"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it."
Revelation 2.17
Names seem to be very important to God....names he gives himself to describe his attributes, names he give to the children of his prophets, new names that he give to apprentices who risk journeying with him, even the name he gave to his Son through angelic pony express. This verse most likely references a prophetic hope expressed by Isaiah toward the end of his book, "The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow." Isa. 62.2 "You" here in the Hebrew is plural, like y'all...referring to his covenant people, not you personally. This prophesy comes just after "The Year of the Lord's Favor" chapter (Jesus' inaugural sermon text) and as a prediction of restoration after the doom that was to befall Israel, the "choice vine" that chose to become wild and unproductive, because they rejected (or lost track of in the business of life) their destiny and design (Ch.5)
Names convey meaning. Our greatest hopes and desires. To God they foreshadow both destiny and purpose.
God is doing an amazing work in our midst. His fingerprints are all over us, individually and as a newly formed/forming body of Christ follower. He is not just bringing us together for our own health, enjoyment and well-being, but so that we might learn to live in His blessing so that we can be equipped and empowered to be a blessing to all we encounter (and all we will never encounter this sided of heaven as well). We are called into his presence to be blessed so that we would be a blessing to the nations!
Several people in our group have suggested that it is time for us to tune our ear to what the Spirit might be saying in regards to what our new name ought to be. I believe they are right. It needs to be a name that is reflective of what God is doing in our midst, personal to who we are and what he is shaping us to become.
So I am asking us to prayerfully start dreaming and brainstorming ideas...anything that comes to mind, no filtering required. But do share why you think your ideas might represent who we are becoming...a scripture, what evoked/inspired the idea, what impression or emotion this name represents to you. Put them in a post on this blog, and then lets start pondering and sharing our reflection as we respond to each others posts. Share what strikes you positively from each persons submission, and then share any new ideas that emerge from this exercise. I really believe that if we do this honestly and prayerfully that God will whisper something into the midst of this conversation that will resonate with all of us and will become a commissioning for us.
Names seem to be very important to God....names he gives himself to describe his attributes, names he give to the children of his prophets, new names that he give to apprentices who risk journeying with him, even the name he gave to his Son through angelic pony express. This verse most likely references a prophetic hope expressed by Isaiah toward the end of his book, "The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow." Isa. 62.2 "You" here in the Hebrew is plural, like y'all...referring to his covenant people, not you personally. This prophesy comes just after "The Year of the Lord's Favor" chapter (Jesus' inaugural sermon text) and as a prediction of restoration after the doom that was to befall Israel, the "choice vine" that chose to become wild and unproductive, because they rejected (or lost track of in the business of life) their destiny and design (Ch.5)
Names convey meaning. Our greatest hopes and desires. To God they foreshadow both destiny and purpose.
God is doing an amazing work in our midst. His fingerprints are all over us, individually and as a newly formed/forming body of Christ follower. He is not just bringing us together for our own health, enjoyment and well-being, but so that we might learn to live in His blessing so that we can be equipped and empowered to be a blessing to all we encounter (and all we will never encounter this sided of heaven as well). We are called into his presence to be blessed so that we would be a blessing to the nations!
Several people in our group have suggested that it is time for us to tune our ear to what the Spirit might be saying in regards to what our new name ought to be. I believe they are right. It needs to be a name that is reflective of what God is doing in our midst, personal to who we are and what he is shaping us to become.
So I am asking us to prayerfully start dreaming and brainstorming ideas...anything that comes to mind, no filtering required. But do share why you think your ideas might represent who we are becoming...a scripture, what evoked/inspired the idea, what impression or emotion this name represents to you. Put them in a post on this blog, and then lets start pondering and sharing our reflection as we respond to each others posts. Share what strikes you positively from each persons submission, and then share any new ideas that emerge from this exercise. I really believe that if we do this honestly and prayerfully that God will whisper something into the midst of this conversation that will resonate with all of us and will become a commissioning for us.
Lets spend the next two weeks leaning into this, and then we can talk more meaningfully as to what name God might be giving to us on the November 4th, when Aaron an Awna rejoin our group as man and wife....yippee!
Let the listening begin!
Let the listening begin!
8 comments:
testing....
Cool...you don't necessarily need a Google "GMail" address to have a Google Account. I have a google account and use my sbcglobal.net email address.
However, you do need to still register on the link below.
Jim, where is that list of names you were going to post on our blog?
One of the names I connected with from your list was Jouney...but I can not say that word without thinking of a long nosed rock star from Hanford. I was listening to a Dallas Willard tape today and he spokeof 'The Way', or in Greek Hodos. I doen't exactly roll of your tounge but I loved its content. The thumbnail is that it is a journey we are called into...to follow Jesus on (who is the pioneer of our faith in this new way/path into the Kingdom way of life). Christian were first called "followers of the way". Jesus said "He was the way..." and "I will show you the way" and the passage I am meditating on this week starts out with, "I will show you the most excellent way...Love is patient..."
Its a cool word study if nothing else. If you are interested I put some reference snippets below.
