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.

Romans 5:6-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Biblical Christian love is more than a feeling; it is an active gracious meeting of a need in another simply for no other reason than that the person requires it.  This means that God’s love is not dependent upon any person’s striving toward him.  Rather, God’s love is based solely upon his free choice to show mercy to whomever he wants to show mercy.  It is an astounding phrase that we have here in Holy Scripture:  “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  God doesn’t wait until we look good enough, act good enough, or make a good enough effort toward good until he steps in and acts.  No, when we are at our worst; when we have no thought toward looking to God for answers; when we are going along our merry way with no intention of being a Christian; then, God shows his love for us by doing the improbable and the impossible:  he saves, justifies, and reconciles us to himself.
 
            This is some really robust truth that needs to sink deep down into our spiritual bones.  We do not save ourselves – God does.  We do not have a leg to stand on in making ourselves righteous – God does that.  We do not gin-up faith and love from within ourselves – God gives it to us.  In other words, all of Christianity is a precious and wonderful gift to us from the very heart of God, who delights in showing grace to the ungracious.
 
            So, then, the appropriate response to all this is to rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ!  Rather than grumping our way through most days like a believer baptized in pickle juice, we can contemplate the mercies of God, which are new every morning.  We can take some time each day to stop and think about the great love of God in Christ that saved a wretch like me.  And, we can live our lives being gracious and loving even toward those who disagree with us or are different from us, because that is exactly what God did for us.
 

 

            Gracious God, your love is unfathomable and beyond description.  Even a glimpse of your mercy is enough to change my life forever.  Let your enduring love be with me always so that I might show that same love toward others, just as Jesus did.  Amen.

Young Adults and Faith

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
            It is no secret for many churches that the millennial generation, particularly ages 18-24, are leaving organized religion.  A lot has been written in the past several years about why they have left.  But let’s turn this around and think about what makes those who do not stray stay in the institutional church.  My own anecdotal evidence of why this age group either stays or leaves leads to three reasons:  the involvement, or lack thereof, in church ministry beyond the youth group; the impact of the family; and, whether there are basic spiritual disciplines practiced, or not.
 
            I have noticed over the years of serving in the church that when teenagers have a significant involvement in a ministry that reaches across the span of the church community (i.e. worship services, small groups), then they are much more likely to understand that they are needed in the Body of Christ.  I have also observed that when kids are raised in a spiritual environment that places emphasis and importance on church ministry engagement, they are exposed to it being modeled and are likely to follow the example.  Finally, there is simply no substitute for basic practices in the Christian life getting started as early as possible.  Teens which learn to read their Bibles and pray tend to keep up those disciplines into adulthood.
 
            Ministry experience is one thing, but there is evidence to back up some of these observations.  Sociologist Christian Smith in his book, Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, says that his extensive research demonstrates that highly religious teenagers are not very likely to become very un-religious five years later.  Smith points to six factors that lead to the strength of religious practice among emerging adults:  strong parental religion; frequent personal prayer; high importance of religious faith; frequent reading of Scripture; many supportive religious adults; and, doubts about religious beliefs.
 
            Each one of these factors can be unpacked and examined in much more detail.  But for our purposes here in simply broaching the subject, it should become increasingly clear that we can exude a good deal of influence toward the younger generations within the church.  Whether a young adult is devoted, regular, sporadic, or disengaged in church might be their personal decision, but it is within our corporate sphere of control as to whether we will leave an impactful impression upon him/her for positive good.
 
            Indeed, from the ancient Hebrew Scriptures we get the admonition to leave such a persuasive influence upon our kids.  “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).
 
            If Christianity is a commitment that centers round all of life, then we can reasonably expect that this will leave an enduring and endearing legacy.  But if Christianity is something that exists to be present only when needed, then we ought not to be surprised when Christian faith is jettisoned by young adults who find something else that addresses their wants. 
 

 

            Inter-generational ministry, then, is not really something that is a nice notion, but is vital to the ongoing faith development of teens into adulthood and beyond.  It is the sage leadership team that thinks through these realities in their own context and develops some concrete ministry.  After all, the Christian life is not just for a season; it is to move and mature over a lifetime.

John 13:31-35

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            To love one another, as Jesus defines love, is the distinctive feature of Christianity.  It is not reproducible by the world.  Jesus said that this love is “new.”  Although love is displayed and commanded throughout the Old Testament, the New Testament love that Jesus spoke of is distinctive in several ways.  In Christ, we have a new model of love.  Jesus showed a servant-love that went well beyond non-retaliation toward others to actually serving enemies.  Furthermore, Christian love has a new motive of loving because we have been loved by Jesus, demonstrated through the cross.  We also have a new motivator, the Holy Spirit, who teaches us and energizes for a new mission:  world evangelization.
 
            Since Jesus let us know that our mission hinges on the ability to love with Christ’s own love, we must grasp the reality that love is not optional, but absolutely vital.  The way in which we treat one another in the Body of Christ is fundamental to mission.  The medieval mystic, St. John of the Cross, said that “mission is putting love where love is not.”  Love is entering into another person’s life with service and meeting needs in a manner that emulates the character of Christ.
 
            Therefore, Christianity is not about “me.”  It is about others.  The church is the one institution on earth that doesn’t exist to promote itself, but to bless the world.  Whatever we must do in order to love people to Jesus is what we need to do, period.  Take some time today and meditate on these words of Jesus from the Gospel of John, and see what the Holy Spirit works inside you.  Then, share it with another and seek to do it with all the love that God gives you.
 

 

            Loving God, you demonstrated your great love by sending your Son on my behalf.  Help me to live and love like Jesus in all I say and do so that Christ’s Church is built up in the faith, and the world is blessed.  Amen.

Psalm 18:20-30

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            I confess that I am tired a lot.  Maybe it is the rigors of pastoral ministry.  It could be because my mind is always a beehive of activity and doesn’t shut down easily at night.  Perhaps it is due to not enough exercise or self-care.  More than likely, it is a bit of all.  But I perked up when I read today’s psalm and heard David say that “by my God I can leap over a wall.”
 
            It has been a while since I’ve leapt over a wall.  I’m not that old, but old enough to know better than try something like leaping over walls and pulling hamstrings.  David was really no spring chicken himself when he wrote this.  Psalm 18 is a psalm of praise to God for rescuing David from Saul and all his enemies.  This deliverance did not happen overnight; it came over years of David running from the king and being pursued by others.  But the day finally did come, and David was not shy in proclaiming his praise to God.
 
            If God’s deliverance from earthly enemies can energize him so much, how much more can I be invigorated by the reality that I am delivered from sin, death, and hell through the blood of Jesus Christ?  Maybe you, like me sometimes, think way too much about adverse circumstances and ornery people.  I am continually an advocate of using the ancient psalms to help give voice to our contemporary situations.  So, today, I am taking my own advice by reading and meditating on this psalm and getting a head start on Thanksgiving Day.  I probably won’t go out a leap over a wall, but I suspect my soul will be renewed and energized by contemplating the redemptive events of Jesus.
 

 

            Saving God, you have settled the sin issue once for all through your Son, the Lord Jesus.  Thank you for your gracious deliverance.  May my mind and heart be fortified through living into such a great salvation.  Amen.