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.

Matthew 18:6-9

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            A universal truism of this world is that sin exists.  Greed, envy, gluttony, sloth, anger, lust, and pride abound no matter where one goes on this planet.  And it is terrible.  Sin causes people to stumble, and, when unchecked, leads to personal and corporate destruction.  When sin is viewed as merely a character flaw, or simply part of the fabric of organizations and institutions, then hellfire is not far off.  Hell exists because of sin. 
 
            Jesus took sin quite serious.  He considers sin so awful that he used the height of hyperbole to communicate that radical, drastic, decisive action must be taken unequivocally to get rid of it.  Our Lord wanted there to be no mistake in his communication:  sin is not something to dabble in or take a shallow approach; sin must be eradicated at all costs.  The language is severe:  if your hand, foot, or eye causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better to enter life crippled or blind rather than be thrown into hell.
 
            Temptations will come.  What we do with them is of eternal significance.  We must get to the root of the sin, which is succumbing to temptation, and re-arrange our lives or alter our schedules in a radical way in order to remove putting ourselves in a position to sin.  Solid daily spiritual habits of Scripture reading and prayer; time for sleep and rest; attention to Sabbath; and, a regular exercise regimen are all ways to help ensure that temptation will not win the day.
            Holy God, you sent your Son to this earth to deal decisively with the world’s sin.  I choose today to walk in the forgiveness you offer through Jesus, and to avail myself of the Spirit’s power to forsake temptation in all its forms.  Amen.

1 John 2:18-25

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            In the past several centuries of Christian history there have been certain groups that have advanced various individuals as being the “antichrist.”  Attempting to identify a particular antichrist comes from a theological disposition that believes that a certain antichrist is the first link of a chain of end-times events.  Typically, a ruthless or dictatorial ruler, like Mussolini, Hitler, or Stalin receives the label of “antichrist.”  For some Protestants, the papacy continually gets set apart as being the antichrist.  As recently as a few days ago, Pope Francis received the dubious title from a group of end-times watchers because they claimed he allowed people to treat him as if he were Jesus, accepting worship and praise.
 
            But the term “antichrist” has not typically been used as a title for one person setting-off a bomb of world-ending trauma.  The earliest church, following the teaching of the Apostle John, understood antichrist not as an individual, but a class of people who deny that Jesus is the Christ.  Indeed, John plainly said the antichrist is anyone who forsakes the Father and the Son.  What is so disturbing about John’s talk of antichrist is that these persons arise from within the church, not outside of it.
 
            It has become much too vogue in some circles of Christian evangelicalism to identify and label enemies outside their small groups, leading to a xenophobic attitude of distrust and finger-pointing of all kinds of people.  The fingers, however, must first be directed within our own house.  It behooves us all to take up the instruction of John:  “Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.  If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.”  In other words, embrace the basic cardinal truth given to you.  Then you will not be deceived by anyone coming along denying the fundamental reality of God.
 
            It is the last hour – but not because of some politician, tyrant, or even religious figure.  It is the last hour because Jesus has accomplished redemption for us, and the only event left is the return of Jesus to judge the living and the dead.  Therefore we must all live with the possibility and tension that it could be today, and be prepared through proclaiming Jesus in all we say and do.
            Mighty God, you sent the Son to this earth to fulfill all your good promises.  Let me embrace Jesus so fully and completely that the truth of his reality comes pouring out of me in every area of my life.  In his name I pray.  Amen.

The Price of Prayer

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry Blog1 Comment
 
 
All of the Christian life is grounded in two important theological truths:  God is good; and, God acts powerfully in the world for good.  Prayer is based in the conviction that God is concerned to hear us; and, that he is able to respond and answer.  Prayer might be something that we can engage in at any time, but real God-focused, God-honoring prayer has a price.  It will cost us time, effort, vulnerability, and following through with action.  Biblical prayer is not just throwing up some private requests, but is an activity that requires something of us as a community of believers in Jesus (James 5:13-20). 
 
