Prepared for Delivery at Woodland Bible Camp Sr. Citizen’s Week.*

Eph. 4:1-6: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have
received.  2  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  3  Make every
effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  4  There is one body and one Spirit, just
as you were called to one hope when you were called;  5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  6  one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Jn, 17:11: “And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee.
Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one even as we are
one.”
Jn. 17:20-23: “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word,
that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even
as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may
know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.”
Eph. 4:11-15:. So, Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and
teachers,  12  to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up   until we
all reach (1) unity in the faith and in the (2) knowledge of the Son of God and (3) become
mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the
cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we
will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ.” NIV
Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
O Boy have we ever blown that! United this & that – First this and that – 70 divisions in CofC?
I Cor. 11:1 –“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” NIV “Be imitators…” RSV

Genuine Generic or Generic Gone Wrong?

Generic – It’s supposed to be the same. Sometimes it isn’t and it potentially causes great harm!

Poor Quality Control

Sometimes it’s something just a little off. Gen. 2:16,17 compared to 3:1-7 “Satan uses twisted truth.
3:21 “You cannot cover sin with a fig leaf, and you can’t hide from God!”
Sometimes it’s something added or subtracted. Rev. 22:18,19 compared to Deut. 4:1,2
“Be sure you tell them EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!”
Sometimes it’s something substituted. Mt. 15:1-9 God’s word replaced by traditions
Do we have any traditions that prevent us from obeying God?
Sometimes it’s something compromised. Rev. 2:12-17a Like eating food offered to idols, immorality,
and excesses of heathenism, how about Marital Relations in the modern Church?
Sometimes we are just foolish, crude, and immature. Sometimes we just cannot be true.

Some Possible Words for the Title

Generic Gadarene – demon possessed pigs that drowned
Generic Gadfly – person who annoys or stirs up
Generic Gaffe – a social blunder
Generic Gaga – crazy, foolish
Generic Gainsayer – one who speaks against, contradicts

Generic Galah – a destructive pest in wheat growing areas
Generic Galimatias – confused and meaningless talk – gibberish
Generic Gape-seed – something that attracts stares
Generic Garboil – confusion, turmoil
Generic Gargoyle – a grotesque human or animal figure
Generic Gas-bag – an idle talker
Lots of other variations on the word “Gas” – We won’t go there!
And that’s just words that start with GA.
I’ll just settle for the title, “Genuine Generic or Generic Gone Wrong”
Generic – It’s supposed to be the same. Sometimes it isn’t and it potentially causes great harm!

A True Generic “Genuine” Christianity
I Jn. 2:28-3:3, 10 NIV “…continue in him…”, RSV “…abide in him…”
A bank teller and a counterfeit bill – “If it’s not the real thing, then it is a counterfeit.”

Refiner of Silver

Which One Are You? A Genuine Generic -OR- A Generic Gone Wrong?

A Child of God -OR- A Child of the Devil?
Does The Savior see His Image when He looks at you?

Julius Hovan is a retired Church of Christ Minister and attends the Gallatin Church of Christ in

Gallatin, TN.

*Due to circumstances, Julius Hovan was not able to attend the week of camp but he had prepared