Truth

Agree to disagree

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This is an old common phrase meaning that all parties in a
conflict or dispute are willing to resolve their differences by tolerating the
opposing views while maintaining their own position. It first appeared in print
in 1770 in John Wesley’s sermon, On the
Death of Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, preached November 18, 1770, in which
he acknowledges their doctrinal differences:

“There
are many doctrines of a less essential nature … In these we may think and let
think; we may ‘agree to disagree.’ But, meantime, let us hold fast the
essentials”

Wesley enclosed the phrase in quotation marks indicating
that he was not the originator of it. Wesley’s brother, Charles, deemed to be
the founder of the Methodist Church, attributed the expression to Whitefield
himself, who had used it in a letter to “Mr. B.” twenty years earlier, dated
June 29, 1750:

“After
all, those who will live in peace must agree
to disagree in many things with their fellow-labourers, and not let little
things part or disunite them.”

But the gist of the saying came earlier; also first used by
a minister, John Piggott, in Sermon on Union
and Peace, preach’d to several Congregations, April 17, 1704:

      “And now why should we not agree to differ, without either enmity
or scorn?”

There are still times when
Christians don’t look at issues exactly alike. But that doesn’t mean that we
should argue with one another.

Service

Breaking new ground

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  Through the ages when farmers cleared wooded areas for making new crops, it was called “new ground,” and when they first plowed the area, it was called breaking new ground. It was first used in this sense in the 1640s according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. This came to mean, figuratively, doing something new and innovative; making new discoveries in any field of endeavor. This same source stated figurative use of “groundbreaking” began in 1884. Idiomatic use of “breaking ground,” however, is clear forty years earlier in an 1844 publication called Draft of an answer to the dissent and protest of certain ministers and elders who have seceded from the Synod of Canada in connexion with the Church of Scotland by the Synod appointed for that purpose.

Service

In front of God and everybody

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This saying arose to popularity in the mid-20th century,
and the earliest known printed reference is found in The Saturday Evening Post, 1947, Volume 219, page 137:

“I straighten up. I wink. I do not make
him answer right there in front of God and everybody…”

It was used in the Warner Brothers romantic drama, A Summer Place in 1959 starring Richard
Eagan and Dorothy McGuire, with young Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee.      “In front of God and everybody this
time?”

It became even more widely popularized by jokes and sarcastic
remarks, and the 1986 book, Confessions
of April Grace, In Front of God and Everybody, by K.D. McCrite, brought it to
the forefront of popular culture. The idea behind this is based on the biblical truth that God
is omniscient—He sees everything we do.

Devotional

Man does not live by bread alone

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We have all heard this
one many times, but a lot of people likely don’t realize where it came from. This cliché actually
came from the words of Moses to the grumbling Israelites in the Bible, in Deuteronomy 8:3:

“And
he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which
thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know
that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of the Lord doth he live.”

‘Manna’ literally
meant ‘what is it?’ The saying implies, in a literal sense, that we have
spiritual needs as well as physical ones. It has come to be used as meaning
figuratively that we need a well-rounded diet. As warriors of Christ
we must realize how important his Word is to our spiritual diet and survival. We need to read it continually and hide it in our hearts.

Service

A Labor of love

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This familiar cliché is biblical in origin. It is found in
two separate New Testament
scriptures. Hebrews 6:10, KJV, 1611,
reads:

“For God is not
unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward
his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” 

The other reference is found in I Thessalonians 1:3. “Remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our
Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” (KJV)

It is unknown who penned the Epistle to the Hebrews, but those written to the Thessalonians are identified as being from the Apostle Paul. The similarities in writing style have led many to believe that Hebrews was also St.

Truth

All that glitters is not gold

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Most
of us have heard this all our lives, I suppose. We likely have a good idea what
it means, and a lot of us, who, like me, had to study Shakespeare in school,
know where it came from. The Merchant
of Venice is
the origin. The original was actually ‘glisters’ rather than glitters, but the
rest was intact as penned by Shakespeare in 1586. The reference reads:

“All that glitters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:”

This
has come to symbolize the constant struggle of humanity to seek for prosperity,
and in so doing, often ‘grab at straws’ which appear to be ways to ‘get rich
quick.’ Just because something looks good doesn’t mean that it is—usually it is
quite the opposite.

Truth

Kernel of truth

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This is an idiom used
for a singular element of truth within
a greater story, narrative, speech, or theory, usually used when most or all
other elements are either known to be fictitious or are questionable, at best. A kernel of wisdom also reflects this meaning. A kernel is a grain or seed of
grain, illustrating that the truth is small, but that if planted in minds may
grow and lead to additional valid truth or wisdom.  

‘Kernel of truth’ has
been used metaphorically since at least the late 19th century, as
evidenced by several printed examples including this citation from National Religion with an Excursus on the
Higher Criticism by Samuel Smith, published in London in 1884:

“‘Life
is short,’ and as men become older they get tired of screening a mass of chaff
for one kernel of truth.”

God’s Word is all truth, As Christians
it is our obligation to “rightly divide the Word of Truth.” It is too easy for
false prophets to twist the truth and try to make us believe something
different than God intended. There are “kernels of truth” in these
false doctrines.

Service

Breaking new ground

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Through the ages when farmers cleared wooded areas for making new crops, it was called “new ground,” and when they first plowed the area, it was called breaking new ground. It was first used in this sense in the 1640s according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. This came to mean, figuratively, doing something new and innovative; making new discoveries in any field of endeavor. This same source stated figurative use of “groundbreaking” began in 1884. Idiomatic use of “breaking ground,” however, is clear forty years earlier in an 1844 publication called “Draft of an answer to the dissent and protest of certain ministers and elders who have seceded from the Synod of Canada in connexion with the Church of Scotland, by the Committee appointed by the Synod for that purpose.” It was published by the Kingston Chronicle and Gazette for the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

Service

Excuses, excuses, excuses!

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The word excuse means a pretext of justification. Used came into the English language in the mid-13th century. Several poets have used this as a premise for their
thought-provoking verses. But the actual act of making excuses goes back to
the dawn of human existence. The first biblical example is from the Genesis 3:12
and 13 when Adam blamed Eve for giving him the forbidden fruit, and in turn, Eve
blamed the serpent.

Service

It rains on the just and on the unjust

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Does it sometimes feel like you are getting “rained on” more
than your share? That bad things keep happening to you and your family? This old adage is from the Bible in Matthew 5:45, KJV. It is used to mean that good and
bad come to all people. “That ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust.”

It is easy to see and feel the effects
of what is happening to you.