Category Archives: teaser tuesday

Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 16

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Welcome to the 16th of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here  in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 16.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

As if being called a “deceiver” wasn’t bad enough, Jacob had to deal with the shameful connotations that clung to any name associated with the “heel.” In the Old Testament, God linked Satan himself to the first reference of the heel, prophesying that the evil Serpent would one day bruise the heel of Eve’s future offspring. (Genesis 3:15)[1]

“Heel” received some additional poor marks in the New Testament. In one of history’s darkest moments, the threshold of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus identified the turncoat disciple as the one who “lifted up his heel against me.” (John 13:18)

Jacob, the future father of the twelve tribes of Israel, spent a lifetime running from both his Birth Name and his Given Names. If Jacob hoped to inherit his divine destiny, he needed an entirely new identity.

He needed to learn his Secret Name.

[1] This fulfillment took place millenniums later in the person of Jesus Christ crucified upon a cruel cross.

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Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 15

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Welcome to the 15th of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here  in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 15.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

Jacob received his Birth Name, meaning “deceiver” and “heel grabber,” because he exited the womb clutching his twin brother’s heel. Labeled a “schemer” and “one who undermines,” Jacob lived up to his name repeatedly at the expense of his brother Esau.

Jacob needed transformation and, more than that, he needed a new name—especially if God would build his chosen people through Jacob’s lineage. How could God name his people after a patriarch who habitually manipulated and swindled others through scheming?

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Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 14

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Welcome to the 14th of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here  in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 14.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

As the centuries rolled on, the plot thickened. God has always been calling a people out for himself for his own pleasure—in the Old Testament predominantly with the Israelites, and in the New Testament predominantly with the Church. The Israelites originated from Jacob, the younger son of Isaac, who was the promised son of Abraham, the father of many nations and the recipient of God’s unconditional covenant.

Echoing the choices of Cain and Abel, the younger of the twins (Jacob) shrewdly stole the livelihood of the older brother (Esau) with a covert act of deception. Jacob invited Esau to exchange his birthright for a bowl of stew. At the end of the meal deal Esau might have had a full stomach, but most certainly he also had an empty soul.

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 13

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Welcome to the 13th of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here  in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 13.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

For such people groups, one’s Birth Name marks him or her for life, and changing it is out of the question.

Within the biblical tradition, naming proved an even weightier undertaking. For these cultures, a particular name often carried a prophetic commentary. Your Birth Name shaped how you acted and who you became, functioning as a window into your behavior and temperament. This pattern begins in the first few pages of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. When Eve gives birth to her first child–a son, she says, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” (Genesis 4:1)

Eve named him Cain, meaning acquisition or possession. The name Cain is related to the Hebrew verb I acquired. Some scholars feel that Eve’s name choice represented her belief that Cain would fulfill God’s prophetic statement concerning the promised seed that would come from her.[1]

Eve named her second son Abel, meaning breath, vapor, or vanity, and seems to relate to shortness of life spoken of much later in the Scriptures.[2] In the biblical account, we see that jealousy possessed Cain as he observed God’s favor for Abel’s sacrifice rather than his. Cain wished he could acquire God’s favor and so he cut his brother’s life short.

With Abel dead and Cain disqualified (murder tends to have that effect), “God gave Adam and Eve another son—Seth—which means ‘the appointed, the substitute’ (taking Abel’s place).”[3]

[1] The promised seed never came through Cain’s line, but rather through Seth’s line.

[2] “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” James 4:14

[3]Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1993), Gen. 4:1.

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 12

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Welcome to the 12th of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here  in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 12.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

Many cultures bestow Birth Names based upon their meaning, but we Americans tend to choose ones predominantly based on the way they roll off the tongue.

We may pick a name because it’s popular or maybe because someone we admire holds the name. Perhaps a few expectant parents even settle on a name based on its etymology; but for the vast majority, choosing a Birth Name is almost totally dependent on personal preference.

Not so for hundreds of other cultures around the world, including Africans, Arabs, and East Indians. For many of these cultures, a name describes a person, often referring to his or her physical characteristics.

Customs expert James M. Freeman explains:

Thus a certain Abyssinian was named Omazena, because of a wart on his hand; an Arab boy was called Duman, because he was born before the gate of Bab-el-Duma at Damascus. Among the Hindoos we find Ani Muttoo, the precious pearl; Pun Amma, the golden lady; Chinny Tamby, the little friend. Among the Native American Indians we have Kosh-kin-ke-kait, the cut-off arm; Wah-ge-kaut, crooked legs; Wau-zhe-gaw-maish-kum, he that walks along the shore.[1]

[1] James M. Freeman, Manners and Customs of the Bible (Plainfield: Logos International, 1972), 38.

