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.

Epiphany

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
            Each year on January 6 in the Church Calendar, after the twelve days of Christmas, is the celebration of Epiphany.  Christ’s coming to this earth as a child and becoming like us is much more than a baby in a manger.  Epiphany helps to bring a vision and understanding of God’s glory to all kinds of people of the world.
 
            Epiphany means “manifestation” or “appearance.”  The event most closely associated with this season is the visit of the Magi to Jesus.  Included in this time of the year between the seasons of Christmas and Lent is a special emphasis on the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus.  The great celebration and focus of these weeks is that salvation is not limited to Israel but extends to the Gentiles, as well.
 
            Every season in the Christian Year has its particular angle of grace.  With Epiphany we see that one of the most scandalous truths of Christianity is that God graces common ordinary people who seem far from God with the gift of Jesus.  God grants repentance that leads to life for all kinds of people no matter what their race, ethnicity, class, or background.  It is a wondrous and astounding spiritual truth that God’s gracious concern is not limited to a certain type of person or a particular group of persons.
 
            Grace is and ought to be the guiding factor in how we interact with people.  Losing sight of grace leads to being critical and defensive.  Like King Herod of old, a graceless person becomes enamored with earthly power and control.  But embracing grace leads to the humility to see the image of God in people very different from ourselves.  Like the Apostle Peter, who learned in a vision to bring the gospel to non-Jews, old legalisms begin to be worn away so that people from all walks of life can have access to Jesus and his gracious saving and healing ministry.  Grace brings down barriers and causes us to do away with unnecessary distinctions between others.  Our appropriate response to such a grace is to glorify God for his marvelous and amazing work.
 
            It is a gracious and merciful reality that the Magi, or Wise Men, who were really pagan astrologers, were directed to the Messiah.  A light was provided to lead them to Jesus.  Apart from God’s care and intervention they would have remained in darkness.  And it is no less true for people today.  This old broken world is wrapped in darkness.  All kinds of people have no light at the end of the tunnel of their lives for hope and new life.  But the gospel of Jesus Christ brings that light to those walking around with no ability to see.  Jesus, in his teaching ministry in the Sermon on the Mount, exhorted his followers not to hide their light but to let it shine for all to see.
 
            Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, the best way to bring resolution to our own troubles and problems is through helping others make sense of their lives through the gracious light of Christ so that they can see an appearance, an epiphany, of what their lives can be in the gracious rule of the kingdom of God. 
 

 

            As we celebrate Epiphany and journey with Jesus through his earthly upbringing and into his gracious ministry to people, let us keep vigilance to not let our light grow dim.  Instead, let us hunger and thirst after Christ’s righteousness so that our joy is full and our light is bright.

Proverbs 22:1-9

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            The Bible is not a flat one-dimensional piece of literature.  Throughout its contents, from Genesis to Revelation, it is chocked full of various literary genres.  From poetry and narrative stories to apocalyptic accounts and exhortative epistles, Holy Scripture provides a many-sided look at the unfolding drama of God’s redemption toward humanity.  Included in this is the book of Proverbs, a collection of wise sayings to help people navigate God’s big world.
 
            The chief reason we must know that the Bible contains different types of literature is so that we can read it and interpret it well.  A proverb is a short pithy statement of experiential truth.  It is not the same as the commands of the law.  In other words, a proverb is designed to point out, all things being equal, that this is how the world works.  So enter one of the most misused verses in the Bible:  “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”  Many a parent has been made to feel unrelenting guilt over a wayward son or daughter, believing that somehow they have failed.  The reason they have such feelings is that they treat the book of Proverbs as clear promises to claim.  Biblical proverbs simply were not meant to be stretched in this manner.
 
            Rather, the proverb is meant to communicate to us that if we as parents are diligent and faithful in raising our kids that in all likelihood this training will never leave them; it will always stick with them in some way, shape, or form.  It is also true that many a parent has rejoiced over an adult child coming back to his/her faith after a sojourn in the muck of the world.  Important to that return is the foundation laid years ago.
 
            So, this proverb is meant to encourage us, not with an ironclad promise, but with the hope that all the blood, sweat, and tears that parents put into their children will someday likely bear much fruit of a responsible life that contributes to both church and world.  Therefore, do not give up; keep persevering knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
            Wise God, for Whom all things are known, encourage me today and always in the knowledge of your ways so that I not lose heart in training my kids and others in the way of Jesus, my Lord.  Amen.

