Terry Pruitt's Blog

I saw a video in my seminary class which showed how the gospel spread among a tribal people. The people were taught the Bible and leaders were raised up. Then these tribal people became a sending people. I was reminded how leaders are raised up in the church. The American church culture by and large see the pastor as a professional whose job is to run the church, visit the sick and preach sermons. The pastor is viewed as a person who is a professional. This model of the clergy has him trained by an institution, the seminary. While seminaries are great places to aid in training pastors, counselors, and missionaries, I see this as a deviation from the New Testament model for training for the ministry. Practically speaking the institution trained model keeps people from doing ministry that they should be doing. Ephesians 2:11-13 tells us that the ministry of the body is to be done by the members of the body and the pastor is a part of a team of equipers. "11 It was he (Jesus...

The Questions I received a question from a reader of this blog. From our discussions it appears to me that the reader does not hold to strong religious beliefs but feels it is fine for others to do so. He has a long time friend who has strong religious beliefs, though not stated explicitly, I think is an enthusiastic, evangelical Christian. The reader says that they have had a great friendship for years with an agreement of some sort to not bring up religious matters. Of late his friend has started trying to influence his beliefs. The reader is now troubled that the rules of the friendship have changed but also troubled that by confronting the issue he will do harm to the friendship. The reader asks, “What do I do with a friend who is trying to influence my religious beliefs when I don't desire this?” The Answers Respect and Courtesy Change with Intimacy It is one thing if a stranger is trying to convert you, it is quite something else if a friend or relative is trying to con...

I got an iPod for Christmas. I put it on my Christmas list just like each year a put jacuzzi . (My wife does not want a jacuzzi at all. She sees it as another thing that would have to be maintained and she is right on that. I put it on my list each year though right above tazar .) But she called my bluff this year and bought me something on my ridiculous list. I will have to be careful or I will get something else that I thought was really out of bounds. So Tim Challes has reviewed a book on the iPod that I want to link to here below. Challies Dot Com: Book Review - The Perfect Thing : "People looked at me in a strange way when I told them I was reading a 300-page book about the iPod. 'No, seriously. It's a whole book about the iPod!' Steven Levy, author of The Perfect Thing is senior editor and chief technology correspondent for Newsweek magazine and the author of five previous books. Levy is a technophile and over the course of his career has seen many produc...

Jack Yoest at Reasoned Audacity recently wrote an excellent article celebrating his son's participation sports and giving a tip on how to understand a potential applicant's leadership ability. There is some quibbling with this a little over at the Jollyblogger regarding where that leaves those who are less gifted athletically when it comes to leadership . I'm not sure what the phrase "best predictor of successful leadership" really means. For some folks it could mean that they don't understand any kind of leadership except that which is expressed in cleats. For other people I would get the sense it means that they feel a camaraderie with those who are likewise athletes and so would trust their judgment since they are a part of the 'club'. For these folks who are looking for a certain status and bravado, they will find it when discussing sports quickly. For others I think the phrase would mean that sports is a great laboratory for seeing how peo...