No, my middle name isn’t Unintended Consequences 😀. I’m just a little uncomfortable with giving too much information about myself for fear of unintended consequences. At the same time, if I’m reading blog posts, it’s nice to be aware that it’s a real person, and a name helps that. I had a blog about 20 years ago, and I started thinking that I was giving too much personal information. So, I deleted it all.
So, this time, I’m a little more cautious. I suppose you could find out all about me if you carefully work through every single post. But I don’t want to make things too easy for identify thieves. I’d be nervous that they’d pretend to be me and get millions off all my rich uncles. But I don’t have any rich uncles. In fact, I now don’t have any uncles at all. But maybe there’s a secret one somewhere 😀. But in this life, I don’t think that it would be advantageous to pretend to be me.
Or maybe, they could pretend to be me on judgement day. Because I believe in Jesus, I have already crossed over from death to life. So, it would be a wonderful thing to be able to avoid the coming judgement and walk right into heaven.
John 5:24
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
But you don’t need to pretend to be me to respond to that offer. And if you didn’t, I suspect that you wouldn’t be able to get away with pretending to be a believer on judgement day.
Anyway, sorry for being so mistrusting 😀. I won’t say what my middle name is, but I can tell you that it’s a Roman Catholic saint’s name. But in the New Testament, every believer is called a saint. In New Testament Greek, the word translated “saint” is ἅγιος (hagios), means holy, set apart, consecrated, or belonging to God. And God calls all people into his family. There isn’t an elite bunch that are first-class citizens of heaven, though it’s true that some get greater rewards than others. But God loves all His children.
John 1:12-13
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
When you believe, you’re among those set apart to be with Christ. So, you’re among the saints that go marching into heaven.
Yet it’s true that some people are deemed particularly “saintly” by churches. I have revealed my first name before – Paul – I am pleased to be named after the Apostle Paul. As for the guy that my middle name is named after, I don’t know much about him. I’ve seen statues of him. I chose a name too when I had my confirmation. So, I have three names, but I assume the confirmation name is only recorded by the Roman Catholic church. I moved to an evangelical church when I was 18, so maybe my third name is no longer valid. There’s a verse in Revelation that appears to suggest that we’ll get a new name in heaven, but it might just refer to Jesus revealing a new name to call Him, that is, us having a deeper more intimate relationship with Him.
Revelation 2:17
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Some say that even currently, in Scripture, 200 names or labels are applied to Jesus. Maybe the verse simply means that we’ll learn more about him. Much of the language of Revelation is deeply symbolic.
Here’s a hymn that mentions a few names applied to Jesus. One is “Lily of the Valley”.
And here are a couple of hymns about Heaven:
Hibernia Gospel 