Terry Pruitt's Blog

Often when we think of education we usually think of imparting knowledge, skills and behaviors. And that is the heart of education. However, education has another part, and that is the documentation of education experiences. That documentation takes the forms of diplomas, degrees and certificates. In recent years the Information Technology (IT) field has attempted to keep pace with the changes in skill sets required for specific jobs through certifications. Some of those with tradition degrees have looked at certifications and wondered what these are all about. But certifications are extremely useful for two reasons. First if you have skills you obtained through hands on experience, a certification can help document that knowledge. Second is if someone has a degree from a decade or so back, a certification can show that the person has stayed current in their skills sets. But in the end, certification does not replace a traditional degree, it is a separate track for documen...

My blogging buddy over at Transforming Sermons, Milton Stanley, has linked to some tips on using MS PowerPoint. He mentions that he feels PowerPoint should not be a part of preaching. While I usually agree with Milton, I have to say I have been thinking preaching should include PowerPoint. Here are my reasons why. 1. The written word would re-enforce the spoken word. 2. Public reading of the word of God would be enhanced by a projection of the text on a screen. This would especially helpful when making cross-references. Preachers often face the decision, how much flipping from text to text creates confusion instead of clarity. With the passage projected on the screen you would not have repeat the reference time and again and wait for interested people to get there. 3. Asthetics are important, but projection of the words would keep the visuals content and word centric. 4. Maps, photographs and diagrams could be used, if done elegantly. 5. This would help me start my new business of ...

I have guests over this week. Getting ready for them meant cleaning up some of my disorganized disasters. I guess I’m people driven so having guests actually helps get me organized. See more progress on: organize my stuff

Yesterday I wrote a blog post on how we should focus on deregulating education instead of backing a particular system. (And for that matter, we should focus on innovation in education rather than trying to get three or four systems to get along.) Someone who has the done some innovative thinking and doing in the seminary education field is Richard Pratt at Third Millennium Ministries . Dr. Pratt is a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Florida who is developing curriculum for pastors in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), and Russian. In order to get a degree the materials must be used by an institution, however, he is not trying to solve everyone's problem everywhere by creating a new perfect system, Third Millennium is trying to fill a niche. This is just one effort to see innovation in education. We should develop others. Will someone please be innovative when it comes to Bible education for this generation of children.

The Jollyblogger has written a fairly extensive posting on Overture at the Presbyterian Church in America to encourage Christian parents to pull their children out of the public school. Rather than respond to what he has said, I would like to bring up an entirely different issue. That is that education is not done by institutions. Education as defined by Will Durant as the passing of culture from one generation to the next. That may not be the only relevant definition but it is a good one. Another definition might be the encouragement of the growth and development of the individual. And there are probably other definitions out there. In the end, they all point us to something that takes place in the mind, will and emotions of people. The assumption that education is something that takes place primarily in one of three systems of education really paints the idea of education much too small. (Those three systems being the public school, the Christian school, and the home school....

While we are on the movie quotes kick, ya gotta like Dynamite! Memorable Quotes from Napoleon Dynamite (2004) : "Memorable Quotes from Napoleon Dynamite (2004) [repeated line] Napoleon Dynamite: Gosh! Go to the site to read more and wonder, how did they ever convince someone to go withi this script.

I read the Washington Post more often but someone left their Times on the table at work. After rideing the C and O Canal trail I was sort of wondering what my next step would be. The Times gave me several options. One of them, the Baltimore-Annapolis Trail I have already done. But I am looking forward to my next bicycle trip. D.C. has just the ticket to travel old rail lines - Washington Weekend - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper : "D.C. has just the ticket to travel old rail lines By Anne H. Oman SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES June 23, 2005 Clickety, click. Fast-turning wheels run lickety-split across a trestle some 70 feet above Rock Creek, hurtling toward Georgetown in a blur of motion. From 1910 until 1985, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) trains crossed this trestle, hauling coal and building supplies from the main line to Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Georgetown. Today, derailleurs make the clicking sound, and the rolling stock on thi...

