“I Need This… We All Need This.” Said a teen in Peoria. New Ministry Outreach in IL

“I Need This… We All Need This.” Said a teen in Peoria. New Ministry Outreach in IL

We moved to Central IL, in October, and Jennifer and I probably underestimated how much work it takes to move 600 miles north! A close friend called to “check on me” after we were here a couple of months. I was telling him how I felt “very out of sync” with everything. He said, “A good friend told me once that it takes about four months to feel settled after a big life transition.” I was trying to connect with area juvenile centers to see what kind of ministry needs and opportunities were there. Jennifer and I were trying to formulate a plan to remodel an older home we bought a few blocks from her parents. We were trying to find a church home that felt right for us. We were trying to figure out where to put our stuff that fit into the house we sold in Tennessee but didn’t exactly fit in the house in Illinois. We were dealing with missing our kids, who are now in other states, and even though we are close to Jennifer’s family, we were wrestling with the idea that we don’t have any other close friends here. But a lot has come together in four months.

We had many ministry supporters step up with donations in December, and we were able to provide Christmas gifts, Bibles, and spiritual growth resources to fatherless teens in the juvenile centers in Nashville, TN, Memphis, TN, Indianapolis, IN, Peoria, IL, Normal, IL, and Rockford, IL. Over 300 teens received the gospel message, and I pray God will use the seeds sown to bring many of them to Christ.

I have now met with the program director of the juvenile center in Normal, IL, and am starting a weekly Bible study with the youth there. I also met with the program director at the Peoria, IL, juvenile center, along with a few other friends I’ve been collaborating with in Peoria. I start our new ministry outreach in Peoria today. I’ll be teaching a group of teenage guys, most of them are fatherless, about God as a Father and about how to be a real dad in the future. I created a nine-week study a few years ago based on God’s role as a father in our life and His plan for us to embrace God as a father and prepare to follow His model as a Godly father to our own kids someday. This really is the path to reshaping the family tree and creating a spiritual generational shift. This Friday, I’ll be in the juvenile center in Galesburg, IL, and will be starting a regular Bible study there along with a friend of mine, Rob Skow.

While in the Peoria Juvenile Center last week, meeting with and getting to know some of the youth, a teenage boy spoke up and took his hand, and began patting himself on the chest as he repeated, “I need this, I need this… we all need this. I’m all in.” The program director at the Normal, IL juvenile center said, “It’s been such a struggle to get people here “post-Covid” to meet the spiritual needs of our youth… I’m glad you are here.” Another ministry leader in Peoria recently said, “I believe God brought you and Jennifer here at this specific time to meet some very specific needs of our youth.”

Thank you so much to all our prayer partners and ministry supporters. Please continue to pray for us as we are in the “start-up phase” in three juvenile centers at the same time. Moving and setting up a new office and outreach also brings a lot of expense. It’s much more expensive than we even realized. Your support and extra gifts are greatly appreciated as we try to navigate through this part of the process.

If you haven’t made a recent gift to help bring the hope of the gospel to fatherless youth, please consider a donation today.
Give at https://kenturnerministries.org/give/

In Christ,

Ken Turner

Our new mailing address is: 
Ken and Jennifer Turner
High Impact Ministries
PO Box 375
Benson, IL 61516

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Happy New Year – We are so close to our goal!

Happy New Year – We are so close to our goal!

Happy New Year to you and your family! 

There’s never been a more urgent time to reach a generation of youth than now. God has given us a fruitful year of ministry in 2021, and we are excited to see the miraculous, life-changing impact of the gospel in the lives of high-risk and fatherless youth in 2022. 

We are entering our 35th year of full-time youth ministry. I thank God for His blessings and His faithfulness.

We are so thankful for your friendship, prayer support, and financial partnership.

Year-end gifts made by midnight tonight will help us take the gospel message to fatherless youth in 2022! Just a few more donations will help us reach our goal for 2021. We are within $10,000 of our goal for the year.

In Christ,

Ken Turner

*Give at https://kenturnerministries.org/give/

3 Ways the Bible Can Change Your Life – Psalm 119:11

3 Ways the Bible Can Change Your Life – Psalm 119:11

Some people struggle their entire life dominated by a specific sin and never experience relief. They even memorize Bible verses about it. They quote the verse when temptation comes. That’s supposed to work, right? Like taking a pill for a headache and expecting it to go away or spraying for ants and watching them roll over and die! The Bible says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee.” It’s right there in Psalm 119:11. So what’s the deal with all this ongoing struggle and lack of victory in our life?

Why can’t we just learn a Bible verse and claim it? BAM… problem solved! Well… it doesn’t work like that.

Here is how the Bible solves our sin problems.

It Starts with a Complete Reliance on God. 

The phrase “Thy word” tells us that God is the source of all truth and He is the source of all strength and victory. He has proclaimed Himself through His written word and His word is powerful. People have great ideas, good advice and can give all kinds of opinions but ultimately we should believe and know that God’s word trumps all other sources of wisdom. When we become fully persuaded in our heart and mind that God and God alone is enough and He is at the core of all that we believe, we are on the right foundation to experience victorious living.

