The Way

Saw this and thought it was pretty good. You will recognize Zooey Deschanel (Elf and New Girl) but you may not recognize that guy. Remember Angels in the Outfield? That is the one and only Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Enjoy.

Evelyn, Shelbi, Paul, Morgan, Sondra Happy Rama-Hana-Kwanz-Mas! (you know me & political correctness) Here is a quick rundown on the Turner household – Shelbi – she turned 21 in July & somehow I am still responsible for all of her financial needs. She has had a great year. She worked FUGE Camps at Glorieta this summer and now has one semester left of nursing school at Union University. She and Mark are still dating 2 yrs later. He graduated this month from Union. Morgan – is 19 and loving Union. She is a social work major, involved in student government, Chi Omega, and about a hundred other things. She is doing great grade wise as well even in her crazy busyness. This summer she worked at Winshape Camp sfor Girls (Chick-fil-a) and had a great time. Sondra - just had her first anniversary at McGavock High School as a secretary to one of the principals there. She loves working with the students. She is involved in the praise team at church and is tr...

It is true that I am a sentimental goober at times. For those of you who have grown up in Kansas City, you know how cool the lights at the Plaza are. While we will not be here on Christmas day, we were able to spend some time at the Country Club Plaza one night this week. It does a KC boy's heart good.

Merry Crazy Turner Christmas!

I am thinking you might enjoy this one. Just for grins.

Poly Rouse, our pastor, has been leading us through a series of sermons loosely based on David Platt's, Radical Together book. I sort of pride myself in being frugal, not wanting for much, and basically considering myself better than I actually am. While confession is good for the soul and bad for the reputation, I feel compelled to share a experience that God and I wrestled through recently. I, in no way, am saying that electronics are evil or of the devil. I have greatly enjoyed my iPhone, TV, microwave, and on and on. I do have a tendency to "want" more technological devices and this past summer was able to use an iPad that work provided. It made travel a little easier, helped me stay a little more current with work, and let's face it, I liked the cool factor of it. "Oh, you have an iPad. Those things are so cool." And, I was quick to get caught up in the coolness of it. In August, the iPad gig was up for me. Work needed it back. I lamented it for aw...

If you are a runner, then you know that most drivers do not really pay in attention to us and if they do, they are normally impatient. Agreed though is that some runners are obnoxious but the majority of us are not when it comes to running in traffic. You will love this short video of an older woman who gives an impatient driver what he deserves and she does something most of us would love to do. Merry Christmas to all my running friends.

Well, they meant well but it just did not go as planned. And evidently the one who posted this video on youtube has now taken it down so I cannot share it any more.  Evidently one disaster was not enough. They did not want to share it anymore. so I share this from last year - The Digital Nativity

This is too good not to pass along to my family and friends - You will thank me later.

There are many things that I am thankful for . . . Christ's amazing love Family - my wife, Sondra; our daughters, Shelbi, Morgan, and our newest, Evelyn; my dad; my mother-in-law; my brother and sister-in-law; Sondra's sister and brother-in-law; many nieces, nephews and greats as well. Friends A Christ-centered church A job/ministry that I love This old, hymn is a little old school but sums it up well for me   Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home; All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin. God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied; Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home. All the world is God’s own field, fruit unto His praise to yield; Wheat and tares together sown unto joy or sorrow grown. First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear; Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be. For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take His harves...

Recently I have been reading Robert Epstein's Teen 2.0 and wish I could have stayed for his symposium after the YS ATL mtg this past weekend. His whole premise is that we need to help kids reach core competencies and stop prolonging adolescence. He says much in the book that I agree with and some that I do not but overall I think he is on to something.  Here is a video of a 13-year-old who I think help proves Epstein's point. You will enjoy this kid.

I remember three years ago when Shelbi said to us that she had been praying for awhile and really felt like God was calling her to the nursing profession. We were a little surprised since she had never ever intimated that to us but were very supportive. She has great skills, talents, and the temperament to help others so it definitely fits the way God has wired her. A couple of days ago, I saw this commercial, It definitely reminded me of Shelbi. She is currently doing a clinical at St. Jude's.

What a sad turn of events in the last few days with the Penn State University child molestation scandal. What seemingly was a clean, above the board program, was, in fact, one of the most vile. In no way am I trying to grandstand and take advantage of an opportunity to rail against someone else, but it is an opportunity for me to learn from so that I and others do not repeat the same mistake. I am a Jo Pa fan, or have been for many years. I liked the black and white, no frills approach to football. I liked the way that he coached hard nosed football. I liked that he coached from the box, when a few years back, he got hit on the sideline and broke his leg. There are so many things that I liked about Joe Pa. But there is one thing that I cannot stand about him now that it has come out; he values football, appearance, and fame above young boys, their families, players, etc. What he did legally was a good start, but when it was evident that the University "legal" system was ...