Excellent posting. JOLLYBLOGGER: How to Encourage Your Pastor : "I'll begin with a big thanks to Curt for doing this. It is a big encouragement to me just to see him doing something like this. And beyond that, here are a few thoughts on how to encourage your pastor. 1. Take your own spiritual growth seriously. "Nice sermon pastor" and "you're a good pastor" are wonderful to hear but what we really want to hear is that you are growing in your walk with Christ. This is why we are in ministry, we want to see people come to Christ and grow in Christ. We take your spiritual growth seriously and one of the greatest encouragments to us is to see you taking it as seriously as we do. I was involved in a church plant one time and a group of us were doing some painting in a rented facility. The pastor joined me in the room I was working in and made the comment that he really enjoyed doing this painting because he could see the results of his w...

If you belong to or are interested in the Presbyterian Church of America, this post is for you. If you are interested in people producing content without much prospect for gain, this is also for you. John Owen Butler, Pastor-Teacher at Beal Heights Presbyterian Church (PCA) has made eReader for PCA Book of Church Order for Palm eReader and a Pocket PC too. As a service to the PCA, Pastor Butler and his church have produced a Palm eReader version of the Book of Church Order. It is updated with the changes enacted by the 33rd General Assembly (June, 2005). You may download the file for use with any Palm OS (version 2.5 or higher) handheld. It also works with Pocket PC OS PDAs with Palm eReader. Palm eReader is available for free download. The free Palm OS version is available here The free Pocket PC version is available here

notes from the front lines has his own quote from a movie. My favorite is from Back To The Future. Dr. Emmett Brown says, "Don't worry! As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely eighty-eight miles per hour the instant the lightning strikes the tower ... everything will be fine! notes from the front lines: AFI Top 100 Movie Quotes : "So the American Film Institute has picked its top 100 movie quotes of all time, which were broadcast tonight on CBS. No. 1, which is hard to argue with, was Clark Gable's famous 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.' Lamentably, but not surprisingly, a jarring omission from the list was one of my all-time favorites -- Dean Wormer's immortal line from 'Animal House': 'Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.' Oh well, they didn't ask me, anyway."

I don’t think I’m ready to do the whole thing, but I could be ready to do the Virginia, Maryland or West Virginia sections. Having done just a little bit of the trail inspired me to do more. The small section my wife, daughters and I got me motivated to do more. See more progress on: hike the appalachian trail

If you are in a silly mood or have a desire to shoot tomatoes that you really can't explain, follow the link. Tomatoes Are EvilTomatoes Shooting Gallery : " Tomatoes Shooting Gallery

On my way to work I listen to NPR, WETA which broadcasts out of D.C. I have about eight news websites I pick up regularly. One of those is NPR. I think they have high quality of journalism and really interesting stories. However, I have heard many stories in recent months from NPR saying how objective and unbiased they are. I can't help but laugh at the thought. These stories are running because U.S. House actions to cut funding to NPR. A lot of phrases are being used to characterize this, but often this story is put in terms of political power using the budget to stop accountability. I'm not sure I can ever call NPR objective, nor can I tell where accountability for conservatives ends and opposition against conservatives begins. If there is a difference between these, why come so close to the line so that the poor uneducated masses can't tell which side of the line you are on. (end of sarcasim) It's complex to classify my views but simplistically, I'm a co...

As America is gaining weight as a total society Joe Missionary has some personal reflections and spiritual insights which are helpful. I struggle with weight control myself and find his commentary helpful. You can't read the whole enchilada here so follow the links. Joe Missionary: Theology Thursday: Big Fat Sinning Slobs : "Theology Thursday: Big Fat Sinning Slobs I find it interesting that there seems to be a hierarchy of sins. I think it's natural. In fact, while acknowledging that a sin is a sin in the sight of God, I would suggest that there are two classes of sins; those that affect other people directly and those that affect the sinner directly. Those that affect others directly, such as murder, adultery and the like, tend to be thought of as 'bigger' sins than the self-impacting sins of pride, covetousness, etc. One sin in the latter category that, in my opinion, most Christians don't even want to discuss is the sin of gluttony. The A...

