Terry Pruitt's Blog

Unlike my good friend the Jollyblogger, I don't usually get a lot of engaging comments. If you don't usually check out the comments on my blog, you might want to read this one. It is with the blog post I sarcastically titled "Chaplains Disloyal To National Religion". It does come from a different point of view but has some engaging thoughts.

The story of William Carey is one of encouragement to me. Follow the links.... The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up - Christian History & Biography - ChristianityTodayLibrary.com : "It was inconceivable that a poor, English cobbler would spend his Sunday this way. But it was not untypical of William Carey’s first year in India. “In the morning and afternoon addressed my family,” he wrote in his diary in May 1794, “and in the evening began my work of publishing the Word of God to the heathen. Though imperfect in the knowledge of the language [Bengali], yet, with the help of moonshi [a translator], I conversed with two Brahmans in the presence of about two hundred people, about the things of God. I had been to see a temple, in which were the images of Dukkinroy, the god of the woods, riding on a tiger; Sheetulla, goddess of the small pox, without a head, riding on a horse without a head; Puchanon, with large ears .… I therefore discoursed with them upon … the folly and wicked...

Laytham asks some questions here that I beleive must be answered. I would disagree with some of his answers but, I'm glad he has the courage to really face the issues. It does not surprise me though that he would not join the military chaplaincy. The Christian Century : "Loyalty oath A matter of ultimate allegiance by D. Brent Laytham Two years ago one of my students wrote a master's thesis defending just war, then joined the U.S. Air Force to train as a fighter pilot. I suppose you could look at this as pedagogical success: I'm a teacher who helped one of my students turn the corner from theory to practice. But as a pacifist, I took it pretty hard. " Click the link for the full story....

I heard this story on NPR regarding the over abundance of evangelicals Christians in the ranks of chaplains of the military. Having been a part of military chapel system at times I feel it is an incredibly tough job to be a chaplain. It is a political mine field. Over the years, my wife and I talked about the possibiliites of going into the chaplaincy, but because there has to be so much compromise, we felt it would not be a fit. In this story NPR basically stated that the evangelical Chaplains were not playing by the rules when it comes to evangelizing and when it comes to serving those of other faiths. In a sense I think NPR is stating that the national religion of the United States is an ecumenical one. In a sense, the Unitarian faith would be the state sponsored church and these chaplains are disloyal. (Perhaps I overstate my case.) However, the main push of the story seemed to be that the evangelical men and women who serve as chaplains should be more generic and less...

I read Cross and the Switchblade when I was in High School. That was a long time ago, but that is how I think of New York. I’m planning to go there but I don’t know if Friends or the David Wilkerson book is closer to the reality I will meet. See more progress on: New York City

Outline of Passage I. Both Jews and Greeks Are Under Sin (Verse 9) II. List of Bible Verses Woven Together To Show Universal Problem of Sin (Verse 10-18) 1. Heart and Mind Issues Psalm 14:1-3 or Psalm 53:1-3 2. Throat and Mouth Issues Psalm 5:9, Psalm 140:3, Psalm 10:7 3. Feet and Paths Issues Proverbs 1:16; Isaiah 59:7; Psalm 36:1 III. The Whole World Accountable (Verse 19) IV. The Law Does Not Justify But Brings Knowledge of Sin (Verse 20) Key Words: Both, Whole World, Every, One, All, None, No One, Justified Theme: There is a universal problem of sin and the law merely gives knowledge to that and is not the solution in and of itself. (Verse 9) 1.In the prior section it says the advantage that the Jews had was that they had the Word of God. (Romans 3:2) Who has the Word of God today? A. The Church B. Many People C. Zondervon Publishers D. The Jews 2.In what sense were the Jews not any better off? A....

