Terry Pruitt's Blog

In his book The Master Plan of Evangelism Robert Coleman points out the example of Jesus in his ministry as individual instruction, small group instruction and preaching to large congregations.  These three are at least helpful in considering how a church should organize the discipleship ministry of the church.  Making disciples is a direct command in Scripture (Mt 28:18-19).  Jesus’ example of making disciples when working with individuals, small groups, and larger gatherings is strategic for the modern church. This blog post focuses on one to one discipleship.   Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in his book “The Reformed Pastor” describes how he traveled from home to home teaching the catechism.  He had a clerk arrange appointments for the members of the parish.  Rev. Baxter would visit each family in the parish. The church provided printed catechisms which he left with his congregation members.  His approach was to talk with all members of the ho...

Πόθεν πόλεμοι καὶ πόθεν μάχαι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν, ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν; (Jas. 4:1 NA28) Where do wars or conflicts come from in you? Do they not come from the pleasure you find in war making in your members? (James 4:1 my own working translation) We have conflict and fight with each other because we like it. I know people often are the victims of other people's love of the fight, however, we have to be constantly vigilant of our own hearts. We have to be aware of our own instinct to dig someone else, to go head to head, or to just compete in an unhealthy way. In recent years people have often thought that war comes from lack of resources. That may be a contributing factor, but the heart of mankind is the real source. People often think poor communication techniques or lack of empathy is the reason we have personal conflict. Communications techniques can help, but often our heart will turn good techniques on t...

If we go to a clothing store, we expect choose according to our taste and preference.  There are practical concerns like size and season that may inform our choices, but we can buy any article of clothing in the store.  It need not be our size or fit our marketing demographic.  I can buy a pair of jeans that would be more suitable for a young man in his twenties.  Besides the functional issues, clothing choice is a matter of style and taste.  These define what we want to communicate about ourselves.  It is our choice.                          There are other decisions we make in life that define our story.  If we accept or reject a marriage proposal, it has a great deal of impact on our life story.  If we are able to choose between two career paths that appear to be significant, meaningful work, that choice will influence our income, our life-work balance, our mobility, our...

I've been a student of evangelism for years. I've taken multiple college and seminary courses. I've been trained in church based programs. The motivation and theological reasons to do evangelism are often addressed. Sometimes these are the only issues of evangelism addressed because we are more comfortable with theological reflection than meeting people. At other times the techniques of evangelism get addressed. As one explores techniques, it is often the same as general persuasive communication used in business decisions, sales, policy debates, and public speaking...but watered down to one sales pitch which addresses one dimension. Often one sales pitch takes into account all the great public speaking techniques, but the techniques are usually not taught explicitly. These techniques of persuasive speech are incorporated into the structure of the canned presentation, but not taught explicitly. This would be indicative of training, not education. It is my observation that th...

Dear Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,                We praise you and thank you that you did not just die for some of our sins but you took away completely our sin if we trust in you.  Lord as a body of evangelicals we are guilty of often confessing our personal faults and our sins as an individual and though our individual sins create disharmony, suffering, disorder, and cut off our relationship with you, we recognize particularly our corporate sins as a church, as a nation, and as a people today. We also realize that through our corporate sins we have created unjust systems, unjust advantages, and suffering not just those in our immediate social circle but upon many in far reaching corners that we cannot seeing.  Forgive us where we have not taught against and opposed racism.  Forgive us where we have not sought peaceful protection of the unborn.  Forgive us where ...

I'm told that the church in the USA is becoming more ethnic and less white.  I go to a church that is predominately white but welcomes other ethnic groups.  We have some African, Hispanic and Filipino backgrounds among our usual gatherings for Sunday morning worship.  At work I find that most people who are dedicated Christians are people who are not white.  I find more in common with my African-american co-worker because of our unity in Christ than I do in my co-workers who identify as white but do not identify as Christian.  I welcome the church being diverse and welcoming not because we are trying to mimic the USA culture on the issue but God is glorified as we have every nation, tribe and tongue worship him.  Sometimes that is in congregations that are culturally and ethnically diverse.  The article on the Association of Religion Data Archive called "Are Black Americans the Most Religious - and Virtuous - of all?" shows how African-american Christ...

