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Theodore Epp
Theodore H. Epp (January 27, 1907–October 13, 1985) was an American Christian preacher, radio evangelist, and author, best known as the founding director of Back to the Bible, a globally influential radio ministry. Born in Oraibi, Arizona, to Russian Mennonite immigrant missionaries working with the Hopi Indians, Epp grew up in a faith-filled environment. Converted at age 20 in 1927 under Norman B. Harrison’s teaching in Flagstaff, Arizona, he pursued theological education at Oklahoma Bible Academy, Hesston College in Kansas, and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University), earning a Th.M. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1932. Epp’s preaching career began as a pastor in Goltry, Oklahoma, at Zoar Mennonite Church (1932–1936), where he married Matilda Schmidt in 1930, raising six children—Gerald (who died young), Eleanor, Herbert, Bernice, Marilyn, and Virginia. In 1936, he joined T. Myron Webb’s radio ministry, and on May 1, 1939, launched Back to the Bible in Lincoln, Nebraska, with just $65, trusting God for provision. The program grew from a 15-minute local broadcast to a daily 30-minute show on over 800 stations worldwide in eight languages by his 1985 retirement, featuring his expository preaching and music from the Back to the Bible choir and quartet. He authored nearly 70 books, including David: A Man After the Heart of God and Practical Studies in Revelation, emphasizing practical faith and biblical literacy.
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Sermon Summary
Theodore Epp emphasizes the danger of prioritizing wealth and material comfort over spiritual values, warning that an obsession with money can lead to a loss of purpose and vitality in the Christian life. He highlights that many believers, while saved, fail to reflect Christ's transformative power due to their fixation on worldly pleasures and luxuries. Epp challenges families to reconsider their standards of comfort and the time spent pursuing financial gain, suggesting that such pursuits can detract from truly living and enjoying life. He points out that true richness comes from the Lord, not from material possessions, as illustrated in James 5:1-6.
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James 5:1-6 Christians can become so addicted to money and to achieving a higher level of living that they lose all perspective and forget what they are really here on earth to accomplish. Those who live only for the pleasures of the moment stand under the condemnation of Paul's words of 1 Timothy 5:6: "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." Many Christians have had the vitality taken from their spiritual life because of their great concern for the things of the world. They are saved, but their lives do not reflect the glorious difference that Christ can make when a believer focuses his attention on eternal values instead of temporal ones. An important question that every family needs to face is, How much money do we need in order to live in the comfort we prescribe for ourselves? We also need to ask, Have we set our standard of comfort too high? Regrettably, many people have set their standard so high that they have to spend so much time obtaining an income for that level of life that they really have no time to live. How sad to spend so much time earning a living that you do not have time to enjoy the living. I am not referring to those who must work long hours just to keep the family fed and clothed. I am referring to those who have become so addicted to the luxuries of life that they think the luxuries are essential. Such an attitude greatly affects our spiritual priorities--spiritual things are bound to suffer and to take second place to the things of the world. It is important then that we do some clear thinking about our attitude toward what this world has to offer. Although some have the attitude that money is the answer to everything, James 5:1-6 reveals that this belief is certainly not true. "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it" (Prov. 10:22).
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Theodore H. Epp (January 27, 1907–October 13, 1985) was an American Christian preacher, radio evangelist, and author, best known as the founding director of Back to the Bible, a globally influential radio ministry. Born in Oraibi, Arizona, to Russian Mennonite immigrant missionaries working with the Hopi Indians, Epp grew up in a faith-filled environment. Converted at age 20 in 1927 under Norman B. Harrison’s teaching in Flagstaff, Arizona, he pursued theological education at Oklahoma Bible Academy, Hesston College in Kansas, and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University), earning a Th.M. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1932. Epp’s preaching career began as a pastor in Goltry, Oklahoma, at Zoar Mennonite Church (1932–1936), where he married Matilda Schmidt in 1930, raising six children—Gerald (who died young), Eleanor, Herbert, Bernice, Marilyn, and Virginia. In 1936, he joined T. Myron Webb’s radio ministry, and on May 1, 1939, launched Back to the Bible in Lincoln, Nebraska, with just $65, trusting God for provision. The program grew from a 15-minute local broadcast to a daily 30-minute show on over 800 stations worldwide in eight languages by his 1985 retirement, featuring his expository preaching and music from the Back to the Bible choir and quartet. He authored nearly 70 books, including David: A Man After the Heart of God and Practical Studies in Revelation, emphasizing practical faith and biblical literacy.