Jul 1
Jun 19
Hello and welcome to the new Genesis Knoxville!
We’ve changed things up a bit! It’s still a work in progress, but here are some of the great things you can do on the new site! We’d also like for YOU to tell us what you think! Leave comments tell us your likes and dislikes of the new format!
More to come!
The Genesis Knoxville Mission Trip is planned for Labor Day weekend in Lynch, KY. Find out more Tuesday nights at Genesis.
When: September 3rd-6th
Where: Lynch, KY
Cost: $65 cost, deposit of $30 due July 14
About 6 volunteers are needed to work along side experienced mission trip planners to help organize the trip.
By Timothy D. Holder
I was working on a study of I Peter chapter one for a Wednesday night service at church, and I remembered something a professor told me in graduate school. He said that Peter’s letters contradicted Paul’s letters. The professor based his comment on Peter’s emphasis on holy living by Christians and Paul’s focus on salvation being based on God’s grace.
The problem with my professor’s point of view was he didn’t take into account everything that both men wrote. Though Peter stressed holiness, he also made it clear that salvation was the result of Jesus’ sacrifice. And though Paul focused on God’s grace, which resulted in Jesus’ sacrifice, Paul frequently admonished his readers to stop sinning and instead do things that were good, noble, and pure. Thus, a careful reading shows that Peter’s books and Paul’s books don’t really contradict after all.
I think this is worth writing about because sometimes people have problems reconciling certain passages of Scripture, and it makes them nervous. If the Bible doesn’t all fit together then maybe it isn’t true, these people fear. Yet they don’t want to go to other Christians with their hard questions because they are afraid to be labeled troublemakers or heretics. They swallow their questions and try to ignore their fears. This is not the recipe for a strong and vibrant Christian soul (or a strong and vibrant Christian witness). They need to see that there are explanations for their issues.
Perhaps a bigger problem for Christianity, though, is not that Christians are baffled by the complexities of the Bible; it’s that Christians are oblivious to them. We’re increasingly a culture that doesn’t read. There are so many external stimuli that entertain us that many people in our culture are out of the practice of reading books. And this lack of reading extends to the Bible.
Christians are being entertained into apathy. This applies to a lot of areas in people’s lives, including Bible reading. We need to read our Bibles. And we need to not be afraid to ask questions.
Jun 18
By Timothy D. Holder
There has been a lot of media coverage recently regarding a talk show host who made some sexist jokes about Sarah Palin and one of her daughters. The host offered a half-hearted apology because of the crassness of one of the jokes then he followed up with a lengthier apology after the storm against him had intensified. Meanwhile, elsewhere on the Internet I read about a guy who made a racist remark about Michelle Obama. Actually, there have been a lot of sexist jokes about Palin and racist jokes about Obama.
For people who care about politics, there is oftentimes a tendency to see jokes about the opposition as harmless fun, but the humor coming from the other side is viewed as mean-spirited, offensive hatemongering. My position is that if someone can’t be funny without being mean then maybe that person should give up on telling jokes.
Do Christians live by a higher standard in this area? Is a Christian who cares about politics less likely than a non-Christian to trash talk the opposing political party? I don’t know that I have observed much of a difference. What a good opportunity to live by the Golden Rule. If I belong to one political party, and I chastise a friend who says something cruel about the other party, it’s a good thing twice over. I have encouraged my friend to live by a higher standard, and I have demonstrated fairness to the opposition. Fairness can lead to dialogue, which can lead to understanding. I’m not naïve enough to think that such a philosophy will lead everyone to the same political outlook, but it can increase our insight into each other.
I’m not a stick in the mud who is anti-humor. Okay, actually, I am kind of a stick in the mud, but I am also very pro-humor. I’m just saying that people can be funny, and people can tease their friends, but mocking and verbally abusing our political enemies is not a good thing. Christians can do better. Christians need to do better.