It seems to be a well known thing to blog about. Since someone else I know has written one, I have decided to write one too. 1. My wife and I have five daughters. 2. I grew up hardly ever traveling. 3. I love traveling. 4. I joined the Army for just one tour to get college money. 5. I spent a whole career in the Army. 6. I have taken classes at four, soon to be five, seminaries. 7. I hate to compete. 8. I challenge authority based on what I see as principles. 9. My favorite sports activities are lone activities. 10. My height is 5 foot, 9 ½ inches. If I'm dehydrated or tired I'm closer to 5'9'', if I'm well rested and hydrated, I'm closer to 5'10''. 11. Green is my favorite color. 12. As a child I wanted to be a scientist. 13. I like to read non-fiction biographies, histories and linguistics. 14. I like interpreting statistics. 15. I once made a collage of maps from places I had visited. The collage covered my...

I like doing creative lessons for my small group. This is my tricky but I hope answerable questions on Romans 3:1-8. Warning! Sometimes there is more than one answer. The questions are designed to make us look at our assumptions with which we come to the scripture. If any one is interested in my answers, just leave a comment and I will post them. Lesson on Romans 3:1-8 By Terry L. Pruitt July 17, 2005 Supporting Texts: 2 Samuel 11:1-12:15a; Psalm 51 Theme: God is faithful to his people though they may be unfaithful with his Word. Outline Of Romans 3:1-8 Key Words: Faithful/unfaithful, Righteous/unrighteous, Judge Transition sentences tie the prior topic to content of 3:1-8. I. The Jews were to be faithful with the Word of God. II. God's faithfulness is not diminished by their/our unfaithfulness. A. God is righteous in his Word and in his judgments. B. Psalm 51:4 is Quoted III. God's righteousness is contrasted with our unrighteousness...

My blogging muse has not hit this week very well so I have been pointing toward other people's postings I thought deserved some accolades and attention. But instead of pointing to a post I thought I would point to the Gadfly's entire blog. He is new to blogging. I have known the Gadfly for a number of years, but I know him as a pastor in Maryland here. He has a rich and diverse background in academia, military and now a pastor. Again check out his blog. Gadfly's Muse

Check this out.... Joe Missionary: Interview with a Bible Translator : "Interview with a Bible Translator Today I'm interviewing Wayne Leman of Better Bibles Blog. He's a real-life Bible translator (as opposed to the other kind?) working with a Native American group. I'm excited to see a Bible translation blog, because the process of translation - whether into English or other minority languages - is really interesting to me. " Follow the link to read the complete interview.

Trolling the blog-o-sphere and I came across this post on homeschooling and socialization. We homeschool and of course all flaws that my family has can be attributed to this malidy called homeschooling. (end of sarcasim) I would say two of my children are introverts and two are extroverts and I don't know on my youngest. It does seem that extroverts often feel that their disposition is the only way that is healthy. By the way, I am in the middle on the introvert-extrovert scale. So is my wife. Reflections of the Times : "I read a post today at Letter' Rip called Pious and Reclusive for Christ. The author Susanna had alot of great things to say about the way Christian parents should raise their children, to be powerful witnesses for Christ - but then she added: 'Let us show them what it means to passionately share their faith, love and reach out to others that we would not raise kids who are pious and reclusive for the savior of the world.' (emphas...

The Jollyblogger and I ate at the Red, Hot and Blue last night. I had the pulled pork. I don't know what the pork pulled. I did not pull any punches. Perhaps it pulled some shenanigans when it was a pigglet. Any way, I'm considering dumping my job, my computer and changing my name to Flat-footed Apple Adams after reading this. Oh, yeah, Jolly...being his jolly self...asked the staff for the following. HOW TO SING THE BLUES by Lame Mango Washington (attributed to Memphis Earlene Gray with help from Uncle Plunky, revisions by Little Blind Patti D. and Dr. Stevie Franklin) 1. Most Blues begin, 'Woke up this morning.' 2.'I got a good woman' is a bad way to begin the Blues, 'less you stick something nasty in the next line, like ' I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town.' 3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it.Then find something that rhymes ... sort of: 'Got a good woman--with the meane...

