Terry Pruitt's Blog

WHERE I'M FROM ...the first twenty years I am from a hatchet, from a saxophone and a Living Bible. I am from a house built with my own little hands, Alva's and Marcene's too. I am from the lambs quarter before summer heat, the black berry bushes after the 4th of July. I am from story telling and teasing, from Grandma Beulah and brother Alva and sister Marcene. I am from frank candor and an Ozark turn of phrase. From not getting enough attention and not worrying about what other people think. I am from Cumberland Presbyterian church camp and Sunday School, from searching for a denomination to call home. I'm from the Ozarks, roastin' ears, and cornbread-n-milk. From the stock of Bert who preached and farmed and even became a vet, from the stock of Ross who worked hard and sacrified for his family, and the likes of Beulah who served her LORD and her family. I am from rocky, dusty hills that's been in the family for years, but its...

These are the opening words from the book of Ruth. We visited the Faith Presbyterian Church this morning and this was the text for this morning's sermon. It is really a description of days when Israel had judges and not kings. It was a time that men and women were basically to learn the Word of God and be directly under him. They only were given a king when they asked for one. Today, we have a lot of freedom relatively speaking. In order to use their freedom rightly, the children of Israel needed to know and love the law of the LORD. If they did that they could have the LORD as their king. If they did what was right in their own eyes, what followed was chaos. In fact, many did do what was right in their own eyes instead of what was right as told by the Word of God. If we want to live as Christ as our king, we need know and love His Word.

1 Samuel 2 Hannah's Prayer 1 Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD ; in the LORD my horn [1] is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. 2 "There is no one holy [2] like the LORD ; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3 "Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. 4 "The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. 5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. 6 "The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave [3] and raises up. 7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash h...

To see my answer to Doh! An Olympic Moment check out the link.

My good friend the Jollyblogger has been discussing the fact that someone used the "L" word in a discription of him. It is not clear what was meant and it seems that our presbytery, if I understand it correctly, is forming a committee of scholars to investigate the grammatical-historical significance of the use of the hyphen in New Zealand super-lapsarian discussions of post-modern doctrinal position on diversity. I think they are specializing their study on the usuage of the hyphen by bearded sign writers in the 1999 time frame or something. (Perhaps I've misread all that, check it out for yourself.) Besides that, my daughter asked me yesterday whether we were liberal or conservative. That surprized me. She had a friend over who had just come back to a George W. rally and was all excited about the election. While I vote conservative, to me it is more important that the American free election system exist. If the American two party system was to go away, I b...

My wife and I got away this past weekend to Delaware. We have been married for 21 years. Since the girls have gotten older, the older ones can care for the younger for a weekend. It's nice. I thought we were going to have trouble finding lodging however, it worked out. The Lord blessed us by helping us find Deep Branch Retreat . Bob and Deb Dickie have the nicest B and B. While Barbara loved their French toast dish, I favored the Mexican style eggs and sausage. I'm probably would mess up the recipe name so I'll leave that out, but it was taste nonetheless. They buy the spice from a local restaurant owner who imports the spice from Mexico. During the days we traveled into the Rehoboth Beach and Lewes (pronounced Lewis) but spent most of our time at the Cape Henlopen State Park . The first day we played Disc Golf at Cape Henlopen . The course is said to be craaazzzy, and it is. There is no way to throw directly to the holes because of the dunes and pi...

I always like to investigate difficult issues in the scripture. My family and I have this understanding that if you bring a difficult Bible question my way, I will research and do my best to answer a question. So I'm asked about, 1 Corinthians 15:29 "Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?" I don't have all the answers but I enjoy researching and finding answers. I don't think I know for certain what "baptized for the dead" means for sure, but I have done some good research on the passage. One of the passages that has been difficult for many Christians to interpret is Song of Solomon. You would think that it is a love song and we all know about those so... Well, there are a variety of reasons why people don't take it in a straightforward fashion. For one, why is it included as scripture if there is not some deeper meaning other ...

Of course for the modern, there is no such thing as revelation. All that one can trust is what can be valided through the senses and by deductive reasoning. Knowledge which has its source in revelation is outside those two systems is a priori knowledge, and of course is a trump card. One arguement that the modern has against the idea of revelation is that it is not open to other forms of validation. The scientific method is a way to use deductive reasoning to make sense of experimental data. The scientist cross checks theories with observations and experiments. Experiments and observations are cross checked with systematic thinking; definitions, descriptions and deductions. For quite some time I have been thinking about the nature of revelation. I don't beleive that the writers of scripture simply put the pen in hand and it all just flowed out. It was NOT some sort of divine automatic stream of writing in which the writer had no control. I really beleive God's...

