Titles and naming babies

She announces that they are expecting a baby....7 1/2 months from now. Could she and her husband be any more excited? The anticipation of the new life coming into their home is very real. There is a healthy reality to the situation as well. Are we ready? Can we really afford this new mouth to feed for the next 18 years? Will everything turn out right? And the big one....

WHAT ARE GOING TO NAME THIS BOY OR GIRL?

I have been thinking about this..... ( no, no big announcement here from Pam and me!) But naming a baby is a huge deal. Some people stick with family names. Some people stick with Biblical names. Some people pick the names of movie stars, athletic hero's , or politicians. Some names are a combo deal. They combine the names of two grandparents to come up with some sort of interesting name... you know how it goes. There are alot of oddball names out there. You try to be nice....but when they tell you the name they have picked out for their child, there are times you want to say, "What were you smoking when you picked that name out?" ( I never say that.. I just smile and say, "What an interesting name!)


Rick Rusaw once said, "Preaching is like giving birth on Sunday and then waking up on Monday to find out you are pregnant again."

I feel that way sometimes... but it is a good feeling most of the time. Except for the titles. (naming the sermon , so to speak.)

I am working on preaching themes for 2010. I have a over-reaching main idea. I have known where God has wanted to take me in the preaching for the last several months. Lots of thinking, reading, prayer, and talking with people... that's not hard.

Now it is down to where the rubber meets the road. The title. The hardest part of this piece of the planning is series titles and sermon titles. I have been knocking a big chunk of the plan out for the last few weeks...and it is always the titles that get me.

I know what some of you are thinking... "Charlie, it's not the titles that count, its the content." I know that... Don't tell me that... I am with you. But....

I want to be witty... I want those titles to be catchy. I want the title to explode off the bulletin ! I want them to draw people in, snag them , and then lower the boom on them in the message. Hit them right between the eyes (figuratively of course) with the title AND the content.

The problem is that I am not that witty or catchy. I am not a fisherman... and I have a lousy right cross. So this is a big struggle for me.

I look for ideas...anywhere... Other preachers, magazines, movies, quotes... anything to stir some imagination and creativity.

Then I think about others. Does the President of the United States have to title his State of the Union address each year? Nope. It is just the 2009 State of the Union Address Did Knute Rockne title his pregame speech and the Fighting Irish go ready to go out and do battle? I don't know, but most of the time I think they are called, "The pregame talk." How about Jesus? I don't read about him getting ready to go down to the Sea of Galilee thinking in his mind, "Let's see, what am I going to call this talk??? How about "The Sermon on the Mount?" Yeah, that's catchy, witty and creative.

I think about people who write books... and then I read somewhere that the publisher usually title the books... lucky dogs...

So I am left with mom's-to-be and preachers... And guess what? When we settle on a title ( or a name), it is a big accomplishment. It's a break through. A good title means alot. A good name means even more. You can't really delegate naming a baby to some stranger can you? Same with a sermon... A title is your first shot into the minds of hearers and readers. It opens the door to the heart.

And it is a struggle at times.

Naming kids can be a struggle too... Have you ever known a kid that needs to wait to have himself named. It is a stab in the dark isn't it? How do you know that he is going to grow up true to his name? I propose that we wait until all kids are 21 , before they get their name. Hmnnnn.... that won't work.

Well, I can wait till the sermon is done to title it, can't I? ( insert the word, "YES"). So I LABOR ( pun intended) away... Titles are coming... I know they are....

Sermon writing is alot like giving birth. Sometimes they just come fast and furious. Sometimes they take alot of pushing. Sometimes they come in multiples. Sometimes they come in the most surprising places.

But every time, it looks easy if you are not the one carrying the baby ( or writing the sermon). Those of us who are husbands think ( to ourselves if we are smart), "Hey I could do that." I suspect that some people in the pews think the same about the sermon.

You may think it, but a word of advice... DO NOT SAY IT (to either of us.)

One last thing about sermons and having babies... It sure feels good when you get them out...

Now, I have to title this blog...Ugh!