Unashamed of Grace

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Broken Records

by Antonio da Rosa

Often my children will repeat themselves -- some song or phrase -- incessantly until I have to tell them to please stop. There is an informal rule in the family that you cannot repeat the same phrase more than 3 times in a row. Somethings like that are simply irritating.

Repetition can have the tendency to make people tune out. Songs you once loved you now cringe to hear. Catch-phrases from people at work they use all the time can make you call upon the Lord for patience.

When I read the first installment of Tom Stegall's poorly written series on the current controversy, he used several phrases dozens of times. Not only did it poison the well, it turns people off!

Recently, two words have been sounding from the rooftops. The man who uses them ought to go and purchase a thesaurus so as to not drive his compatriots (and critics) crazy. Those words are:

egregious
reductionist

As I sit here and even write this post, I am left with a chuckle. I just don't know if I can take people seriously in intellectual affairs when they employ such ridiculous terms as the ones above.

As a post script:

I believe that the Biblical Jesus saves any and all who simply believe in Him for the gift of eternal life only He offers.

Shame on me.

Good nite

PSS:

Oh, does anyone else have words of phrases that have lately been spun to many times on the turntable? Please do share with us.

PSSS: I originally spelled egregious wrong, lol.

21 Comments:

The whole 'crossless' debate bores me to tears.

By Matthew Celestine, at Wednesday, October 01, 2008 1:18:00 AM
Matt,

Boredom I think comes from them being conversations that aren't gaining any ground, yes?

Antonio,

Nice topic!!

Michele

By Sanctification, at Wednesday, October 01, 2008 1:45:00 PM
Yes.

Not because it is not an important issue.

By Matthew Celestine, at Wednesday, October 01, 2008 1:51:00 PM
Antonio,

I like that informal rule of your home, a lot. What a simple way of capturing an important rule of speech. Well done!

I myself have no clue what "eggregious" (sp?) means! I've heard it many times, but I never bothered to educate myself (as I normally would) because of the context.

They're adjectives....

Why are they used? To add punch to a message, a "warning, warning!" I'm curious to figure this out....

ADJECTIVE:
Definition: The part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun.

Kinds:

Absolute Adjective
Attributive Adjective
Demonstrative Adjective
Predicative Adjective
Adding Adjectives and Adverbs to the Basic Sentence Unit
Sentence Building with Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives are words that: intensify, they try and demonstrate, show or warn, to enhance feelings, look, sound, appearance, and action.

(from Answers.com)

They're trying to tell us something, that much is certain. They're trying to show us something and increasingly alarmist adjectives are a borrowed-upon route to use when progress slows down.

But there are plenty of things to use to wake people up besides adjectives.

I just appreciate the simple things, like you're saying here. Sometimes when we reach a dead end a little care and TLC can go a long way. Ask about how the kids are doing. Share a little emotion. Talk about what kinds of things God is up to these days in your life. You know.

It helps clear the fog of whether your intentions are good or not. Cause after awhile what you were sure was loving becomes questionable.

Course this may be more of a gender weakness too. But preaching scripture alone is not wholistic.

There is more to a man's needs than just receiving scripture.

It's pretty obvious, here, that nobody stopped caring about scripture. Nobody stopped wanting to listen, even now there is a small level of that going on. But we are not free to change our mind until the threat is removed and the pressure is relieved.

It still is a struggle for me to remember common sense, simple things of life like these, Antonio, when promoting the faith. My friend, he really knocks me upside the head now and then when I get clumsy. (I can hear him nodding his approval as I write this.)

You deserve to be treated with respect for your beliefs, no matter what they are.

Tell me if these kinds of comments are welcome, or not, or if I am welcome. I'm an amateur myself but I wanna get there. I've been praying a lot because even if I could say the "right thing," it doesn't matter if God's Spirit is not in it. So... I hope that God is indeed "in it."

Peace,
Michele

By Sanctification, at Wednesday, October 01, 2008 4:09:00 PM
I looked up eggregious in the hyper dictionary and there was no such word!

By JoW, at Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:56:00 AM
From Latin ēgregius, "outstanding"

"to rise above the flock/herd"

The word lost this meaning in the 16th century as it began to be used in an ironic rather than literal sense.

The common meaning is now "Conspicuously bad or offensive."

Synonyms include: gross, outrageous and notorious.

There is a lot of meaning packed into this one little 'egg' of a word.

By Aletheia, at Thursday, October 02, 2008 5:54:00 AM
I was thinking that maybe it had been spelled wrong and that was why it was not found in the dictionary by 'jow.'

Thanks for the info 'aletheia.'

Wow, we have some new visitors. Welcome to this ēgregius blog. haha!

Michele,
Of course you are welcome here. You are gracious in your remarks and very insightful. We are getting to know you as we are getting to know eachother. The Christian internet is an interesting place if you can keep it in perspective.

Antonio,
assault
unsuspecting
deceived
I have read those words a lot lately.

By Rose~, at Thursday, October 02, 2008 6:14:00 AM
BTW, Antonio - the title of your post betrays your age. :~) You are probably the youngest to know what it means. It is sad to see such a phrase leaving us. Just think - in some years' time, no one will be able to have a memory of that annoying sound in their mind (of a record skipping) to hearken to as a descriptor for something else so gratingly repetetive. It will be a lost reference.

