As we celebrate our freedom on Independence Day, we must not forget the cost of our freedom. Freedom for us is mostly free, but our Founding Fathers risked everything to achieve our freedom. What they did 246 years ago purchased our freedom today. And countless soldiers through the years have also risked their lives (and many lost their lives) defending the freedom that we have today. But, if you think about it, we do not have “absolute freedom.”
Absolute freedom means that we are dependent on nothing and no one. However, all the freedoms we enjoy today could be called “dependent” freedoms or “derived” freedoms. That means that we did not attain them ourselves and that we cannot maintain them by ourselves. We are free. But we must remember that our freedom, in many senses, is dependent on others. We do not have “absolute freedom.”
However, when we speak of God, we must speak of His absolute freedom. This means that God is self-determining. He does what He desires according to His own pleasures and His own purposes. Psalm 115:3 says, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” Ephesians 1:11 reminds us that He “works all things after the counsel of His will.” Absolute freedom means that God does not rely on us or on anything in creation.
God has absolute freedom because all of creation is His. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness” (Psalm 50:12). Nothing we have can add anything to Him. He owns it all. We are needy; God is not. If God needed anything outside of himself, He would be controlled by that need. We are not absolutely free because we depend on many things outside of ourselves. In Acts 17:25, Paul says that God is not “served by human hands as though He needed anything.” God is absolutely free and does not need anything.
He has absolute freedom because He is all-wise. “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” Romans 11:34. He knows the beginning from the end and all of His plans are based on His infinite wisdom. His choices are absolutely His alone because there is none like Him in wisdom! He needs no one to advise Him or instruct Him.
He has absolute freedom because He has all-power. We often do less than we desire because we lack the power to accomplish what we want. But God is all-powerful. There is nothing that He desires that He cannot do! 1 Chronicles 29:12 says, “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.” Jeremiah 32:17 reminds of the implications of God’s power: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You Yourself have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.” God has absolute freedom because He has the power to do whatever He desires.
This is why the psalmist says, “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” (Ps. 115:3). In His absolute freedom, God’s choices and actions do not depend on anyone or anything. He alone is truly absolutely free. The absolute freedom of God is our comfort in times of trouble. Because God is absolutely free, we know that His choices will not be affected by any outside forces, including our own fickle emotions and desires. I would add one very important caveat. Many theologians in history have suggested that God’s freedom is so absolute that He can even break His own rules – both moral and physical. They suggest that God is above even His own laws. But that is not correct. God could do whatever He desires but He will always do what is in accordance with His character. “God is not man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should change His mind. Will He not do as He has promised” (Numbers 23:19).
How does God’s absolute freedom affect us? Don’t we have a free will also? Yes, we do. We are free because we have been created in His image and likeness, and that includes the attribute of freedom. But our freedom is not innate; it is derived. Unlike God, we do not have absolute freedom. In fact, it would be accurate to say that our freedom is really dependent on Him. That’s why Jesus said, “If the Son shall make you free, then you shall be free indeed.” Unlike God, we do not have the resources to be absolutely free and independent. We do not have the wisdom to exercise absolute freedom wisely. Unlike God, we do not have the power to accomplish whatever we desire. Our freedom is real, but it is limited. It is not absolute. It is derived and dependent. So, we have real free will, but our free will is always subservient to His absolute freedom.
I am thankful that God is absolutely freedom. He is not dependent on me or on anyone else. That give me confidence that His will will always be done and never be changed or altered by others. And it gives me confidence in times of difficulty. We struggle during those times, but God never does. We are affected by changing circumstance and changing emotions. He is free from all of that. His will and His plans will always be totally based on His own good pleasure! Because He alone is really absolutely free.
Teaching – Back Online! …
June was a hectic month as Kyiv Theological Seminary asked me to teach our May class, Research and Critical Thinking class, in June! I explained that I would need a month to re-organize the class, so we are starting the class this week. Natalie Tereschenko and I will be teaching the class for the next two months. We already have 31 students enrolled. Natalie is in Romania currently and I am in the states, but we are excited to try to teach our class online so that students can continue their studies.
