When You Talk About God… Others Admire HIM More
Psalm 34:2, My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
Speaking of God… Why Don’t You?
Why it’s important to talk about God.
Studies show that the average person speaks from 13,000 to 18,000 words per day at an average pace of about 130 words per minute. How many of the words you speak each day include anything about God?
Several years ago I was asked to write the manuscript for a book about the Indianapolis Colts after they won Super Bowl XLI. It was the story of Hunter Smith, the Colts veteran punter and some of his teammates who were Christians and they wanted to tell the story of the lessons God taught them as Christian athletes who had achieved the “ultimate prize” of Super Bowl success. The book is called “The Jersey Effect” and the message focuses on using the “jersey” or “influence” God has given us to “effect” or “influence” the world for Christ.
One of my favorite interviews for the book was the opportunity to interview Reggie Hodges. Reggie was the only person included in the book who wasn’t actually on the Super Bowl Champion Colts team. It’s because he was brought in to the Colts training camp to fill in for Hunter Smith as a punter while Hunter was in rehab from an injury. After Hunter was back to 100% health, Reggie was cut and went through some serious struggles until being signed by the Cleveland Browns.
Hunter and Reggie shared that normally an NFL player would not “warm up” to a guy in training camp who was potentially competing to take your spot on the roster but Hunter chose to take Reggie under his wing. If you were to hear Reggie’s version of the story… it changed Reggie’s life forever. You see, Reggie had battled for years with substance abuse, his commitments to his family and financial problems. At the root of it all was a battle raging between his own will and God’s will. Hunter offered to pray with Reggie on a regular basis, share scripture with him and pour into Reggie as a genuine Christian friend. Reggie describes his own life like a train wreck and he saw in Hunter one of the most consistent, faithful Christian men he’d ever known. And it changed him.
After Reggie was released he was eventually signed as the punter for the Cleveland Browns and he knew he was not there just to play football. Reggie said, “I now knew that God had placed me on this team to be a spokesman for Him… to be a missionary to the Cleveland Browns.” His testimony was so powerful among his teammates that after a season ending injury, while lying on the field in pain, his teammates surrounded him and before they would allow medical personnel to touch him… they prayed for him.
Hunter talked about God to Reggie. Reggie talked about God to all of the Cleveland Browns. Sadly, some of the Christian players regretted after winning the Super Bowl that they didn’t use the opportunities God gave them to speak more boldly about how important God was in their life.
In Psalm 98 God talks about our responsibility to “sing a new song” about God. It means that before we meet God our focus of life is filled with a certain message, often captured in songs, a message which we repeat to others over and over because it is “what we are all about.” But after we encounter God and accept Christ, the song of our heart, the words we speak and the message of our life becomes a completely new message. And the message is about the “marvelous things” He has done and how He has changed us.
O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. Psalm 98:1-2
Whatever you do… don’t be an “undercover Christian.” There are people all around you who are struggling with deep questions about God and they need to know that you really do believe in Him and they need to hear about His “marvelous works” in your life.
I’d love to hear from you about how God is at work in your life. You can email me, post a comment or even leave a voicemail at 423-381-0018.
Ken Turner
Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/walking-with-god/
Email me at kenturner@highimpactteens.org
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Knowing When to Get Away from Bad Friendships
Friendship can be so confusing! Even Jesus made decisions about who to spend time with and who to avoid. Jesus also said we should love everyone. But then did He not also say that “bad company corrupts our life?” How do you know when to lean in to a friendship and when to pull away? The answer has a lot to do with evaluating the friendship from a perspective of purpose and influence.
What is my purpose for this friendship? Sometimes God just makes it clear to us that we have an opportunity to reach out and care for another person and “be like Jesus” in their life. We can make such a difference by being a good friend, showing care and concern and really learning and experiencing how to be a real Christian by not just making life “all about me.” It’s not about the other person being “our ministry project” either… I mean who wants that kind of friend? It’s about genuinely loving others for what we can give, not what we can get.
But if the purpose of the friendship is to make us more “accepted” or “popular” then there is a good chance there will be some serious peer pressure coming in the future to do things that God has made clear we are to avoid. This leads to another question.
