What Would Your Name Mean?

This week I was, “Is Jesus ever called Immanuel in the Bible?” The short answer is not for English readers, or, Western minds. The issue of naming in the Middle East, and indeed in many other cultures, is not a once for all task. The naming of a child is given a great deal of thought and is intended to express past family accomplishments/faith and future hopes. For that reason as children grow to adults their names are embellished with their character as in the Native American naming highlighted in the movie Dances With Wolves.

The prophecy through Isaiah , "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14) fulfilled in Jesus according to Matthew, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' which means, 'God with us'" (Matthew 1:22-23). This does not mean, however, that the Messiah’s name would actually be Immanuel. That was His personage while His name was His mission, to be God’s salvation, is given in His given name, Jesus.

All this got me to thinking about my name and if there could be qualifiers I could wear? Sherman is a pretty mundane name meaning, “cutter of cloth, or, shearer of sheep.” Ok, that is my name, but, could I have a separate category of name titled, “he shall be called”? Jesus got some pretty astounding ‘secondary’ names like “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

All of that to ask this question, “Given that we are to be like Christ would it be a good idea to give some thought to a few “he shall be calleds” (HSBC for short) for ourselves?

“For to John & Marge a child is born, to them a son is given, and the ministry shall be upon his heart and he shall be called Servant to God’s Church, Speaker of God’s Truth, Testimony of God’s Grace, Loyal Husband, Gracious Father, Dotting Grandfather, and, Constant Student of God’s Word.” For Jesus it was a prophecy certain to be fulfilled. For me it a humble prayer I strive to earn.

Why don’t you give it try? What would your HSBC say of you?

You Can't Make the Tree in Time

I have been reflecting on life this past week. Not the day to day activities but the life I have lived and the lives the people I have had the honor of knowing. Some jump out quickly such as my Dad, a man of almost reckless faith. Others are buried in long ago memories of my childhood. One grabbed me this last Sunday as I listened to Gayla Congdon talk about her new, and first, book, “Disrupted.” She referenced a story that spawned a great book for men, “In a pit with a lion on a snowy day” by Mark Batterson. It was sparked by the story of Benaiah found in 2 Samuel 23:20-21 and it is about facing your greatest fears with abandon. I knew a real life Benaiah who I meant for the first time at the age of 11 in the remote community of Gawa in Zimbabwe.

Jawawa Sihole was a teacher for the mission’s school in that area. He had made his living as a young man by hunting lions causing problems in the region, but, moved to education in his twenties. He had offered to help me find a buck I had wounded but could not track in the rocky terrain of that area. The hunt was successful and as hunters young and old do at the end of a successful effort we built a fire and began to tell stories. Well, he told stories as my repertoire was pretty slim.

I asked him what it was like to hunt lions. He told me the most effective way was to kill a small buck and then drag it through the bush making sounds like a lioness that has just brought down a kill calling the rest of the pride. Then the object was to climb a sturdy tree and wait for them to come to you. At that point you could pick them off one at a time.

I picked at the obvious hole in the method when I asked, “But don’t they sometimes come before you get up the tree?”

“Yes,” he replied, “and then you just have to get them before they get you, but, if you turn and try to get to the tree, they will eat you.” This from a man whose only weapons were a spear, bow, and, arrows, all hand made.

It strikes me as good advice for our daily walk. Each of us is a meal for the evil in the world. Sometimes we can sit in a safe location surrounded by family and friends who are lion killers themselves. However, most of the time we are a walking meal and when Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8 that Satan is a prowling lion looking for someone to devour we must be prepared to stand and fight without reinforcements. The warning of this story is, don’t turn your back on that lion, you can defeat him with the weapons of faith and Godly courage.

That is why Peter encourages us to stand firm and resist. Remember we are heavily armored against all attacks from the front. There is only failure in fleeing. Whatever your present temptations and trials, stand firm in your faith, resist, and the evil will run from you. Even if you are wounded in the encounter, God, Peter promises, will restore you.