At this point, in spite of the on-going war, both seminaries are planning to have classes in the fall. Most of these will be online because of the difficulties with transportation and also because many students are still involved in the war efforts. One of our administrators reasoned, “Knowledge is power, And Biblical knowledge is the most powerful knowledge.” So, we will be having classes this year unless the war changes everything again. Right now, my plan will be to teach remotely like we did for the last 2 years under COVID. There might be the possibility of a trip back to teach but right now, I will be teaching online. So, I am also working on getting classes ready for September and October at both schools.
Even with the return to classes, both seminaries and their staff will continue to provide humanitarian help and help for the increasing number of refugees from the on-going war. Pray for their strength and for more opportunities to share the gospel with those they are caring for.
In June, I had the opportunity to preach and share a couple of times about what the Lord is doing in Ukraine. First, at Hiding Place Hollow where I was able to preach to about 120 Baptist Builders who had come to Arkansas to build 2 houses (in 1 week – man, these guys are organized!) for missionaries in Hiding Place Hollow. Then, at the end of the month, I was able to preach for a friend from college (Dave Burt) at Remount Baptist Church in North Little Rock. Finally in July, I was able to share at a WMU VBS at First Baptist, Bolivar, Missouri about our work and about the ministry in Ukraine. The director of the mission meeting there was Molly Malone. Molly came to Connecticut for two summers when I was a church planter there. It was great to reconnect with her and her husband, Kelly. Pray that, during our time here, we can help churches be more intentional in their praying for Ukraine.
Help for Ukraine …
We have been blessed immensely by the help people in the US have given to us since we evacuated in January. We have been given clothes, housing and other helps while we have been here. We have been staying in the basement in a large house right on the campus of the University of Arkansas. This family regularly helps foreign students and family and they have been a real blessing to us during our time here. But we cannot stay here beyond the summer. However, the Lord has provided a place for us to stay until March while we try to get more settled. This ministry has an amazing vision to build 10 homes for missionaries to use so they can have a place of their own without having to live out of a suitcase all the time. They have completed 3 houses already with 2 more near completion. The ministry is called Hiding Place Hollow. They are still working on our home, but we hope to be able to move in around August 15th. We will be able to stay at Hiding Place Hollow until March next year so this will really be a big help for us.
We will miss many things about being in Fayetteville. I will especially miss by daily walk around the beautiful University of Arkansas campus! Every morning, I walk past the sign for Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society and I remember when I was part of the group at Cumberland College that formed our first chapter of Phi Alpha Theta in 1974. I am so grateful for my time at Cumberland College that prepared me for many things in my life – missions, preaching, teaching and ministry. And I love the beauty of the campus here at U of A.
One additional need is for all sorts of items that we had to leave behind in Ukraine. It is hard for us to remember all that we need until we need it. But one friend at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship has encouraged us to set up a registry on Amazon. We have already been blessed by friends sending several items to help us gather essential items to start over here. We are trying to put items on whenever we think about what we need. If you are interested in helping, you can go to the Amazon link (https://smile.amazon.com/registries/custom/316YRLWE5HNVF/guest-view ) and simply choose what item you want to help with, and it will be sent to us. This has really helped us to have some essentials for starting over here in the US.
While our needs are many, the needs of people in Ukraine are far greater. We are blessed to be able to come “home” to family and friends and we have a great support network here. But that is not the case for our Ukrainian friends. We appreciate (and need) your support, but our friends do also. If you would like to help any of them, we have posted some updated links to ministries we know about that are helping people in Ukraine. You can find those links at https://teachingresources.org/2022/03/03/help-for-ukraine/.
Family …
We all had a real special blessing last month when Joel and Ally and their children and Joy and her girls came to visit us in NW Arkansas. It was like a family reunion! It was great to be together and to see all the grandkids playing and spending time together. Even the adults got some time to play a game or two together.