Where is the influence in this friendship? Is there one person in this friendship that carries the bulk of the influence? Am I being a good influence on my friend or is it really a matter of my friend being a big influence on me? Influence is a powerful thing and when used for good, that’s awesome! But we have to be honest here and admit if a friend is strongly influencing me in the wrong direction something has to happen and it has to happen now!
Here’s how to know when to get away from a bad friendship according to Proverbs 1:10-19.
Bad Friendships Have This in Common
- Entice: You find yourself being pressured to do wrong in order to fit in.
Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. - Involve: You find yourself moving from an observer to a participant.
So often others will say that you don’t have to “do it” … we just want you to tag along and be with us. Just know that it never really goes that way. Eventually they will say “join us.” Notice the word “us” in the following verses.
Proverbs 1:11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: - Entangle: You find yourself in a place you never intended to be, and you feel stuck. Bad friends lead you to places you promised yourself you’d never go. Not only are you there but you now realize you are guilty. You were enticed, you got involved and now you feel entangled as a bird in a net and are struggling to find your way out.
Proverbs 1:13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
Here’s How to Get Out of a Bad Friendship
- Disconnect: Get away from them and make a clean break. Even Jesus made choices about who He would and would not spend time with.
Proverbs 1: 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. - Discern: Move ahead with a spirit of wisdom and discernment, knowing ahead of time where this type of friendship will end up.
Proverbs 1:17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. - Destruction: Regularly remind yourself how bad your life could end up if you don’t follow God’s wisdom about friendship choices.
Proverbs 1:19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
The great thing about having a personal relationship with God is that He is a “deliverer and restorer.” So please, if you are in a bad place right now with a friendship stop right now and ask God for forgiveness and ask Him to bring to your mind a caring, Godly adult that you can talk to as soon as possible to get advice and encouragement to follow God’s pathway out.
If you don’t mind, I’d love to hear from you about how God is at work in your life. You can email me, post a comment or even leave a voicemail at 423-381-0018.
Ken Turner
Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/walking-with-god/
Email me at kenturner@highimpactteens.org
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Update: Count Me In… With God’s Help The Future Is Bright
Yesterday I was able to go “door to door” in a juvenile center here in Tennessee while escorted by security. Looking through a small window I saw boys napping, writing letters and some just thinking. I invited each one to join me when I come back to learn and study how to be the man God intended you to be. Some were skeptical, some were uninterested and some said please count me in. Each one is some man’s son. Each one has a mom. It won’t be easy… but each one can still find God’s path and have an an amazing life.
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Update: HIT Mentoring Initiative
Our outreach is to high-risk youth. Our youth have great needs and one of the greatest needs is to be connected to a caring, trusted adult who will be a friend and guide them through the days ahead.
Last year we started down a path to fill in a gap that I’ve been very burdened about for several years. We began investing in the foundation of building a mentor outreach team that will eventually stretch all across the state of Tennessee and even beyond.
Our partners and consultants are the Christian Association of Youth Mentoring. CAYM has trained over 400 churches in the best practices of running highly successful church-based mentoring.
Recently Peter Vanacore, the Executive Director of CAYM made another trip to Tennessee from Boston, MA and we spent several days in meetings with those in the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and church leaders from East Tennessee to give updates on our progress.
Our first round of mentor training was held in May and we trained church leaders in a sixteen hour CORE training in all aspects of recruiting, screening, training and managing a mentoring ministry.
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Ken Turner (left), Jim Henry (middle), Peter Vanacore (right)
We met with Jim Henry, Deputy to the Governor and Chief of Staff for the state of Tennessee. Mr. Henry has been a very valuable friend from the beginning of the project by giving us the larger vision of the needs of youth in Tennessee.
Our first phase in our mentor outreach is for youth in East Tennessee with a goal to expand to Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee.
If you are interested in mentoring, developing a mentoring program or sponsoring a teen who needs a mentor, please contact us! We are currently seeking partners to invest in the development of the mentor outreach. Prayers are appreciated as we speak with individual donors, corporate donors and foundations.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
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