Superman: House of Elpizo - By PLo

Hey guys! PLo here, and I want to chat a bit about not a bird or plane, but Superman.

I will be honest and say that for years I thought Superman was lame. He had all these powers and only one weakness and I just didn’t feel like I could relate to the character. And then came Henry Cavill. I remember the first time I watched Man of Steel. I was instantly sold on the character. Henry played not just Superman, but Clark Kent. And he brought a human side to the character that I had never seen before. I could relate to him, knowing he’s not of this world, but has been sent here for a time and is tasked with making this world a better place with the amazing abilities he has been given. But we aren’t going to be talking about the obvious “not of this world” angle today. No, we’re gonna talk about his name.

Throughout the scriptures, time and time again, we see how important names are to God and just how thoughtful He is in how He names His people. He had Sarah name her first born Isaac, which means “laughter” because she laughed when He told her she would have a child. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel as he will be the father of a nation. Simon’s name is changed to Peter as he becomes a stone on which Christ builds His church. Even places are named specifically and methodically. It all holds meaning.

Now Clark already had his name, he had a family, he had everything. But Clark wasn’t “normal”, and when his earthly father tells him why Clark is so different, Clark goes on a journey to see what he can find out. When Clark finds (and accidentally activates) a crashed ship of his people, he learns his true name: Kal, of the house of El. His Kryptionian father appears as a hologram and teaches Kal of his heritage. He shows Kal that the house of El stands for hope.

What’s really cool about this is that the Greek word for “hope” is “elpizo”. When I was in university, I had to take a course on the Greek language and historical culture. I was looking to adopt a cat as a support animal, and I wanted a name that really meant something to me. I named her Kara Zor-El after Supergirl. Kara (or Chara) means “joy” in Greek, and Elpizo is “hope”. Those are the two things I needed most in my life when I brought her home. She has brought those things into my life, just as Superman brought hope to all those he saved.

Revelation 2:17 tells us that someday when we get to heaven, Jesus will give us our new name. The name He chose for you specifically. He chose a name for you, just as He chose you; just as He created you and formed every part of you. You mean more to Him and to this world than you will ever know. Clark Kent lived out his legacy of hope, he more than lived up to his name. Now it’s our turn.

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Hi! I’ve been asked to introduce myself a little bit, so here goes!

I have a bunch of different names, but in GW circles you’ll hear me called “PLo” (Short for Pastor Lo), or Rescue most often. My name is Laurie, I am much older than I appear, and I am what I like to call a Mega Nerd. 

I went to Bible College and have a degree in youth ministry with focuses on pop culture and connecting that back to the Bible, and if you ask around most people say I’m pretty good at that.

I am a big gamer, I mainly play on Xbox, but I do own a very dusty and rarely used PlayStation and I try to game as much as I can. Destiny is my favourite franchise, I’ve been playing since Destiny 2 was released, and it is by far my favourite game.

I play a lot of games, but I’m also very into superheroes! Don’t ask me my favourite, I like all of my heroes for different reasons!

I’ll be the first to admit that my brain works differently, so don’t be surprised if I say or do something very random. I promise it makes sense to my brain! Ahaha.

I look forward to sharing my heart and the Scriptures with you guys, and maybe even gaming a little along the way! I hope to start a weekly Destiny stream where I talk about the game and just chill with you amazing people!

-PLo