If I were a Star Wars character, I would be: Qui-Gon Jinn. You're very in touch with nature and greatly value living things, even the more inferior creatures. Your calm demeanor is admired by many and you don't sweat the small stuff and things you can't change. You're kind, quiet, and strong. Take the " Which Star Wars Character Am I? " Quiz by Always Two There Are

This started out as a long comment on Joe Missionary 's blog. I wrote too much and the length was rejected by Halo comments. That's fine not a complaint. Just explaining why it sounds like a comment, not a posting. Some things are learned informally. A lawyer is taught law at law school, but taught about performing in the court through on the job training. I have yet to see a single christian book on how to conduct the perfect funeral. Pastors learn this by 1.) attending funerals 2.) figuring out how they think it should be done. Other than that, no one is really systemizing the tricks of the trade. One area that has been the realm of mothers and fathers but has been intruded upon is the area of childhood discipline. Don't get me wrong the books are fine, I've read them and will read more books on simular topics. I'm just saying that in reality there is a certain amount of trial and error and wisdom that must be passed from one generation to another. ...

When Joe The Missionary hosts Rebeccah Writes , how can you beat that. I don't read tons of blogs, but these two are on my daily list.

As I look at the sports which will be a part of the Olympic competition I see a lot of things which are not normally thought of as serious sports. There is table tennis. I remember table tennis as ping-pong and is best played in a church basement. I like ping-pong because it allows for theological discussion while trying to keep the ball in motion. People who are too serious about the game don't get the benifits of the theological aspects of ping-pong. Badminton is one of those sport most people know more from the birdie and its odd shape rather than anything else. I had a gym teacher who taught us the game as a serious sport, on the level of basketball or football. My wife continues to insist that it is more on the level of tiddly-winks. I think she should play and find out if she likes it. But if the Olympics can have these two favorite sports of mine, why can't they have Frisbee (tm) Golf . The official name for the sport is actually disc golf, but I have to call th...

Well I wrote on sports already today, but I have to write again. Rebeccah Writes added a " Nifty Olympic Table " and I liked it so I'm doing it too. Thanks Rebeccah.

As a child I was terrible at sports. I was uncoordinated. My ego was somewhat fragil. I just could not seem to do the right thing on the baseball field. I did not know it at the time but while I was right handed, I was also left eye dominate. This can throw off attempts at throwing and catching balls. Being out of shape did not help all those problems. As an adult, I joined the military, I never felt that I was athletic but all the exercise which is a part of the job did help. I never reached a maximum score on my physical fitness test, but I wanted to. In the military, being in shape is a part of the authority that a person may or may not have. It is one element in a complex set of variables which determine whether a person's leadership is taken seriously. I think this authority and leadership being connected in some cases to athletic ability is why evangelicals often highlight the testimonies of athletes. I'm the sort of person who wants to contribute, I want...

In studying this passage, I was a little concerned why Hannah would bargain with God. People do bargain with God. I'm not sure how to bargain with God. In order to bargain one needs bargaining chips. What do I have that he does not already own? What do I have that he has not giving me? What do I have that he can not take? 1 Samuel 1:10,11 10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD . 11 And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." In trying to research bargaining with God, I have found that most people don't want deal with the topic. Its true that we don't have anything to give. On the other hand bargaining with God seems to be many places in the scripture. Abraham bargains with God about the f...

1 Samuel 9:2 He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites-a head taller than any of the others. A preacher many years ago used the phrase "head and shoulders" as a description of the government Israel had under Saul because Saul was "head and shoulders" taller than everyone else and because he depended on his own smarts and strength. To a certain degree the preacher mentioned "head and shoulders" as a way of refering to the shampoo in order to make it easy to remember. I have no problem at all using the phrase as an attention getting devise, but on the other hand, I don't see the connections between the description of Saul and the type of dependance on human strength that was exibited by Saul. I'm not sure that this is good exegesis, but it seems to fit anyway. While it is very conveinent for the preacher to point out the correlation between Saul's description and the his spiritual state, is that ...

