New Posts - Page 16 of 22 - High Impact Ministries

8 Principles for Making Decisions as a Teenager

Every day you make decisions… lots of decisions! You decide when you will actually get out of bed. You decide whether you will start the day by brushing your teeth, taking a shower or eating some breakfast. You decide what you will wear, how you will do your hair and so much more. Most of these decisions are made without a lot of thought. But have you realized that there are so many decisions in life that take on greater significance? How do you really know what to do when faced with great temptation? What are you going to do about helping a friend who is struggling to do the right thing? How will you know for sure what God’s will is for your life? Who does He want you to marry some day? What is your life’s calling?

You know what you need? You need wisdom.

Read Proverbs chapter one and pay close attention to what the Bible says about wisdom. A person who really gets wisdom is a person who has an open heart, open ears to listen and a commitment to live differently based on God’s instructions from His word.

And you know what? As much as you and I might want to convince ourselves that wisdom is hard to come by… that is actually not true! Proverbs 1:20 says that wisdom “cries out in the middle of the street” like a woman screaming as to say, “Hey… this is the way! Over here!” Let’s be honest. If you have a decision to make why not ask yourself this question, “Based on my limited knowledge of the Bible… is there anything in the Bible that is for or against my current decision? Does the Bible say anything about this decision or are there any principles in the Bible that can direct me?”

Throughout my life I have sought to seriously seek God’s guidance in the decision making process. I have sought to carefully understand God’s guidance in dating, choosing a mate (I’ve been married to her now since 1987), choosing a vocation or life’s calling, where to live, friendships to invest in and so much more.

God will guide you in the process of making decisions if you will seek Him.

Here are 8 Questions to Ask When Seeking to Make Wise Decisions

Will It Please God?
Will It Please My Parents
What Would Jesus Do?
What Would My Parents Do?
Is It Biblical?
Will It Affect My Testimony?
Will It Offend Someone?
Is It Safe or Is It Smart?

Ken Turner

Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/walking-with-god/

Update on Mountain View JDC Outreach – Video of Youth Sharing God’s Work in their Life

by Ken Turner | Faith, Ministry Update

[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_text]God is doing great things in the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Dandridge, TN. Recently the TN Baptist Convention was able to capture and produce this short video sharing personal testimonies from some of the youth we are ministering to.

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Authentic Faith: It Looks Like This – Hebrews 10:19-39

Have you considered a commitment to Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? If you have committed your life to Christ and want to live a Christian life as authentic as possible… check out the message of Hebrews 10:19-39.

Here is what authentic faith looks like.

You Understand That You Have Access to God (Read Hebrews 10:19-21)

When a person commits their life to Jesus Christ and accepts Christ as their personal Savior, there is now an immediate access to God. No more need to make sacrifices (like those in the Old Testament). Jesus stands as our mediator on our behalf and we are now linked to God the Father. Authentic faith understands that I now have an amazing open door directly to God and doesn’t take that for granted!

Hebrews 10:19-21

You Trust God Enough to Draw Close to Him (Read Hebrews 10:22-23)

Authentic faith understands that God is trustworthy and He is loving. Authentic faith lives with a desire to be closer and closer to God…not further and further from Him. Embracing a sincere relationship with God with a true heart, clean from willful and disobedient acts of sin. It’s a heart and body washed (through the testimony of baptism) and a commitment to “hold fast” to the truths of His word, never wavering in our trust that He and His word are true!

You Are Motivated to Make a Difference in This World (Read Hebrews 10:24-39)

Authentic faith involves:

Provoking (influencing) others to good works… Godly living.
Worship, study and prayer together with other believers.
A fear of the consequences of sin.
A realization that offending the spirit of grace is worse than breaking the laws of Moses.
A respect toward the reality of God’s judgement.
A realization of the glory given as a result of endurance through trials.
Embracing the life of “living by faith.”
A commitment to never “shrink back” from a personal commitment and conviction that Christ must be central in my life.

Ken Turner

Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/walking-with-god/

Buddy Jewell, Country Music Artist

by Ken Turner | Recommendations

Ken Turner has a heart for young men, especially those “at risk” who would normally fall through the cracks in our society. God is using Ken as a source of peace, love, and direction, in a world full of violence, hatred and confusion, He has the unique ability to transcend the barriers of age, race and culture, and impact youth with the love of Jesus Christ. I gladly and wholeheartedly endorse my dear friend Ken Turner!

About Buddy Jewell:

Buddy has a heart for youth and has participated in the High Impact Teen youth outreach in Nashville, TN along with Ken Turner.

