I was reading a book today. I know, shocker! I won’t write the name of the book, but it is a fairly well know children’s series. I found a grammatical error. Horrors! This makes me sad. I expect to find errors in self-published e-books; but not in an edited, printed, professionally-published book! The author used the word principal when he meant principle.
A principal is the person who runs a school.
A principle is a tenet or rule that one follows.
The principal is your pal (a person), as someone once taught me.
I have frequently seen these words mixed up by people writing comments on the internet. It’s just another one of those stupid homonyms that people don’t know how to use, or don’t pay attention to. Why do we have so many of those (homonyms, not people)?
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No comments on It’s the principal/principle
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I know it’s been a while since I posted. I’m going to try to write more often from now on.
This afternoon, I was pondering the words leave and let. They are frequently used interchangeably, as in my title.
Leave it be.
Let it be.
Leave it alone.
Let it alone.
However, the interchangeability breaks down quickly.
Let it go.
Leave it go.
I have heard many people use the latter, unfortunately. I don’t know the origins of the usages of these phrases. It makes me wonder if leave it be used to be non-standard and has been integrated and accepted over time. I hope leave it go doesn’t do that. It sounds so wrong! Actually, the more I say leave it be, the more wrong it sounds, too!
This one just confuses me. Is it regional? I don’t know what to do with it. All I can say is, as usual: think before you speak! -
ToleranceI went to look up the word ‘tolerance’ on dictionary.com and was disturbed by what I found in the definition. Dictionary.com defines tolerance as:1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry.2. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one’s own.3. interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one’s own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.4.the act or capacity of enduring; endurance:Merriam-Webster.com defines it as:1: capacity to endure pain or hardship2: a : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s ownb : the act of allowing something3: the allowable deviation from a standard; especially: the range of variation permitted in maintaining a specified dimension in machining a pieceHere’s the problem I have with these definitions: tolerance would seem to imply the endurance of something you don’t particularly like. These definitions, except for number one on Merriam-Webster, suggest that one should happily tolerate everything. The definition itself is intolerant. It doesn’t allow one to be displeased with those things which one must tolerate. A person should be allowed to tolerate those beliefs and practices with which one disagrees without liking it. Fair and objective is one thing, but permissive is entirely something else.Fair: free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice*Objective: not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased*Permissive:habitually or characteristically accepting or tolerant of something, as social behavior or linguistic usage, that others might disapprove or forbid, or granting or denoting permission*It is right to be fair and objective, and even respectful, of others’ beliefs and actions, but permissive implies approval of those beliefs or actions. That should not be something implied by the word tolerance.I am perfectly capable of tolerating someone’s beliefs without accepting or approving of them. I am willing to discuss beliefs differing from my own, as well as my own beliefs. I would only ask the same tolerance from anyone with whom I am having such discussions. Do not automatically assume or assert that I am wrong, simply because my beliefs differ from yours. You are free to disagree, just as I am free to disagree with you. This doesn’t make either of us intolerant, merely disagreeing.*Dictionary.com
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Jesus was quoted in John 14.6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”* This is possibly the most important statement in the entire Bible; but it is also one of the most frequently ignored and twisted. People who want everyone to go to heaven say that Jesus couldn’t possibly have meant this statement in that way. Or they say that Christians made it up or are too narrow-minded. Even well-known “Christian” leaders have gone wishy-washy on national television about this question. The truth is that not everyone will go to heaven. The ONLY way to enter heaven is by trusting in Jesus, accepting the gift of salvation.
The above statement opposes our culture’s belief that truth is relative. That there is not ONE ultimate truth. Many believe that people should be allowed to decide what is true for them and that we should be tolerant of other peoples’ “truths”. They cite examples such as the blind men and the elephant, that each of them had their own truth because they felt different parts of the animal. Or, when witnesses tell police what they saw during a crime, they frequently give completely different descriptions of what they saw. But neither of these preclude the fact that there is an absolute truth about what the elephant or the perpetrator of the crime looked like. Just because we can’t see the whole picture, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
I know that people don’t want there to be absolute truth. If there’s absolute truth, they can’t do whatever they want without consequences. If there’s absolute truth, some people are wrong. If there’s absolute truth, there IS only one way. We are seeing the consequences of belief in relative truth every day and it’s not leading anywhere good. Far too many Christians are afraid to speak out with the truth. I have been afraid to do so. But we had a guest preacher at church this morning whose sermon convicted me. Once we have accepted Christ as our savior, what is our purpose? Many think they have a free ticket into heaven, so they don’t have to do anything else. Jesus told us what to do, though. Acts 1.8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”* That’s our job – witnessing. But witnessing what? The same thing the disciples witnessed. They spread throughout the world and told people what they had seen and heard of Jesus, what He had done for them. We are to do the same. Tell people what Jesus has done for us.
