Posts

Seven Times Jesus said “I AM”

  Seven Times Jesus said “I AM” A lesson by Terry Pruitt When Moses asked the God of Abraham in Exodus 3:13 what his name was, he said “I am”.   He used a Hebrew word for “I Am” which is used as the name of God in the Old Testament.   The name in Hebrew is Yahweh or Jehovah or YHWH or יהוה .   Bible Nerd Words:   In the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Old Testament there is instructions to not say Yahweh but to say the Hebrew word for LORD, Adonai.   Our English translations follow this tradition.   The ESV uses the all in CAPs word LORD when translating Yahweh.   In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX) translates this as a phrase “ἐγὼ εἰμί”.   This same phrase of “I am” (ἐγὼ εἰμί) is used in the Greek New Testament in the Gospel of John.   Jesus uses this phrase “I am” in a way to signify that he is the Second Person of the Trinity.   Seven different times he says I am as a revelation of who he is as God.     In case you thought, he is just saying “
Post a Comment
Read more

Electronic Form of the Bible

The Scriptures are changing.  I am not talking about the content or the canon.  I mean the form of the Scriptures are changing.  People may be listening to the Bible as a podcast or audio book rather crack the cover of a bound set of pages as a book.  There has been changes to the form and availability of Scripture.  The Old Testament in the ancient world was a scrolls.  The Scroll limited the length of the work.  Eventually the Scripture was recorded as a book.  The whole of the Bible could be gathered in one collection as one book.  However these were copied by hand.  The printing press changed the Bible from a hand copied book to a mass produced book.  No longer was the Bible the property of a church or a rich person, a less wealthy person could own a Bible.  People could read the Bible in their home.  They could check what their pastor was saying in the sermon.  Today many people are feasting on the Bible in through various electronic forms.  Not only do people listen to an audio f
1 comment
Read more

Called to Suffer

Image
  The post-modern quest to follow one’s dream calls one to sacrifice to the idol named self.   The Biblical quest to fulfill one’s calling it to receive a burden given by God.   (Isaiah 13:1; 17:1; Nahum 1:1) The first aspires to embrace the pleasure of victory; the second is to shoulder responsibility which will cause suffering.   That suffering may or may not give victory.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Was the New Testament Letters Only Written to Male Brothers?

  Question:   Was the Bible written to men only and not to women?   Some teach that the New Testament letters address brothers exclusively.      Executive Summary Answer:   Women and men share in the blessings of the gospel, Scripture was written for both women and men. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27 ESV) Answer:   The Bible recognizes differences between genders but also recognizes the commonality between male and female genders.   The book of Proverbs is written to sons to gain wisdom.   “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”   (Prov. 1:8-9 ESV) The book of Proverbs was written in order to teach young men wisdom.   Even so, often it is the female gender that teaches wisdom.   Early in the book, the male gender, a son, is to embrace the teaching from a member of the
2 comments
Read more

Create Something For Yourself

Image
Executive Summary: Journaling is creating something for yourself.  Journaling may aid your growth as a person.           The docent at the bookbinder’s shop in Colonial Williamsbur g asked us to guess the most common book historically we thought might be bound in the shop. I think I guessed the Bible , but the correct answer was a blank journal. A nice hardback book of blank pages to record the events for a business, a farm, a ship, or a person. Unless a journal records an item of notoriety, journals are read by a small number of people. Sometimes a page is written, never to be revisited. It can serve as a way to organize one’s thoughts on a matter, an aid to memory, or process emotions. Journaling is largely writing for self.      While stationed at Fort Campbell, KY in 1986 took a course on introduction to computer science in order to earn college credit at the education computer lab. The system the computer lab used was called PLATO. PLATO stood for Programmed Logic for A
Post a Comment
Read more

Sermon on Exodus 17 - God has not abandoned us in our suffering.

https://youtu.be/ia6o5rk95wM
Post a Comment
Read more

Terry Pruitt’s Philosophy of Ministry

Whole Person Education is a Foundational Ministry of the Church The teaching ministry of the church enables evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, and individual growth.  The central teaching ministry of the church is the Sunday worship service.  The worship should engage the heart, emotions, will, mind, social capacities, attitudes, moral compass, and behavioral attributes so that the whole being grows in grace.  Worship directs us to God by being focused on Scripture.  Worship is where we hear God’s Word.  Prayer in worship allows the covenant community to express our hearts to God.  Music aids in engaging the whole being by praying in song, proclaiming the gospel in song, and singing Scripture in song.  Corporate singing is preferred in worship as prayer and learning rather than performance pieces, although sharing performance has a place too.  While the preaching ministry is normally to be done by ordained or licensed leaders, the worship service is a time to share the
Post a Comment
Read more