By Rose~, at Thursday, October 02, 2008 6:19:00 AM
"conspicuously bad or offensive"----and of course, what could be more conspicuously bad and offensive than a "crossless" gospel, right? Reminds me of how Lordship Salvation advocates like to label those who believe in Free Grace as "No-Lordship". I don't know who coined the label "crossless" gospel, but they have obviously taken a page out of the LS advocates' playbook. It is a deliberate and disingenuous attempt to mislead and confuse people as to what the actual issue in this controversy really is. Then, when some actually do become mislead and confused, they try to appear righteously indignant and shift the responsibility for the misunderstanding away from themselves onto others. They accuse others of using an "intentional misdirect", when in fact, their movement has been based on an "intentional misdirect" from the very beginning. Yes, I am weary of hearing this mantra of "crossless gospel". It is an age old tactic for those who have no rational or scriptural arguments to support their position to start with.

By goe, at Thursday, October 02, 2008 7:16:00 AM
Oh, I almost forgot. Add "deityless" to the list, as in : "the equally heretical crossless/deityless gospel of Zane Hodges and the GES." Again, does "No Lordship" Salvation sound familiar?

By goe, at Thursday, October 02, 2008 7:47:00 AM
I had originally spelled the word wrong, to my disgrace!

Michele, your comments are always welcome. They really are appreciated as well.

Matt, the debate has the tendency to either fire people up or bore them to tears.

Aletheia, great name. Thanks for posting that.

Rose, I like your inclusion of your list. "unsuspecting" is my favorite in it. Ya know, Christians are as dumb as sheep... can't think for themselves.

I also used to like to put my 33 1/3 albums on 45 or 75 speed and bingo! Instant chipmunks versions of your favorite songs!

Gary, you know that if you say something enough times and for long enough what you say comes true, ala Joel Olsteen and the word of faith crowd. For as many times as those particularly offensive, innacurate, and pejorative designations have been repeated they must be now be true!

Thank you all for humoring me in my attempt at humor.

Antonio

By Antonio, at Thursday, October 02, 2008 6:31:00 PM
Greetings Rose and Antonio, thank you for the welcome.

I have observed from afar for some time....thank you for always speaking your minds, baring your hearts and holding out your hands.

Matthew...i am extremely stubborn about no shoes inside our home :)

Michele, I really liked your post on adjectives....some of my favorites are found in scripture.

I also like what you said about the conversation and boredom....and I wonder ....how is ground gained in a conversation such as the one that has been going on? Is there something that we do not understand about communication yet? Is there anything of Him that we do not understand as of yet?

If so, Father please show us.

Still observing and praying...and speaking up a tiny bit :)

A

By Aletheia, at Friday, October 03, 2008 10:21:00 AM
Aletheia,

You wrote:

Still observing and praying...and speaking up a tiny bit :)

Thank you, and I would that you spoke up even more. Thanks again for your prayers.

Antonio

By Antonio, at Friday, October 03, 2008 12:00:00 PM
A new phrase has been developing that you all will get a kick out of:

known and vital error

I don't know how these people take each other seriously. Go over to Lou Martuneac's blog and read over their comments.

Poor Rose: the subject of such discussion!

Antonio

By Antonio, at Friday, October 03, 2008 6:15:00 PM
Hey, Aletheia, thanks for bringing up my favorite subject!

By Matthew Celestine, at Saturday, October 04, 2008 3:13:00 AM
Alethia,
Thank you for saying so. It is always fun to have a visitor speak up and find out that they have been reading for a while.

____________________________
Antonio,
John and I were talking last night and he brought one to mind that we had heard a lot:

duplicitous

I will not click on Lou Martuneac's link anymore. He mentioned on the bluecollar blog two days ago that he was going to be posting about me. I refuse to go to his blog to read what he says about me. It just doesn't matter. A personal frined of mine is the Editor at RBP and he emailed me and gave me an earful about this, but basically encouraged me, as others have, to shake the dust off my feet.

I will "avoid."

I think in a way it is hilarios though, that a man his age would find writing about an inconsequential woman like me of any import. Do share other phrases so I won't be tempted to click over there. I find it humorous.

"known and vital error" huh?

What is a "vital" error?

Something about combining the word "vital" with the word "error" seems like a linguistical mistake.

By Rose~, at Saturday, October 04, 2008 5:51:00 AM
We were just using the dictionary at the breakfast table with our 12 year old. An interesting word came up:

megalomania

Has anyone ever heard that word before?

By Rose~, at Saturday, October 04, 2008 6:54:00 AM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Lou Martuneac, at Saturday, October 04, 2008 8:05:00 AM
Post-modern?
Ecumenical?

Brother Lou, you are truly mistaken and have made unwarranted conclusions if you think that those words apply to me. Anyone who knows me would LOL if they heard such a description used for me.

That really takes the cake. You (or whoever) has no idea what I am all about. You said on Dave's blog last week that you have been studying my writings for 6 months now. I think you may have missed the big picture in all of your studies.

Again, I wish you well and I mean you no harm, but I do want you to leave me alone now.

By Rose~, at Saturday, October 04, 2008 8:40:00 AM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Lou Martuneac, at Saturday, October 04, 2008 10:19:00 AM
English doesn't seem to be working. I was thinking that maybe Russian would work:

Отступите от меня!
Отступите от меня.

By Rose~, at Saturday, October 04, 2008 10:29:00 AM