{"id":4581,"date":"2025-04-25T08:49:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4581"},"modified":"2025-04-25T08:49:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:49:57","slug":"the-name-at-the-center-of-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/the-name-at-the-center-of-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"The Name at the Center of Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

Almost 30 years ago, I attended a Promise Keepers gathering of about 40,000 pastors in Atlanta.

It was an assembly that represented hundreds of different church groups and denominational affiliations.

We heard speaker after speaker.\u00a0

After a while their messages, many of which were genuinely inspiring, began to blend together.

I must admit that I don\u2019t remember the vast majority of what was conveyed during those three days.

There was one moment, however, that I will never forget.

Author and pastor Max Lucado stood at the podium and made a simple request:\u00a0\u201cOn the count of three, would you please shout out loud the name of the church tradition with which you are currently associated?\u201d\u00a0

One\u2026two\u2026three\u2026<\/em>

We all proclaimed our affiliation.\u00a0I was actually pretty lucky.\u00a0 All I had to shout was \u201cPresbyterian!\u201d\u00a0 The guy who was sitting just in front of me, no kidding, had to say, \u201cThe Church of God of Prophecy Incorporated!\u201d

What everyone heard echoing through the Georgia Dome was an undifferentiated blob of sound.

Then Lucado made a second request.\u00a0I remember words like these:

\u201cOn the count of three, would you please shout the name to whom you have entrusted your heart, your soul, your ministry, your hopes for this day, and your confidence concerning tomorrow?\u201d

One\u2026two\u2026three\u2026<\/em>

There rose, in unison, the sound of just two syllables that filled that entire dome:\u00a0JESUS.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>

In the moment that followed, there was absolute silence \u2013 not an easy thing to accomplish in a group of 40,000 pastors.

It was as if the leaders of God\u2019s people, so frequently at odds with each other over the most trivial of issues, were suddenly struck dumb by the realization that we have always had in common far more than we have ever allowed ourselves to imagine.

It\u2019s amazing how complicated we can make things.

May God give us the grace to find each other, day by day, at that simple intersection:

The Name which is at the center of everything.<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here Almost 30 years ago, I attended a Promise Keepers gathering of about 40,000 pastors in Atlanta. It was an assembly that represented hundreds of different church groups and denominational affiliations. We heard speaker after speaker.\u00a0 After a while their messages, many of which were genuinely inspiring, began to blend together. I… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[916,591],"class_list":["post-4581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-jesus","tag-unity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4583,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4581\/revisions\/4583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}