Are You Someone?

A few years ago I was sitting at Musso & Frank's Grill in Hollywood waiting with some friends while our students were doing field research on the streets when a Southerner (I would know that accent anywhere) stopped with pen in hand and asked, "Are you someone?" My friends thought it was funny though the tourist thought less so when I responded, "Isn't everyone?" Andy Warhol coined the phrase "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes" in 1968, so I guess I have 14 minutes left after that encounter. 

While Warhol's phrase has since passed into popular culture, today, a more recent study by Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/) suggests that everyone is famous to at least 1500 people and some are famous to 3,000 or more.He explains the popularity of social media has created "followers" whom he identifies as "tribes." People who take their lead from someone else.

Evidently the race to be slightly famous is on, and it’s being fueled by the social and tribal connections permitted by the net. We give a lot of credit and faith to the famous, but now there are a lot more of them/us. When you are famous that changes things. You are given a great deal of trust and the benefit of the doubt more quickly. That is a lot to carry once you realize its truth.

Those people know you.  And because of your place in their lives most of them trust you. That’s a heavy thing when you think about it.

No matter how you may feel about famous people, and, many of us are reluctant to grant them any special stature, they are accorded a special audience in our circle of followers. Now you and I must realize that we have met the famous and them is us! Our words, actions, and, decisions are accorded a higher level of acceptance as well as a heightened level of scrutiny.

Is it important to know to whom you are famous? You bet it is. Your “tribe” (group of followers) is always chewing on the next thing, discussing the next idea, processing, absorbing and moving on. Is it any wonder that a new idea, action, or, decision will be moved to the top of your tribe's list? You are famous to them.

If this theory turns out to be true, and, I believe there is certainly more than a grain of truth in it, our words must be chosen with extreme care. No longer can we blurt out what flows through our minds without reviewing it for accuracy, clarity, and, grace. No longer can we choose an activity simply because it pleases us, but, rather we must consider the consequences on our followers.

Over time, says Seth Godin, once everyone is famous, the pressure will fade, but right now, the trust and benefit of the doubt we accord the famous is quite valuable and not a little frightening.

A good time to remember the words of our Lord in Matthew 18:6, “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” After all, many of our followers will be the children in our families and in our sports, music, drama, and, school groups, and many others who, like the less mature, make decisions based on their feelings, especially, their feelings about us, the famous.

Fellowship Without Fellowship is Dis-fellowhip

I have always felt the word “fellowship” to be a uniquely Christian word. I don’t hear it used in much casual conversation outside the church setting and probably for good reason. It is the word used most commonly to translate the Greek word koinonia in the New Testament which is a derivative of koinos which translates to “common.” Koinonos, another derivative is used to describe a relationship derived from sharing something in common. A relationship based on common values and shared responsibilities. In classical Greek it was used to refer to marriages that shared a common focus in life as well as common struggles.

Paul’s reminder in 1 Corinthians 1:9, that, “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” gives us pause as we ask for peace in a world where God has called us to be peace makers. It is not possible to have intimate communion with God without having intimate participation in the will of God.

When the Apostle John shares his insights in his last letters his prologue says, “We proclaim to you hat we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship (intimate participation) with us” he is reminding us our communion with God is determined by our communion (intimate participation) with each other. Of course, on the broader scale, in God’s economy, the “each other” refers to all whom God has called to be His own.

I call attention to this conditional requirement for relationship to God as a way of underlining the quintessential definition of church activity in Acts 2:42-47, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

I wonder if the “adding to their number” by God was because they were truly in fellowship.

Getting Help for Ministry

One of the most important activities for leaders is to include others in service. It also seems to be one of the most difficult, for several reasons. For some it is a matter of, “if you want a job done right do it yourself.” Others feel they are “pestering” people with small jobs that could just as easily be done by a few rather than by increasing the number of people involved. I have noticed that the main reason, however, is that leaders too often feel the are burdening people with tasks as opposed to encouraging them with opportunities.

