Terry Pruitt's Blog

I remember when I was about 10 year old asking a Sunday School teacher if "Thou Shalt Not Kill" meant animals. She said she did not know. I also remember very clearly someone telling me about the veil between the main section of the Temple in Jerusalem and the Holy of Holies. The teacher said that people tried to break that veil using oxen and other animals so they could know God. The seperation between the God and man was broken when Jesus died on the cross; there was an earth quake that broke that curtain giving mankind access to God I also remember a Vacation Bible School lesson how each one of us is unique and we are not a number. I did not get it. I was being raised in a rural farm community and computers were a novelty, not a force for making the world impersonal to me. Here are three clear communications from a good church with good teachers that simply missed the mark in Bible interpretation, missed the mark on the facts of the Bible and missed the mark on app...

Another in my series on reviewing churches. The Reformed Church of Canberra is a gem. Perhaps in some ways one of the most friendly churches I have ever visited. I ask for the bus number that runs close to their church, they volunteer to have someone pick me up. I come as a visitor, they treat me like an honored guest. I come as a stranger not knowing anyone, I am celebrated as a brother in Christ from a far away land. After church meals are a big part of church life at the Reformed Church of Canberra, at least that is what it seemed to me. I was invited to the home of a warm couple in the church who also invited a family seven to their table. The conversation was lively and diverse. I can't say enough about the hospitality of the church, on a scale of 1 t0 10 with 10 being the best, they are a 10 on hospitality. Pastor Peter led the worship service and preached in a compelling fashion. There was not a disconnect between the music and preaching, instead this was a worship...

Anger: Handling a Powerful Emotion in a Healthy Way by Gary Chapman is a must read for everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike, even though it comes at the issue from a Christian perspective. If you have ever hear some of the anger management type psychology stuff going on out there (or seen the movie Anger Management ) you may not see the value in examining the topic. Chapman however does do a good job of talking about real situations, and is realistic about solutions. (He does not expect that rephrasing the problem in trendy psychological terms to abolish ones anger issues.) Probably the most two surprising things he says in the book is that anger by itself is not sin and that if someone does not apologize, one need not forgive the offender. Both he backs up as a Christian point of view. There is more to it than that, but I will allow your curiosity bother you a bit so you read the whole book. It is worth the read. The strength in the book is in the pragmatic explanation...

I have been in seminary for over 12 years off and on. I have thought that going to seminary should be done with real ministry going on so that the education is connected to the real world. However, taking one class at a time most semesters has meant progress toward my degree has been at a snails pace. My boss at my day job mentioned last week his plans for my departure after I graduate from seminary. It sort of got me thinking, I certainly am not making the progress that I had envisioned. I am over half way to my degree but at the rate of one class per semester, I still five years from finishing. I have prayed about it and I am cutting back on ministry and diving into more studies. Okay, I still can not take but perhaps two to three classes per semester, but that will speed things up to twice the rate as before. That will move me from snail's pace to turtle's pace. I was praying about this and a brother at the church called to encourage me. I have had that happen very...