By Bridgette Sallee, student news writer
Campbellsville, Ky. – “There is something about a name. It gives something or someone significance,” said the Rev. Gabe Norris at chapel/convocation Sept. 5 in the Ransdell Chapel.
Norris, who is co-founder and vice president of Connect Ministries, a non-profit ministry existing to connect churches with their communities, pointed out some names that are associated with a particular image or reputation — Seinfeld, George W., Rick Pitino and Wrigley Field. He emphasized the point that our names mean something.
“God is interested in your name, because it is with your name that God will give you great purpose,” he said.
His message was from the book of Genesis centering on the story of Abraham, formally Abram, whose name was changed by God. The Lord didn’t merely change his name but created for him a new identity, for God called him Abraham, which means father of many nations, Norris said.
Norris warned, “You have been lied to,” pointing out that many people live their lives according to the names someone else has given them, rather than the name God has given them. In Christ we are creative not crazy, beautiful not sexy and full of personality not a class clown, he said.
He left the audience with two questions, “What name has God given you for Himself in this season of your life, and what name has God given you in the season of your life?”
In addition to speaking at chapel/convocation, Norris was the fall revival speaker at CU.
Norris is a graduate of the University of Georgia and the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University.
He spent nine years in camp ministry serving as a Bible study leader, camp pastor, camp director and a camp coordinator.
Connect Ministries sponsors Family Fun Events and a 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament which now reaches almost 25 different cities.
Norris was born and reared in Spartanburg, S.C. but now resides in Nashville, Tenn., with his wife, Allyson, and their two daughters, Neely and Ansley Jane.
Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,310 students who represent 100 Kentucky counties, 32 states and 28 foreign nations. Listed in U.S.News & World Report’s 2008 “America’s Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 22nd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South and eighth in the South for “Great Schools, Great Prices.” CU has been ranked 15 consecutive years with U.S.News & World Report. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his ninth year as president.