The Way

These past few weeks have been different to say the least but they have been refreshing in so many ways. After the first couple of weeks of being unemployed, I was ready to get back to being focused on something. And Mondays seemed to be harder than the other days. Not sure why other than I was beginning another week of saying, "Okay God, what's next?" I attended a couple of men's Bible studies and the encouragement and accountability was most helpful. I asked a couple of guys, who are friends and righteous people, to pray a couple of things specifically for me. I am grateful that I asked them and am even more grateful that they have been faithful to pray for me. I do not want my attitude to become one of bitterness or entitlement and I know that their prayer on my behalf has been honored. I have talked to many people about potential ministry roles and am grateful for their interest in me. It looks as though God may have revealed our next ministry/job role and I ...

These past few weeks have been different in many ways. Recently I blogged about Take Me to the Edge and how our church is going through a campaign to challenge us to Take Us to the Edge. I shared an illustration about bungee jumping (stepping) and trust, faith and obedience. On Thursday, Feb. 2, I walked into a meeting knowing that it was a big step in some things that God has been stirring in Sondra and me. Since last summer, we have known that God was doing some things to prepare us for something different than what I was currently doing in ministry. I have talked to a couple of churches over that time and have known that while they were good ministry positions, they were not positions that I was to step into. I also knew that the current position that I was in at LifeWay was probably one that I would not remain in for an extended period of time. I had hoped to be able to make many more phone calls; have more personal conversations; share a coffee or a workout and be able to te...

This phrase, "Take Me to the Edge" is a theme for a new campaign at our church, Hermitage Hills. I know that it is a phrase in a worship song sung by some group that our pastor heard a few months ago but I don't know the full story behind it but Poly gave us a short explanation in his message on 2/5. This phrase, "Take Me to the Edge" is an interesting one to me. Aristotle says, "the mind never thinks without a picture", so the picture I get in my head is an experience that happened almost a year ago when I bungee jumped in New Zealand. It was a cool morning but sunny and beautiful and I was nervous on the ride over to Kawarau Bridge , the home of the original bungee jump. I was trying to play it cool in the van, but I was shaking and not because it was all that cold in the van. I was nervous and even somewhat afraid. (If you know me well, you know that heights are not my forte.) Shelbi, Mark, Wilson and I had already paid for the bungee jump ahead ...

I have the privilege of knowing Jimmy Bradford, who is a friend of mine from the Downtown YMCA. I have known Jimmy Bradford for about 15 years and was reminded again this morning of what it looks like when people genuinely care for one another. This story is about 17 minutes long but actually the story is much longer than that. I will tell you that you will want a Kleenex close by as well. It will be time well spent and is a great example of people loving and caring for one another.

Here it is January 13th (Friday the 13th for all of you superstitious folk) and I am finally getting around to another blog entry. It was a great holiday break and I really have no excuse for not blogging, I just didn't. Sometimes I feel like writing and at other times, I don't. It was a season of good times but no writing. This past year, for those of you who have kept up, has been a good year for the Turners. We enjoyed a family trip to New Zealand with our kids in March (we shared a bunch of pics of that trip). Shelbi and Mark are still in Rome, GA and are doing great. Shelbi took on a new assignment at work as a trainer for new nurses; continuing education for nurses; and got her Masters. Mark still runs WinShape ;-), well at least the operations part of the boys' camp. Morgan and Wil made a move to Jackson, TN where Wil is pursuing a nursing degree via fast track and Morgan is an enrollment counselor for Union University. They are doing great and we are blessed to...

Sylvanus - reaching Nepalese in NYC I have been blessed in so many ways in my 53 plus years of life. Today I am sitting in a coffee shop in NYC doing some writing, prepping for meetings with some of our partners in P2 Missions and reflecting. Maybe it is the Christmas season. Maybe it is that time of year when 9 years ago my mom was running towards heaven as she battled cancer. Maybe it is just that I am a melancholy sap at times. Whatever the reason, I find myself sitting at a table for 6 with 4 other people I have never met before and likely will never see again. Some will engage in conversation while others drink their coffee, scour their cellphone for information or connection, and others simply have other thing on their minds or jobs to do. People from around the world are here. Glancing through the coffee shop I see Colombians, Nepalese, Chinese, Persian and many others who my untrained eye cannot really identify. All people with stories, families, jobs, hobbies, hurts and...

Wow. Let me start by saying that I did not see this outcome prior to some of the exit polls on Tuesday evening last week. I actually thought that Mrs. Clinton would win with about a 3% margin (48-45ish). Actually it looks like she has won the popular vote but obviously was defeated in the electoral college. That has happened before where a candidate has won the popular vote and lost the election due to the electoral vote. And just a reminder that the US is a Republic and not a democracy. The simple explanation of the differences is that a republic is a representative government ruled by law (the US Constitution) while a democracy is a government ruled by the majority.  Here is a list: 1824 - John Quincy Adams 1876 - Rutherford B. Hayes 1888 - Benjamin Harrison 1960 - John F. Kennedy (disputed) 2000 - George W. Bush I am not a political expert. I decided early on in this presidential race that I was going to abstain from making political comments on social media....