The Courageous movie that has been out since September 30 is one of the best movies I have seen if not the best ever on men being courageous men of God. I have been fortunate to see it three or four times with my work at LifeWay. Our church, Hermitage Hills Baptist , has been spending the last month focusing on addressing the issues associated with men being courageous men of God. Last night was a powerful time of men signing the resolution promising to honor God, our wives, and families. It was pretty awesome. I have to admit that it was a little uncomfortable for me though. I found myself struggling with the whole idea of "do I sign in front of a group" or "do I show up and just not sign it." Let me explain. A number of years ago, I met with a small group of men and we made a very similar commitment. I was much younger, our girls were much younger, and my wife is still younger. (Notice how I just honored her there. Big smile.) Trust me, I have made many mist...

I know that sounds like a stupid question to most of you who read this and you are quick to say, "Of course God hates sin." I am quick to agree with that He does hate sin but too many times I am quick to justify that what I might be thinking or wanting to do is "not really all that bad". It is called justifying my thoughts and actions in order to please me rather than honoring God. The last few months I have been praying, asking, pleading with God to remind me just how much He hates sin. In fact my prayer has been, "God, help me to see sin as You see sin." It has been refreshing, painful, frustrating, energizing, etc. I wish I could say that I have a full understanding of God and sin and that sinful thoughts and actions are no longer a part of my life, but I cannot say that honestly yet. I know that my heart breaks when I watch others who love Him become deceived by their own desires and choose sin over His best for their lives. I know my heart breaks...

Since the World Series game has been postponed for this evening (Weds., 10/26) due to inclement weather in St. Louis, I thought I would do a short World Series '85 blog entry. It was on this day in 1985, in Game 6 of the Series, that most Cardinal fans would love to forget, Denkinger made his famous bad call. Now, being a Royals fan, I know that I benefited from it but what goes overlooked is what happened in the 4th inning of this very same game. Jorta is called safe - Denkinger Granted, the game was marked by controversy. In the fourth inning of the scoreless game, the Royals' Frank White appeared to have stolen second base, but was called out. The following batter, Pat Sheridan, hit a single to right field. Through 7 innings, Danny Cox and Charlie Liebrandt pitched a couple of gems until Liebrandt gave up a hit to Brian Harper that scored Terry Pendleton in the top of the 8th. Cards fans were excited until the blown call in the bottom of the 9th on the squibber by ...

Here are the notes from our breakout that we promised to put online for you. Parenting Teenagers Facilitated by Sondra & Paul Turner Biblical foundation of parenting 4  “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 5  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6  These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7  Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8  Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Our primary role as parents is to teach our kids to love the Lord your God with all their heart, soul and strength. These have to be in our heart in order to pass on to our kids.            ...

I love people that love to live life regardless of how old they are or what circumstances they may find themselves. This video has been around for over 3 years but it a true delight. Enjoy

Point Loma taken w/ iPhone This past weekend I was in San Diego teaching, attending, & exhibiting at YS-National Youth Worker's Conference . I always enjoy being around youth leaders and especially those who are not in my normal circle of friends in ministry. I love being around those in our denominational tribe, but I am so encouraged to be around those leaders from other denominations. They love God and students and their families. So very encouraging. I have found myself the last few days not really being on my game relationally. I have been quick to be short with others. Little things have set me off. I am by nature an introvert and most of my last week has been spent with many people. Don't get me wrong, I like being around people but I need a little time each day to just be by myself. All that to say. I have been choosing to be . . . nicer. I needed to choose that intentionally this past week. It has been more work than I want it to be but it is necessary, beca...

I am prone to a mid-back that is not easy to adjust. I am also prone to a neck that seems to get out of whack at some very inopportune times. This summer my regular chiropractor (witch doctor as I affectionately call him) was out of town while I was in dire need of some adjusting. I was able to make it to another fine chiropractor who helped me tremendously, but it was not the same. He did a good job, but he did not know my posture only because I was a new patient to him. It is best when everything is in its rightful place because my posture tends to correct itself when things are where they belong. We will go to great lengths to get in the right posture because we think that pain will go away when we have the right posture. Barney Fife is a good example in this pic and in the show he was always posturing to get himself to look better than he actually was though. He was always funny, but always trying to be someone he was not. There is another kind of posturing that is a whole diffe...

I have the opportunity to come along side many people who are in ministry in local churches, hear their stories, listen, encourage, and learn from them. I honestly cannot believe at times that God allows me to do what I get to do. Most of you know that I work for a very large Christian publisher and have for almost 19 years. It is a very good place to work. It is a ministry funded by business and I get to work alongside some of the greatest people I know. No kidding. They are great folks. They push me to be better at what we get to do collectively. This week we hosted about 250 youth leaders at our place and we offered them opportunities to hear from people like Pete Wilson, Kelly Minter, Jess & Thom Rainer.We even mixed in The Skit Guys and my friend Jake Gulledge along with The Chris White Band. It was a great "platform". So many of those in attendance are wonderful people. They love Christ, they love students and they love ministry.So many of those who attended sh...

