The Porch Light copyright by Revka (2006-2010). All rights reserved.

Monday, October 16, 2006

What's in a name?


I did get to go to revival last night, and, boy, was it good! It made me think of the sermon that inspired the post about beginning with the end. Evangelist Behrens preached on "Your Name Will Follow You All Your Life." Here are some points to ponder:

  • Other than our salvation, our name is probably the most important issue in our life
  • We have 2 names that stay with us through life: our given name and the name associated with that given name. My given name is Revka, but the "name" associated with that name is whatever comes to mind when you hear my given name. Some examples were Michael Jordan and OJ Simpson; Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton; Mary and Jezebel.
  • Even God uses both of our names. Look in the Bible - Abraham is known as "the friend of God." David is "a man after God's own heart." Enoch "walked with God." The disciple John is "the Beloved." Our reputation is important to God as well as to man.
  • Our name will follow us even after we are dead. Heb. 11:4 makes reference to Abel's blood crying out even though Abel was already dead. I know it's not quite the same application as the rest of the sermon, but he used it to illustrate the fact that we still "speak" after we are dead.
  • Our name will influence people to accept Christ or to reject Him, to live for Christ or to live for self. Mr. Behrens told about a Family Conference he attended. It was so large that they booked the entire motel where the conference was held. After the conference was over, the motel worker asked to speak with the local pastor. Mr. Behrens went along with the pastor. The motel worker asked that pastor if the conference attendees believed and lived like the people in his church. "Oh, yes!" the pastor confidently declared. "They're just like us!" The motel worker posed his question in another way and received the same assured reply. "Then why is it that over 65% ordered pornographic movies during their stay here?" he asked. The pastor was shocked and had no reply. From that day on, the motel worker has been closed to the Gospel, all because people did not guard their name.

In closing, Mr. Behrens gave us the advice to live our lives in such a manner that the preacher will not have to tell lies at our funeral. GREAT advice, and in my mind, it will take planning for the end to achieve that goal.

0 comments: