Proverbs 22:1 A good name is more desirable than great wealth. Respect is better than silver or gold.

Two commandments came to mind as I began writing this. The first one is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." The other is "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

Two weeks ago the subject focused on God's reputation and how His name and reputation are on the line regarding salvation. This time I'm looking at our reputation, for we, claiming to be Christian, are the living proof that God can and will save us if we want Him to.

It was at Antioch where the term "Christian" was first coined to describe the believers that Jesus was the Messiah, the fulfillment of God's promise that a redeemer would come to save us from sin. However, the term "Christian" was not meant to be a term of endearment. It was an insult. It was used to deride the believers in what others believed was just another false Messiah.

Consider the meaning of the name "Barabbas". Jesus was brought to Pilate and this time Pilate gave the crowd a choice. He would release one man and offered them Jesus King of the Jews or this other man Barabbas. "Bar" is a Hebrew word meaning "son of." "Abba" we know means "father." So the offering Pilate made to the crowd was made up of two men, both believed by some to be the true Messiah. Only one of them was the true Son of God.

And like their fathers before them, the crowd made the wrong choice. "Give us Barabbas" was shouted over and over again, signifying that they were willing to accept a false religious leader over the One God would eventually appoint as the Judge over the world. God was rejected again and Jesus Christ was crucified. Because of this, we can find salvation in the name of the Lord.

And because we have found salvation in the name of the Lord, we have attached ourselves to Him, knowing He has kept His promises in the past, knowing that He is keeping His promises now and that He will continue keeping His promises long into the future. He has put His reputation on the line, and we who believe have aligned ourselves with Him. And that means that we have put our reputation on the line, as well. We have taken His name as our own, and hence we can call ourselves Christians.

In light of what we read in Romans chapter 9 through 11, it is safe to say that we are of the seed of Abraham, for our faith in the Father is the same faith Abraham had as he looked forward to the promise being fulfilled. He looked forward to the coming Messiah, while we can look back at the Messiah's first appearing and look forward to His reappearing in clouds of glory. So yes, we can claim to be Israel.

We are Israel. What does that mean when we break it down, translating it to English? Prince of God. A couple of songs come to mind as I think about the implication of this. Maybe the same songs come to your mind as you reflect on this truth. "God our Father Christ our brother." - a lyric from the Ode to Joy by Beethoven found in #12 in our hymnal. It's been a while since I heard this song but it was popular at the Granbury SDA church that I attended while living in Texas. Every week we sang, "Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod... I'm a part of the family, the family of God." We are His children. We are royalty.

We are family. We now wear the sir name of the Father who has adopted us. We are related to the Father of Salvation. We are related to the Son who made Salvation possible. We are related to the Holy Spirit who testifies to what the Son of Salvation has done.

And the Father, looking at us with love in His eye, hopes that we will grow up to be just like Him.

We know the story well. The woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus for judgment and execution. As she weeps at Jesus' feet, the accusers leave. "Where are your accusers?" She looks around but finds them gone. She replies that there is no one around. Jesus says, "Neither do I accuse you. Go and sin no more."

These words are for us. "Go and sin no more."

Do you remember your parents dressing you up in clean clothes as everyone got ready for church? Mom or dad tell you not to get dirty, but you went outside and found a really cool mud puddle to jump into? Or maybe you as a parent have gone through this experience. Your child is now a mess, has to be hauled back inside, and time is lost as you have to remove the dirty clothes and redress them again and then make sure they don't go back outside while you finish getting ready. I think I did that once as a child.

The Father's words to us the day we accept by faith Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Go and sin no more. Don't get dirty. Silly humans that we are. How many times do we have to wash the robes of His righteousness that He has given us to cover our shame? The imputed righteousness of Christ covers a multitude of sin. We are to hunger and thirst for His righteousness. We are to practice His righteousness. We are to learn to be patient as God is patient. We are to learn to love as He loves. Same goes with kindness, mercy, and grace. As it has been given us, so we must give to others. To be Christlike, honoring the name that the Father has given us, and restoring honor to the Law that defines His character.