Richard Baxter's book is considered a classic by many, but I found it a bit long winded for the content and on the side of moralistic teaching.  The book does not fit our modern disposition for techniques and effectiveness.  It is my understanding that Richard Baxter was quite the effective pastor however, he begins with and dwells for quite some time on the topic of self-examination of the pastor.  This self-examination does not let up but he makes sure that one has sensed one's sin as a pastor.  While it may appear heavy handed by modern measurements, it would be a mistake to dismiss the book.  His point of view from where he sits in church history is instructive to those of us in 2015 and beyond.  Basically, his advice is simple: 1.  Walk with the Lord God yourself 2.  Be diligent in seeking the Lord God 3.  Work hard as a pastor to study 4.  Work hard as a pastor to teach everyone in your care with personal instruction 5. ...

When I claim to be a moderate, may I never do so as an act of cowardice where I refuse to take a risk.  I desire to be open minded like a true liberal.  When I claim to be a moderate, may I never do so as an act of cowardice where I refuse to take a stand on the truth.  I desire to be respectful of the wisdom of the past like a true conservative. When I claim to be a moderate,  I never want avoid the hard, painful intellectual rigor of grappling with the truth. I desire to read, listen, and study broadly like a true liberal.  When I claim to be a moderate, I never want to consider myself better than others by the false thought that I have somehow risen above the debate to a higher plane. I desire to bring the self awareness that I indeed have a world-view that I implicitly believe when weighing all others like a true conservative.  When I claim to be a moderate, may I never do so as an act of distancing myself from my sisters and brothers in the fait...

The idea for "baptism for the dead" from 1 Corinthians 15:29 is probably a lot simpler than we make it out to be. First we should recognize that there was a variety of reasons someone would perform a ceremonial washing besides Christian baptism. Hebrews tells us that there were a lot of ceremonies in the Old Testament that used washings. It says, "According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation." (Heb 9:9b-10 ESV) We often just think of Christian baptism as the only washing, but there were other washings as well. That brings us to the second fact for consideration. If someone was to touch a body in the process of caring for a person, or burial of a person, a washing was required afterwards. Numbers 11 tells us, "Whoever touches the dead body of any person...

This song is so sad but reflects the sadness of real spiritual walk. It is not the triumphant song a muscular Christianity but reflects how real spiritual walk really feels. May my spiritual walk be genuine and not a show of human strength.

T erry P ruitt Pastoral Candidate Pastor ▪ Associate Pastor ▪ Assistant Pastor With Emphasis on Shepherding, Discipleship, Missions or Evangelism. Life-long commitment to studying the Word of God and preaching in a manner that helps the message find a home in the hearts of the congregation. Willingly share my life with transparency and invest in people of all ages and backgrounds by spending time with them and praying with and for the people. Remain a student of worship and help lead the people to approach God through Word and Sacrament. Known as a Christ-centered preacher, shepherd of the flock, and partner in service. Education Masters of Divinity (MDiv), 2013 Capital Bible Seminary Completed internship with Chesapeake Presbytery Bachelors of Science – Humanities, 1992 emphasis in Arabic Language, Philosophy & Religion University of New York: Regents College Ministry Path Grace Point Presbyterian Church – Severn, MD ...

             The illumination of Scripture is a theological phrase that is used to describe how the Holy Spirit helps someone reading the Bible.   This theological usage of the terminology is not always common to the average Christian in the pew.   Clark H. Pinnock says theological works usually mention the phrase but do not give an extensive development of the theology. [1]   This paper will attempt to develop the concepts of the doctrine by discussing various views of the illumination of Scripture, followed by exegesis of a key Scripture passage, 1 Cor 2:14.   Then three specific theologians' views on illumination will be examined: Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin and John Owen.   The position taken in this paper is that the illumination of Scripture is the Holy Spirit empowering the church to embrace and apply the Bible.             ...