We Must Allow His Word to Be Carved into Our Character.

To “hide God’s word in our heart” is much more than memorizing a Bible verse. It’s way more than that! To “hide” means to essentially be so convinced of the truth of His word that it becomes carved into the fabric of our hearts. Our heart is at the depth of who we really are… it’s deep into the core of what shapes our character and our entire belief system. We are so convinced and convicted of its truth that we are willing to say, “I don’t know that I could ever disobey God in this way… this is just so wrong and unacceptable.” It’s not that we will never sin again… but it takes our commitment to obediently follow Him to a whole new level.

The Bible Breaks the Bondage of Sin.

If I understand that He is so powerful and He is the source of all truth, and I allow His word to be carved in to the core of my heart and character, then I will experience much more victory over what used to be the bondage of sin. Sin will not be so powerful because the light of who God is will be so much more powerful.

Realize this… you and I have been given a powerful source of truth and an instruction book for life called the Bible. People throughout the ages have tried to eliminate the Bible from civilizations and many people that have gone before us have died for their belief in the Bible. People have spent their lives in prison to defend the Bible and others have sacrificed everything just to have one page of scripture. Please don’t take it for granted today and commit yourself today to start reading God’s word and trusting it with all your heart!

Ken Turner

Email me at kenturner@highimpactteens.org

The High Cost of Ignoring Character

The High Cost of Ignoring Character

Are You a Listener – Proverbs 1:1-7

Have you ever heard the phrase “they don’t know what they don’t know?” If you have, you know this; it wasn’t a compliment.

You really can’t afford to pay the high price of living life in ignorance. The saying, “Ignorance is bliss,” doesn’t produce a fruitful life.

Proverbs 1 talks about the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. Where does a person start if they want to be wise? It begins with listening.

Some of the most repeated phrases in the vocabulary of a parent might be,

“Are you listening to me?”

“You’re not listening.”

“Did you hear me? 

It’s not that all children struggle to hear the sounds of their parents’ voices; it’s just that they struggle to desire to hear parental instruction.

If you become a person of character, you won’t get there by ignoring God’s instructions for living.

Proverbs 1:1-7 talks about where the starting point is to achieve wisdom and character. Knowing, understanding, and receiving God’s wisdom begins with a teachable spirit. That teachable spirit, rooted in humility, is manifested in a heart that desires to listen and hear the instructions that come from God. You can start right where you are, even if you feel you are so far behind and begin right now attaining God’s wisdom.

Let the wise hear and increase in learning. Proverbs 1:5

And the one who understands obtains guidance. Proverbs 1:5

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7

Here is the reality. You can live however you want. God doesn’t make you listen to Him, and He doesn’t force you to obey Him. But He warns you; it is a foolish person who chooses to live life despising the wisdom and guidance God can provide. 

It starts with doing what you know He says to be true. Start today by obeying Him as you read and understand the instructions He gives in Proverbs 1.

Remember, It’s Not About The Bread – Matthew 16:9

Remember, It’s Not About The Bread – Matthew 16:9

Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Matthew 16:9

Don’t forget the bread! That was Christ’s message to His disciples. He could have said; it’s not really about the bread. 

Here is a problem Christians face, and it is a problem the disciples dealt with while walking with Jesus. Jesus had just been talking with the Pharisees and Sadducees. They left this discourse, and the disciples realized they had forgotten to bring bread to eat. They were pretty stressed about forgetting the bread and wondered how they were going to eat.

Jesus said, “Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?” Matthew 16:9.

But He wasn’t really concerned about the bread. He was addressing another issue. The disciples were very good at standing against those who outwardly stood against Christ. But they were often vulnerable when they interacted with hypocrites. People who presented themselves as sincere, and religious. The disciples (and Christians today) can be susceptible to help and believe those who say the right words. Sometimes we engage with people we think are sincere but turn out to be nothing they claim to be.

Jesus was very concerned about the impact the Pharisees and Sadducees would have on His disciples. He called them the “leaven.” He warned them not to get involved with them because spiritual people united with hypocrites were like bad leaven that spoiled the entire loaf.

Jesus was saying, “It’s not about the bread. I will provide for you. It’s about you choosing wisdom in your relationships.”

Ken Turner

10 Bible Verses To Bring Comfort

10 Bible Verses To Bring Comfort

10 Bible Verses To Bring Comfort 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You arewith me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life. Psalm 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. Psalm 91:4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Thought For Today

Nothing has changed my life like the Word of God. The scriptures are a powerful source of comfort in difficult times, but I’ve noticed something about my relationship with God. If I turn to the scriptures as the source of truth for everything, His Word becomes deeply comforting when I need comfort. If I neglect the scriptures and only read the word when I “need something” it takes longer to get my mind and heart in the right place to process all that God has to offer. Make your relationship with the Word a regular part of your life. Learn to enjoy Him daily. Ken Turner