We all know John 3:16. It is the gospel, but it is not complete, for John 3:17 has a part to play in it. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. And so it should be with us. We are to be careful in how we judge, for that is part of the decision-making process. Jesus as our advocate before the Father makes intercession for us. Those with problems are already judged. They don't need our judgment adding to their problems. If anything, they need to find a way to deal with the situation. There is going to be punishment enough. That can't be avoided. The best that can be done is to make sure it is as merciful as possible. If you watch crime drama on television then you know what I'm talking about. The perpetrator wants to cut a deal, confess to the crime in the hope of getting leniency and is willing to cooperate for a reduction in the charges and time to be served. Jesus our advocate wants our confession, wants to forgive us for our sins and wants us to go free. He's already paid the penalty and so those words "Go and sin no more" should have a deeper meaning to us. There should be a motivating factor to those words that encourages us to stand firm in the gospel and resist temptation.

David made God's Law the focus of study, desiring for the Law to be written in heart and mind so that he would obey God out of love in his heart and with no hesitation. Paul understood free will, knowing that he didn't have to keep the Law, but choosing to keep it in his thoughts so that he would not revert back to his old self. He understood the love that the Law was based upon, knowing that mercy and grace were made possible by the love reflected in the Law. We understand that God's Law is the revelation of His character, and we want His character developed in our lives. As He is, so we want to become. That is God's desire for us. That is what we hunger and thirst after. His righteousness.

So our reputation is now intertwined with God's reputation. This means that God's desire becomes our desire. God's will becomes our will. The more we behold Him, the more like Him we become.

As Christ came into the world to save it, so too must we seek to save it, and that means there is no room in our mission for condemning it. The world is watching us. John 3:18 says that the world is already condemned because of its failure to believe in the name of Jesus, the Son who is Salvation. And if the world does not believe, then the fault is on those of us claiming to be Christian but in reality who are taking the name of Jesus in vain and bearing false witness to our relationship with Him.

When we take on the name of Christ, we are to no longer be conformed to this world, as Paul writes in Romans. We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. We are to renew our minds, that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We are to be doers of the word, not just reading our Bibles or listening to the message He shares through public speakers, but putting those words into action. We are to be more than conquerors who share in the victory Christ has won. We are to prove that faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

In the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, God lets them know what their reputation is where He is concerned. He knows their works, what they have done right and areas where they need improvement. I look at our church here and wonder what our reputation is from God's perspective. And I compare us to what other churches in our community are doing. Some give food out every week, while others are able to do so once or twice a month. This past winter some churches opened the doors to the homeless, providing a place to shower, change socks, and get some sleep in a warm place. Breakfast was provided. Some are helping addicts adjust to a drug-free or alcohol-free life.

Where do we fit into all of this? What are we doing to help the communities in which we live? What is our reputation in our community? What can we do to get more involved in helping meet the needs of those who need Jesus? It is through us that they will learn of Him. What evidence can we provide to others through activities that will convince them that God loves them and that we do, too?

The subject is our reputation. It is not a reputation based on vanity or ego. The world can see through that charade. Our reputation is based on God's love and His will in saving souls. That is our purpose. Losing sight of our purpose is possible, so we must keep our eye on the mission God has given us. In South Korea that was one thing that we were told to do: keep your eye on the mission. From this will come the good name and the respect that comes with it.

We have a lot of work to do as we prepare the way of the Lord for His coming. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The Name

Every so often we see these lists come out revealing the top names for boys and girls during the year. Some of the names we have heard in the past that were given to our grandparents and great-grandparents have gone into decline.

Ethel was once a name that listed number six as a popular name in 1896. For a while, it was doing well on the top 1000 names for girls, but in 1975 it dropped out of the top 1000, and in 2017 only 28 girls born that year were named Ethel. Bertha, Diane, Gertrude, and Ida have gone into decline as well.

For boys, the same is true. Not many boys are given the name Gary, Keith, Cody, Andrew, or Christopher.

Even the name Joshua is off the list. Between 1860 and 2016, there were 1,198,955 babies named Joshua. Not many are being given that name nowadays. However, once it was a very popular name, including during the Second Temple era in Israel. During the time of Jesus, it was a very common name. And the name is found many times throughout the Bible in various forms.

Yeshua. Yehoshua. Hoshea. There are times when a different spelling refers to the same person. There are also differences in pronunciation for these names based on regional dialect. What you might have heard pronounced in Jerusalem might be different from the pronunciation used in Galilee or Samaria. And it must also be remembered that in Israel during this time we have the Greek and Latin languages being spoken and written, and that, too, would affect pronunciation. Foreigners did the best they could depending on their language skills. But Greek was the international language of that time, and much of the New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Politically the area was administered by the Romans, but culturally it was Hellenistic Greek going back to the conquest of the area by Alexander the Great. So now we have the Greek language added to the mix and with it is the Greek equivalent to Yeshua. That name is Iesous.

