Terry Pruitt's Blog

The director of instructional technology and distance learning at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary is John P. Jewell . He has written a book called Wired for Ministry: How the Internet, Visual Media, and Other New Technologies Can Serve Your Church by Brazos Press. I have meandered through the pages since Christmas when I received the book as a gift from my oldest daughter. For the most part this is not a book about innovation in technology but about integration. Jewell has taken the well-known processes for implementing technology in a way that fits the needs of learners and has tailored these processes for the church. Often he does this through describing a church and its members and what they want to do. Jewell then describes decision-making and planning process that would yield a solution that is focused on ministry and not the latest gadget. The processes he describes are done through the stake holders in the church and focus on ministry of the church. A th...

I have been doing some real soul searching lately. One option for ministry I had been praying about is being a tent maker. For those of you who don't know, a tent maker is one who has a job and is participating in ministry at a level that is usually considered a full time job. The term comes from the ministry of the apostle Paul who worked as a tentmaker while ministering in Corinth. (Acts 18:1-3) The past few years I have been busy trying to raise my family, serve my country in the Army, work in the church and get my M.Div so that I can get ordained. I see that I just bit off more than I could chew. Now that I have retired from the Army, I see that I had just exhausted myself trying to do too much. It just did not work. I have been praying about what I should do in ministry. I can see that tentmaking is not something I think I can handle. Self assessment is good. Related to this issue is how my mind works. My job in the Army involved continually learning about new techn...

You might find this funny. Follow the link. NPR : An Explosive Pair: Take a Mentos, and a Diet Coke... : "What happens when you put a handful of Mentos candy into a bottle of diet soda? As many fans of Web video have found out, the results are pretty explosive."

This is a short video parody on Titanic. Have a laugh. YouTube - Titanic: The Sequel : "Titanic: The Sequel "

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9 (ESV) I have heard a couple of people quote this Scripture lately and I suspect that they meant to specifically address me in their quote. Perhaps, or perhaps not, it does not matter. Whether they meant it to be a hint that I needed to change my style or not, does not matter. I do need to examine the Scripture and examine my own life. Self-examination is always appropriate. In a sense what I hear them say is that detailed planning, or perhaps at least my style of detailed planning, is bad and spontaneous decision making is good. First thing I would say is the dominate message of this proverb is that God is the one who gives success or not. It is not the case that there are so many variables in calculating the outcomes of our actions that it is impossible to determine what will happen. It is that God is actively, intelligently guiding histo...

Apologies for my lateness, you might want to check out this post over at Dawn Treader. He discusses discussion while thowing in the summary of several held at a Pighfest. Though it was a little unclear to me whether a pig was the meal, or just celebrated, or perhaps metaphorical. Check him out. The Dawn Treader: Notes From The Pigfest : "I opened the Pigfest with a Thomas Aquinas quote that 'civilization is constituted by conversation.' Jefferson, and many others through history, understood the importance of mixing hospitality and conversation in advancing ideas and thought."

My Own Commentary On 2 Timothy 2:11-13.

I have recently been spending my time in my writing doing just pure journaling. I have written a journal for years. In fact I started blogging to take my journaling a new direction. I had a couple of issues I have been thinking and praying about and I just needed to think them through without an audience. I did not really want to take all of my readers through my processing of issues. But now that I feel I have some answers I am willing to share those issues. DO I BECOME A FAITH MISSIONARY? I really have a desire to preach the name of Christ among those who have not heard it. In my opinion, reaching the Muslims, Buddhists, Chinese, Animists, and Hindus is strategic for Christianity. However, for most people who do this in a significant way that means being a faith missionary. I heartily support other missionaries with my finances and I think they are doing good things. As I have prayed about this I do not think this is where God is leading me. DO I BECOME A CHURCH PLANTER...