Genesis Knoxville

Archive for April, 2009

Why Am I Here?

Apr 24

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By Steve Ellis

Why Am I Here? This is a question that I feel most people, if not all, ask at some time in their life. Have you? If so, what was your answer? I can sum my answer up in a few words. I am here to serve God.

There is a lot more to this statement than it seems at first glance, but everything else comes down to that. For instance, I also feel called to help others, but this is because of my service to God. This is part of what serving Him means. I am sure most of my fellow Christians out there would agree with this statement, but I thought of another aspect of this a couple of days ago.

I received an email message that was forwarded to me with a “moral to the story.” You may have received this one before as well. I know this was about the third time I had gotten it in recent months. Anyway, this story tells of a group of people gathered together and having coffee. The main character observes to the others that they had all taken the nicest cups for their coffee first and then on down to the plain paper cups. His point was that the coffee was in no way improved by the cup, but everyone wanted the best cup they could get anyway.

I thought about how this applies to life and our purpose in it. My service to God will not be in the same kind of “cup” as yours. My service may go virtually unnoticed by the world around me, but it in no way diminishes my purpose. I tend to forget that point at times. I want to do something impressive. I want to be the knight when in reality I am probably just a pawn. Does that make my purpose any less necessary? No. The knight could not do much without the pawns to protect him.

I guess my point is that we should not be disappointed if we are not called to some position of power. My service to God can be just as important washing floors as it would be if I were the President. It is really more about my being happy with what I have but not letting my happiness be dependent upon what I have.

What If No One Noticed?

Apr 16

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By Steve Ellis

Recently there was a “tacky day” at my daughter’s high school. I found a great deal of amusement in seeing the other teenagers as I dropped my teenager off. My daughter was dressed in her “finest” tackiness, and believe me, her appearance was pretty striking.

As we drove to school that morning we were talking about proper tacky attire and we had an amusing thought. What if you dressed up this way and no one noticed? I suppose it would be pretty devastating to a teen if they went to all of that trouble and everyone just thought they looked like they always do. As I said, we found this funny.

On my way home, it hit me. What if we go through all the motions in our spiritual lives as followers of Christ, and no one noticed? I don’t think that would be too funny, but I bet it happens quite often. I encourage you today to live a life that makes it clear to those around you who you are and what you believe.

Easter and Christmas Churchgoers

Apr 10

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By Timothy D. Holder

 

            According to an article I read recently 76% of all Americans consider themselves Christians.  I read another article a few years ago saying that roughly 40% of all Americans attend church weekly.  I assume that a big chunk of the difference in those two figures make up the people who attend only on Easter and Christmas.

            I think the Easter and Christmas attendees must have an interesting mindset.  I’m glad that they at least come twice a year.  And, given the greater average attendance in churches on these two occasions year after year, this crowd must really see the value in what they’re doing.

            I wonder if those of us who attend weekly were friendlier, would it prompt some of the twice-a-year crowd to visit more often?

            I wonder if there was something that we changed in our worship services at Easter and Christmas, would that make it more relevant—more of a priority for some people?  In fairness to our churches, though, I’m not sure what should be changed.  It seems like churches do a pretty good job with Christmas and Easter worship services.  They are celebrations of God coming to earth as a Man and then the Man dying for our sins to save us.  Maybe we need more of a celebration of the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection.  Maybe it’s the other fifty weeks that are the problem.

            I wonder if I told everybody that my relationship with my wife was just fine, but I just visited her on her birthday and our anniversary, would it really be just fine?  What if I said twice a year visits with my wife were plenty because I also think about her a lot during the year?  Would that be okay?  (In case you’re wondering—I figure that if I can point the finger at the weekly crowd and the church then the twice a year crowd can take a little medicine, too).

            So, am I saying that we all need to look in the mirror?  Sure.  We’ve all sinned, so why shouldn’t we stop and analyze ourselves? We’ve all been self-absorbed; we’ve all been content with the status quo at some point in our lives even when it’s not best for us.

            Bottom line:  If church members want visitors to feel welcome, then members need to be welcoming.  If churches want to reach more people on a regular basis, then churches needs to examine what they’re doing.    And if people are going to call themselves Christians, they need to ask themselves if Christ is okay with them visiting the house only twice a year.  I know that might sound a little harsh, but hey, if you want to discover the truth, you’ve got to ask the questions.

 

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A Life-Changing Book

Apr 2

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By Timothy D. Holder

 

            I’m reading a great book by Chip Ingram called Good to Great in God’s Eyes: Ten Practices Great Christians Have in Common.  In fact, it is so good I am tentatively planning on using it extensively at the Single’s Conference I’m speaking at on May 8-9.

            I won’t share all ten ideas with you because I don’t want to spoil the book (or the conference), but I will share some.

            1. Think great thoughts.  As Ingram put it, “Great Christians think great thoughts.”  It seems like a simple enough concept, but imagine actually living by that standard.  Ingram named several smart people who were deep thinkers, but he also pointed out that those of us who aren’t brilliant can be more successful for the Kingdom of God if we can take one great concept and dwell on it.  I liked how Ingram backed up his philosophy with the Bible.  Philippians tells us to dwell on good and lovely and excellent things.  This chapter also provided different means for finding great concepts on which you can dwell.

            2. Read great books.  This one appeals to me on a selfish level for two reasons.  One, I love to read.  If more of you read then I would have more people to talk with about great books.  Two, I want you to read my books, not that I’m saying they’re great, really, but, um, let’s move on.  Anyway, there are a lot of great ideas that people have expressed that you could be exposed to if you read regularly.  As Ingram pointed out, the greatest book is the Bible, and we should all certainly read that.  I’m not saying you should read something instead of the Bible; I’m saying read something in addition to it.  Now, not everyone is a reader, but if you are reading this blog, then you are enough of a reader to take his suggestion to heart.

            3. Pursue great people.  This is the last one I’m going to write about.  Ingram said that if you want to learn how to be great, it makes sense to get as close as you can to someone who has already figured it out.  I thought it was helpful that Ingram pointed out that great people are not easily accessible—they’re busy being productive.  But learning from them is so important that you need to be rather tenacious.  This concept seems a little tricky to me.  I like the idea, but I wonder if a would-be disciple might come across as a stalker to someone they’re trying to pursue.  I guess you just need to be careful about how you present yourself.

            Ingram does a fine job of fleshing out these three principles and the other seven.  I’ve already started applying some of them to my own life.  I believe a lot of people could benefit from this book.  If you read it, and you aren’t inspired to make a change, well, at least it was better for you than spending a few more nights watching a bunch of stuff on TV.

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