Buddy Jewell burst onto the country music scene after winning the inaugural season of the USA Network’s hit television series “Nashville Star.” After Buddy’s win, Columbia Records released his self-titled debut album “Buddy Jewell” which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Album charts as well as #13 on the Top 100 Pop Album Charts. The album was certified Gold later that same year, selling over ½ million copies. Buddy’s first two singles, “Sweet Southern Comfort” and “Help Pour Out the Rain (Lacey’s Song)” both landed in the top 5 on the singles chart. Jewell has since followed up with 5 more albums, “Times Like These,” “Country Enough” , “I Surrender All”, “Wanted : LIVE “and his newest release, “My Father’s Country.”
www.buddyjewell.com

How To Get Over Being Mad At God

by Ken Turner | Spiritual Growth

It was the summer between my junior and senior year of college. In the grand scheme of things, it should have been one of the greatest times of my life. I was 21 years old, probably in the best shape of my life, close to the finish line in getting a college degree, growing in my relationship with God (I think I read my Bible almost every day that summer) and I was heading back to my Christian college having just been selected as student body chaplain. I worked hard that summer. I wasn’t sitting around waiting on God to hand over money for college in some mysterious way… I worked all summer in sales for the Varsity Company, a summer door to door sales program for college students and a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. This was my third summer selling books and Bibles door to door. We worked 81 hours each week, all summer long and I had recruited a large team of students I had trained in sales and was managing them as well. If I can go out on a limb here and say that in my mind, if a guy was in a position to receive God’s favor, be blessed of Him, and see success, I must certainly have been in that place. I was growing mentally, spiritually, physically and socially just like He said we should.

What happened that August summer night felt like the farthest thing from God’s favor. I didn’t feel loved by Him, blessed by Him or rewarded in any way whatsoever for my choices to serve Him faithfully. When that drunk driver came over that hill on the wrong side of the road traveling 80-90 miles per hour and hit us, my world changed in an instant. My view of God changed within that same millisecond. My friend and I went on a short walk in this tiny town in Georgia where I had lived all summer. We were walking and talking when the drunk driver flew up behind us at 80-90 miles per hour and hit us after drifting off the left side of the road. It was a long way down the road before he could get the car stopped. He spun around in the road, shined his lights toward us and then chose to speed away down a side street. I was okay, but my friend was killed instantly. In that moment, with my friend who was just taken into eternity, I looked up at the sky filled with stars and I said out loud, “God … what are you doing?”

The weeks ahead were hard but for some reason it felt like I was going to be okay. I forged ahead with a spirit of determination, a will to win and come out on the other side somehow victorious. About a month later, settling into the routine of life back at college, the weight of all that had happened overtook me in ways I don’t think I could ever explain. I was breaking. I couldn’t keep myself moving forward anymore. A dark cloud seemed to be overtaking me in a powerful way. I was down, hurting, struggling with horrible nightmares. I started thinking things through and processing it all. All of a sudden it didn’t feel like God was good, that He was blessing me and taking care of me. I started thinking about the trials of my life and how I had expectations that God was going to take better care of me than this. I couldn’t focus and it was hard to keep up with senior level classes. I got mad … really mad and life began to get a lot worse.

It takes time to heal from a major trial of life. It’s a process and it took me about eighteen months to experience real freedom from the pain and confusion of my trial. It seemed like such a long time but today as I think back on it, eighteen months isn’t really that long in the grand scheme of things. I’m so glad I began to take the steps that led me back into a place where God and I were “on the same page” again. Because you really don’t want to live out your life in a war with God, blaming Him, angry with Him and challenging Him about why He hasn’t performed better for you. If that’s where you are right now, stop for a moment and realize this truth. Many others, throughout the history of mankind, have experienced hardship but that doesn’t prove that somehow God is not good or that you in some way are less important to Him or loved less by Him. Here are a few of the steps that led me out of the darkness of a trial.

I prayed honestly and ask God for help.

In Psalm 51:10 David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” For me, I found my way out of the forest of pain and confusion when I started asking God to lead me out and I asked Him openly and honestly to “renew a right spirit inside of me.” I could honestly say to God that I had a horrible attitude about what had happened in my life and I needed Him to heal my hurts and lead me to a place of reconciliation with Him and He answered that prayer and helped me heal.

I stopped asking, “Why me?”

