Terry Pruitt's Blog

I wondered where presbytery boundaries were for the Presbyterian Church in America and I found this map. It shows where the churches are, sadly not the presbyteries. So if anyone has a boundary map, I would like to see it. But this map is really good though I did not find what I was looking for. Hat Tip: Sean Michael Lucas

When we talk about being missional as a church we talk about reaching those who do not know the gospel. While that is true, a part of being missional is contextualization. Three things that being contextual is not about: 1. It is not about hanging out with folks just like I am. 2. It is not about finding out who likes me and then appealing to them. 3. It is not about figuring out where the rich people live. If we can't reach the poor with the gospel, what makes us think we can reach the rich. After Jesus' discussion with the rich man, when he said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," Mk 10:25, he implies that the poor don't have the same stumbling block to accept the gospel. I think some church planting efforts I have heard focus on the areas that most economically developed. While I see the business sense of such a move, I wonder the gospel sense. Zeal for Truth has this quote i...

" Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." --Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) When it comes to trying to obey the great commission, there certain actions that we must take as essential in fulfilling it. For instance the main verb that is in the imperative is "make disciples", however there word "go" is a participle which derives its sense of meaning in relation to the main verb. We can not make disciples of "all nations" without going. The two things we need to do to make disciples is to baptize them and teach them to obey. As we look at ways to fulfill the great commission, we have different ways to attempt to carry this out, all of them must involv...