A New Name
Someday, the name of this blog will have to change. Check out our new name! Although I'll almost always update, its ultimate purpose is to share the details and workings of God's will for the life Chris and I share, which currently involves the mission field. I don't want to be preemptive, but I would like to name our ministry. My expertise is marketing, after all, and I have a passion for effective "branding." To be clear, Chris and I are not a brand, and more importantly, Jesus Christ is not a brand. But I think if our ministry has a name, we'll have a simple way to refer to our "job" on the mission field.
Chris has not expressed an opinion about this. I imagine it's a little like naming a baby (which we're not doing any time soon, as far as I know) - I'll present some options and he'll veto until we have a winner. But I need help!
Some themes I like we considered:
Seasoned with Salt - Colossians 4:6 "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." I really love this one because it fits Chris and I so well - FOOD! For our ministry, relationships, it fits perfectly as well.
Opening the Door - Colossians 4:2 "that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ"
Light in the Darkness - John 12:46 "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness"; 2 Corinthians 4:6 "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" and 1 Peter 2:9-10 "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
Bringing the Gospel - Ephesians 1:13-14 "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."
Life - John 20:31 "...that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." It could be New Life, Abundant Life, Life to the Full, Bringing Life, Declaring Life...
Relationship - One of our favorite chapters in the Bible is Colossians 1, where God's supremacy and his purpose of reconciliation, relationship, are described side by side. In the first part, also, Paul describes the Gospel bearing fruit all over the world as the result of the Colossians' own salvation and understanding of God's Word. Chris and I both feel that one of the main purposes of missions is to make more missionaries, and Colossians 1 seems to say it most clearly.
Declaring His Name - evident all over, but especially the Psalms. Psalm 96:3 "Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!"
Do you folks have any ideas?