Your Secret Name: Discovering Who God Created You to Be

by Kary Oberbrunner

We all have one–a Secret Name that is. The Bible tells us so. Yet few of us know ours. Ignorantly, we’re stuck, caught up in the “Name Game.”Using the story of the biblical patriarch Jacob as a backdrop, author Kary Oberbrunner calls us to stop accepting the world’s labels and start wrestling with God to discover our true identity. Jacob spent years living out the meaning of his earthly “deceiver.” Caught up in pretending to be someone he wasn’t, he was unaware that God would build a nation through him, unaware that Jesus would be one of his descendents, unaware of the lands he would inherit. Then he heard God speak his true name and the future God had for him unfolded. Oberbrunner reminds us that we’ll be unable to discern what God wants to build through us until we discover how God has seen us all along. In Your Secret Name, readers will find the courage to abandon what they know in order to become who they were born to be.

Genres: Christian Living, Christian Non Fiction, Inspirational, Christian, Religion, Faith, Nonfiction

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 20, 2010

About the author

KARY OBERBRUNNER is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of 14 books. As CEO of Igniting Souls® and Instant IP™ he helps abundant-minded & coachable-competent entrepreneurs PUBLISH, PROTECT, and PROMOTE their intellectual property and turn it into 18 streams of income so they can change the world.

An award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and inventor, he’s been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, CBS, Fox News, Yahoo, and many other major media outlets. His TEDx has been viewed over 1 million times.

As a young man, he suffered from severe stuttering, depression, and self-injury. Today a transformed man, Kary ignites souls: speaking internationally on a variety of topics and consulting the world's top entrepreneurs and brands regarding publishing, protecting, and promoting intellectual property.

He has several earned degrees, including a Bachelor of Arts, Masters in Divinity, and Doctorate in Transformational Leadership. He also serves as the Berry Chair of Entrepreneurship at Cedarville University, where he teaches on the topics of Entrepreneurship and Digital Marketing. Kary enjoys cycling, especially in the French Alps. He lives in Ohio with his wife Kelly and three children: Keegan, Isabel, and Addison.

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a much more balanced read on the subject of finding your own identity than the book 'Becoming me'. This was because it was firmly established in the Bible using the story of Jacob and Esau as a guideline. It was an easy read and very helpful in restoring confidence and identity to its readers. Warmly recommended. Helpful read by someone who openly expresses his own failures and problems leaving nothing out. You respect him as a counsellor and teacher because he has been to the depths himself and come out the other side.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I downloaded this book for free on my Kindle just to see if it was any good (sorry, I think the free offer has passed). Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. The book is honest and raw. It came straight from the heart and soul of the author. I love that!

The premise of the book is that we all have a secret name that God knows us by. Of course, we all have birth names assigned to us by our parents. We also all have "given names" assigned to us throughout our lives. Given names are names such as "Smart", "Stupid", "Athletic", "Clumsy", etc, etc. Both birth names and given names can have a lifelong impact on us and often times we play into those names through the course of our lives.

But, each of us have a secret name that God himself has picked out and knows us by. Discovering your secret name is key to discovering the person God created you to be.

Like I said, the book is straight from the heart of the author and is actually quite autobiographical. The book tracks along with the story of Jacob. Jacob, of course, was assigned a birth name meaning heel grabber or deceiver. But, it wasn't until he wrestled with God and lived to tell about it that he learned his secret name.

[Angie Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flat. Too many biblical quotes and not enough insightful commentary. Very little I can take away from this.

[Wendy Goerl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was...disappointing. The title says "DISCOVERING who God created you to be," which led me to expect an emphasis on what one can do to find their secret name and recognize it when it appears. Instead, most of the book bounces between a rambling account of everything that went wrong in his youth and interjections of what feels like a sermon on the Biblical accounts of Jacob leading up to his new name. In a 200-page book, he spends half a page describing the discovery of his name, and precious little more in how he was so certain this was genuine.

The questions I though he'd written the book to answer are stuffed (unanswered) into a few appendices in the back, along with a link to a site--so the whole book is basically a wrapper for the real content, like those "we'll show you ____" webinars that babble anecdotes for an hour and then invite you to buy a program at the end to get the answers they promised would be in the webinar.

And if the best statue ends up being the sculptor, who ends up being the next shopper?

[Rick Presley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthy addition to the genre of Christian motivational self-help books. The 3 stars reflects my particular stage of life more than the book itself. Had I read this 20 or 30 years ago it would likely have been a 5 star book. I've been following Kary online for years now and am finally getting around to reading his books. I'd highly recommend this one for those in need of motivational self-help from a Christian perspective.

[Lorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your secret name has opened my eyes to who God has created me to be. I am slowly moving away from the lies I have believed about myself for years and am moving closer to embracing God love for me and allowing Him to open my eyes. Excellent book!

[Margaret Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an agnostic, who is unsure whether a personal god exists, I found this book an interesting perspective on the search for significance and self-worth. I enjoyed following the author's personal journey of discovering his authentic self and sense of worth.

Kary Oberbrunner pulls no punches in describing his life, his personal pain and the methods he used to overcome them. The book is a strong testament to his sincere faith in God.

I disagree with the author's arguments for why people deny god, or hold a 'personal god' at arms length, however I could appreciate that his reasoning is soundly based in his personal belief system.

I was left at the end with no clear idea of how to discover my 'secret name' (authentic self) and found this somewhat disappointing.

However, as an exercise in my own quest to learn how to write a personal, reflective book, I found it useful.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was alright. I think that because it was written for a wide audience - from long-time Christians to atheists - it was not as meaty as it could have been for my taste. However, because of it's message I would quickly recommend this to a younger Christian. (Not too young, he talks about cutting a lot.)

He writes in an easy to follow style and engages by flipping back and fourth between his own story and that of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. I tend to not like too much flipping between times and characters in a book, but the author does this will and impressive amount of skill and so it's easy to follow.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I was expecting something life changing from reading this book. I heard the author speak once, and it was pretty great. This book didn't really do anything for me though. I must not be at "that" place in my life. I think I'm actually past the point where I may have needed to hear it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Hit so close to home it was scary. Should be for most readers though. Loved the rawness with which the Author wrote. Straight from the heart. Could not put this book down. Loved it!

[Hannah Corson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just wasn't a book I connected with very much. I LOVE the premise of the book, and I really enjoyed reading the author's personal story, and I appreciated the last chapter on the names of God.

Looking at the other reviews for this book I think you either connect with it, or you don't :)

[Loreli Cockram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good ideas about identity as related to the name God gives you versus the name you're given. Easy read and concept is understandable and relatable. Kary is very open about his own compelling story, but also uses it as a tool to pull you through the book and into deeper understanding.

[Teresa Solomon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something a bit more introspective and spiritual. Enjoyed revisiting Jacob and Esau biblical passages as well as learning about Kary's name struggle and the road to his "secret name."

[Anna Eynaud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, insightful and honest

[Kariabridges · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay read. Not sure of the final point of the book. Do you actually have a literal secret name in the kingdom or is your secret name the meaning of discovering who you are in Christ? Hmmm...

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting book on discovering one's true identity, the one God has known since before each of us was born.

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend.......and also take the test on the website!

[Judee Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first took the workshop associated with this book. The workshop was life-changing for me. The book was a great read as a reminder to what had been taught and learned.

[Dvora Elisheva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The message is incredibly important. I think we often forget that we are called to be who God made us to be, not what people expect us to be

[Jt]

okay..about your identity in christ