It seems that theological education is both one of the biggest innovators in education and at the same time stuck in practices of the past. As I understand it, some theological schools in the past offered complete Masters degrees via correspondence. Not just a few people took advantage of this distance learning. Sometimes people who were not morally or socially qualified for ministry. Some even obtained the theological degree as a form of mockery to the Christian faith. In response to this the accrediting agency made 18 hours the maximum hours that could be done via coorspondance. Now accredited schools are severely limited in the types of distance learning they can offer in fully accredited M. Div. program. In the technology field, there are individuals called 'early adopters'. Early adopters purchase produces when the new product first comes out. They are willing to take some risk. At the present there are some people who are purchasing hybrid cars. These ar...

This morning I got up and completed my final exercise session to win the Silver Award. Having retired from the Army, I need to ensure I continue to get exercise to be a good steward of my health. I tend to gain weight if I do not exercise. Mentally I benifit from exercise too. Even though my depression seems to have passed, exercise helps me keep a healthy disposition. See more progress on: Earn the silver award at presidentschallenge.org

I don't read Christian Century, I'm more of a Christianity Today and World Magazine sort of guy. But this article is interesting from the fact of I beleive they are sort of displaying Warren as a poster child of need for social change to counter systemic evils. The two types of morality, corperate and individual, need not be contrasted, however it is easy to gravitate toward one or the other. The Christian Century : "Rick Warren pursuing programs against world poverty by Holly Lebowitz Rossi Usually when the words evangelical and poverty appear in the same sentence, the minister at the helm is Jim Wallis, Ron Sider or Tony Campolo. When Rick Warren is written and talked about, it's almost never in the context of any political issue. But Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and the author of the blockbuster The Purpose-Driven Life, is diving into the issue of Christian responsibility to combat global poverty. The move wa...

For international readers, I'm writing about a U.S. problem and that is our selection of a Suprem Court Justice. In the spirit of the cultural mandate, I want to say that as Christians we need to be careful not to look at this as a power grab time, but as a time to set up a solid foundation of government that is based on solid prinicipals law. I have linked to a good story in Christianity Today. I have said for a while that if we are against judicial activism, we can't turn around and ask potential judges personal opinions on an issue, we should ask them about their craft, which is law and its interpretation. One person in this story says that Gonzolaz is more concerned about technical interpretation of the law than he is about babies. Well, that leads to a good question. If we are merely concerned about an outcome of one case, we could use force and cohercion to get one way or another. If we are looking for a lasting system of justice that protects human life, we have...

Modern set theory makes a big deal about things like 'all', 'every', and 'some' as very distinguished things. This used to confuse me when I studied passages like 2 Peter 3:9 which says “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (ESV) If the sacrifice of Christ is large enough for all mankind, then what does this passage mean. After extensive studies in the Greek, literally, I found that the word 'all' is used differently in ancient times than we use it today. We have a strict mathematical sense of the words 'some' and 'all' while it is in ancient times they were much more free about not explaining exceptions to the rules applied to the set we call 'all'. For instance when Philippians says “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongu...

Modern set theory makes a big deal about things like 'all', 'every', and 'some' as very distinguished things. This used to confuse me when I studied passages like 2 Peter 3:9 which says “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (ESV) If the sacrifice of Christ is large enough for all mankind, then what does this passage mean. After extensive studies in the Greek, literally, I found that the word 'all' is used differently in ancient times than we use it today. We have a strict mathematical sense of the words 'some' and 'all' while it is in ancient times they were much more free about not explaining exceptions to the rules applied to the set we call 'all'. For instance when Philippians says “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongu...

The link below will take you to a summary of a study whether Short-Term Missions make a difference. This article says that short-term missions studies usually have smaller samples than professor Ver Beek, his seems to only have interviewed people from one location. So I see it as one case study which should be used to compare with other short-term missions trips. He also look for several out comes to the experince, which look sort of like educational outcomes to me. He seems to want to change behaviors in those who went. While the outcomes seem noble to me, I would have to take some time to decided if those were the outcomes I was looking for in a short-term missions trip. I think he sees spiritual growth as being measured by quantifiables such as increased giving by the short-term missionaries and long lasting friendships. But if those were the measurement sticks by which to judge success, trip leaders could be designing those components into the trip. It seems to me trips wer...