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 11

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Welcome to the 11th of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 11.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

At recess one day, a particular girl decided she’d seen enough of my verbal beatings and decided to oppose the mean kids. “Stop making fun of Kary,” she said.

“Why should we? He has a girl’s name,” one particular bully pointed out reasonably.

“So?” my defender shot back, searching for some type of logical defense. “There’re plenty of cool guys with girl’s names.”

“Oh yeah? Like who?” The bully wasn’t about to back down.

We all wondered if she’d manage a rebuttal. With my self-esteem on the line, I desperately prayed she would.

“Pat Sajack,” she blurted. “He’s cool, and Pat’s definitely a girl’s name.”

Pat Sajack? I thought. I guess he’s cool. Maybe I was hoping for someone a little…taller?

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 10

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Welcome to the tenth of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 10.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

Life at St. Mary’s Catholic grade school inched by slowly that year. I longed for summer afternoons where my cousins and I were the kings of the woods behind their house—where we would invent our own names for each other, names consistent with our other favorite TV shows like the Dukes of Hazard, MacGyver, and the Greatest American Hero popularized by its theme song “Believe it or Not.”  

Unfortunately for us, there was nothing believable about our make believe playtime and each school year jolted us back to reality. My classmates knew nothing about the clever aliases my cousins and I assigned each other.

Thankfully, not everyone at my school was cruel…

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 9

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Welcome to the ninth of a series from March 16 – August 23. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 9.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

I had to stop the pain, and I decided building myself up physically would solve the problem. Television convinced me that putting on some serious muscle would silence the malicious taunts. Strength worked for Mr. T and the A-Team, and I believed it just might work for me, too.

Since steroids are hard to come by in the first grade, I settled for a much faster strategy. One morning, while in my bedroom getting ready for school, I stuffed my tiny navy blue sweater full of socks. I thought a dozen balled up socks placed strategically in my sleeves and chest area would add an edge to my image and give me a new name, perhaps Spike or Rock. I walked into class, sweater bulging with fake muscles. The kids circled me as usual; but instead of calling me names, they looked on with strange curiosity.

I was thrilled. My brilliant plan was giving me the empowerment I craved—until one of my “muscles” fell out of my sweater and onto the floor.

I received a new name that day–IDIOT.

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 8

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Welcome to the eighth of a series from March 16 – August 31. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 8.

(…Continued From…) Chapter 01: Names will Never Hurt me

You may be surprised to learn that I share a bond with the cool cat who hosted the hit game show, Wheel of Fortune—a bond so strong that you might say our destinies are intertwined forever:

Pat Sajack and I both have a girl’s name.

Don’t laugh.

Growing up with a girl’s name wasn’t easy. More than once I remember the

mean kids circling me, wickedly chanting, “Kary has a girl’s name. Kary has a girl’s name.”

Once I got a piece of mail addressed to Ms. Kary Oberbrunner. It was an invitation to an all-girls summer cheerleading camp. Good thing my friends never saw that brochure. Come to think of it, upon opening it, I burned it—promptly—after sobbing like a girl in my bedroom.

Such acts of naming slowly ate away my security, eroding my confidence like a constant drip of water erodes a menacing, solid block of concrete over time.

Eventually, I reached a breaking point.

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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Teaser Tuesday – Your Secret Name – Issue 7

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Welcome to the seventh of a series from March 16 – August 31. Every Tuesday I’ll post a teaser from the book. Click here in order to read previous Teaser Tuesday posts. Here’s issue 7.

(…Continued From…) Introduction: The Gentle Whisper

This book is about giving up the Name Game.

It’s about putting an end to chasing the false names that only offer a hollow promise.

It’s about finally encountering your Secret Name, drinking it down, and allowing it to ooze into every quadrant of your life, the visible ones and the invisible ones alike.

As you might have guessed, discovering your Secret Name isn’t a painless process. And Secret Names aren’t bestowed to the masses either, only unto the remnant courageous enough to deal with their junk.

The first step is to turn down the noise a few notches.

The world perpetually shouts and screams, seeking to brand you. Comparatively, your true name is granted only by the One who knew you before you were born. 

In all this remember, the Father doesn’t speak with a loud voice, but most often with a gentle whisper.

And tragically, we rarely stay quiet long enough to hear him:  

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-12)

Some of you have asked if you can copy and paste excerpts like this on your blog or website. Freel free to do so. Just please follow Zondervan’s guidelines by also including in your post:

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Or to make it easier on you just copy and paste the book cover image (also above) and this text:

Excerpt taken from Your Secret Name by Kary Oberbrunner, published by Zondervan, available here via Amazon for $10.19 (ISBN:  978-0310285465).  More info www.yoursecretname.com

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