Tag: names

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

More names for a smooth transition

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the bible” devotion from 1 Chronicles 23-27.

More names? Oh, yeah, and lots of them. King David’s reign is coming to an end and his son Solomon is ready to assume the throne of Israel (2 Chronicles 23:1). So David gets his house in order, and the write of Chronicles chronicles all of it for us.

David organizes the Levites for all the work in and around the temple Solomon will build. He organizes the priests to offer up the daily sacrifices. David organizes the musicians, gatekeepers, treasurers, and military divisions. Every name is recorded. Everyone knows their job.

When I was getting ready to retire from full-time pastoral ministry, there were a lot of lists to leave behind for my successor.

  • I updated the membership database.
  • I made sure every member was properly assigned to an elder, and made each elder had a current list of their assigned families.
  • I left a list of all the children and youth members for the youth directors.
  • I complied a list of all the homebound members and the last time I had visited each.
  • I arranged for the welcoming of new members, one last confirmation class, a few baptisms and a funeral.

Just like David, I tried to tie up all the loose ends as new leadership came on board. It turned out to be a larger task than I imagined. Which is why it takes up five whole chapters in 1 Chronicles. I had a lot of that information in my head and on my calendar. I downloaded it all to the church office.

I did a good job. I only got one or two phone calls over the next year about things I forgot to write down for someone else. I’m sure David did a good job, too.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Name after name after name

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the bible” devotion from 1 Chronicles 1-9. (1 Chronicles? Yep.)

One of the more time consuming administrative tasks in a church office is keeping records of congregational membership and official acts. Weekly updates reflected the transient nature of the community. Families joined, members died, couples got married, moms gave birth, youth were confirmed, young and old were baptized, families moved away or joined other churches, and individuals moved, changed phone numbers and email addresses. We constantly updated the membership database, a spreadsheet to record the changes, mailing lists, and a directory for the congregation.

From time to time I would look through the list of names. Some brought back wonderful memories. I didn’t remember some. A few joined and left within months. Some disappeared without a trace. A small collection of names were charter members.

This information came in handy. A mother came in one day to get a copy of a misplaced baptism certificate so her son could enroll in a parochial school. Another was surprised that they were not an official member of the congregation. The lists highlighted those who hadn’t been to worship for a while, who had stuff going on in their lives.

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are not action-packed. They are endless lists of names, from Adam to the flood to the exile and back again. Yes, my eyes glazed over as I skimmed the pages til I got to the words, “So all Israel was recorded in genealogies” (1 Chronicles 9:1). This was their version of membership records.

Those who returned from exile needed to connect with God’s people of the past. They needed to know they belonged. They were blessed to be a part of a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and a people belonging to God. We’re blessed to be a part of those people, too, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Imagine page after page of names, including yours.

And maybe someone you will tell about the Savior.

Posted in memories, noticing

You remembered!

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

I think I’m pretty good with names. I don’t work very hard at it. I just find them easy to remember. For some reason, people’s names stick in my mind. At least most of the time.

As I started down the pet food aisle at Walmart, I heard a voice behind me, “Pastor.” I turned and without even thinking said, “Hey, hi, Kathy!”

“You remembered my name!”

I had not seen her for about two years, but her name was right there on my lips. I didn’t even hesitate. So was her husband, Bob. We chatted for a few moments, then parted to find the things on our shopping lists.

In that moment, though, I couldn’t remember her last name. It was weird, because that doesn’t happen to me. I knew it started with a “B.” And I knew it was unique in some way. And I knew it was somewhere in my brain. But I just couldn’t pull it out of my memory.

I also knew that it would some to me sometime later that day. It’s happened before. I’ll be doing something completely different, and the name will suddenly come to mind. Sometimes it happens in an hour. Other times it takes a whole day. The information is in my head. I just can’t find it in the moment. So my subconscious works in the background, searching through files in my brain until it finds what I’m looking for. If I can’t remember something, I don’t worry. I know it will come to me. And it did. I think I was taking out the trash, and just like that Kathy’s last name popped into my mind.

This is fascinating. Somehow my brain knows what’s relevant and what’s not. If I’m probably not going to need a bit of information, it stuffs it away somewhere, like an old box full of papers up on a shelf. Or to be a little more twenty-first century, like digital files and pictures backed up to a flash drive.

I really like memory tricks. I use the peg list from Kevin Trudeau’s Mega Memory. I used the Memory Palace technique for many of my sermons. I love coming up with silly acrostics to remember lists. For example, I always recite “The Hippo Just Put Loose Corn in the Elephant Pen” to remember the things we ought to focus on in Philippians 4:8. “Whatever is True, Honorable, Just, Pure, Lovely, Commendable, Excellent, Praiseworthy…think about such things.” And one of these days I’m going to work on memorizing a deck of cards. There are a number of clever ways to do that. I still make a lot of written lists, too. Just the process of writing out a list helps me remember.

Having said all that, I’ve been converting old journals into digital form (I’m taking pictures of the pages). On those pages are things I’ve done, places I’ve gone, and people I’ve met that I don’t remember. I’m glad I wrote them down. I think my mind is aware of this. If I wrote it down, it doesn’t need to take up space in my brain.

Memory is a fascinating thing.

Posted in Advent devotions

The Cast of Advent: December 16 – Jesus

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash

In a dream the angel spoke to Joseph about both Mary and her son. “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

It’s hard to know which devotional slot to give Jesus since the whole story is about him. This seems like a good moment, since this is the first time his name is mentioned.

The name Jesus means “Savior.” It is the same as the Old Testament name Joshua which is derived from a Hebrew word meaning “to deliver or rescue.” It is a name which describes exactly what he will do: “save his people from their sins.”

Many names originated with occupations. “Smith” was the blacksmith who worked iron. “Cooper” made the barrels. “Carpenter” worked with wood. You call the people in your community with a word that described their work: Baker, Brewer, Potter, Fisher, Weaver, and Judge would be just a few good examples.

But how in the world can you save someone from their sins? How can you make it so that a person doesn’t have to suffer the consequences for their actions? I suppose you could suffer those consequences for them, sparing them from that experience. Which is exactly what Jesus does for each and every sin of every person.

For much of his life, I’m sure no one had a clue how Jesus would save his people from their sins. It wasn’t until much later, after the resurrection, that Jesus could give them that understanding. Until then, they would just have to take his name and his occupation by faith.

Thank you, Lord, for saving me from my sins. Amen.

Posted in Life

Name after name

Posted on by William Douthwaite

My Bible read through brought me to First Chronicles this morning. You need to check it out. It's like reading an Old Testament phone book. Name after name after name, a carefully recorded list of tribes, families and descendants. It was like sitting down to read the church directory. So my devotional time in God's Word this morning, “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” was an OT Who's Who. I am thankful this is not the text for the sermon this week. Although, it would be entertaining to listen to the lay reader tackle this passage!

 

On the other hand, sometimes I pull out an old church directory and look through it, remembering people and families from the past. Or I'll come across a box of old pictures and relive some events from the past. Perhaps these chapters from Chronicles were how they used to do this, before photos and social media timelines.


This is also the time of year I look back and see which saints we'll remember next Sunday, as we observe All Saints and remember the faithful who have gone on to glory ahead of us. Everyone on my list this year was close — Veta, Lillian, Stew and Ron. Each one is a reminder of the difference we can make just by being good and faithful servants.