by Ken Turner | Spiritual Growth
Being born in a non-Christian home, then seeing my parents accept Christ when I was ten years old gives me a certain perspective I’ve always been grateful for. I know the difference between life without Christ and life with Him. I saw the change in our home. It was a drastic change and impacted me deeply. After a few months of watching how God could change mom and dad, I was convicted and I was convinced He could do the same for me and I accepted Christ into my life at age eleven. It has been an amazing journey to follow God and see His plans unfold in my life but there have been a few times when His plan freaked me out and fear caused me to stop dead in my tracks.
The most important decision you will ever make in this life is the decision to accept (or not accept, which is actually to reject) Christ as your personal Savior. But becoming a Christian is the starting line and there are many steps ahead that lead to the “abundant life” Jesus talks about.
Recently, I have been reading and studying the book of Hebrews. There is a passage that addresses a significant glitch in our progress of growing with God. The glitch is explained in Hebrews 3:15-19. Here is the picture. The children of Israel had been wandering in the wilderness for decades and seeking the land of Canaan… the promised land. Once they found it, there were some within the group that were overcome with a lack of trust in God. They were afraid to enter in and they literally were standing at the threshold but were so overcome with the fear of unbelief that the passage in Hebrews says they died in the wilderness. The gruesome description states it this way, “But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”
Can you imagine following God for 40 years, eating manna and walking miles and miles and miles, sleeping in the wilderness, sacrificing and paying the price for the long awaited prize of living in the “promised land” and knowing you are standing in the doorway having completed 99.9% of the spiritual journey and… you stopped. Not only did you stop, you died in the wilderness and you never ever experienced the joy that was waiting for you. The joy that would have been all yours if you had taken just one more step of faith… one more step of obedience… one more movement that required you to fully trust God. That decision on that day made by so many of the children of Israel illustrates something significant about the spiritual journey you and I are on right now. And this is it. It is possible that the one thing that is keeping you from spiritual victory, living the abundant life Jesus talks about, experiencing fullness of joy and a peace that passes all understanding is simply your spirit of unbelief at the one critical moment God is ready to do something in your life that is life changing. It is that heart of hesitation you have caved in to so often when God was ready to show you a new piece of His divine plan and it freaked you out! You were scared and you stopped… dead in your tracks and you never moved another step toward it. It is what Hebrews calls the sin of unbelief. As much as we say that we are fully trusting God, fully relying on Him and fully obeying Him, the fact is that we have most likely missed some incredible God ordained opportunities by allowing fear and unbelief to cause us to hesitate. Today is a new day. Why not take some time today to be still and ask God for clear understanding about the next step He has for your life? And move toward it with the faith and courage that He will provide. And don’t ask Him for His plan, walk up to it and look at it and freeze. Go. Move. Take that one more step and be amazed at the victory God will pour into your spiritual life because you trusted Him. You believed. You obeyed. You found “rest” for your soul.
“While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:15-19
In Christ,
Ken Turner
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”Give a Gift and Help Change The Life of a Teen” backgroundcolor=”#d8d8d8″ icon=”fa-comment” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” iconflip=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″]PS. Eighty-five to ninety percent of the youth we minister to are fatherless. This year we have been able to reach more youth than ever before and new ministry doors continue to open in youth facilities to provide Bible studies and discipleship. Approximately 60 donors make up our “ministry team” of partners that makes it all possible. Their gifts range from $25 up to several hundred dollars per month. Most of our supporters give monthly but some choose to give annually or quarterly. We’ve been blessed this year and with the expanded growth in to several states and every financial gift has made a big difference! Words can’t describe the gratitude we have for donors like you that stand in the gap to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to the youth we serve. Please consider a year end gift to help reach high-risk and fatherless youth into the coming year! You can mail your gift to Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321 or give online at www.kenturnerministries.org/give
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update
*Randy was so mad! He slipped in to our Bible study after a last minute decision to come. He was mad at another guy who was controlling the TV in their room that evening in the detention center. He heard there was a Bible study that was about to start and he thought maybe there would be food. So he came… only for the food. He walked in to the room and it was obvious that he would be disappointed because there was no food. He sat down right next to me. We quickly jumped in to the Word and had a very lively study of the scripture and moment by moment his countenance changed. By the end of the study Randy was talking, asking questions and sharing insights about the text. He wanted to get something off his chest at the end. He said, “I came tonight because I was really mad at a guy in our unit and I thought this would be a way to get out and cool off… and I thought there would be food. But I have been fed spiritually and God has made it so clear that everything we studied tonight from the Bible was exactly what I needed. I’m so thankful God brought me here tonight.
In Christ,
Ken Turner
*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the youth we serve.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” columns=”1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_content_box title=”Give a Gift and Help Change The Life of a Teen” backgroundcolor=”#d8d8d8″ icon=”fa-comment” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” iconflip=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″]PS. Eighty-five to ninety percent of the youth we minister to are fatherless. This year we have been able to reach more youth than ever before and new ministry doors continue to open in youth facilities to provide Bible studies and discipleship. Approximately 60 donors make up our “ministry team” of partners that makes it all possible. Their gifts range from $25 up to several hundred dollars per month. Most of our supporters give monthly but some choose to give annually or quarterly. We’ve been blessed this year and with the expanded growth in to several states and every financial gift has made a big difference! Words can’t describe the gratitude we have for donors like you that stand in the gap to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to the youth we serve. Please consider a year end gift to help reach high-risk and fatherless youth into the coming year! You can mail your gift to Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321 or give online at www.kenturnerministries.org/give
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update
In 2012 the number of children confirmed to be victims of maltreatment in the USA was 603,854.