I love missions because it combines the study of cultures of the world, linguistics, preaching the Word of God, mercy ministry and strategy. Of course the foundation of missions is not my affection for study but God's command. I think the idea of a strategy for missions was foundational to Paul's thinking on missions but he never calls it that. He says he preaches to the Gentiles so that the Jews will be jealous to hear the message. He plans which churches he needs to visit. He plans to visit Rome way before he gets there. He plans to go on to Spain some time, but I don't think he ever got there. He seeks to use needs such as the famine in Jerusalem to bind the Gentile and Jewish members of the church together. Paul was a strategiest. Business planning, investing, games and sports are areas that people of that people use their gift (or lack there of) in order to create and use strategy. I don't have a business, I don't have the comprehensive organizational skills. M...

It is interesting to me that Adrian Warnock has gotten this going. I encourage you to go over and check it out. I wish I had thought of it. ESV Bible Blog » Blog Archive » Ask the Translators #1 Answers Contest : "For the next seventeen weekdays (starting tomorrow, June 15, 2005), we’ll be featuring answers to the questions asked by blogger Adrian Warnock of the ESV translators. Most answers feature a video of a member of the Translation Oversight Committee answering the question, as well as a transcript of the answer. The answers will also appear on Adrian’s site along with his commentary. We have seventeen answers for ten questions because some questions have multiple parts, and in other cases different TOC members address the questions a little differently. We won’t be taking comments on our posts, but we do want to encourage discussion of the answers. Therefore, if you leave a comment or trackback on one (or more) of Adrian’s posts that discusses the answers, ...

Redirect! If you are looking for the Jollyblogger he is bloggin' on the The PCA General Assembly Blog! The PCA General Assembly Blog : "Jim Bland - Report on Mission to North America Rev. David Wayne Jim Bland, chairman of Mission to North America, began the report by telling us that by God's good providence the nations have come to us. There is a net gain of one new person in America every 11 seconds through birth and immigration. 1 in 7 people in America is of Hispanic origin in the US. Follow the link to read the rest.... "

Luke 6:45 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. I had a young man ask in Sunday School how could it be true that "out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" when often times people do not say what is on their heart. Often times people say what would gain the right response from someone else. In other words, the speaker a certain response from a listener then seeks to calculate what would be the best way to get that response. I have been slowly listening to the book, How the Irish Saved Civilization by by Thomas Cahill. One of the chapters is on Augustine. One the ideas he puts forth is that Augustine is the first writers to say "I" and mean what we mean today by that word. He speaks from the heart. Writers and orators before Augustine calculated and then used the art of rhetoric to sway their listeners. ...

I went to Amazon to see if I could sell my set of The Annals of America. Instead I found a great short film on the life and death of Rachel Scott called "Rachel's Challenge". Amazon.com : "Reviewer: Pruitt Communications I felt they captured the idea that she had premonition well but did not stretch them beyond reality. Good message but probably not stylistically appealing to the highly sophisticated film buffs but is more of a genre that appeals to those who are looking for genuine stories of faith."

A lot of space technology from decades past has been up for sale to collectors, now someone is trying to put it to a useful purpose. Check out this story. ARRLWeb: ARISS Seeks School Involvement in "SuitSat" Project : "NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 3, 2005--Plans are on the fast track to deploy a surplus Russian Orlan spacesuit this fall as a non-traditional satellite. Dubbed 'SuitSat,' the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project could become the most unusual Amateur Radio satellite ever orbited."

So most evanglism in the so called real world is via relationships and so it is via the virtual world too. As always click on the link to read the whole story. Hat Tip: Strategic Digital Outreach Emerging Evangelism » All About Relationships (?) : "All About Relationships (?) Evangelism is all about relationships, because Christianity is all about relationships. Remove relationship from any attempt at evangelism, and it will fail 99% of the time. "

I’m doing a section hike. For a lot of people, since I’m not carrying 50 pounds of gear and hiking a week straight, I’m on a stroll. Well, we can’t all be uber hikers. I want to enjoy this with my family. See more progress on: hike the appalachian trail