You speak eloquently and have seemingly read every book ever published. You are a fountain of endless (sometimes useless) knowledge, and never fail to impress at a party. What people love: You can answer almost any question people ask, and have thus been nicknamed Jeeves. What people hate: You constantly correct their grammar and insult their paperbacks. What Kind of Elitist Are You? brought to you by Quizilla Hat Tip to Uncle Sam's Cabin

Verse 1 – 2: Who is the author here? While it really does not identify him specifically, the person that the early church would have thought the context is Jude, the brother of Jesus. Why does he not say that? The same as James, the brother of Jesus who does not call on his kinship, but says he is a servant of Jesus Christ. That is the most important aspect of his relationship. Matthew 12:48 The letter is not specific about how the destination is. The tone of calling the Dear Friends suggest that this is not a general letter to everyone. The men who have slipped is a specific event. Though one could argue that it was happening in multiple congregations, the simplest way to interpret the text is that this is written to a specific congregation or set of congregations which had a relationship with Jude. Called – How we came to be Christ's Loved – Our current state with him Kept – What will maintain our relationship with God Mercy – Being given a break Peace – No...

1 Samuel 1:1-2 Elkanah Is A Devote Levite From The Days Of The Judge Cross reference (cf.) With Judges 13:2; 17:1; 19:1, 1 Chronicles 6:33-34. Ramah means hilltop as in hilltop fortress town. Elkanah was not Ephraimite by tribe but by geography; the same way Bethlehem was in the tribe of Judeah's region but in Ephrath (cf. Genesis 35:16,19; Ruth 4:11; Micah 5:2). 1 Samuel 1: 3-8 Elkanah Is A Devout Levite With A Disfunctional Family cf. Genesis 4:19, 16:1-16; Genesis 21:8-21; Genesis 29:14b-24. The phrase “better than 10 sons” may have been an idiom used to comfort. (cf. Ruth 4:15) 1 Samuel 1: 9-18 Hannah Pours Out Her Soul ; Eli Observes Her Heartfelt Prayer 1 Samuel 1:19-20 The LORD Listens To Hannah's Prayer Samu – El = Listen – God = God Has Heard 1 Samuel 1:21-28 Hannah Gives Her Son To The LORD

In my small group we are studying "post cards of the Bible". I took the title from a series of Chuck Swindoll a few years ago. That is the only connection between his series and my own. We are studying all books in the Bible under three chapters long. I may make it under five chapters if we are still enjoying it. The book of Jude is mostly about warning about false prophets. It does not seem to address a particular false teaching or practice. I know a lot of groups are very inward focused and narrow. I started to encourage the group not to be that way, and I realized I was starting to talk them out of the meaning of the text of Jude. So by talking about the difference between being too narrow and letting a false teach harm us we did keep our balance. There is a lot of teaching in the New Testament about false teachers. For us, I think it is problematic to teach these passages without pointing fingers at a particular group. In reality, false teachers talking about ...

I read a blog which asked questions about role playing games. The young man who wrote the blog was offended at the harsh tones used by some to denounce Dungeons and Dragons. I have not had much experience with Dungeons and Dragons. The last time I really had any discussions with anyone was my Senior year in high school so I'm not sure it really is the same game that it was then. Since I am under qualified to discuss Dungeons and Dragons, I leave that alone for now. When people are trying to decide right from wrong, many people attempt to make a list of things to "do" and things "not to do". This is usually in the form of don't drink, don't smoke, don't watch R rated movies, don't dance, don't etc.... Often these lists of "do's" and "don'ts" address issues which are not directly addressed in the Bible. People do want to know the bottom line, can I play Dungeons and Dragons or not. In reality, the list ...

Joe Missionary has a blog swap with Spy Journal . I'm not sure how to reference the recursive nature of his blog swap, whose is it any way. I like this posting on Joe Missionary by Spy Journal, and I wanted to expand on a particular topic. I agree there is some worthy management techniques, but we should be careful how we go about employeeing these techniques and embracing these techniques. That issue in particular that IMHO needs expanding is the development of church vision statements. In the 80's and 90's there was a lot of seminars, books, training sessions on building vision in the business environment. Often times this was merely a lot of hype about having a directed discussion which made people a part of the process. While discussion and dialog are good ways of envigorating thinking, of course not everything everyone says can be the direction of the organization. Not everyone has sound ideas and not everyone should direct the group. How does someone devel...