Praise the Lord
Rev. Tim Lloyd at Oakhurst church confessed on Facebook this week that he's a pastor who just learned what PTL means. It reminded me of an email conversation I had years ago with a clergy friend.
She e-mailed that she was home from driving a long way to borrow curriculum from another church. "PTL," she wrote. The tone of the email made me interpret PTL as an eyeroll. "Sorry, ugh," I wrote back. Her reply: "No, that's a good thing! I mean it, PTL!"
I should have Googled "PTL" -- Praise The Lord -- before responding.
Last week I smiled reading a comment on North Georgia's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ngaumc): TGBTG. No Google necessary that time. To God Be The Glory! made perfect sense in the posts context.
I've come across a few other church-talk initialisms, too:
GBY (God Bless You)
AIMP (Always in My Prayers)
There is something to be said about how this is "insider" language and may make others feel excluded or cause a misunderstanding, even among insiders, but in the end I think I'm a fan. Anyone who praises the Lord or gives God the glory so much that they start to abbreviate is on the right track in my book!
ps - Do you think Bishop Watson ends his texts with GH? (Glory Halleluah) Maybe!
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