We know the song, Yesu Joy of Man's Desiring. Yesu is from the Syriac language, with a different spelling, Isho. The spelling for this name applies for both Hebrew and Greek names, Yeshua and Iesous.

During the Italian Renaissance a poet named Gian Giorgio Trissino made his contribution to language: the letter "jay". Though the character of the letter was used in Latin numbers, Trissino was the first to distinguish the difference between the sounds of the /I/ and the /J/. This happened in the early 16th century. And it changed pronunciation forever and had a major impact on the translation of the Bible into English in 1611. Yeshua became Joshua. Iesous became Jesus. The name Iesous was found throughout the Koine Greek writings in the New Testament, and Jesus is the name we use when addressing our Lord and Savior.

What is the meaning of the Name?

Biblical names have meanings or definitions assigned to them. When Sarai was given the news that she was going to have a son in her advanced age, she laughed. Her son, Isaac, was given the name "Laughter". The name James means "Truthful". The name Yeshua and its variations mean "he saves" or "he rescues".

Joseph was told by the angel to name his son Yeshua i.e. Iesous i.e. Jesus, which means "He Saves". Salvation. There is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved (Acts 4:12), because His name is Salvation.

There are Christians who have a problem with how water baptism is to be conducted. One group follows Matt. 28:19, baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Another group baptizes in the name of the Son only based on Act 2:38. Then come the arguments over the Trinity.

Look at the Trinity, the Godhead. In essence, we are looking at Salvation as a whole. The God who Saves. We have the Father of Salvation. We have the Son who is Salvation, who died on our behalf, making it possible for us to be rescued from sin. We have the Holy Spirit who testifies of what the Son who is Salvation has done and who leads us to our rescue, our salvation. Without the Holy Spirit there would be no one to convict us of our sin or to lead us to repentence and the saving faith in the One who made salvation possible.

The Reputation of the Name

The definitions given by a name are the qualities that parents hope a child will grow into during as it matures. Not every James grows up to be truthful, however. Not every Angela is an angel. You get the picture. But those who do live up to their name earn a reputation. When the Father told Joseph what the Child's name was to be, the Father was putting His reputation on the line. Can He really save us? Does He want to save us?

Those who have tasted and seen that the Father is worthy will say that YES, the Father can save us. Yes, He does want to save us. He has given us his WORD, and the WORD became flesh. Salvation is freely offered to all. No one is to be denied. God has staked His reputation on this.

There is that wonderful image of Jesus in Revelation. He's standing at the door, knocking, wondering if anyone will invite Him in. Looking through His eyes, we see the ghetto in which we live. The trash. Pollution. Rubbish. Everything on the verge of falling apart and falling down. A place in need of urban renewal. And He is knocking on the door with only one thing on His mind. He's got the speech memorized. "Hi. I'm Jesus, the Son who is Salvation. I'm here to help you. I am here to rescue you. I am here to save you. May I come in?"

Sin has damaged everything good that God has given us. We have damaged the environment that supports life on this planet. We have damaged the relationships we are to share with each other. We have damaged the relationship with God who has done all that He can to repair it. And Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts hoping that we will open it so that He can come in. It is His desire to help us prepare the way of the Lord. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

January - Central Park - Ashland, Kentucky

February - Central Park - Ashland, Kentucky

March - Central Park - Ashland, Kentucky

April - Front Street by the Ohio River - Cattletsburg, Kentucky

May - Central Park - Ashland, Kentucky

June - confluence of the Tug Fork and Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River - Louisa, Kentucky

October - Smoky Bridge overlook - Carter Caves State Resort Park

Oldest House in Ashland - Central Park - Ashland, Kentucky

November - Deck of the Nina, a replica of the caravel of the same name that sailed under the command of Christopher Columbus in 1492 - Port of Ashland boat ramp - Ashland, Kentucky

Central Park during the first week of the Winter Wonderland of Lights - Ashland, Kentucky

So the first week of the new year is out of the way. Last night I was walking down Central Ave, along the north side of the park. The Christmas lights for the Winter Wonderland of Lights were off. It marks the time for us to return to the regular, cold-hearted people that we really are the rest of the year. I know it sounds cynical, but it is what I thought last night standing there at the corner, waiting for the light to change.

