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Hi to all my Forum Friends,

Let me share with you this writing I did back in 2007.  Why, you ask?  Because it seems that no one listened to me then.  It is amazing how many speakers I hear, and writers I read -- who should know better -- yet, do not seem to know when to use the pronouns "I" and "me."   Matter of fact, it seems that I see and hear these confused more often now than I did prior to 2007.

So, since I read a lot (books, e-mail, Facebook, etc.) -- to help you keep -- your "I" out of my "eye" -- let me offer this once more:

 

IS YOUR AUDIENCE AN "Arghhhh!" AUDIENCE, OR AN "Ahhhh!" AUDIENCE?
By Bill Gray, Date:  Fri, 02 Feb 2007

In the mid-1960s, I had a friend who worked as a secretary at Boeing in Seattle.  It drove her totally nuts when she heard a person use the non-word "irregardless."  Pulling her hair, she would tell me, "There is no such word as IRREGARDLESS!  The word is REGARDLESS, irregardless of what a person thinks!"

I have the same hair pulling urge when I hear a person use the wrong pronoun "I" when he/she should be using "me."  You would be amazed at how often I have heard otherwise highly intelligent, highly educated people -- in the pulpit, on radio, on television, in person, (now on Facebook) -- doing this.

Yesterday, to my amazement, I heard one of my favorite Bible teachers, Dr. Chuck Missler, commit this "fingernail scraping on the blackboard" offense twice in one sentence.  As my role model, Charlie Brown, would say, "Arghhhh!"

I cannot tell you exactly what Dr. Missler was teaching, for the distraction was total.  However, he said something like, "That is totally foreign to you and I.  Scripture tells us that this is not right for you and I."

"Arghhhh!"

Now, most likely, many people will not even notice this mistake, nor even care.  But, for a person who enjoys writing, a person who enjoys using words to paint ideas and thoughts -- that is analogous to an artist using bright red paint when the scene being painted calls for a pastel blue or yellow.  I know, I know.  Some Friends will ask, "So, what difference does this make?" 

And to those Friends, it makes no difference.  However, when a speaker is working hard to reach "everyone" in his/her audience, the difference can be a lost or broken train of thought for some, if not many, in that audience -- as happened to me yesterday while listening to Dr. Missler teach.


Especially when the error is so easy to avoid.  "Pray tell, Bill, how do I avoid this horrendous mistake which so grates upon your ears?" 

I'm glad you asked.

This mistake happens most frequently when a writer or speaker is using a compound sentence.  A compound sentence is one which is composed of two or more main clauses but no subordinate clauses. 

"Bill, Bill, speak English, please!"

Okay, a main clause if one which has a subject and a verb, and can stand alone, i.e., "That is totally foreign to you" and "That is totally foreign to me."   And that is how you may test the sentence to see if you are using the correct pronouns.

When we break Dr. Missler's compound sentence, "That is totally foreign to you and I" down into its two main clauses, we get, "That is totally foreign to you" and "That is totally foreign to I."    Would you say, "That is totally foreign to I"?  No!  You would say, "That is totally foreign to ME."

By the same token, Dr. Missler's sentence, "Scripture tells us that this is not right for you and I" -- when broken down into two main clauses will read, "Scripture tells us that is not right for you" and "Scripture tells us that is not right for I."   How long will it take your audience to get a glazed, void look upon their faces when you use sentences such as, "Scripture tells us that is not right for I"?

No, no, no!   It only sound right when you say, "Scripture tells us that is not right for ME."

In the future, so that there will be no glassy eyed people in your audience; so that there will be no one sitting in your audience screaming, "Arghhhh!" -- please break the sentence apart in your mind to test it, before you allow it to escape your mouth.  Then, we can all sit back and listen to you speak, with a smile, and a soothing, "Ahhhh!"

Just a thought.  Share this with your Friends, Relatives, Associates, and Neighbors --- all your FRANs.  That way, possibly we will see far fewer people sitting in audiences with large patches of hair missing -- these are the "Arghhhh!" people.  And we will experience far more smiling, hair in place, "Ahhhh!" people in the audiences.

 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Grandpas Tell Best Stories

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quote:   Originally Posted by Road Puppy:

Nobody listened to you then and nobody listens to you now.   At least you're consistent. 

Puppy, my Friend,

 

Not so sure about that!  Within half an hour after posting the same writing on my Facebook Notes, one person posted this in response:

 

Great writing, Bill! Have you ever written a book?  You should if you haven't already done so.

 

While I know there are MANY intelligent folks on the TimesDaily Religion Forum -- maybe some of my Friends on Facebook are smarter than the average dog, or Puppy!

 

Bless your simple little Noo Yawk heart!

 

Bill

Cats_Laugh

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Last edited by Bill Gray
Originally Posted by Bill Gray:
quote:   Originally Posted by Road Puppy:

Nobody listened to you then and nobody listens to you now.   At least you're consistent. 

Puppy, my Friend,

 

Not so sure about that!  Within half an hour after posting the same writing on my Facebook Notes, one person posted this in response:

 

Great writing, Bill! Have you ever written a book?  You should if you haven't already done so.