Hat Tip: djchuang.com » Myths of the Modern Mega-Church : "6 Myths of the Modern Mega-Church, according to Pastor Rick Warren (of Saddleback and Purpose-Driven Life renown): 1. Mega-churches are a uniquely American phenomenon. 2. Mega-churches are politically active. 3. Mega-churches attract people because of their size. 4. Mega-churches have televised services. 5. Mega-churches require little or no commitment. 6. Mega-churches grow by marketing. "

One of the folks I tagged on the Five Things Meme.... Check him out... The First Cause: I've been tagged !! : "The first thing I miss about my childhood is hearing my Mom sing. It didn't matter wha"

I have been using 43 Things web site to assist me in my blogging and self-improvement. Now they have expanded their site to included 43 Places. Most excellent idea! 43 Places : "Where do you want to go?" Or you can look at my 43 Places to which I want to go!

I understand that if it gets really hot out, say 100 degrees that you really can’t beat the heat even on the mountains. When we were there a couple of weeks ago it was 10 degree cooler on the mountains than the valleys. We enjoyed the wild life, lots of deer. See more progress on: Shenandoah National Park

The Jollyblogger's I think therefore I blog T-shirts seem to be catching on. JOLLYBLOGGER: Check out the Fat Triplets and Their Cool New Shirts : "Fattriplets2_smallScott, Seth and Steve Spearman, aka The Fat Triplets are sporting the latest in blogger fashion on their weblog. Thanks to Steve for sending me this picture of the three handsome fellas in their brand new 'I Think, Therefore I Blog,' t-shirts. "

I'm thinking of traveling to New York City. When I do, where do I take my lovely red headed wife? I think she needs a cup of soup for lunch. So perhaps we can go to the Soup Kitchen that the episode of Seinfeld on the Soup Nazi was based on. That would be a hoot. Soup Kitchen International - Contact :

It was amazing to me to find out a few years ago that there is a difference between the nation and the state. Some people like Alvin Toffler say that the contemporary nation-state is new on the scene since the 1800s. In studying this concept regarding the Balkans Crisis of the mid-1990s, I was amazed to find out that in different places the nation is defined different ways. In the United States, the concept of what makes up the nation is not debated, nor something discussed much outside High School civics classes. Most people assume we know what a nation is and why we should be loyal to our nation. However, if someone is a native American living on a reservation, are you a citizen of the United States or are part of the Indian Nations? In reality, sometimes the Indian Nations are treated as sovereign and at other times that is concept that would just not be allow to even begin to raise its head. What are the different concepts of what the essence of a nation is? Clan or Family -...

I have tagged some others on the Five Things I Miss from my childhood meme. I will link to them as they get posted. Here is the linage of the meme. 1. justaskjudy : I've Been Tagged 2. Loose Leaf : Meme: 5 Things I Miss . 3. Black Currant Jam : Meme: 5 Things I Miss . 4. Allthings2all : I Wanted Green Hair . 5. Rebecca Writes : It's a Meme: Snakes and Other Good Things .

NARA | The National Archives Experience : "The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes...

Meme: Five Things I Miss I have been tagged by Rebecca Writes with the five things I miss from my childhood meme. Four of my great-grandparents were living when I was a child. I did not know how fortunate I was to hear stories from people who were born in the 1800s. The grew up with no electricity, no cars, no plumbing, and no guile. We had separate names for each great-grandparent. My mother's grandparents were called granny and gramp on her mothers side and Grandpa Bert and Grandma Bert on her father's side. 1. Granny - I really did not think of them as nicknames or that you would call Granny anything but Granny. She was a sweet woman who worked hard all her life. Her disposition was extremely cordial. She had an eighth grade education but that was considered a complete education in those days. When I came to visit, she would fix me breakfast and joke and joke and joke. Come to think of it, most of the time she made a play on words. 2. Gramp - At times I was scared of Gramp....