From: Ben Kelley
Subject: What's your name? Who's your Daddy?

These were the beginning words of a song from the 1960's (The time of the season). They came to mind this morning as I thought of the upcoming presidential election. During the first presidential debate, President Bush brought up the fact of his and Senator Kerry's daughters being on the "campaign trail." That's a common practice, namely, sending family members to different sites to represent the true candidate in a presidential election. It enables more people to hear what the candidate wants them to hear and know about the candidate. I thought about the fact that people do make assumptions and decisions concerning these men based on what the children/spouses act like, though that may or may not be fair. (I know that the children are products of the familial leadership of those candidates, but sometimes that leadership has changed because of a change in the candidate's life, such as happened when George W. Bush became a new creation in Christ.)

Whether making judgments about the fathers, based on the children, is proper or not, people do make them. Your name and "who your daddy is" causes people to believe or not believe certain things about your father. Your name, biblically, told something about you. Oftentimes it indicated whose child you were, such as; Simon Bar Jonah (Simon, son of John), BarAbbas (son of his father), Bartimeus (son of Timeus), etc. Acts 11:26, after telling how the disciples talked and told about Jesus for a year in the city, says, "And the disciples were called 'Christians' first in Antioch." The word "Christian" means "belonging to Christ." The people of Antioch saw the lives and heard the words of the disciples there and gave them the name "those who belong to Christ" (the Messiah). Those of us who have trusted on and received Jesus as our Christ (Messiah), assume that name as our own. "I am a Christian," we say, as our testimony.

Who's your daddy? We claim God Almighty as our Father, regularly. We even pray to Him, saying; "Father", "Heavenly Father", "Our Father", "Abba, Father", etc.

What's your name? Who's your Daddy?" Christian is my name. God is my Father. That's what we present to the world. Even if we try not to be too obvious about it at times, Satan will make sure they know we represent Him. People make judgments about God our Father based on our actions and our words. They hear our name, "Christian", and either believe or do not believe certain things about Him. The children of the presidential candidates, if they want people to vote for their father, are on their best behavior, making sure they act like they should. What about you? Do you want people to vote for your Father? What do you want them to believe about Jesus?

We represent God to a lot of people that do not know Him. Paul says we are His ambassadors, in like manner as the candidates' children in a presidential election are serving as their ambassadors. What message are we giving by our lives and words? What's your name? Who's your Daddy?

Your brother in the family,

Ben

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