of a faithful follower of Christ.  Not to mention that God himself will take notice of it if we refuse to act.

 

            Seek out your pastor.  Listen well to him/her.  Hear their heart for the church, and for the community.  Ask them how you can help.  And determine to stand with them when the outlaws ride into town.