In 2013 the number of kids committed to state custody in Tennessee was 6954.
In 2014 I met more teens from more places that need the hope and strength that Christ provides than ever before. Through our High Impact Teen youth outreach ministry I have had the privilege to preach, teach, counsel and spend hours in one on one conversation with teens from Mississippi, Indiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and North Carolina. I’ve also had the opportunity to develop volunteer ministry teams that are now reaching even more youth in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Georgia and Tennessee. God is placing on the hearts of caring, committed adults to join us in ministry and that opens unlimited doors to reach more youth as we move forward in the days ahead.
*Ronnie has big dreams but he also has significant obstacles to overcome. I met him in the gym during recreation time at a juvenile development facility in Tennessee. He has a speech problem and that hinders his communication skills significantly but after a while we had a long conversation about his dreams. He was about to turn eighteen and was soon to be released. He had submitted his college application to the school he really wanted to attend and was waiting to hear whether he would be accepted. He said, “I’m either moving on to a college campus or into a homeless facility… those are my two options.” His words stunned me. I imagined being eighteen and facing the challenges Ronnie was facing. But as we talked more about his situation he began to tell me about a local church that had taken an interest in him. He said, “This church has raised money to help me buy books, they have been collecting clothes and school supplies and when I get that acceptance letter from the college, I’ll be ready.” He did get accepted into that college and that is great news! I’ve been in touch with him this fall and he has faced some significant challenges already but through other Christian connections in the area, we are trying to help him one step at a time.
*Jimmy is in the seventh grade. We played ping pong together at French Camp Academy, a Christian boarding school for nearly three hundred middle and high school students in French Camp, Mississippi. He stated pointedly, “My parents both died… that’s how I ended up here.” But he’s doing fine because he’s surrounded by an incredible Christian family of staff and great house parents who love him and are guiding him each day. I’m speaking four times this school year at French Camp Academy on spiritual growth principles for these youth.
Eighty-five to ninety percent of the youth we minister to are fatherless. This year we have been able to reach more youth than ever before and new ministry doors continue to open in youth facilities to provide Bible studies and discipleship. Approximately 60 donors make up our “ministry team” of partners that makes it all possible. Their gifts range from $25 up to several hundred dollars per month. Most of our supporters give monthly but some choose to give annually or quarterly. We’ve been blessed this year and with the expanded growth in to several states and every financial gift has made a big difference! Words can’t describe the gratitude we have for donors like you that stand in the gap to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ to the youth we serve. Please consider a year end gift to help reach high-risk and fatherless youth into the coming year! You can mail your gift to Ken Turner Ministries, PO Box 1325, Dayton, TN 37321 or give online at www.kenturnerministries.org/give
In Christ,
Ken Turner
*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the youth we serve.
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update, Teens, Youth Ministry
A few years ago I received a call from Missionary Fred Kearney. He explained how he had walked in to his office and found a book on his desk in his office in Ghana, West Africa. To this day he has no idea how it got there. It was a High Impact Teen Spiritual Journal for youth. My phone number was printed on the book so he called me. He said, “We really need something like this.
Our youth have very few resources to help them understand the Word and grow.” He told me about a youth conference he was holding and we put together a plan to get 75 HIT Journals to their youth. Many of my ministry friends donated to help raise funds to get the books to these youth from surrounding villages. Fred told me weeks later how God had used the HIT Journal to revive the hearts of many of their youth. They really grew through the structure and discipline of keeping a spiritual journal.
NOW THEY NEED MORE
Fred Kearney has been in Africa for many years and is now in need of 200 HIT Journals for his upcoming youth conference called “Because of the Hour.” The youth will learn to have a consistent devotional life, keep a spiritual journal, keep an organized prayer journal, keep sermon notes and develop in seven areas of discipleship.
For every $12 given a HIT Journal will be provided to the youth in Ghana, West Africa. We need sponsors and donors. Could you give today to help with this special project? I have submitted the files to the printer and am trusting the Lord to provide so we can make this investment in the youth of Ghana, West Africa.
We need a total of $2400 to fund HIT Journals for 200 youth in Africa. The youth conference begins July
30 so we need to raise the funds in the next few days. I hope you will prayerfully consider a gift.
*Note: Any funds raised over the amount needed will provide HIT Journals to fatherless youth we are reaching in the outreach to juvenile detention centers.
GIVE TODAY
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by Ken Turner | Ministry Update
I am honored to preach in chapel this Friday morning, March 7, 2014 at New Hope Academy.
Here is a statement from their website:
We are a community of hope.
We believe that changing our culture begins with understanding and that understanding takes place in genuine relationships. Separately, we remain impoverished and underprivileged—the poor and affluent alike. Together, we become empowered and enlightened lifting one another to a Christ-centered life.
Learn more about New Hope Academy at http://www.nhafranklin.org
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