INTRODUCTION W hat’s in a name? Shakespeare’s Romeo may have been correct in saying, “A rose by any other name may smell as sweet,” but “rose” means a particular flower and differentiates this flower from that one, so that everyone will understand a rose is a rose and not a sunflower. The name identifies and gives identity. A name possesses power, and something powerful occurs in the act of naming. In calling a person’s name, one has power over that person. If you hear your name called, your attention is immediately engaged. In both the Old and New Testaments, people’s names had special meaning. Jacob meant “supplanter.” And when God renamed him “Israel” (soldier of God), it was because his entire life and character had been changed. When Naomi (“pleasant’) returned to her own country after the death of her husband and sons, she asked that her old friends call her “Mara” (bitter). Abram (a high father) became “Abraham” (father of a great multitude), and Sarai (“contentious”) became “Sarah” (“princess”). In the New Testament, Saul gets the name of Paul after his life-changing experience on the road to Damascus. In a sense, this change in names is true of all of us. When we experience the living Christ, our lives and our characters are changed. In a real way, we are