‘On Guard’ Or as the French say: ‘En-garde.’ It’s said by the referee at the beginning of a fencing match. The expression signals the participants to be on the alert, the combat is about to begin. Watch out, your opponent is about to attack. In the military when the troops hear the crisp announcement: ‘attention,’ …
Run for Cover What do you do when you hear that? Probably depends on the circumstances. If you’re outside and it’s starting to rain, you look for a place to stay dry. But if you’re on a battlefield you might drop to the ground and look for a place to stay alive. Cover can mean …
Full Metal Jacket What’s the first thing you think of when you hear that phrase? Maybe you remember the movie about the Vietnam War directed by Stanley Kubrick. The phrase is actually the name of a type of bullet that has a hard shell surrounding a softer lead core. The jacket enables the bullet to …
Pyramid What’s the first thing you think of when you hear that word? Although the term can apply to various things, most people think of the pyramid monuments in Egypt: massive stone structures that were built to glorify the Pharaohs of the ancient world. They’re fascinating to see and the more we learn of them …
Scuttlebutt You’ve probably heard that term even if you don’t use it. I associate it with the military, hearing it used in war movies. It makes sense since apparently it was first used to describe the gathering of sailors aboard ships. They would meet to get a drink of water, and the water was kept …
There’s an Atmosphere Here You’ve probably heard that phrase before. It pertains to something pervasive in the space that envelops a place. The earth has an atmosphere surrounding it; an atmosphere that contains the gases that we need to breathe in order to survive. We can’t see it but we can detect it. We breathe …
What Did He Say?!? I heard a sermon recently that focused on 3 John, the shortest book of the Bible by word count. It’s a letter to a church in Asia which was located in what is now modern day Turkiye, and there’s good reason to believe that it was written by the Apostle …
I Wonder… There was a popular song years ago that asked the question: “I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who…who wrote the book of love?” Of course the focus was on romantic love between two people, but the question remains relevant today. And it is especially relevant for Christians. It’s the Lord our God who wrote …
Onward…and Upward? The new year: 2024; we’ve celebrated the turn of the calendar: one more revolution around the sun. Now what? That’s the question isn’t it? For many Americans the next big thing is the Super Bowl. Even if you’re not a football fan—or a sports fan —you know about the Super Bowl. It’s an …
This is the beginning of a line from the story, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” I guess the Disney movie uses “Magic Mirror on the Wall” but the original story uses “Mirror, Mirror.”