Goodbye is a common religious phrase?

Yes, did you know that every time you say goodbye, you are in fact, using a once common religious phrase, and blessing?
According to a popular blog site (Hot blog), “Of the many ways to say farewell — peace, so long, later, skater, ciao — goodbye is the most common. And a form of good-bye has been spoken since the sixteenth century. It comes from godbwye, which is a contraction of “God be with ye.” The phrase was also influenced by good day and good evening, and although an abbreviation itself, it can also be abbreviated further to either, bye, or bye-bye.
Interestingly, a common Spanish term of farewell also now commonly used in English is Adiós. Which also means good bye and is also a contraction of a similar religious phrase.
Thus Adios, is contraction” of ‘A’, which means “to,” and ‘Dios’, which means “God.”
Well that’s your interesting discovery for today. What are some other common religious terms that you know off that are also so common in everyday speak that they have, for all intents and purposes, lost their original religious connections?
Well, till I hear from you that’s all from me, so “God be with you = goodbye”!

A Child of the Manse is not necessarily a Child of God!

In an earlier blog, (Why is a Manse called a Manse?) on my main blog site, I mentioned that any house occupied by a Church minister of religion, and particularly those from a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church background, is called a manse; and even then for only as long as it is occupied by a practising Church minister.
I used Wikipedia for my source material and after explaining all about a Manse, it then added this:
“Many notable Scots are referred to as a "son (or daughter) of the manse", as a parent was a Presbyterian minister, and they were therefore brought up in a manse.
Among those to whom the epithet has been applied are:
Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development
Wendy Alexander (sister of Douglas), Labour MSP; former leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament (2007–2008); former minister in the Scottish Executive (1999–2002)
John Logie Baird, engineer and inventor of the world's first working television system
Richard Baker MSP, Shadow Justice Minister in the Scottish Parliament
Frankie Boyle, comedian
Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
John Buchan, novelist and Unionist MP, served as Governor General of Canada
Peter Fraser, advocate; former Lord Advocate (1989–1992); former Conservative and Unionist MP
James Gray, Conservative MP
William "Captain" Kidd, pirate
Andrew Bonar Law, former Prime Minister (1922–1923)
Eric Liddell, athlete and rugby internationalist, winner of the 400 metres at the 1924 Olympic Games; missionary to China; portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire
Sheena McDonald, broadcaster
Michael Moore, Liberal Democrat MP
John Reith, founder of the BBC
William Ritchie Sorley, philosopher
David Steel, former leader of the Liberal Party and the Social and Liberal Democrats; former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
William Montgomery Watt, Islamic studies scholar and Orientalist
John Witherspoon, signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence”.
Now when you look at some of those names above (Such as Gordon Brown, William ‘Captain” Kidd, Michael Moore and even William Montgomery Watt, just to name a few, it is easy to see that although they were indeed sons of the Manse, they have not all necessarily followed in their father’s footsteps in regard to both belief and a personal walk of faith in Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and saviour!
Just once again showing that just because your parents or grandparents are/were Christians, it doesn’t mean you are too! No indeed not! In fact, as another old saying says: God doesn’t have grand children! Only Children!”
So it is not enough to be a child of the manse, or of any Christian for that matter! No! Instead you and I, all, need to be a child of God too! And that is a personal thing that not only each one of us must do personally, but also something that only we can do and personally too, if we want to inherit the Kingdom of God.
If you would like more information on how to do that please just ask. Only too happy to help, if I can.

Are You Puissant For God?

The Word of the Day for Friday, September 11, 2009, was “puissant” which is a fancy and difficult to pronounce { \PWISS-uhnt; PYOO-uh-suhnt; pyoo-ISS-uhnt\,} word for “Powerful; strong; mighty; as, a puissant prince or empire.”
Now true as it may be that you and I are most unlikely to ever use, let alone pronounce puissant properly, the word did inspire in me the opening question of our title. Yes, are we mighty or powerful for God?
True, we may be a powerful or mighty source in our families, our Jobs, or even our communities, but does that powerfulness extend past ourselves and into our Christian walk with our Lord?
Again I only have the question and not the answer. That is for you to decide now, if you will!

Are you more a bibliophile or a bibelot?

