Thursday, April 17, 2008

At least 7 people read this blog...


Or so I thought, since there were 7 votes in my recent poll. However, I have discovered that there was some ballot stuffing by certain voters.....so I guess the real number is actually less than that : (



Anyway, after months of deliberation and prayer.....after months of honing our skills at dismantling and ridiculing potential names.....the time has finally come.


It is time to pick a name for our church plant.


In a final attempt at finding some semblance of consensus, I had one last meeting with the staff to get their opinions....of the four staff in attendance I got 4 separate names.


Useless.


So I prayed this week and considered all the factors....I then bounced it off our board of elders and we decided. Our new church plant at Columbus is going to be called...


H2O (or h2o if that's cooler)


Why you may ask?.....let me explain.....no, let me sum up....


In John 4, Jesus meets a woman. A Samaritan woman....with a broken life. Struggling through her days....hurting...lonely....and looking for real answers. At a well, in the midst of her everyday life, she encounters the Savior of the universe. She is looking for water. Something to get her through another day. Jesus offers something infinitely deeper. Infinitely more. "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life"


He extends an offer to her to...


Thirst No More.


Our dream is to be a church where students discover that living water that will satisfy their thirst. A generation of lost students, who are broken, lonely and hurting. Who have been lied to by the world. Who are pursuing water that will not truly quench their thirst. Jesus Christ has something more for them.


Eternal Life.


Life as it was meant to be.


Now and Forever.


So that's the main reason....a secondary reason is that H2O at Bowling Green University has invited us to join with them on a vision that they have for Ohio. That through church planting on campuses all throughout the state, there would be a mini-movement of God that emerges. By having the same name and partnering together, high school students throughout the state would think about getting involved in H2O wherever they attend college, and we could share resources as sister churches whenever possible..... (like that tagline, "Thirst No More"that I just stole : )


I can't believe that picking a name took this long.....maybe I'm not cut out for this....

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You never said we couldn't vote more than once. I think you're cut out for it, things like naming the church are probably some of the most divisive decisions you will make. The rest should be easy!

Meghan said...

cool! your explanation makes the name very meaningful. i'd never thought about why bowling green might have chosen it.

Cory Klein said...

Hurray 2 OSU (H2O)

Mitchie said...

people do indeed listen to what you say. my roommates rushed to the library and picked up choose-your-own adventure books. seriously. they hung out and read them aloud. and then they were subsequently eaten by venus fly traps after being chased by killer monkeys.

Anonymous said...

Salut! Phillip Waterman . payday loans