This summer has had been a wonderful time for the girls with swimming, playing games and even reading. They love to sit on the swings under the deck and read! It has been hot, but we are enjoying our time here in Arkansas.
We recently had an extra special blessing. Our neighbor, Andriy, asked if he could send some things back to us from our house in Ukraine. We selected a few items that were special to us, and he searched our house, found the items and sent them to us through some US volunteers who were returning to the states. When the suitcase arrived, we opened it together as a family. It was better than Christmas, with squeals of joy and some tears of happiness when various toys or items were pulled out of the suitcase. It was a very happy reunion, especially for the girls and a couple of their favorite toys!
Like last year, we celebrated the Fourth of July here in the states. This was only our second time to be here during this wonderful celebration of our very special nation. This year, we spent time with some new friends in Fayetteville (July 3rd), and the girls enjoyed great food, fireworks, and a slip-n-slide. On the 4th, we had our own family cook-out and then watched the fireworks together. We are so grateful for America!
Support and Needs …
Also, please continue to pray that our regular support levels will continue for another year or two. Right now, it is looking like I will be teaching students in Ukraine online for at least the next two years. We might even include some trips to teach in person if the war situation changes. We will also need additional funds to replace everything that we have lost in the evacuation too. But we are not certain exactly what we will need at this point. But we have already seen that everything in the states is much, much more expensive here in America (except gas – Ukraine and Europe pay much more for gas – even before the war).
We are in the process of trying to gather items that we had to leave in Ukraine. We have been blessed so far to be able to stay in a fully furnished place. But we know that we will need more clothes, kitchen things, sheets, towels, and all furniture items. (As we mentioned above, you can help with some items through the Amazon Registry) . We are searching for items in thrift stores and garage sales. The process is slow but thankfully we have the time to do this searching.
Katya’s mother is still in Poland awaiting the final processing of her documents. We cannot believe that it has taken so long for her documents to be processed. Katya’s grandmother has been in California since April. Also, we are waiting to hear about Katya’s documents. She needs them so she can get her driver’s license here. Pray that this will happen quickly!
Praise the Lord – I am doing so much better physically than I have for about 4 years! But I am still having some heart issues. I have a follow-up visit with the cardiologist on July 18 to see what he thinks about additional treatment options (possibly a pacemaker). But it feels good to be doing so much better.
While we are making plans to eventually settle here in the US, it is still very emotional for us to think about Ukraine. Everyone misses Ukraine and especially our home there. We know it will take many months before the tears stop coming when we think about Ukraine!
Pray for Ukraine …
Please continue to pray for Ukraine and for the people of Ukraine. It is easy to think the war is over from the news here in the states. But that is far from the case. In case, Russia continues to destroy village after village in Eastern Ukraine and they are pushing into Ukraine little by little. The cost for them is very great, but Putin seems committed to continuing to destroy and occupy Ukraine no matter what it costs the people of Russia. And the other cities of Ukraine are under continual attack from Russian missiles – sometimes 50 a night! Pray for Ukrainian believers as they try to evacuate people from occupied areas and pray for them as they distribute humanitarian needs and share the gospel.
Pray for that Ukraine will one day be really free from the influence of Russia. In fact, pray for the people of Russia – that they too would finally know real freedom. But most of all pray that Ukrainians and Russians alike would find real freedom in Jesus!
By His Grace,
Jim, Katya, Kristina and Nadia
If you missed previous updates or just want to read some short theological reflections, you can find these at our website at https://teachingresources.org/ .
Also, some have asked about how to support us. You can send checks to Teaching Resources International, PO Box 1025, Cabot, AR 72023 or pay through PayPal on our website. Just put “#1000 Ehrhard” in the memo so our treasurer knows where to allocate the funds. If you want to help with our relocation to the US – just put Relocation in the memo.
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