Terry Pruitt's Blog

  The post-modern quest to follow one’s dream calls one to sacrifice to the idol named self.   The Biblical quest to fulfill one’s calling it to receive a burden given by God.   (Isaiah 13:1; 17:1; Nahum 1:1) The first aspires to embrace the pleasure of victory; the second is to shoulder responsibility which will cause suffering.   That suffering may or may not give victory.  

  Question:   Was the Bible written to men only and not to women?   Some teach that the New Testament letters address brothers exclusively.      Executive Summary Answer:   Women and men share in the blessings of the gospel, Scripture was written for both women and men. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27 ESV) Answer:   The Bible recognizes differences between genders but also recognizes the commonality between male and female genders.   The book of Proverbs is written to sons to gain wisdom.   “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”   (Prov. 1:8-9 ESV) The book of Proverbs was written in order to teach young men wisdom.   Even so, often it is the female gender that teaches wisdom.   Early in the book, the male gender,...

Executive Summary: Journaling is creating something for yourself.  Journaling may aid your growth as a person.           The docent at the bookbinder’s shop in Colonial Williamsbur g asked us to guess the most common book historically we thought might be bound in the shop. I think I guessed the Bible , but the correct answer was a blank journal. A nice hardback book of blank pages to record the events for a business, a farm, a ship, or a person. Unless a journal records an item of notoriety, journals are read by a small number of people. Sometimes a page is written, never to be revisited. It can serve as a way to organize one’s thoughts on a matter, an aid to memory, or process emotions. Journaling is largely writing for self.      While stationed at Fort Campbell, KY in 1986 took a course on introduction to computer science in order to earn college credit at the education computer lab. The system the computer lab used was calle...

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Whole Person Education is a Foundational Ministry of the Church The teaching ministry of the church enables evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, and individual growth.  The central teaching ministry of the church is the Sunday worship service.  The worship should engage the heart, emotions, will, mind, social capacities, attitudes, moral compass, and behavioral attributes so that the whole being grows in grace.  Worship directs us to God by being focused on Scripture.  Worship is where we hear God’s Word.  Prayer in worship allows the covenant community to express our hearts to God.  Music aids in engaging the whole being by praying in song, proclaiming the gospel in song, and singing Scripture in song.  Corporate singing is preferred in worship as prayer and learning rather than performance pieces, although sharing performance has a place too.  While the preaching ministry is normally to be done by ordained or licensed leaders, the...

And they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink."   And Jesus said to them, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?   The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."   He also told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.   And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.' "   (Lk. 5:33-39 ESV) Are we being disobedient to God’s Word by giving up face to face meeting for church during the COVID-19 global pandemic?   The...

How should we respond when someone asks us to pray that her dead mother will watch over her like a guardian angel? The question has several components to it.  Let’s deal with the emotional part first.  This lady is likely missing her mother and is grieving.  As Christians we are to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Rom 12:15 ESV)  We share in the emotion of someone who is sad.  Christian counselor Robert Kellemen in his book Soul Physicians describes soul care as sustaining and healing.  An important part of caring for your spiritual friend is sensing your spiritual friend’s story of despair.  One must truly weep with those who weep.  To do so one must empathize and embrace the friend.  If someone is suffering, we as Christian brothers and sisters enter into their suffering with them.  An important part of community is bearing one another’s burdens. (Gal 6:2)  So, listening with a trajectory of making su...

Era of Education:  Traditional Tribal Society How Education Was Done: Stories Learn by Helping Adults (Participation)  I do - We do - You do Goal of Education:  Survival Strength:  Multi-generational Cohesion Weakness:  Narrow Focus and No Curriculum  Era of Education:  Greek and Classical Academy How Education Was Done: Lecture by Paid Tutor Didactic Questions Greek Tutors Trained Roman Elites Goal of Education:  Leadership in Complex City or State  Strength:  Broader Curriculum Weakness:  Audience is Elites Era of Education:  Agricultural American One Room School House How Education Was Done: Lecture by Trained Teacher Canon of Text Books  Focus on Basics Reading Writing  Arithmetic  Goal of Education:  Train Citizens and Work Force  Strength:  Broadly Available and Re-enforce Sense of Community Weakness:  Overly Concentrating on the Practic...

A friend of mine read the Cross of Christ by John Stott and had questions regarding chapter 7.  This chapter deals with the concepts of propitiation & expiation.  He considers the idea of redemption in terms of a ransom price for the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  The ransom price terminology is also involved when Israelites return from exile in Babylon.  God brings Israel out of Egypt in the same way as Christ giving his life as a ransom for many. Stott quotes BB Warfield: "the idea that the redemption from Egypt was the effect of a great expenditure of the divine power and in a sense cost much, is prominent in the allusions to it, and seems to constitute the central idea sought to be conveyed." Stott goes on to say:"For God redeemed Israel "with an outstretched arm" and "with a mighty hand". We conclude that redemption always involved the payment of a price, and that Yahweh's redemption of Israel was not an exception."  What does it...

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it." (Gen. 4:7 ESV) Q. 14. What is sin? A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. The first time sin is mentioned in the Bible is Genesis 4:7 where Cain is warned that temptation to sin is coming.  If we look at this passage, does the definition from the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) make sense?  Can we replace the word sin with definition from the catechism?  It then becomes thus:  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, a want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it." (Gen. 4:7 Catechism Definition Substitution Version.) Does this make sense?  Let us first examine if this makes sense from a cultural point of view.  From a modern point o...

Text: For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hos. 6:6 ESV) What We Are Like:  It is often easier for us to imagine a God who desires us to fulfill basic duties. In this Old Testament verse, that duty was sacrificing an offering in the Temple. Today we might think that attending church, giving our tithe or volunteering our time is what God desires. Certainly those are good things, but the God of the Bible desires our hearts to have "steadfast love". Other good translations say "mercy". The second half of the verse has another but related emphasis. The God the Bible wants us to know him. This is not knowledge about him, but relational knowledge. This is knowing him as a person, not a mere academic theological. Knowledge of theology is not bad, but it can be disconnected from things like wonder of worship, sense of purpose in life, sense of connection, and understanding of one's own existence i...

Numeric Growth Resulting from Transfers from Other Congregations: Church Growth in post-modern America often comes from transfer growth from other churches.  When people move from one city or area to another, it is natural for them to find a new church.  When someone relocates, this is good transfer growth.  Transfer growth is less desirable when it is merely the movement of Christians from one gospel believing church to another, but each story is different.  Particular moves may be necessary and good but capitalizing on transfer from other local congregations may provide vitality to the gaining congregation, but not expand the Kingdom of God.  For a new church or a church seeking to revitalize, gaining transfer growth is a good place to build to the congregation.  Transfer growth means that gaining congregation is conserving the discipleship efforts of a sister church which they may or may not know.  Transfer growth means welcoming into the congrega...