            The entire church is to pray – all of us, the happy and the suffering, the healthy and unhealthy.  More specifically, the New Testament letter of James tells us that the leaders/elders of the church are to pray for those who are “sick” (James 5:14).  The word James used refers not just to a physical illness, but also to those who are weak and weary, those who are completely worn down because of their life circumstances.
 
            James provides a clear chain of responsibility.  The onus is on the sick person to contact the elders of the church.  James clearly puts the need for communicating the situation on the person who is undergoing the trouble.  For many people, this is humbling and difficult, so they do not do it.  But prayer has a price – it will cost us some openness.
 
            When the needy person communicates the trouble, then the elders are to anoint the person in the name of the Lord and offer a prayer of faith on his/her behalf.  It is the leadership’s job to pray.  In the Bible, anointing with oil was a deeply symbolic act of encouragement in which a tangible thing was being done in order to lift the person from the trouble.  Physical ailments of bodily sickness; sinful problems of anger or bitterness; spiritual struggles of doubt; emotional challenges of depression; anything and everything that would cause a lack of health could be prayed over and people could be anointed and encouraged.
 
            Prayer for James was not a strictly private affair; it was a communal activity.  I want us to entertain the notion that if we are not experiencing healing, wholeness, and health whether it is physical, relational, or spiritual, then maybe God is calling you and I to not only personal private prayer, but corporate prayer offered by the elders of the church.  It is not just the prayer offered by one solitary individual that makes the sick person well – it is the collective faith prayer of the church’s leadership on the troubled person.
 
            The goal of prayer is healing in its complete form:  physical, mental, emotional, relational, and, of course, spiritual.  Effective prayer results in reconciliation with others, and a restoration to the community of faith.  To bring those who wander from the truth back – to realize a return of a prodigal – will result because of prayer (James 5:19-20).
 
            In the past ten years, the American church has experienced a pronounced slide of people out the door.  According to Christian pollster, George Barna, 25% of the U.S. population now identifies themselves in the religious category of “none.”  They have no religious affiliation.  Many of them have left churches.  You already know this.  You know it because this is not a statistic to you.  You know some of the “nones” personally.
 

 

            What will you do about it?  Wish it were different?  Lament it?  Complain about it?  Or will you and your church pray with heartfelt, earnest, passionate, deliberate, sustained, and believing prayers so that prodigals will return and those who have wandered far from God will experience the grace of Jesus Christ?  Bring them back.  Do it with prayer.

Esther 4:1-17

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Queen Esther was a Jewess.  Normally, this would not have been a problem in the ancient Media-Persian kingdom ruled by Ahasuerus.  But it was not a normal kind of time.  The top aide of King Ahasuerus was an arrogant man, Haman.  Haman so loathed the Jewish people that he connived a way to get the king to issue an edict in which a holocaust of horror would be unleashed against the Jewish people so that they would be destroyed. 
 
            Esther found herself between the proverbial rock and hard place.  Neither the king nor Haman knew that she was a Jewess.  If she revealed herself, Esther could be killed.  On the other hand, if she used her position and influence in an inappropriate way by entering the king’s presence without being summoned, Esther could be killed.  There was no good option.  But in the kingdom of God, there is always an option.
 
            Being thrust into an impossible situation through circumstances not created by herself, Queen Esther came to the point of decision:  she would approach the king, but she would do it with all the prayer and fasting of her people behind her.  Esther had all the Jews in her city gathered for a three-day fast on her behalf.  Then, she would face the king and deal with the adversity that she did not ask for.
 
            When confronted with the face of evil; when dealt a set of circumstances you do not deserve; when hissing tongues breathe slander about you; when there seems to be no possible solution to your problem and no apparent possibility of hope; then, what do you do?  Everyone, at some point in their lives, faces a quandary beyond their ability to handle.  It is at such times, God is at his best.  If we will confidently face those times with all the humility we can muster through devoted fasting and prayer, who knows?  Perhaps God will show up and turn the tables….
            Sovereign God, you see and know all things.  Yet, I don’t always know you are there and I don’t always see you working behind the scenes.  When devious people plot behind my back and situations rise up to my neck, I look to you so that the plans of the wicked will not come to pass.  May the righteous thrive and not be destroyed.  May the mighty name of Jesus prevail.  Amen.