What's in a name?

What's in a name? Man, if I had a nickle for the times I heard my Grandfather tell me, Your name is EVERYTHING! He not only believed it, he lived it.

I can remember driving around town and running errands with my Pe-paw. It didn't matter if we were at the Dairy Queen or the local bank, everyone knew him and referred to him as Mr. Marina. I thought it was cool that people called him Mr. Marina. I always thought to myself, "why didn't they call the man before him Mr. whatever," or the man after him. My Grandfather worked hard for his name & he was proud of it, & so am I.

When we walked into the local bank, Pe-paw would walk over to the most comfortable chairs in the bank, sit down & someone would spot him (an employee) at the bank. Then inevitably they would walk over to him, greet him (hi MR. Marina!), & take his bank bag. A couple of seconds later someone would walk up to us with a cookie tray, (I kid you not!) offer me a cookie & a drink, & then do the same for him. We would sit in those nice chairs, eat a cookie and talk. He wasn't a big conversationalist, but he used every opportunity when he did talk, to impart wisdom.

Each time he opened his mouth he would counsel me about life. He often used proverbs from the old country (Beirut, Lebanon) to teach me about life. A few minutes later the banker would walk back with his bank bag, hand it to him, and ask him... "Is there anything else MR. Marina?" We would walk out and be on our way. He was highly regarded in his community.

There is a lot to be said for a man's name. I can recall a day when attorney's were needed more for legal documents than they were to settle disputes over someones word, like they often do today. A man's handshake was all it called for. If a man shook your hand, you could consider it done. Those days are long gone for the most part.

I can still walk in my bank today, sit down in a chair and be waited on by my banker (and I often am, thanks Ellen!), but today, it has more to do with well trained customer service employee's. Many people are treated like I am. Yes, they call me MR. Graves, but guess what? The man in front of me was MR. so-n-so & the man behind me was MR...
Times have changed. Yes, it's still important to maintain a good name. It's not "AS" regarded as it use to be.

It leads me to my next question, how have we regarded The Liberating Kings name? Are we as impressed with His name, than we are in hearing our own name. His name is above ALL names! He is the King of ALL kings! In His presence, one day, EVERY knee will bow, & EVERY mouth will confess, He IS The Liberating King! Just by the mere mention of His name, the enemy runs away like a scared cat.

Can you imagine what Jesus did to his family's name while he was growing up? As a young kid he was caught in the synagogue, preaching, healing the sick & casting out demons. Some people in the community were calling him a lunatic. Can you imagine what people were saying about his parents and the way they were raising him. Jesus' family tried on numerous occasions to disrupt his "public displays" so they could protect the family name from shame.

As an adult son, James was Jesus' older brother & it was his responsibility to defend the family honor. Even he was not convinced that his brother was the Savior and The Liberating King. Not until after he saw with his own eyes, The Resurrected Jesus.

Why is it, that we neglect to call upon His name? After all, He is our Savior. He has liberated us from our sin. He has given us the opportunity to trade our imperfect lives in, for His perfect life. Why do we neglect to Call upon His POWERFUL name? I've seen His work at first hand, with my own eyes. I've experienced His Resurrecting power in my own life & clearly have witnessed it in others. I've seen His Goodness, live in His Blessings and am alive by His Grace.

When I was a boy (3 - 4 years old) I was afraid of those awesome West Texas thunderstorms. I have a very vivid memory of my daddy comforting me during one of those storms. At first he was trying to scare me along with the thunder. When he realized I was truly very scared of the storm, he began to calm me down by teaching me a "trick," if you will. He encouraged me to repeat the name of Jesus over and over, again and again, until I feel asleep. So out loud, I would begin to repeat... Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus... until I quickly feel asleep.

Here I am 38 years old (for at least 3 more weeks) & to this day, I find myself repeating his name out loud over and over again. Today it's not because of thunderstorms, but life's storms. When I was 25 years old taking my first chemotherapy treatment, I was repeating his name out loud over & over again, until that familiar peace set in. When faced with losing my job, which would mean possibly my house, & I was newly married; I found myself repeating His name over and over again. With health, money, sorrow, addiction, when my heart hurts for someone I love, I find myself calling upon His name. Today won't you call upon His name? What's in a name? We'll, it's more than we can comprehend, but clearly not more than God has given. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, JESUS!!!!!!

A meeting...I think not, a discovery...YES!

I'm continually amazed at the artistic & creative genius in people. I was invited by a friend to a meeting in Houston at Ecclesia church (www.ecclesiahouston.org). While at this meeting I began to peruse through their quaint coffee house and book store (www.2115taft.org) which they refer to as 2115 Taft.

I was drawn to a unique leather bound, obviously hand made, leather book cover. I began to read the story about these leather covers. I discovered Ecclesia had adopted a village in Honduras to hand make these covers for a literary project of the scriptures called The Voice (www.hearthevoice.com). Each book-cover that is sold, proceeds from the cover go back to this poverty stricken village in Honduras.

The Voice is a literary project that reflects the age in which it is written. In it's preface it states that it was "created for and by a church in great transition." This caught my attention to say the least. I picked up one of the books and began to read. Within a matter of minutes, I Knew a new personal journey had begun. I quickly went to the cashier pulled out my credit card and gladly paid "whatever" the cost. That meeting was more than a month ago, I can not put this new testament translation down. I went back to 2115 Taft and purchased half a dozen more copies and passed them out for gifts at Christmas. Without exception, each family or person that I have given one to has had similar experiences. One person told me "when you gave us the Bible at dinner, I just thought, cool a new Bible". He said by the time he had made it home from dinner, his wife had been reading it and "she couldn't stop crying."

"The heart of this project is retelling the story of the Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works, yet remaining painstakingly true to the original transcripts" says the Ecclesia Bible Society. It uses a screenplay format and it clearly shows who is speaking and to whom they are speaking. The vision for this project is a dream come true for the visionary behind the work (Chris Seay) who is the Lead Pastor of Ecclesia Church & President of Ecclesia Bible Society. This translation refers to Jesus as the Liberating King. Liberating!! Liberating!!! Indeed He is, and so is this new found translation. Thank you Niki Garcia for inviting me to a meeting, that has forever changed my life. May you all be liberated by the King of Kings & the Lord of Lords!