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.

Joshua 4:1-24

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
            I like coffee.  I like coffee mugs.  I like buying a coffee mug from places I visit.  Although it drives my wife nuts, the mugs serve as a continual reminder of a certain place or event I have experienced.  As we journey with the Israelites in the Old Testament book of Joshua, we experience with them the significant places and events of their taking the Promised Land.  God did a miraculous work by causing the Jordan River to congeal so that the Israelites could cross over on dry ground in entering the land.  Once they were across to the other side, God instructed them to take twelve stones, one for each tribe, and pile them up together.
 
            The purpose of the heap of twelve stones is made clear in the text and had a twofold purpose:  to educate future generations in the reality that God kept his promise to bring them into a land of abundance; and, to educate those outside Israel that God is mighty.
 
            Oftentimes children do not know about how God has worked in the past through their parents.  Mom and Dad may not have been intentional about communicating how God’s grace has influenced them.  But having tangible reminders of God’s past actions not only serves to help us remember, but enables children to know what God has done in their family.  Just as people ask me about why I have certain coffee mugs, so having reminders of God’s grace in prominent visible places serves to aid kids to ask why those reminders are there.
 
            If we do not have such reminders around our house or places of work, it would good for us to think through how to begin having remembrances of grace so that others may know that God is mighty and that he keeps his promises.
            Lord God, I want to experience your miraculous work in my life.  And I want my children, my friends, and my co-workers to know the grace of God in Christ through what you have done.  May my life serve as a great testimony of your mighty work.  Amen.

All Saints’ Day

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
In all times and every place throughout history God has specialized in taking imperfect and broken people and transformed and used them for his own glory and honor.  On the Christian calendar, November 1 is the day each year to remember the saints who have gone before us.  This day is meant to be an intentional way of not forgetting the people, friends and family as well as long-dead historical saints, who have made a significant impact in our spiritual lives.
 
All Saints’ Day should not be a focus on extraordinary persons so much as on the grace and work of ordinary Christians who faithfully lived their lives.  We give thanks for the gift of how they lived their faith each and every day.  We also remember that all believers in Jesus are united and connected through the cross.
 
            Remembering is a prominent theme in Scripture.  Well over a hundred times we are told to remember God’s covenant and actions on behalf of his people; to remember those less fortunate; and, to remember the important people in our lives who influenced us in our journey of faith.  The writer of Hebrews exhorted Christians with this:  Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith (Hebrews 13:7). 
 
            We are to be inspired in the present with the actions of faithful saints of the past.  They are to serve as a model of faithfulness so that they we will persevere in our Christian lives and not give up.  Through biblical stories of very human persons being used of God, as well as reading biographies of godly people who were given to God in service, we can be motivated to be patient and keep persevering until Jesus returns.
 
            Who were the people in your life that went out of their way to communicate the gospel to you both with words and with actions?  Who were those persons who labored behind the scenes in prayer so that you and others would know Jesus?  If any of those persons are still around, and you know where they are, remember them.  Drop them a note.  Express to them a simple thank you for their influence in your life.  In doing so, you will not only encourage that person, but it will help you remember and re-engage with something in your life that you may have forgotten or have just taken for granted for too long.
 
            Gordon McDonald, a Christian pastor and writer, at the passing of a lifelong mentor, recalled his loyalty and the crucial counsel he gave in a crisis:  “He was there when, many years later, my life fell apart because of a failure for which I was totally responsible. In our worst moments of shame and humiliation, he came and lived in our home for a week and helped us do a searing examination of our lives. We will always remember his words: ‘”You are both momentarily in a great darkness. You have a choice to make. You can—as do so many—deny this terrible pain, or blame it on others, or run away from it. Or, you can embrace this pain together and let it do its purifying work as you hear the things God means to whisper into your hearts during the process. If you choose the latter, I expect you will have an adventurous future modeling what true repentance and grace is all about.’”
 

 

            We are not to live our Christian lives in isolation from others, as if we do not need them.  We are here today because someone significantly influenced us in the way of Jesus.  And we will continue to persevere and thrive in the faith only when we remember those who have gone before us and allow those here in the present to journey with us along this road of faith.

Matthew 23:13-28

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
            Jesus is described in the Gospel of Matthew as gentle and meek.  He is compassionate and gracious, always revealing the true nature and character of God.  That, however, does not mean Jesus never said hard things to people.  In this Gospel lesson for today, Jesus took it to the scribes and Pharisees with a list of woes, or pronouncements of judgment.
 
            The point with Jesus is that the scribes and Pharisees were people who should have known better than to be only concerned with an outward religion and form of righteousness.  Nearly all scribes (people who carefully and tediously copied the Scriptures) were Pharisees (a Jewish sect that was concerned with knowing the Scriptures and carefully obeying them).  The problem was that these people knew every jot and tittle of the Old Testament, but they did not know the true heart of its message.
 
            It is vitally important to cultivate a rich inner life of spirituality.  The Bible is not just a book of information and stories and facts to cerebrally know; we must allow its contents and message to seep deep into our souls so that we have an emotionally and spiritually healthy Christianity.  God seeks to transform us from the inside-out.  If we only seek to know the Bible in order to make a show to others, then we fall under the same condemnation as the scribes and Pharisees. 
 
            A good spiritual practice to allow the Bible’s message to root itself in us is to keep a journal.  Journaling is a healthy and secret way of connecting with God through Holy Scripture.  When we take the time to carefully read a passage of the Bible, allow the Spirit to speak to us through it, and listen to what God would have us do because of it then the act of writing it all down helps to press grace and truth firmly in our souls.  In fact, a primary purpose of this daily blog is to assist you in that process of reflecting on Scripture each day.
            O God, help me to grow spiritually from the inside-out.  Develop within me purity of heart and righteousness of character so that genuine acts of mercy may spring from me.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Joshua 2:1-14

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
      We may struggle with the notion that persons of ill repute can exhibit any kind of faith.  Yet, in this Old Testament lection for today Rahab the prostitute not only displays faith, but a kind of belief that lands her in the great hall of faith of the New Testament’s Hebrews chapter 11.  She displayed a confident and unwavering belief that God existed and that he would surely overtake her city of Jericho.
            “The LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”  Rahab’s profession of faith is both sincere and hooked to God’s promise to the Israelites that they would take the land.  Rahab is exhibit A of the kind of person that inherits the kingdom of God; her faith, not her works or reputation, is what spares her life and brings her out from judgment.
            Faith is not a simple checking off a list of doctrinal beliefs that we believe; it always results in confident action based upon the promises of God.  Knowing what those promises are, and living our lives appropriately in light of them, is the kind of faith that pleases God.  Genuine righteousness is never earned; it is given by the compassionate grace of God.
What biblical promise do you need to lay hold of today?  How will that promise affect the way you live your life?  Will you believe God that he always does what he says?

Lord God Almighty, I may have not always lived my life well, yet I trust you today that you can and will deliver me from all my troubles because you are with me.  May your Holy Spirit give me the gift of faith to believe in such a way that it impacts how I live my life.  Amen.