When bad things happen to us, I guess it’s normal to ask why. It took a while for me to understand that there are many reasons God allows trials. I studied and found a list of several different purposes God has in the trials of our life. I found that not every trial is the consequence of sin in our life and usually that is our first assumption. It’s important to understand that not every trial of life is coming as some form of discipline from God because you or I deserve to be “spanked” by Him. There are actually some very positive outcomes from our “fiery trials” and when we understand that it helps a lot. So I started to look around and recognize that so many people go through very difficult things and why should I expect to be exempt from trials. So instead of asking, “Why me?” it was better to just understand that we live in a pretty wicked world and bad things happen to a lot of people so the better question is, “What now?” What amazing plan does God have for me as a result of this?

I realized I could choose to become bitter or better, but it really was my choice.

Job 23:10, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Hebrews addresses three ways we can respond to a trial. Hebrews 12:5, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:” Hebrews 12:11, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Your response to your trial are to:

Despise It: Get mad and live a bitter life.
Faint Under It: Give up and quit.
Be exercised By It: Become the better, stronger person God wants you to be, allowing God to use the trial of your life as a launching pad into a life and ministry you might not have ever experienced without the opportunity to become “gold” through God’s refinery.

Great days are ahead for you as you move forward trusting God. He has proven to me over and over that He is a God of love, power and strength. As a matter of fact, God has shown me a hundred times over how he can use my trials. I work with high-risk youth and have had conversations with so many teens who are asking “why do I have to live life without a father, why is my mom a drug addict and why does my family have to live in poverty? If God loves me, why isn’t my life different?”

Instead of asking, “Why did He allow this?” I now say, “What would I have done without Him?” He’s not trying to crush you, He actually shows up at the scene of the accident to pick you up and carry you through it. He is in your surgery room, He is in your home during turmoil, He is standing by you and feeling your pain. Don’t tell the Great Physician to go away, invite Him in and let Him make you whole again. He’s really good at that.

Ken Turner

Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/highimpactliving/

Update on New “Walking With God Teen Devotional Series” Viewed By 23,000 on Facebook

Since launching a NEW teen devotional series on April 29, 2016 called “Walking With God” our posts on the High Impact Teen Facebook page have been viewed by over 23,000 people.

One surprise has been the number of youth from outside the USA who are engaging with the devotionals. It’s a great reminder of just how vast the world is and how far reaching the gospel is across our land.

Pray for this new ministry outreach and for the gospel of Christ to reach many with the truth of scripture.

How to Hear God’s Still Small Voice – Psalm 46:10

Have you ever wondered about the voice of God? If He speaks to you, how do you know it’s really Him. Have you ever known someone who freely talks about the way they seem to “just know” what God wants them to do? Maybe you’ve had a person tell you that God told them you were supposed to do something. Sounds kind of scary but this happens more often than you would think.

The truth is… God really does speak to His children and He seeks out ways to guide and direct our life.

God Usually Speaks in a Still Small Voice

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

1 Kings 19:11-12, “…and behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”

Some people spend years of their life thinking that if God wants to tell me something… He will do something drastic to get my attention. God can get our attention, there’s no doubt about that! But most of the time His “normal mode of operation” is to speak quietly to us.

God Speaks to Us Through His Word

It’s easy to say, “If I knew what God wanted me to do I’d do it.” But think about this. I am a father and my wife and I have three children. If I wrote them letters and explained exactly how I want them to approach life, how they should make decisions, handle money, find a husband or wife, or anything else… and they said to me, “Dad, I’d like to obey you and follow your directions but I don’t know what you want me to do.” I would probably say, “Have you read my letters?” If you read the letters, you’d know exactly what to do.

God left us His letters… the Bible to instruct us. Read His word and He will speak to you deeply.

God Moves in Our Heart

Sometimes God will impress upon our heart something He wants for us. It’s a little more difficult to explain, but as you grow in your spiritual life there will be times when you sense God is leading you in the decision making process. He will lay things on your heart such as ways to serve Him and ways to help others. Remember to filter everything through His word. He will never lead you to do something that is contrary to his word.

Ken Turner

Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/walking-with-god/

Update on the High Impact Mentoring Initiative

High Impact Mentoring is a NEW outreach launched in May 2016 with the help of the Christian Association of Youth Mentoring (CAYM).

With the help of CAYM and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, we are moving forward and creating a mentoring ministry model through church partnerships across the state of Tennessee.

In May 2016 the first CORE Mentor Leader Training was held at First Baptist Church of Kingston, TN with mentor leaders attending the sixteen hour training from three churches. The churches receiving the first initial CORE Training were First Baptist of Kingston, Eternal Life Harvest Center of Knoxville and First Church of Dayton.

Our next step is to recruit and train mentors from the three church congregations to start mentoring as a part of their church ministry. We are in the process of identifying mentors as well as students who are in need of a mentor in Roane County, Knox County and Rhea County.