Chosen by God

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
We are blessed people because God is active in the world he has made.  Before I gave my life to Christ, I thought God was some old grandpa sitting in heaven twiddling his thumbs and watching reruns of Little House on the Prairie.  But the truth is that God is an Eternal Being and involved in his creation.  God has a vision and a clear picture of what he wants the end of all his activity on his earth to result in, and it isn’t just to see Nellie Olsen get her come-uppance.  God is busy reconciling people back to himself, and to each other; and, restoring the entire world back under the lordship of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:9-10).  So, in order to accomplish this, God has initiated and given us, the church, the spiritual blessing of “election.”
 
            Even before the creation of the world, God had the conclusion to his story in mind and began making divine decisions about how to have the result he desired.  This, by the way, is how we are to approach ministry in the church.  That is, we begin with an end in mind of what we want to accomplish; then, we gather the people and begin making the decisions we need to make in order to see that end purpose realized.  Too often, churches begin with a group of people and wonder about what they should do – that is completely backwards from how God operates. 
  
            In eternity past, in love, God predestined us to be adopted as his children (Ephesians 1:5).  Believers are so loved by God that we became special to him before we were ever born!  Election means that God has a purpose for us.  On our human level of operation, we elect political candidates not for the end purpose of merely winning an office, but so that those elected officials may serve the common good and put their energies into accomplishing some noble cause.  So it is with God.  We were not elected by God simply to go to heaven when we die, and sit on some celestial couch eating popcorn with Jesus, and maybe Michael Landon.  The reason we were chosen by God was so that we would be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4), and might be for the praise of God’s glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12).  In other words, we are not in some sort of holding pattern here on earth simply doing whatever we want with our time while we wait to die.  No, we are to be busy accomplishing God’s purposes in election. 
 
We are receiving an inheritance from God.  It will be put into effect when God’s timing and purpose is accomplished:  to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, Jesus Christ.  The chosen and redeemed of God will one day die; after death they will go to be with Christ; but that is not yet the end.  It is not yet the end because the entire world still needs redemption.  This is why the writer to the Hebrews could say about the great heroes of the faith:  “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.  God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:39-40).
 
            In other words, there is not just life after death; there is, as New Testament scholar N.T. Wright puts it, “life after life-after-death.”  All those people of faith, including our friends and relatives who have gone before us to be with Jesus, are waiting.  They, along with us, have not yet received all the promised blessings of our inheritance.  And what we are waiting for is the reconciliation and restoration of all things, a new heaven and a new earth in which we will all together be sons and daughters in the kingdom of God with Jesus as King over us.  The possession of the Holy Spirit is the guarantee that this is the case, and it will happen (Ephesians 1:12-13). 
 

 

            Let us, then, live into the election we have received by engaging in ministry that is concerned for the restoration of all things.  That is a worthy resolution no matter what time of year it is.

Proverbs 1:1-7

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            One of the best aspirations for the New Year is the pursuit and accumulation of wisdom.  This is what the book of Proverbs is all about.  Specifically, to have wise dealings is to grow in three related yet distinct areas:  righteousness; justice; and, equity.
             Righteousness or righteous living is a relational term in Scripture.  It means to have right relationships with both God and other people.  In other words, righteousness is to experience peaceful and fruitful relations.  Concerning God, it is to know the wonderful freedom and joy of an unhindered relationship through Jesus Christ in dependence upon the Holy Spirit.  When it comes to fellow human relations, a person characterized by righteousness does not, for example, let the sun go down on his/her anger.  It is to know peace and to be a peacemaker so that relationships do not remain strained but enjoy harmony.
             Justice is a related term to righteousness.  We might tend toward primarily understanding justice as a punitive act.  It certainly is part of the term; God responds and acts in justice toward those who withhold righteousness and love through uncaring or evil events.  But justice is mostly concerned with providing a person with basic needs of life.  So, for example, if someone is hungry and needs food, or does not have clean water to drink, it is a just act for us to provide those necessities of life.  God is deeply concerned for justice, and he expects his people to act in this same manner.
             Equity binds righteousness and peace together by not being prejudice toward relationships and needs.  It means to not show favoritism.  Therefore, if we are righteous and just only toward people we like but ignore others in need, there is no equity.  To give our love and service to all without strings attached or without being concerned to get paid back is the practice of equality.
             To live in these ways of righteousness, justice, and equity is to be wise in our dealings.  A good place to start in pursuing these biblical virtues is to ask God to open our eyes to those within our sphere of influence in which we can demonstrate such wise living; and, then, follow through with loving those persons in which God brings into our lives.
             Righteous God, help me to grow in wisdom.  Teach me your ways.  Since you are a just God who shows no favoritism, lead me into being just like you in my dealings with others with Jesus as my example in the strength of your Holy Spirit.  Amen.