Spring has finally arrived and we are fast approaching the 2013 Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 11^th.  Last year the Lord brought in over $61,000 which absolutely stunned us.  We would like to invite you to be a part of what God does this year through the walk.  If you can join us that day, call today to register and start getting sponsors (732.350.1187). If you can’t walk with us, please consider being a sponsor.  All the net proceeds go to support the Addiction Recovery Ministries to help restore lives, marriages and families from the devastation of addiction. 

This year our staff is having a friendly competition between the men and the women so it would be great if all our Victory Call readers would sponsor the women’s team for $25.00 but even $5 or $10 will make a difference. This link will take you directly to our webpage if you would give on-line.   Family Freedom Walk Support  or if you prefer you may mail a check to America’s Keswick 601 Route 530 Whiting, NJ 08759 in either case please designate your gift to FFW: Women’s team.

Thank you so much for your support. We appreciate you. 

Blessings,

The Victory Call writers

          Much thought is given to choosing a name for your child.  Sometimes it is because of the meaning of the name, or to honor someone by carrying on their namesake, or maybe you just like the way it rolls off your tongue.   There are the names we are given at birth, and the names we acquire along the way.
          My brother-in-law told the story that when he was a kid, he called helicopters “hopperdoppers.”  He became known to the well-meaning church people as “hopperdopper” Hayes.  He was called that long after he outgrew calling helicopters “hopperdoppers.”  However, to his great annoyance, if he goes back to his hometown, someone will inevitably call him by that name. 
          Names that we are called in elementary school stay with us for life.    When I was a little girl, I was given the name “chatterbox”.  (Don’t laugh!)  Some of our names are good: “talented,” or “friendly,” and some are hurtful and painful names like “Failure,” “Cheater,”  “Heavy,” (I personally prefer this to “Fat.”)  Some names we give ourselves, and only we ourselves know, and some we are labeled by others.   Those names hold us back from what God wants us to be.   
          One of my favorite praise choruses is “He knows my name.”   When I listen to those words in this context, it brings new meaning to me.  He knows the hurts I have because of the labels I have been given, and the names I have earned for myself from my failures.   
          In the Bible, God gave new names to a few people.  These new names marked the beginning of a new calling, or a promise God gave to that person.    II Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, all things are become new.”   We don’t have to listen to our old names, rather live by the promise that God has given us a new name.      

           Maybe your new name is “beloved,” or “beautiful,” or “princess”.  Isaiah 62:2-3,  “you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.  You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” 
            “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” Revelation 2:17

A white stone – In Bible times, white stones were used in the judicial system.  Jurors cast a white stone in order to symbolize freedom from accusation, absolution of guilt, while a dark stone was used to symbolize condemnation, blame, and rejection.    We use the term “blackball” today which carries the meaning to “boycott” to “ostracize” or to vote against, to exclude socially. 
Revelation 2:27  “To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.  I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”

Joyce Hayes
Artist-in-residence at America’s Keswick