Check out Dignan's 75 Year Plan post on Emergent. Dignan's 75 Year Plan : "What IS Emergent? On Thursday, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Spencer Burke, Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Andrew Jones, Chris Seay penned a post at emergent-us called Our Response to Critics of Emergent. This article generated about 50 posts in a Yahoo Group composed of my posse here in Atlanta. I have been one of those critics in the past. I wrote two posts that were quite critical of Emergent here and here. Yet I find myself wanting to continue the 'conversation'. As much as I am cautiously skeptical about Emergent, I am repulsed by the vitriol that is cast on those who identify as Emergent. I have seen this up close as my pastor has been accused of heresy because he has referenced various Emergent authors and is therefore 'guilty by association'. I'm not mocking anyone when I ask 'what is Emergent?'. I am sincere in the question and have yet to have anyone a...

This looks interesting. Caught this on Wired of course. A Wiki on how to, in contrast with Wikipedia which focuses on what to know. I've written for Wikipedia, but will I.... eHow.com - Clear Instructions on How To Do (just about) Everything : "Clear Instructions on How To Do (just about) Everything "

I got the ultimate spam. It is not that I really liked what was written in the e-mail but the address list was impressive. Some of 256 names were unfamilar to me, but the institution domain names were impressive. denverseminary.edu Wheaton.edu calvinseminary.edu fuller.edu Given that some really well known people were on the spam list, I'm assuming that many of these others who were not recognizable to me were none the less, heavy hitters. But those I did know are as follows: Alister McGrath Douglas J. Moo G.I. Williamson RC Sproul Jr RC Sproul John W. Macarthur John Piper Richard L. Pratt Phillip R. Johnson Since I got grouped with these greats on the spam list, I guess I should be flattered to get such spam.

I grew up in a family with mental illness so such stories are always of interest to me. (By the way, I'm not sure I always want to call these malidies illnesses but I have to talk in terms that people are using.) It is a refreshing thought to say that the so called negative emotions can actually be quite benificial. NPR : The Benefits of Restlessness and Jagged Edges : "I believe that curiosity, wonder and passion are defining qualities of imaginative minds and great teachers; that restlessness and discontent are vital things; and that intense experience and suffering instruct us in ways that less intense emotions can never do." .... Follow the link to read the rest of the story.

Here is the real start of the chain. I encourage you pastors go over and vote on what you believe is your most effective books (tools in my case) for sermon preparation. Stronger Church : "Call for A New Vote This has purpose to it beyond another poll. I'd be interested, fellow Pastors, in how you woud answer this question: You are allowed to take any 5 books from your library and the rest are going away somewhere. Which books would you keep to help you in your preparation to preach and teach most effectively?"

Milton Stanley at Transforming Sermons has started a chain where preachers (and in my case want-to-be preachers) are listing their five favorite resources for preparing for preaching. I'm glad Joel Olsteen was listed by the Jollyblogger since I have not read him yet. But Stanley here are mine. Ideally I like to translate the passage from the original languages and I use a variety of Greek and Hebrew resources. 1. The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament By John R. Kohlenberger III 2. The RSV Interlinear Greek-English New Testament By The Reverend Alfred Marshall. (Gift from a friend). 3. I also use Bible software - right now I'm using the Sword project on my Linux box so I've been using BibleTime for KDE. I'm not really impressed with their interface so I'm in the process of experimenting with Bible Desktop. 4. I use a commentary. One of the series I'm buying one at a time is Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (IVF). Since when I'm pr...

What is it with religious news? (You need a Jerry Seinfeld tone with that.) People just don't know how to cover religious news. I'm not sure I know how either. But basically there several types of stories that are repeated over and over, and in my humble opinion, it just ain't news. The first type of story is poll which does not talk about anything new. We find out people are religious but not too religious. People have conflicting belief patterns, for instance those who are trusting in Christ for their salvation but think there is no hell. What exactly are they saved from? (I know sin but still...) Polls are center on man, not the work of God. The assumption behind a poll is that you are documenting social phenomena. This fits well with the assumption that religion is a social construct that helps individuals and society give transcendent explanations. Polls also emphasize American individualism and also emphasize the function of the church as an institution t...

1 Samuel 2:12-16 12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt...