Book Review:
Your Secret Name
By Kary Oberbrunner
Discovering Who God Created You to Be
What do people think about when they hear your name? Is there something about your birth name that you would like to change? Do you have nicknames you wish would go away? Are titles and roles that you play overwhelming? How much time of your day do you spend trying to live up to the expectations those names? What does God have to say about these names? Kary Oberbrunner’s book, Your Secret Name helps us to examine these names in our lives and to discover the name that God wants to give us.
Your Secret Name takes an in-depth look at the life of the patriarch Jacob. Jacob had a birth name that meant “deceiver.” And unfortunately for most of his life, Jacob lived up to that name. But God intervened…and used situations to get Jacob’s attention. Then He changed Jacob’s name to show him that He had a very different plan for his life.
Kary Oberbrunner, a graduate of Grace College and Seminary and pastor at the Grace Church in Powell, Ohio, writes a book that is intensely personal. Kary weaves together the story of Jacob and his own life story to share his incredible testimony. Like many of us, Kary was given many names and titles. He found himself, however, in a series of circumstances that God used to strip them away in order to show him that He had something more planned.
While Your Secret Name begins with the stories of Jacob and Kary, it has to end with us. This is not just a book about Jacob’s name change or Kary’s life story. It calls us to go the extra mile. Not just to read the story and be pleased that Jacob and Kary found the calling of God for their lives—but to examine our own lives. What names have been given to us that we are struggling to fulfill? What titles are keeping us in bondage? God has called each one of us to a personal relationship with Him. He desires to bring us to place where our birth names and given names do not hold us captive or leave us fearful. God wants to communicate with us and let us know His individual vision and plan for our lives. What are we doing to discover who we are in Christ? The appendix of the book is filled with extra resources to help us as we all search for our Secret Name.
Your Secret Name, Oberbrunner’s third book, was really easy to read. The intermingling of Kary’s life story and the Biblical account of Jacob’s life made a great combination. I had to keep reading, because I needed to know the end of the story. I did wish, however (more than once), that I was reading the book with a friend. The book is filled with lots of opportunities to talk about ideas, chew on thoughts, and learn more because you share together. Discussion questions are listed in the back of the book.
Learn more about Kary, his books, and ministries at www.KaryOberbrunner.com.
Published by Zondervan
ISBN: 978-0-310-28546-5
Review by Christy Carmean