This question was /is inspired by the Word of the Day for Thursday, January 21, 2010, which, surprise, surprise, was “bibelot”. Which, if you didn’t know (Like me) is “a small decorative object without practical utility; a trinket.” Yes, it doesn’t mean a lot of Bibles as some might have jokingly implied! Nor of one who has lots of Bibles! (Who is looking at me now?) The word for one who is a lover of Books in General (and not just the Bible) is Bibliophile.
Again, Bibelot has absolutely nothing what soever to do with the Bible (as I had first and mistakenly thought,) but in fact is derived from the Old French beubelot, or beubelet, "a small jewel, a trinket," from a reduplication of bel, "beautiful," from Latin bellus, "pretty, handsome." It is related to bauble.”
So once again what looks like on paper, (but pronounced “bibelot \BEE-buh-loh\,) had absolutely nothing to do with Bibles. Just once again showing the need for us always to check out what we think we know with an authoritative source, doesn’t it? For words, this will mean checking out our Dictionaries more often before we voice our opinions, won’t it?
For life in general, and particularly for Christians however, it will mean checking out our Bibles more often too! Otherwise, instead of speaking authoritatively on the subject, we will simply become small decorative objects without any practical use! Yes, just mere trinkets!
Is that what you really want to be, a mere useless trinket or bibelot? Or a useful and effective child of god and a genuine Bibliophile?

Are You Preparing For Success?

Here is some wisdom from the “Wise Words” selection that I receive daily. This one from 01/09/08 and called: “Are you preparing yourself?”
It says: “It's wise to have 'safety nets' such as savings, insurance and investments. Rainy days come unexpectedly. But - what are you doing to prepare for success? God says He can "Open the windows of Heaven and pour out blessings so great, you won't have enough room to take them in" (See Mal 3:10). If God pours out His blessings on you, will you be ready to handle them? Are you preparing yourself for greater things, or just settling for the status quo?
After fishing all night without success, Jesus told Peter, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets" (Luke 5:4). Explaining that the fish weren't biting, Peter says, "Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net" (Luke 5:5). Observe; Jesus said, "Let down your nets" (plural). Peter responded, "I will let down the net" (singular). Clearly, Jesus was thinking bigger than Peter! That night they caught so many fish, "their net was breaking." Next we read, "They beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees" (Luke 5:7-8). Peter needed more than one net and one boat to handle what God had in mind. Getting the idea?
If you're praying for greater success, are you taking steps to prepare yourself for it? Are you furthering your education? Are you sharpening your skills and developing new ways of doing things? Are you open to working with others? Are you willing to fall at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging Him as the source of all blessing, and sovereign Lord of your life?”
This is one of those articles where I feel there is little left for me to say than, “Are you?”
So are you preparing yourself and others for success, and if not will you? Yes, how much longer will you still hang on to your safety nets?

What is your life’s Leitmotif?

Leitmotif was the Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 31, 2011, and has two general meanings.
Firstly, in music drama, it is a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play. In other words it is a sort of musical label.
The second meaning is, as a dominant and recurring theme. And it is with that second meaning that my mind wandered to my own life and to what was its dominant and re-occurring themes.
Before I became a Christian I don’t know that there was any re-occurring theme in my life except perhaps my Family. Before I became a Christian at 29, I had no real direction or purpose in my Life, let alone a re-occurring theme; but after I became a Christian I had both purpose and direction.
Looking back at my post Christian life, I find that whenever I was in difficult circumstances and needed someone to confide in, no matter where I was, whether in this country or in South Africa, God brought along the right person for that time and circumstance, even if I haven’t seen that person since.
Of course he has blessed me in so many other ways too, but my Leitmotif is that God has continually blessed me with giving me the right human encouragement at the right time.
Well, that’s my Leitmotif! What’s yours?

Are you untestable or just Intestable?

The Word of the Day for Thursday, June 2, 2011 was intestable, and when I first saw it, I thought it read, “Untestable”, so my mind started to wonder if in fact any human could in fact be untestable. Maybe some things mathematically may be untestable, some may even claim that God is untestable, but I don’t know any true believer that believes that based on our own personal experience of Him and His blessings to us.
Getting back to us humans here, some might think themselves untestable but all of us are testable, even if only before God on Judgement Day! For as Second Corinthians 5: 10 says: “For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.”
So here it makes it quite clear that each and every one of us, is indeed testable and testable by God’s standards and not our own too. Again despite what many may think, none of us are untestable to and by God.
However getting back to the word of the day then, it didn’t actually read untestable but instead read, intestable, which it then explained meant, “Someone not legally qualified to make a will, such as an infant or a lunatic.”
Thus my closing thought is, that any and every one who really thinks that they are untestable is really intestable! However, if they are so only because they are infants, then they have a chance to grow out of it, but if it is because they are lunatics, then there is no hope for them. No hope outside of Christ that is! If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to e-mail me here.