Paul makes it clear we all have a part in the building up of the church, and, I pray we will begin to include everyone in our options for servants. When we do not ask people to take on opportunities we are limiting their joy and ownership of the mission of our congregation. Doing it ourselves robs our members of the grace of giving time and energy to God’s purpose at La Habra Christian Church. Asking for too little undermines the truth that no opportunity is considered to small to contribute to the success of reaching the lost. Begging for help instead of asking for service misses the big picture of our mission and purpose.

Here are some suggestions to help you the next time you have a chance to invite members to serve in a particular capacity:

Ask personally rather than rely on announcements. Remember that you're not looking for someone to “volunteer;” you’re looking for someone to commit to a ministry.

Develop strategic recruiting partnerships – build your network or a recruiting team. Don’t go it alone.

Recruit short-term project teams. The more specific the time limit, the more people you'll likely get to join you in help with a project. And short-term commitments might open the door to longer commitments.

Assume that a “no” means “not now,” or “not this position.” Think of a “no” as an open door to listen carefully to the reasons behind the “no.”

Develop roles and responsibilities or a ministry description for each position. Don’t fill any position until you find the person who matches what you're looking for.

Recruit specific people for specific roles.  (Adapted from The New Breed: Understanding & Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer, Group Publishing, 2013)

Shut the Gate!

In an essay titled “Please Shut This Gate” English author F.W. Boreham describes signs carefully placed by landowners throughout the landscape of New Zealand. “Please shut this gate,” was a message one could read often throughout his countryside, signs placed by fence owners intent on keeping some things from wandering away and some things from wandering in. Boreham has drawn his image from Isaiah 58:8, “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard” (Taken from Jill Carattini in “A Slice of Infinity”).

There is good reason to close the gate on what is behind us. Behind us are the choices we made that hurt others, ourselves, and, God. If we do not shut the gate on them they could drag us into a self doubt that would sap our energy for doing good to those same people. Leaving the gate open allows the mindset which led us to make those choices to follow us and in times of weakness we will be more inclined to repeat our sins than overcome them.

Closing the gate in the face of Satan puts a barrier between us and him following Peter’s injunction to “flee the devil.” Closing the gate shuts off the many actions and incidents in our lives which hurt our efforts to do right and love God.

When the gate is closed we have not only kept something out we have also retained the good we have grown to learn and be because of God’s grace to us. Maybe it is this process of closing the gate behind us the Psalmist refers to when he exclaims in Psalms 23, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Yes the path ahead holds challenges, dangers and even suffering, but, not from behind. God has our back and He has asked us to be His front.

Take Care of Today for Tomorrow

One month in the ancient Roman calendar that had an especially descriptive name was January. The Latin word janua means a door or window from which a person may look both ways, in other words, in and out--forward and back. Historians say that January is also derived from the name Janus, a common household god among the Romans. He was often depicted facing in two directions. Basically, he was looking forward and back.

A few weeks ago I encouraged you to look back on this year so you would be better equipped to look forward. As I struggled to do that I came to realize a simple truth philosophers have struggled with over time. How is it possible to live in the past or future while I am living in the present?

Duh! Right?

Today takes most of my time, energy, creativity, and, focus, because, today I have to answer life’s essential questions regarding relationships, health, direction, and, resolution. But, there is another truth equally as obvious, I cannot relate, be healthy, find my way or resolve life’s conflicts without my storehouse of experiences nor without regard to the consequences of my decisions today on tomorrow. I feel I am playing a lifetime game of twister with one foot behind, one foot in front, and, both hands stretched to today.

I have come to the conclusion life is just that way. There is no other option. So. what to do?

Paul says it this way in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Accepting what has been done – has been done, and reaffirming what is to come is greater than I can possibly imagine, I must put all my energy in making sure that my existence today is given over to making Christ’s sacrifice and His grace the most important truth to every person with whom I have contact. Like Paul (really, even to a greater degree than Paul) I have failed in this daily effort. May God make me more like Paul who never gave up the effort.