Here is some definition:
3598 (Hodos) ὁδός, ὁδοποιέω [hodos /hod·os/] n f. Apparently a root word; TDNT 5:42; TDNTA 666; GK 3847 and together with Strongs 4160 as GK 3846; 102 occurrences; AV translates as “way” 83 times, “way side” eight times, “journey” six times, “highway” three times, and translated miscellaneously twice. 1 properly. 1a a way. 1a1 a travelled way, road. 1b a travellers way, journey, travelling. 2 metaph. 2a a course of conduct. 2b a way (i.e. manner) of thinking, feeling, deciding.
Strong, J. 1996. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible
3847 ὁδός (hodos), οῦ (ou), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ DBLHebr 784, 2006; Str 3598; TDNT 5.42—1. LN 1.99 road, path, way, route (Mt 2:12); 2. LN 15.19 journey, implying adj. greater distance (Mk 6:8); 3. LN 41.16 way of life, figurative extension of above entries (Mt 21:32; 2Pe 2:21); 4. LN 41.35 Christian way of life (Ac 9:2; 1Co 4:17); 5. LN 81.28 σαββάτου ὁδός (sabbatou hodos), Sabbath journey, the basic rule was 2,000 cubits, variously reckoned at about 800 to 900 yards (Ac 1:12+); 6. LN 77.7 κατασκευάζω τὴν ὁδόν (kataskeuazō tēn hodon), make ready (Mt 11:10; Mk 1:2; Lk 7:27+); 7. LN 88.18 εὐθεῖα ὁδός (eutheia hodos), just way of life (2Pe 2:15+)
The other names that I have been thinking about for a while are:
The Well- A place where thirsty sojourner can be refreshed as they drink deeply of Jesus, the living water. You need more than one well...you need them whereever you sojourn...and they need to be accessable without to much travel, you should be able to walk to it. The woman at the well story has been very formative to Ryan and I as we were studying through John this summer..."the time is coming when you will no longer worship on this mountain or in Jerusalem...but the Father is seekin worshippers who will worship in Spirit and in Truth" kind of stuff", leading to a broken woman becoming the first evangelist in the NT, bringing her whole town to Jesus because of the transformation she recieved.
The Vine- The place where we come to learn to abide/stay connected to God. Jn 15 kind of stuff Vines spread...everywhere.
Thrive- Because I like Kaiser Permanente...no, really because of the feeling I get from that word..it matches what is happening in me through our fellowship....I have come to give you life and life to the fullest.
Icon Community- A simply work of art that can become a window into eternity....into the presense of Jesus and the Kingdom.
I am most drawn to names that could work well with having "network" attached to it (or something that gives that kind of association of communities feeling) for when we can no longer meet in one home. I haven't figured out something for the well that doesn't make us sound like a healthcare provider.
Paul has a great article that he has promised to post that will be an important addition to our "name conversation"...warning about not putting to much ephasis on the name on a day to day manner. I thought it was an important word for us.
Okay here's the names. Enter by hand.
Mission Possible
climbing Higher
Apprenticed by ONE
Soul-journers
The Journey
The BE Comers
Interface Gathering
Upstream Ministries
Transmission Cohort
Midway Fellowship
One Way Fellowship
Pivotal Point
Intentionally Created
Intentionally Designed
Freedom Forward
Fast Forward
Alliance Gathering
Reliance Gathering/Fellowship
Vision Quest
Radiant Gathering/Fellowship
Intersection
Relevant Fellowship
Cross-Culture
Against the Flow
Turning Tide
The wave
"U" (YOU) turn
Revolution R - evolution
Cross Revolution
Cross Intersection
Design Wave
Title Wave (Bought with a price)
Cross-Over or Crossed-Over
Networthy
Cedars of Lebanon
Living Waters
Have at it,
JIM
How about "Via" as a name? It means:(1) By means of, by way of. From Latin for "way" or "path." It incorporates the idea of Journey and the Way without sounding like a 80's rock band or an pretentious declaration of rightness. Just another thought
The other idea that Sherans email sparked for me was Sojourner Community, or something with Sojourn/er in it.
Here is Sheran's ideas that she emailed to Jim and Tim:
I love your list of names on the blog. A couple of my favorites were “Journey”and “Soul-journers” I like about three others too, but those two names seemed to fit with this little gem I found while doing my job today. I stumbled on to a school website with this vision statement which I thought had exceptional wording. I tweaked it a bit to fit our “no-name” church plant group. The underline is just my emphasis, it wasn’t underlined originally. What do you think?
We share a vision, a collective sense of purpose and direction, understood as one understands a journey and the necessity to move beyond the limitations of the present. Our journey begins within an inner landscape, requiring only that we listen to God’s Holy Spirit, who centers our vision. We see young people, children, parents, grandparents, leaders, teachers, community members - living and learning, inside and outside the traditional walls defining church, engaged in the sense of wonder and joy that rewards being a true follower of Christ.
Share this with Tim & Jen. I like it.
Sheran
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