 

While I know there are MANY intelligent folks on the TimesDaily Religion Forum -- maybe some of my Friends on Facebook are smarter than the average dog, or Puppy!

 

Bless your simple little Noo Yawk heart!

 

Bill

Cats_Laugh

--------------_--

More likely it proves that your facebook friends are just as backwards and dense as you are. Birds of a feather and all that..

Last edited by Road Puppy

Crash, my Biblically illiterate atheist Friend,

 

As long as God is happy with the writing ministry He gave me -- I am happy.

 

On the other hand, suppose that you and your atheist friends agreed with and like what I write -- I would have a problem.  I would have to seriously wonder what I am doing wrong.  But, since you and your friends jump all over what I write -- God and I are both cheering!  

 

Gotta be doing something right -- when I upset the atheists and their other non-believing buddies!

 

Thank you, Lord!

 

Bless you simple little heart!

 

Bill

Last edited by Bill Gray

i'm sorry billyboy.. your god is probably not happy with your writing, driving people away from the word, your constant judging of other people. your pitiful attitude... make no mistake about it.. you drive more people away from christianity than you will ever bring to christianity. you have lost what little grip you had on reality.. and it's getting worse with every post.

you've got about three topics where you're railing against 'obama's socalist regime' .. because healing the sick and feeding the poor is NOT what jesus taught.. and bill doesn't like it. i'm sure your god is very pleased with you. he would never want anyone to feed the poor or try to heal the sick.. oh, wait.. doesn't that 'inerrant word of god' say something about that?

Last edited by Crash.Override

Crash, my Friend,l

 

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  When an atheist such as you can rail against what I write -- there could be no greater proof that what I am doing is right!

 

Gotta be doing something right -- when I upset you atheists and your non-believing buddies!

 

As I said, if you liked me and what I write -- I would REALLY have to wonder what I am doing wrong.  But, with your angry response -- HALLELUJAH!  Praise the Lord!

 

Bless you simple little atheist heart!

 

Bill

 

Gimme A Hug

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Last edited by Bill Gray

We don't have a problem with you writing about your religion, BeeG.

Invictus writes about religion all the time and nobody but you takes issue with it-not atheists or believers.

Gbrk, (If I remember correctly) writes very long posts about religion and nobody has a problem with it (except you.)

 

Veep used to write pretty long posts about her belief, and pretty much everybody used to respond in a cvil manner-if not in a positive manner to almost everything she wrote. (Except for you).

  Semi also used to post regarding her beliefs and occasionally still does and nobody has any kind of problem with what she writes. (Except you.)

 

See the pattern here? 

 

The reason noobody takes issue or offense to what they write is because their writings aren't hate speech like yours are.

 Everything you write is an attempt to bend a religious belief to conform to your hatred of blacks, (one of whom happens to be president-and like most racists-you just can't stand it), women, the poor and  basically anybody who isn't a shriveled up old white guy.  Just the opposite of what your scripture says to do.

It's painfully obvious that your constant, tiring rants against homosexuality are just a feeble attempt to hide your closeted preference for men.

 Your writings are no different than what could be found on websites such as Stormfront.org or the Westboro Baptist site except you use the socially acceptable shriveled-up old white guys' codewords for the above mentioned minorities and women-stopping just short of blatant, open hate speech.

And it *is* hate speech, pure and simple, and as such should not be tolerated in any form.

  

quote:   Originally Posted by Crash.Override:

that's right.. attack the messenger .. ignore the message.. such christ like behavior. i expected no less from the resident troll. sorry i wasted my time trying. 

Crash, my Friend,

 

What does one call the person who does not believe in God -- but, insist upon quoting God's Word?

 

Oh, yes, I remember now!  It is an antichrist!   Let's see what God's Word has to say about such a person:

 

1 John 2:18, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists (atheists who quote Scripture)have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22, "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist (atheists who quote Scripture) who denies the Father and the Son."

1 John 4:3, "And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.  And this is the spirit of the Antichrist (atheists who quote Scripture) , which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

2 John 1:7, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist (atheists who quote Scripture)."

 

By George, Crash -- I believe Scripture has found you out!

 

Bless your non-believing old heart!

 

Bill

pinkpig

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Last edited by Bill Gray

Hi Peede,

 

I believe we all have common sounding words that cause us to pause when we are writing.  Such as "principal" and "principle" -- school principal, and it is the principle of the the thing.

 

OR "breath" and "breathe" -- don't hold your breath -- but breathe normally.

 

Anytime I am not 100% sure, I will open Google and type in the word confusing me -- just to be sure.  That gives me the word definition, the correct spelling, and the usage.

 

And, like you -- I have heard people, from folks writing on Facebook, to pastors, to local and national speakers -- confusing "I" and "me."   And, when it begins to grate too much, I will repost my original writing.

 

Also, many pastors and other Bible teachers will say "Revelations" when referring to the book of Revelation.   Fifteen years ago, when I first came to the area where I live now and to our newly planted church, our pastor was young and still in seminary.  He had a bad habit of saying Revelations -- and I would pull him aside privately and tell him,"Pastor, there is only 'one revelation' given from God"

 

Revelation 1:1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,"

 

All this shows is that we all need to be more diligent when writing and speaking.  And, when in doubt -- test first as you suggested by removing the second person -- or by going to Google.

