Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

1 John 4:1-6

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            The Apostle John gave some spiritually sage advice to a group of his disciples who were being influenced by false believers:  “Dear friends, don’t believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God.  Test them all to find out if they really do come from God.”  Lots of people make claims, but the real muster of a Christian is in embracing an embodied spirituality that truly meets the holistic needs of others.
 
            For John, there was no room for the Platonic Greek dualism of body and spirit.  Jesus was a real man with a very real body.  To deny this was to deny the faith.  Ethereal musings about the insignificance of the body were flatly rejected by John.  The apostle was concerned that the supreme Christian ethic of love be practiced through attention to both body and soul.  This means words are not enough; actual demonstrations of love are needed in order to communicate Christ to others.
 
            I’ll be the first guy to insist on some deep theological reflection on the great spiritual, cultural, and social issues of our day.  But if it does not lead to the end of some very real tangible acts of love based on that reflection, then we have not yet been called God’s friend.  Correct doctrine will always lead to loving actions of faith.  We are to glorify God with both speech and service, and never just one without the other.
 

 

            Loving God, since you cared for us by sending your Son, the Lord Jesus, to this earth as a real human being, so let my very real body and soul glorify you with words and ways of love through the power of your Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Power of Gratitude

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
Thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live (1 Thessalonians 5:18, The Message).
 
            Gratitude has the power to change our lives and our churches.  That is, if we let it.  If we want to live happy contented lives, then we will obey the Scripture’s exhortation to give thanks in any kind of circumstance in any kind of context.  It can be a challenge to give thanks during hard times.  But that might be the most important time to do it.  The biblical character David had the where-with-all to acknowledge his desperate condition, yet chose to praise God in the middle of it.  In Psalm 57 he said, “I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts – men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords… They spread a net for my feet – I am bowed down in distress… But my heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music… I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.”
 
            If you are in between a rock and a hard place, for what can you express praise and thanksgiving to God?  Our spiritual ancestors, the pilgrims, came to this country.  The original colonial pilgrims of America numbered over a hundred when they came, and, after the first winter, less than fifty of them remained.  It does not get much bleaker than that.  Yet, instead of retreating into bitterness, resentment, and envy, they decided to set aside a particular day to give thanks for what they had, and not be constantly upset about what they did nothave.
 
            We are to give thanks in all kinds of circumstances, whether good or bad, whether big or small.  In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells about an incident that taught her the principle of giving thanks in all things. It was during World War II. Corrie and her sister, Betsy, had been harboring Jewish people in their home, so they were arrested and imprisoned at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.  The barracks was extremely crowded and infested with fleas. One morning they read in their tattered Bible from 1 Thessalonians the reminder to give thanks in all things.  Betsy said, “Corrie, we’ve got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas.”  Corrie replied, “No way am I going to thank God for fleas.” But Betsy was persistent and persuasive, and they did thank God even for the fleas.  During the months that followed, they found that their barracks was left relatively free, and they could do Bible study, talk openly, and even pray in the barracks. It was their only place of refuge. Several months later they learned that the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of those blasted fleas.
 
            Sometimes we do not understand what God is doing.  Sometimes we just don’t perceive that the Lord is up to anything.  You may feel as if you are sitting still right now, yet, planet Earth is spinning around its axis at a speed of 1,000 miles per hour.  We are also hurtling through space at an average velocity of 67,108 miles per hour. So even on a day when you feel like you did not get much done, do not forget that you traveled 1,599,793 miles through space! To top things off, the Milky Way is spinning like a galactic pinwheel at the dizzying rate of 483,000 mph.
 
That is amazing. But we don’t feel it, so it’s off our radars.  When was the last time you thanked God for keeping us in orbit? I’m guessing you have never prayed, “Lord, I wasn’t sure we’d make the full rotation today, but you did it again!” We just don’t pray that way.  But we are to learn to thank God in every circumstance, both big and small.  If we can trust God to keep our feet on the ground with a big thing like gravity, then we can trust him in any and every situation we experience.
 

 

            Gratitude has healing power.  It is easy to complain about church.  Any common fool will go on and belly-ache about how bad things are and play arm-chair Deity about how to fix all the ills of the church and the world.  But it takes a wise person to find gratitude and choose to give thanks for all the good things God has done and is doing, being careful to give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Of the 250,000 Protestant churches in America, 200,000 are either stagnant (with no growth) or declining. That is 80% of the churches in America and maybe the one you attend, if you attend at all.  4,000 churches close their doors every single year.  There is less than half of the number of churches today than there were only 100 years ago.  3,500 people leave the church every single day.
 
            These sobering statistics make today’s psalm even more prescient.  Although the psalm speaks of Israel, likened as a vine which is withering away, it sounds like the cry of many American churches.  They scratch their heads wondering why in the world they are dying.  They are perplexed by the precipitous decline of their congregations.  Like Israel, they keep looking to outside forces as the reason for their loss of members instead of looking inward to their own lack of fruitfulness. 
 
            At least the psalmist cries out to God:  “God All Powerful, please do something!… make us strong again!  Smile on us and save us!”  Far too many churches do not even think to cry out to God, but have bought into the magical thinking that some tweak of the worship service, some program alteration, or maybe a new pastor will solve their woes.  But God is not looking for superficial changes; He is looking for wholehearted repentance.  Until we begin with our own hearts within our own congregations, our lamentations will fall flat before the Lord.  Revival starts with you and me.
 

 

            Mighty God, you planted thousands of churches throughout this country and the world in order to bear fruit and produce abundance.  Yet, we are withering before you because of our own stubbornness and blindness.  Search my heart and know me, O Lord; see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting for the sake of Jesus, my Savior.  Amen.

Psalm 11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            It is part of the human condition that we will eventually take the brunt of someone’s poison darts.  If you have ever received a nasty e-mail based on half-truths and accusations; stood dumbfounded as someone hurled misinformation and criticism at you; and/or experienced the victimization that comes from slanderous and gossiping tongues, then the psalmist knows exactly how you feel.  “Those evil people have put their arrows on their bows, and they are standing in the shadows, aiming at good people.”
 
            To be the target of evil speech or actions is, at the least, unsettling, and, at worst, can bring years of struggle, depression, and inability to serve.  But there is another who sees it all, and he will address the wrong.  “The LORD is sitting in his sacred temple on his throne in heaven.  He knows everything we do because he sees us all….  The LORD always does right and wants justice done.  Everyone who does right will see his face.”  God will act because he “despises those who are cruel and love violence.”
 
            In other words, it is not a good idea to get on God’s bad side.  The way to flare God’s anger is by possessing an acerbic tongue; relishing in the verbal violence; and, having no remorse about any of it.  Because God loves people, he hates wickedness.  The righteous are to take solace in the truth that God really does see the harm done, and is in a position to do something about it.  Like the psalmist, we run to the Lord and trust in his ultimate judgment.
 

 

            God of justice, look at the state of your servant and act on my behalf.  Do not let evil prevail, but bury the ungodly so that they can no longer do any harm.  In Jesus’ Name I pray.  Amen.