The High Impact Mentoring Initiative has plans to expand across the state over the next few years.

If you have questions or would like to learn more about the High Impact Mentoring Initiative please contact:

Ken Turner, High Impact Teens, 423-381-0018, kenturner@highimpactteens.org
or
Michael Leach, TN Department of Children’s Services
https://www.tn.gov/dcs/article/dcs-staff-directory listed under “Child Programs.”

How to Change and Get on the Right Path

Image hearing the news that the most notorious person on earth has changed. Or maybe you get a call that someone who has personally caused you all kinds of trouble in life now wants to be your best friend because they have completely changed. Could the biggest criminal, the most notorious drug dealer, the gang leader or the bully in the hallway at school really change? I mean REALLY CHANGE?

Have you heard about a man named Saul in the Bible whose name was changed to Paul? Saul was a notorious murderer of Christians, going house to house capturing men and women and executing them just because they had committed their life to Christ.

One day while walking down the road on the way to a city called Damascus a bright light burst onto the scene and blinded him while the voice of Jesus spoke from “out of nowhere” saying, “Saul, why are you kicking against the pricks?” Jesus literally asked him why he was ignoring the conviction God had placed in his heart and why he was continuing down this life path of wickedness.

Saul fell to his knees and when the voice stopped Saul couldn’t see and he didn’t eat or drink for three straight days. God sent a man named Ananias to talk to him and Saul accepted Jesus as his Savior and became transformed. He was so transformed that his name was changed from Saul to Paul and he is the Paul that ended up writing about half the books of the New Testament.

God is powerful and He can change lives. He can help you do a 180 degree turn and become a completely different person if you will let Him.

“And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?” Acts 9:20-21

Here Are the Key Factors of Saul’s 180 Degree Life Change

He Experienced God’s Voice of Conviction. Don’t ignore what you know is God’s voice. God has a unique way of “pricking our heart” and making us aware that we are living in sin. He tells us that we are wrong, we are headed the wrong way and its time we stop and listen.

He Stopped and Embraced the Silence. For three days he couldn’t see, eat or drink. He was consumed with nothing but an overwhelming sense of “what now?” When God speaks to you it’s important to stop and listen. Maybe it’s time away from the distractions, sometimes it’s a time of illness, time in the hospital, time after the break up of a friendship or just some change in life that gives us that opportunity to be alone and listen to God. He has a message and you need to have ears wide open to hear it.

He Recognized the Voice of Truth. God sent a man named Ananias to talk to Saul about who Jesus really is and how Jesus could transform his life. Do you know the difference between the “truth tellers” in your life and those who aren’t? It’s very important to know who to listen to and who to ignore when it comes to decisions that will change your life forever.

He Committed His Life to a New Purpose. When Saul accepted Jesus into his heart he put 100% of his heart and passion into sharing the life-changing message of the gospel of Jesus. He became a preacher and surrounded himself with other disciples of Christ. When God changes your life, He changes your heart and with that should come a commitment to a new life purpose and new friends that align with that purpose.

Read Acts 9:1-22

Ken Turner

Learn more at https://kenturnerministries.org/walking-with-god/

Update on GTI Youth Center Outreach in Nashville,TN (Formerly Woodland Hills JDC)

GTI stands for Gateway To Independence. GTI is the former Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, TN and the home of one of our weekly youth outreach ministries of High Impact Teens.

In the fall of 2015 we started the first ever All Pro Dad Chapter in a juvenile facility as an outreach to teen fathers. The sad reality is that sometimes fatherless teens become parents themselves before they are even out of their teen years. I wish it weren’t so… but it is.

In the past seven months I have taught 15-20 young men how to be a “real dad” using the All Pro Dad materials as well as other resources and the Bible. It’s amazing to see these guys start to understand “fatherhood” for the first time.

Our weekly outreach to GTI is every Wednesday so keep this in your prayers in the middle of the week!

As much as anything taught in the class, I’ve sensed a unique development among these young men. I find myself interacting with them as a father would with his own sons. At times I have to be a little tougher when they distract or misbehave, and at times I get to just dig deep into heart issues we all face and I also get to enjoy laughing with them and just connecting… kind of like “fathers and sons.” There are days we laugh a lot, there are days I have to be all business and there are some days when tears are shed. It’s like a “laboratory of life” when I’m there.

So keep these guys in your prayers! And their children as well. They need all the support and guidance we can give.

Ken Turner
kenturner@highimpactteens.org

Update on Mountain View JDC – Weekly Worship Services