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A NEW NAME WRITTEN DOWN IN GLORY (1 OF 5)

by Jeff Strite

Scripture: Revelation 2:17
This content is part of a series.


A New Name Written Down In Glory (1 of 5)
Series: All Things Made New
Jeff Strite
Revelation 2:17


Does anybody know what the “S” in Harry S Truman stands for? NOTHING! It doesn't stand for anything. He was born with a middle initial… and that was it. The letter “S” was a compromise that his parents made to satisfy his grandfathers, whose names were Shippe and Solomon.”

Several years ago, a new recruit in the U.S. Army had only letters for his first and middle names—R B Jones. To avoid problems when recruiting for the Army, he helpfully listed his name as ‘R (only) B (only) Jones.’ Given the nature of thinking in the Army, from that day on he was ‘Ronly Bonly Jones,’ and all his records, dog tags, assignment forms and even his discharge papers were issued in that name.

A recent study suggests about 2/3s of the U.S. population were named to honor somebody. And 60 percent (of that 2/3s) were named after a relative and 40 percent for someone outside the family.

I was named for Jeff Chandler - a famous actor in the 40s and 50s that my mom really liked. I never liked the name all that much… until I found out WHO I was named for. Then (after that) Jeff became an “alright” kind of name. In fact, I discovered that Jeff meant “Peace of God’… I can live with that.

But names are important.
They can shape how we think about ourselves - how we view ourselves.

ILLUS: For example, Tammy Lynn Jones (aged 44) changed her name to Teajai (pronounced “TJ”) Kimsey. She made the switch to leave behind an unhappy childhood. “When I hear the name Tammy, all the horrible stuff I went through comes up. But when I hear Teajai Kimsey, I think: fresh, bright, hopeful, intelligent – all the things I didn’t think I was when I was younger. Changing my name was like getting an eraser and starting over as this new person” (Pamela Redmond Satran & Linda Rosenkrantz – Reader’s Digest 7/09)

And that’s what God has done for us. He has given us a new name. He’s m ...

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