God Issues Today: "What's Your Brand?"

Author, educator and commentator Dr. James Denison has been pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas since June, 1998. Prior to that, he was pastor at churches in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as Midland (at First Baptist) and Mansfield, Texas.

Pontiac was an Ottawa leader, famous for the Native American revolt he led against the British in the Great Lakes region of America from 1763-66. Then he became a city northwest of Detroit, noted for making carriages in the 1880s. Then he became a brand within General Motors.

Now we learn from today's Wall Street Journal that GM plans to reduce itself to Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC Trucks. As a result, Saturn, Saab, Hummer and Pontiac will no longer be vehicle brands, at least with GM. The tribal chief is probably glad to get his name back.

Soon Saturn will just be a planet, or at least not a part of General Motors. Discussions are ongoing about making the brand into a separate car company. Saab and Hummer will apparently be sold, phased out, or file for bankruptcy. In 2008, Toyota supplanted GM as the world's largest auto seller. Now it could become the largest auto seller in the U.S. as well. Such is life in a global economy and a shrinking auto industry.

The publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times filed for bankruptcy protection late last year; we hear regularly about retail stores and chains in trouble. We learned earlier this week that three Atlantic City casinos once run by Donald Trump have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Gambling establishments are apparently too much of a gamble. At least GodIssues Today is solvent, since it neither makes nor spends (nor gambles) anything.

What's your brand this morning? If someone asked, "Who are you?" what would you say? A man once stood at a busy intersection and asked thousands of people that question. Every one replied with what he or she did: "I'm a teacher," "I'm a salesman," "I'm an attorney," "I'm a student," and so on.

If Jesus is your Lord, the next time someone asks who you are, reply: "I'm the child of God." You are not what you do, or how you look, or where you live, or what you drive or wear. Your public brand is temporal and transient. Your eternal brand is secure. Jesus promised that no one can take you from his hand (John 10:28). Paul assured us that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). You have been "born again" (John 3:3) and cannot be "unborn."

Christians belong forever to God. Why is that reminder good news for you today?