This is a Rowan tree. It’s also known as Quickbeam and mountain ash. (although it isn’t a true ash tree). There are likely many other names it goes by.

People, especially Christians, love labels. We label ourselves by denominational affiliation, theological positions, and more. Sometimes we call our groups names designed to sound like we don’t have those “hang-ups,” and opt for names like “Community church” or single words that seem to obscure our ties to Christianity, like the Bridge or the River.

Some of the brand names are ridiculous. “The first national church of the redeemer re-reformed” is one I made up, but it mirrors one I have run into; the name was changed to protect the church. One nearby community of 16,000 people has at least 8 “reformed” churches.

Then we label ourselves, charismatic or Pentecostal, Calvinist or hyper Calvinists or four-point Calvinists, Armenians, Baptists, mainline, and more.

While there is a sense in which the brand names and labels serve a purpose, I think they confuse more than help.

If pressed, I will say that I am a Christian who follows the Baptist tradition. Even that’s not enough, they want more labels, so here we go, I am a Christian in the fundamentalist evangelical Baptist tradition (modernized), mostly Calvinistic, who holds to the current day present of the spiritual gifts and signs (mostly), but not the offices associated therewith, lightly complementarian, who holds strongly to traditional values, believes we have lost much from the early church teachings who worships in a an affluent North American community. My leanings are more intellectual than emotional, but I believe we need to share our stories. I think. If I wrote that an hour from now, it might read differently.

What am I really? A redeemed sinner, who still struggles, saved by God’s infinite grace and mercy. I’m still learning and a work in progress.

That’s more than I deserve to be. My sin ought to keep me separated from the Lord forever. But He has given me the faith I need.

However we label ourselves, no matter how far we have progressed in our faith walk and our theology, no believer ever got that way on their own.

 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:11-13

Whatever brand names and labels you choose to give yourself to define your faith, remember that you are first and foremost a child of God saved by grace. Don’t let any theological or denominational label replace that.

Praise His name and give thanks for His grace.

Be blessed

Kevin

Do you identify as Christian or by brand name?

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All contents, “Gleanings From the Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2026 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, “Gleanings From the Word.”

Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved

From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.

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Every Member Is Necessary — 1 Corinthians 12