Jesus has saved me. He forgives me when I still sin (because believers are not perfect). I am blessed and thankful that God loved the world He created so much that He arranged for His Son to suffer for our sins. I pray that the Holy Spirit will work through me to touch someone who reads this.
My beliefs may make me unpopular. I hope that my friends will understand that I love them and want to be part of their lives, but I can’t hide the Truth.
*HCSB -
I hope that anyone reading this realizes that I made the error in the title on purpose! I haven’t seen excape in writing, but I hear it spoken frequently. It is spelled, and pronounced, escape. No x anywhere.
Nowhere should one ever use no were unless referring to a were animal. I would hope there are no weres. This is not to be confused with we’re, the contraction of we are. I have seen people, particularly on Facebook, use no were instead of nowhere (one word, notice) or were in place of we’re. As I’ve said before, it’s an apostrophe people! One little character which makes your writing so much clearer!
The criteria for good grammar are not always clear because many people, for whatever reason, are not aware of the unusual status of some words. Take for example, criteria. Not criterias. Why? Because it is already plural. The singular form of criteria is criterion. Another word like this is phenomenon. The plural is not phenomenons, but phenomena. Media is also frequently mistakenly pluralized. The singular is medium. This is most frequently used when discussing different types of art media. Which medium do you use? When discussing newspapers and television news, I believe it is usually media. The United States has various forms of media.
These are a few grammatical mistakes I’ve encountered in the last few months. I’ve seen a meme going around Facebook that shows a screen that would require a person to put the correct form of a word into a sentence in order to access the internet. What a great idea! Maybe people would actually learn! -
This post is not about a complaint or pet peeve. It is actually about something I appreciate in Oklahoma’s regional accent.
Around here, people often pronounce the word pen as pin. Because of that, they frequently qualify it by saying ink pin.
Thank you, Oklahomans, for this clarification. It is appreciated.
That is all. -
Soli Deo Gloria is a Latin phrase that means “Glory to God alone” or “God’s glory alone.” This should be every Christian’s motto or creed. Our purpose on this earth is to glorify God. It is why He created us. I believe it’s something many of us frequently forget. We go about our lives as nominal Christians with our own agenda. This is one reason I decided to get it tattooed on my arm where I can see it every day. I’m a visual person, so it is a constant reminder of why I’m here and what I should be focusing on in my life. It’s a reminder that I belong to God. I’m not a perfect Christian. Who is? But it’s there as a reminder when I forget.
Another good thing about having it is that it’s an opener to share my faith when people notice it. They usually say: “Oh! That’s pretty. What’s it say? What’s that mean?” Then I get to explain. If you know me, you may know that’s I have a hard time just walking up to people and talking to them. That’s one reason I write this blog, but the tattoo is kind of an on-the-spot witnessing tool. Our actions are an important indicator of our faith, but let’s face it – even non-Christians sometimes do ‘good’ things. And many Christians aren’t living out their faith as they should. We should always live out our faith. It should always show in our actions whether anyone is watching or not. But in the same way, having a cross, or even Soli Deo Gloria, as a tattoo doesn’t automatically mean a person is a Jesus-follower.
No believer is perfect. We strive to become more like Christ, but often fail. I thank God for His forgiveness because I know I could never get through life on my own. I’m here to give God glory, even if I forget it sometimes.
Soli Deo Gloria
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How high it isHow wide it beHow low it wasToo far to seeMany people say and write heighth without a second thought. Width and depth and even breadth are correct. Heighth makes sense, right?It may make sense, but it is wrong! I don’t know why this one is different than the others, but it should never be spelled or pronounced heighth. If you do this – stop it!This brings me to another common misuse. Frequently, people write then instead of than. Then is used to say: “I want to do this, then that;” whereas, than is used to say: “I would rather do this than that.”Then indicates a sequence of activities or events; and than indicates a preference for one thing over another. When speaking, people often pronounce than as then, so I can understand some of the confusion. There are regional variations in how words are said; however, there is no variation in the spelling of the words. They are different, despite regional pronunciations.One other word that is constantly misused is were. Were is a verb (Not to be confused with were as in werewolf. That’s a whole other animal). It should never be used in place of we’re, which is a contraction of we are. That’s just lazy. It’s just an apostrophe, people! One extra keystroke, maybe two on a phone. It is not that difficult and there is no reason not to use it. It will make your writing, or texts, clearer. I’m one of those people who takes longer to decipher text speak than to type out a message using complete words and punctuation. Please be kind and use good grammar! My thanks.
