Terry Pruitt's Blog

I have had some really great, productive days at work. I actually felt a special leading of the Lord, a prompting in my heart to take my work a certain direction and it worked fantastic. There has been a lot of stir about my success. Instead of feeling joy and satisfaction, I feel depressed and blue. I think jealousy and competition has gotten my heart. There is no need to be jealous of recognition for my work since others helped me get here. I've been translating 1 Corinthians Those Who Walk in Jealously are Not Spiritual I am not able brothers to speak to you as spiritual but as those of the flesh, as mere children in Christ. I gave you milk and not solid food; for we were not yet able. And we as still not now able to do so, for still you are of the flesh. For who among you is jealous and contentious, are you not of the flesh, walking according to men? For someone says I am of Paul, and another says I am of Apollos, are they not men? -- my own translation of 1 Corin...

Christianity Today has a Question and Answer article with Obama. In it he declares his faith and he takes a position on abortion. Click here for the full article at CT. From Christianity Today's website You've talked about your experience walking down the aisle at Trinity United Church of Christ, and kneeling beneath the cross, having your sins redeemed, and submitting to God's will. Would you describe that as a conversion? Do you consider yourself born again? I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn...

I have had a variety of experiences with different churches. The alter call is not a single thing to a single church. I have found in fact they are quite varied. So here is a little of my journey via the alter call and then a little bit of what I think it ought to be. Cherry Street Baptist – A place to get SAVED! When I attended Cherry Street Baptist church in Springfield, MO the alter was a place to go forward to accept Christ. They had young men who were studying for the ministry at Baptist Bible College (BBC) who were recruiting a constant stream of new people into the church. These young ministerial students also were active in bus ministry, teaching Sunday School and developing things like “Friend Sunday” where everyone was supposed to bring a friend. But those other fellows were there at the alter ready to show you what salvation meant from the Bible and pray the sinner's prayer with you. There was probably 20 or 30 people who went forward for salvation or rededicati...

I used to feel that I was related to everyone in Laclede county. That is largely because of this patriarch of the family. His family moved from Illinois after the family suffered financial crisis after their barn burned. As I understand it, he was a dedicated Cumberland Presbyterian. He, in more than one sense, is why I am presbyterian. Meet Anderson Douglas "Doug" Griffin. Birth: Aug. 30, 1854 Scott County Illinois, USA Death: Jan. 25, 1933 Russ Laclede County Missouri, USA STROKE IS FATAL TO A. D. GRIFFIN Funeral Services Held Today for Pioneer of Laclede County Anderson Douglas Griffin, a resident of Laclede County for 70 years, died at his home here at 12:30 o'clock Tuesday night as a result of a paralytic stroke he suffered two weeks ago. He was 78 years old. Funeral services were held at 1 o'clock this afternoon at the White Oak Pond church, of which he had been a member for many years. The services were conducted by the Rev. J. A. Russell of...

I have my very own private time machine. It really isn't like Dr. Brown's DeLorean in Back to the Future. Rather, growing up I knew four of my great grand parents; Fred, Ola, Bert and Roberta. That is right, these were my mother's grandparents. They were all born just before or just after the turn of the 20th century. Their world in the rural Missouri Ozarks started as one without cars, without electricity, or even in door plumbing. Theirs was a world where people were named things like Tink or Suttie. Come visit a little while with me as I introduce you to Gramp, Granny, Grandpa Bert and Granny Bert, who are my connections to a distant past. Perhaps this will help you in developing your own personal time machine. The first component of a time machine is stories. Stories in the Ozarks are all about telling experiences that one has. The story need not be spectacular, just tell it plane and with earnestness. Granny told me how she came to be raised by her grandma Jo...

You may want to check out the link to a Mark Dever article in Christianity Today called What Evangelism Isn't . (Hat Tip: La Shawn Barber's Corner ) You may also want to check out this video on You Tube about creation. My wife's blog has an easy to get to copy .

Q: Give a general outline of the Old Testament history from the perspective of the covenant, including key passages. A: Covenant of Works with Adam, Genesis 2, Hosea 6:7, and Romans 5. Covenant with Noah, Genesis 9 and Jeremiah 33:20 Covenant with Abraham, Genesis 12, 15, and 17 Covenant with Israel, Exodus 34 and much of the Old Testament Law Covenant with David, 2 Samuel 7:12 and 22:57

Q: Name the general divisions of the Old Testament and the books in each. A: Pentateuch - Gn, Ex, Lv, Nu, Du History - Jo, Ju, Ru, 1S, 2S, 1K, 2K, Ne, Ezra, Est Wisdom - Job, Ps, Pv, Ecc, Song of Sol. Prophets - Is, Jer, Lam, Ezk, Dan, and all the minor prophets Q: Give a general outline of Old Testament history, including key dates. A: Time of the patriarchs Abraham born 2161 B.C. Exodus 1445 B.C. Conquest 1405 B.C. Time of the Judges Time of the Kings King David's Rule 1010 B.C. Northern Kingdom Exile 722 B.C. Southern Kingdom Exile Fall of Jerusalem 586 B.C. Return from Exile Rebuild the Temple 515 B.C.

The last Sunday of 2007 I visited with my family the Central Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. This is a PCUSA Church with a very beautiful building in the middle of Atlanta, thus the name. Parking was under ground a parking garage. That was a first time for me, but it makes sense when real estate is at a premium price to put the parking down under. I think they are able to charge for parking during the week and make it pay for itself. I'm guessing on that. Finding where the nursery for my young relatives was a bit of a hassle. It could have been better dealt with but informing the friendly greeters, who I believe were the church's elders, where the nursery was being held. But it was nice to see the elders take such an active part in greeting people. The worship was warm and easy to follow. There was no sermon that day but a lot of scripture reading and carol singing. I found it a welcome change to just enjoy song and scripture. The closest thing to a sermon was the c...

How many books are in the Bible? Sixty-six How many books are in the Old Testament? Thirty-nine How many books are in the New Testament? Twenty-seven Where in the Old Testament would you find the ten commandments? (Two references) Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 Where in the New Testament would you find the law summarized? (Two references) I can take this question two ways. First is that the Law is summarized by the two commandments to love God with all your heart, soul and might and love your neighbor as yourself. These two summarizations can be found in Mathew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34. But there is another type of summary of the Law that can be found in the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain. These are found in Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6. Locate two passages about the revelation of God in nature. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so th...