I picked up some videos from the library, then stopped by a convenience store for some Cherry 7-Up. Before I got home, there were two girls, I think they might have been mother and daughter, who asked if I could give them some spare change for something to eat. I dug out two dollars for them. They said that they were going to spend today looking for jobs. They had been to all the restaurants on the west end of town, and I suggested they go to the unemployment office, and then hit the restaurants on the east end. Taco Bell, KFC, Subway (I know the younger girl could get a job there), Tudor's Biscuit World, Long John Silver's, McDonald's, Tim Horton's make up that part of Restaurant Row. I think they stand a better chance of getting a job along that stretch of town. Or maybe they can get hired on for cleaning. This town is not a healthy place to be where jobs are concerned.

Growing up, this town had three bookstores in the area. Ashland News Stand and Game Room, The Book Rack, and Little Professor are all gone. Not sure about the Paperback Exchange. As for magazines, Kroger and Wal-Mart have a poor selection of reading material. Lots of magazines on food, handcrafts, guns, health, but nothing for me. I have to go to Huntington, WV, for reading material.

For future posts I'm going to shoot for a 500 word count. Might do them every ten days or so, except on Saturdays. Other miscellaneous posts will be made here and there based on what I like as far as poetry or photography.

Let's see what happens next.

A brief post script about this past weekend.

I wrote and delivered my first sermon to my home church this past Sabbath. It was the calmest I have been in a long time. I have four more sermons to prepare for this year, and it is possible I will add one or two more to the church schedule. The sermon will be posted in a day or two on this site.

Once again I'm going to try to be more consistent in blogging. Going to try to have something new every week starting in January.

Other than that, I don't have much going on. I'm still writing for www.ashlandbeacon.com. I'm still playing in Adobe PhotoShop. I'm trying to write short stories now, and have one in the works.

And I am still under doctor's orders not to develop pneumonia, while at the same time lose some weight.

More later.

This past Monday was my 52nd birthday. Still have a lifetime to go.

I recently moved into a building that is over 100 years old. When it was first built, it served as a hospital for just over 30 years, and was bought out by King's Daughters Hospital. It eventually became an apartment building. I live on the second floor of the red brick structure. I like the place well enough, but I could really do without the cockroaches. I also need to do something so I can get the Internet going. It is sometimes a drag having to carry my computer to the library. Walking home with it on my back is a drag sometimes.

From the local library I have checked out a number of DVDs and a few books. Earlier this week I watched season one of The Last Ship. Someone invents a killer virus that destroys 2/3 of the planet while the ship is on a secret mission to the Arctic Ocean, looking for a cure. Now I need to find season two and get caught up. Season three is currently airing on TNT, as far as I know. I'm also rewatching Shogun, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune. I've also watched season two three of Game of Thrones.

Things are well with the Ashland Beacon. I'm still writing stories, doing the interviews, doing the research for material to print.

One thing I do not quite get about my personality concerns the level of introversion I have. Some days it is pretty deep, and it is difficult to be around people. Other days I can handle it and get things done. It has cycles to it. I'm okay at the start of the month, but by the end of the month I want to avoid people. My personality type on the Meyers-Briggs Temperment Inventory is Introvert-iNtuitive-Thinking/Feeling-Judgement. Sometimes I want to socialize. Other times I want to disappear. And it is always mixed with this overthinking-overfeeling tendency, which slows me down when timing is critical.

More later.

a sacred peace
ferocious
with love released
tempestuous
holy holy
Thine
divine

that which is over begins again
count it as loss, then count it as gain
forget all the tears, forget all the pain
turn off your thoughts on the down-bound train

Happy Hanukkah
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year

It was a nice, quiet holiday season for me. I liked it.

Starting in January, I am going to strive to write at least two posts a week. If I can make six posts a month, I will be satisfied. One post will be essay. One post will be poetry.

I don't read enough, either online or offline. For some reason I can't stay focused on reading like I used to. This has to change.

Also, I need to start making money from other sources. I'm tired of teaching in classrooms where the air is either too cold, resulting in sickness, or the kids are paying more attention to their computer games. I have ebooks available on a number of websites, but poetry doesn't sell well. Not like it used to. I need to try to write some short stories for a change, and maybe do it right enough to sell to a variety of markets.

I have a lot of pictures, but no clue as to whether or not there is a market for what I have.

Seems like my mind is wound up too tight in the wrong direction. Let's see what happens when it ticks the other way.

More later.

I will post more information as the books become available to download on more sites.

If I can raise enough money from the electronic version of the books, then maybe I will look into traditional printing. It depends on the interest of the readers.

Thank you for your support.