 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

 

Bill

Originally Posted by Crash.Override:

wow! what a stretch.. i'm now the 'anti-christ'.. you're hilarious! doesn't your 'good book' say something about 'judging others'? i guess you chose to ignore that part. i expect no less from the forum troll.

Crash, did you ever notice how many times billie, standing there with his GED

and pulls aside pastors with theology degrees to correct them and set them

on the right path. What a helpful little monkey.

 

Originally Posted by INVICTUS:
Originally Posted by Crash.Override:

wow! what a stretch.. i'm now the 'anti-christ'.. you're hilarious! doesn't your 'good book' say something about 'judging others'? i guess you chose to ignore that part. i expect no less from the forum troll.

Crash, did you ever notice how many times billie, standing there with his GED

and pulls aside pastors with theology degrees to correct them and set them

on the right path. What a helpful little monkey.

 

_____________

wouldn't you LOVE to hear what they had to say.. after he leaves.

Originally Posted by Crash.Override:

wow! what a stretch.. i'm now the 'anti-christ'.. you're hilarious! doesn't your 'good book' say something about 'judging others'? i guess you chose to ignore that part. i expect no less from the forum troll.

________

Gosh, Crash! If you're the Anti-Christ, you need to be the leader of our little Cabal. Crusty, time for you to step down.  You have been replaced by The Anti-Christ!

Originally Posted by Bill Gray:
 

 

What does one call the person who does not believe in God -- but, insist upon quoting God's Word?

 

 

 

----------------------------------------

An "atheist."

Somebody who has *ACTUALLY READ THE %#*&ing BOOK* instead of just cherry-picking from it has to set the hypocrites straight from time to time. 

Originally Posted by semiannualchick:

Gosh, Crash! If you're the Anti-Christ, you need to be the leader of our little Cabal. Crusty, time for you to step down.  You have been replaced by The Anti-Christ!

____________________

Well, of course I have.  I'm just an atheist non-believer, a minor figure in the Cabal compared to the Anti-Christ.

Bill particularly hates this verse in the Bible along with many others :

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:1-2

Mr. Resist=Bill

Originally Posted by CrustyMac:
Bill claims to be exercising the "Great Commission".  I thought that involved bringing people (atheists and other non-believers) to Christ, not pushing them away.  Yeah, I'm sure God is happy with our favorite heretic. 




From Merriam-Webster, I think I found the definition you're looking for:
"5:  an act of committing something  <commission of a crime>"

Last edited by Aeneas
Originally Posted by Quaildog:

Bill particularly hates this verse in the Bible along with many others :

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:1-2

Mr. Resist=Bill

__________

I thought Bill was your Love Buddy?

Originally Posted by Kate Colombo:

The most often seen error seems to be the double possessive. Someone will write. Is she a friend of your sister's?

 

Your sister's what? Chihuahua?

 

It's simply: She's a friend of my sister.

____

And folks pay good money to have those little plaques painted up to put in their yards or on their porches, proclaiming that "The Brown's" or "The Smith's" occupy the premises.

Originally Posted by semiannualchick:
Originally Posted by Quaildog:

Bill particularly hates this verse in the Bible along with many others :

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:1-2

Mr. Resist=Bill

__________

I thought Bill was your Love Buddy?

Bill crossed the line when he blasphemed God's POTUS and Gods Labor Unions

. Jesus first represented mankind and appointed business agents twelve in number, By and by along there came Cowan's as in "bill the lesser".  

Originally Posted by Bill Gray:
quote:   Originally Posted by Crash.Override:

that's right.. attack the messenger .. ignore the message.. such christ like behavior. i expected no less from the resident troll. sorry i wasted my time trying. 

Crash, my Friend,

 

What does one call the person who does not believe in God -- but, insist upon quoting God's Word?

 

Oh, yes, I remember now!  It is an antichrist!   Let's see what God's Word has to say about such a person:

 

1 John 2:18, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists (atheists who quote Scripture)have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22, "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist (atheists who quote Scripture) who denies the Father and the Son."

1 John 4:3, "And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.  And this is the spirit of the Antichrist (atheists who quote Scripture) , which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

2 John 1:7, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist (atheists who quote Scripture)."

 

By George, Crash -- I believe Scripture has found you out!

 

Bless your non-believing old heart!

 

Bill

pinkpig

____

Thank you, Bill, for posting those scriptures concerning "antichrist."  They are the only scriptures concerning "antichrist" and do not in any way correlate with the mythical, contrived figure designated "The Antichrist" in premillennialist fictions concerning the "end times."

Originally Posted by Quaildog:
Bill crossed the line when he blasphemed God's POTUS and Gods Labor Unions.

_________

Bill has crossed the line ever since he's been on this forum. He's too stupid & full of himself to know that the majority of people doesn't believe anything he says. A true Christian doesn't talk to people & put them down the way he does. I never could understand why you were such a cheerleader of his.

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