Often overlooked as to their significance, names throughout the Bible can invoke some pretty powerful messages if we are careful to pay attention.
For instance, God changed Abram’s name, originally meaning “Exalted Father” to Abraham, meaning “Father of Many” indicating what God would bring about through His covenant with Abraham. Jesus, upon meeting a fisherman named Simon, changed Simon’s name to Peter, to show how He would be using Peter in the development of the Church. And then of course, there are the various names of God throughout the Scriptures that indicate His character and role in our lives – Jehovah Jireh (God as our Provider), Jehovah Nissi (God as our Banner), and Jehovah-Rapha (God as our Healer) to name a few. And then finally, who can forget the powerful Name of Jesus Christ? Jesus, means “Savior” or “Deliverer” and Christ emphasizes His authority as the “Anointed One.”
When I set about naming Bring New Wine Ministries, I approached the ministry’s name from a prophetic and prayerful point of view. You see, my soul has been grieved in seeing so many people in the Church, those who call themselves “disciples” or “followers” of Jesus Christ, just going through the motions with little to no spiritual fruit being developed…or even any indications of spiritual transformation taking place in their lives.
This is just not right considering the eternal life-giving gift of forgiveness, salvation and restoration that we have been blessed with through Jesus Christ as well as the empowerment every follower of Jesus has through the Holy Spirit to live transformed lives, for the Glory of God.
When I study the Gospels, I can see that my expectations are not “off-base.” Jesus had similar expectations of those who were supposed to lead others in relationship with God. Yet, as He walked with and interacted with the “Religious” of the day…He noticed something…they knew how to go through the religious “motions,” but their hearts were far from God and they had little to no spiritual fruit to show for it.
In one of Jesus’s parables recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus brought this problem to light and indicated to those listening that a fresh pouring of “new wine” would be coming. A day when “going through the motions” would be replaced with a new, authentic, genuine move of the Holy Spirit – where true followers of Jesus would welcome and seek this new wine and ultimately be transformed for the Glory of God.
I have pastored in the local church for some time now and find myself concerned with seeing so many people acting no different than the Pharisees of Jesus’s day. People whose “walk and talk” just don’t seem to line up. People who know the message of Jesus – they’ve heard it for years, know it, and even recite it, but their lives, their speech, their actions just don’t reflect the transformation.
Just as in Jesus’ time, my soul has been crying out for God to pour out the Spirit’s New Wine…for God to do something new in today’s Church with fellow Believers who desire “more” than just “going through the motions.” Hence, the name of our ministry is also our prayer – God, please “Bring New Wine.”