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Many people think of Christmas as only a time of family, Santa Claus, presents, Christmas trees, and lights. These are not bad things, but Jesus-followers need to remember why we really celebrate this time of year. It’s the coming of our Savior!
I know that many criticize Christians for celebrating on December 25th. This is probably not the actual date of Jesus’ birth, and it was the date of a pagan holiday. But does it really matter? The point is to celebrate the birth of our Savior, not that He was born on that specific day. We could just as easily celebrate in the middle of summer. It makes perfect sense to me to celebrate on the same date as an already established holiday. If everyone else is celebrating something, why not have the Christian celebration at the same time? It might have helped believers avoid pagan practices.
So, back on topic. The reason believers celebrate Christmas is to commemorate Jesus’ birth. But it really goes beyond that. To know why we celebrate Christ’s coming, we need to understand why He had to come in the first place. In order to understand that, we must go back to the beginning. Romans 5.12 says:”Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Adam was the man by whom sin first came into the world. If Adam hadn’t introduced sin and death to the world, we wouldn’t need a Savior.“For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5.17-19
Adam’s sin brought punishment to everyone because we all sin, too. But Jesus came and was obedient to God’s will. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection we all have the chance to be reconciled with God.
It is so important to not only know that Jesus came, but also WHY He came. The Gospel is presented for the very first time in Genesis 3.15: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall [crush] you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” This is God speaking to Satan after Adam and Eve sinned. He told them that things were going to be difficult, but that there was hope in the future. Just telling people that Jesus died for their sin isn’t enough if the person doesn’t know what sin is, or doesn’t see him or herself as a sinner. We have to start at the beginning of the story.
Enjoy the presents, lights, decorations and even Santa Claus; but never forget the REAL reason we celebrate. Jesus Christ, or Lord and Savior!
And don’t forget to tell the story from the beginning!
*All verses from NASB. -
Followers of Jesus* frequently speak, or sing, of being “washed in the blood.” People outside the faith usually don’t understand what this means or why it is important to believers. Very simply, being washed in the blood means that our sins have been forgiven.
But being washed in blood sounds disgusting, right? Why would anyone want that? Well, our sins are disgusting to God. Any bad thing we do, whether it seems great or small, is an affront to Him.
I visited my old church this week (Trinity Chickasha), and my former pastor spoke about the ancient Jewish sacrifices. In the Old Testament, God provided a means by which the Jews could atone for their sins through the sacrifice of certain animals, at specific times. The writer of Hebrews explains that these sacrifices were not permanent. They had to be offered every year. Hebrews 10.4 says: “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”** The only way for our sins to be erased is to trust in Jesus. This was accomplished in the Old Testament by trust in God’s future plans. The Jews did not trust in the sacrifices themselves. These sacrifices were a temporary practice that foreshadowed the supreme sacrifice of Jesus.
When Jesus came and died on the cross, He was the ultimate, final sacrifice. There are no further sacrifices needed because Jesus gave up His life for the sins of all who choose to believe in Him. Being washed in Jesus’ blood is a way of saying that we are made pure by the sacrifice of His blood.
New Testament authors speak frequently about the blood of Jesus.
Matthew 26.28: “For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The context of this verse is Jesus speaking of the wine that represents His blood in the Lord’s Supper.
Romans 5.8-9: “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.”
1 John 1.7: “But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
These are only a few examples. Also, many of the great, old hymns speak of Jesus’ blood: There is a Fountain, Power in the Blood, Nothing but the Blood.
The image of being cleansed by blood is powerful. God allowed Jesus to take our place, our punishment. Do you realize if Jesus hadn’t done this, we would have to pay the penalty for our own sins? God didn’t have to allow this substitution. He loves us and gave us a way to return to Him. We, after all, are the ones who have turned our backs on Him. We have a choice. We can continue in our own way, doing whatever we want to do – and suffer the consequences ourselves. Or we can accept the sacrifice of Jesus and give our lives to Him. Jesus’ blood covers us so that God no longer sees our sins.
Oh, precious is the flow that makes us white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
There is nothing more beautiful than being washed in the blood of Jesus, the Lamb. Because of His sacrifice we don’t have to be separated from God.
Unashamed
———————————————————-*I am going to try to not use the name ‘Christian’ as this term has been warped to basically mean a person who goes to church once in a while and says they believe in God. A follower of Jesus is someone who has had a life-changing encounter with Jesus and has given their life over to Him.
**All references are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.
All the Writings 