Whats in A Name?

I remember when my younger brother was enrolling for classes his freshman year of college. His entire life we called him Michael, not Mike, but Michael. As he went through the various lines and such he got his ID card which said Mike on it, no big deal right? Well, my father was not real thrilled about it and much to my brothers embarrassment brought it to the attention of the registrar and several others.

I remember thinking, "you have me as a son, whom you have called 'Bumper' for well over 20+ years now and you are worried about Mike versus Michael?"

Names are funny things aren't they? Think about couples who are expecting work through a list of names before they finally find the right one.

In the Hebrew , names are incredibly important. It was much more than what sounded good, or whether or not it is popular, names signify something about the person's character and was a reflection of who they were. This is one of the reasons we see in Scripture where God will change the name of a person as after their encounter with God, they need a new name as they are now reflecting, they are now something new, something different.

Think about the name of God! We could think about that for a very long time and still not reach the end. The Jews had such reverence, such respect, such fear for His name that they dared not even utter it, because they understood the weight that the name carried. They understood that the name meant holiness, justice, power, love, judgment, jealousy and so much more.

The "Name above all Names!" carries some big weight doesn't it?!

Merry Christmas

We had a great time at Mercy Street putting on the Joy of Sharing Christmas and being able to share the Christmas Story. I was asked to run sound for the shepherds scene so manned the control booth for that scene. As you can see we had a great time and Andy, our pastor, even stopped by to pay me a visit as I worked diligently!

The True Meaning

Last week I was walking down our church hallway with my head down and was greeted by a very jovial voice that said "Good Morning Bumper!" I looked up to see our head custodian Roberto standing there with a huge smile on his face. He came up to me, put his arm around me and asked me how I was doing? I replied I was fine and in turn asked him the same, his smile got even bigger and he responded by saying "I am so happy, we all are, because we have Jesus!" and then he got back to doing whatever it was he was doing before I walked down the hallway.

That brief conversation has stuck with me for several reasons. The first is because I know how genuine Roberto's happiness and joy is. I know this is not a happiness born from wealth or prosperity as some would have us believe, but it is because as he said "he has Jesus!" It also stuck with me because to be honest it was a tad convicting. I claim the same Jesus that Roberto does, but do I let it permeate and impact every facet of my life? Do I let the love of Jesus flow so freely and abundantly that I can not help it that it makes me happy?

We are coming up on Christmas, one of my favorite times of the year. I hope we are happy!