I posted this a year ago but it is one that I need to be reminded of and one lesson that I have yet to learn. Saw this video again from Francis Chan and the way I too many times hold on to stuff that hinders me from being all that Christ has created me to be. Is it really right that I live life in balance? Or, is the Christian life designed to be an "all out" kind of life? I know the answer. I struggle with the action.

I am one of those people who stay away from definitive words like "never", "always", "all people", "every time", etc. but I am learning the importance of never assuming. Evelyn, the international student from China who is living in our home this school year, is reminding me the importance of never assuming. I take many things for granted, especially related to my faith. I just assume that most people have a baseline of knowing who Jesus is; the importance of Scripture; etc., all things Christianese. She reminds me every day that not "every one" has a general understanding of who Jesus is. She has reminded me how much I use terminology that is very Christianly but not very culturally relevant. We are blessed to have her in our home. She is truly delightful and very smart. The language barrier in communication audibly is getting so much better in our home, but English terms that I think are pretty easy and simple, are really very dif...

A co-worker shared this with our team recently. I found this to be very good. It is not a real short watch, but a very good one.

This has been a pretty busy week. Sunday started with church and then I did a training session for our student leaders at Hermitage Hills. Big fun to invest in training the leaders at the church we are members. I am usually out training/encouraging others but lots of fun to do that at home. Joyce, world's best mother in law, left on Tuesday and went to visit her sister, Nola and her husband in Atlanta. What a delight to have her with us for a week. On Wednesday, we loaded up a borrowed Yukon with Morgan's stuff and moved her back to Union. She has a nice room and three wonderful roommates. We are thankful for the influences in her life and the way she influences others too. Thursday was videotaping day at work. Four of us were in the studio working on some of our student ministry messages and shooting a bunch of student ministry tips. Hard work for sure but also a lot of fun. We are trying to be very strategic in the way we are doing training. Today was another movin...

It has been an entire month since I last posted. I have no real good excuse for not posting. Just have not done it. It has been a busy month and one of change for us, so here goes. Our biggest news is Evelyn. Evelyn is an international student studying at DCA this school year. She is 16, very bright, and her English is getting better every day. She arrived a week ago Wednesday and has fit right in. Her first week consisted of Shelbi and Morgan coming home from a long summer of camp and a short week of fun at friends. She was immersed in western culture with getting a phone, international calling cards, attending a wedding I officiated on Sunday; church (a whole new experience for her) and school starting on Tuesday. We have ordered a computer for her, she is conversing with her family and friends via the computer and all together fitting in well. We have eaten chinese food twice in the last 7 days. We are fitting in too. Shelbi and Morgan had a great summer with each working at ...

I find myself on the road alot lately and with much travel comes much tiredness. Hotel beds sort of run the range from "slab of stone" to so soft that "my nose and feet end up in the same area". It makes for a sore neck, back, hips and blood shot eyes at times because sleep can come in "fits and starts." One of the great roles I get to play (and use my gifts) is to encourage others in ministry whether they be full-time, part-time, volunteer, "tag, you're it" ministers, to FUGE staffers, and a myriad of others in ministry. They are people who love Christ, love students and their families, and they also find themselves stretched very thin. They work hard, provide for their families, get little to no earthly recognition, but love what they get to do in the Kingdom. They also find themselves, like all of us, very vulnerable at times. It is in our weakness that we are made strong, if we will allow Him to work through us. You and I cannot liv...

Summer has been very good and very busy. I have been at FUGE camps in MO, AZ, NM, FL so far and will be in AL and SC before the summer is over. I also am doing some training in MS this weekend. Sondra and I had a great time at Glorieta, NM and got to hang out with Shelbi some. Sondra and Shelbi shopped alot on Shelbi's day off while I took pictures of wildfires and slept on park benches while they shopped. We did visit the square in Santa Fe and all the sites there that include the Loretto Church with the mysterious spiral staircase and ate some wonderful food. Sondra and I returned home for a day and a half and then headed out to Orange Beach, AL for some vacation time. We enjoyed our stay but it was very different without the girls. The weather was good, there was another wildfire close by that authorities got under control, and we enjoyed our time together. On the back side of that trip we headed to Rome, GA and visited with Morgan who is working Winshape Camps this summer. ...

We have had a wonderful day today in Santa Fe. We started out by eating at Harry's and then doing all things on the Plaza in Santa Fe. Only wish Morgan could have been with us. We make our way to her in a couple of weeks. Here is an earlier post that I did for my dad and with the exception of me being a little older, this still rings true. You can read it here .

Interesting pattern of numbers in the title. I always disliked those problems in math where you had to figure out the pattern. I was and still am terrible at those things. You look at the pattern and figure out the next set of numbers. I am terrible at those problems. So what do these numbers have in common? 5 - a couple of weeks ago my dr. let me start running 5 min. easing into it 8 - I got to move to 8 min/day running 10 - I got to move to 10 min/day running 12 - you picking up the pattern yet? 15 - two days in a row of running 15 continuous min w/ no pain (yesterday and today) I have traveled quite a bit this week. I flew to KC on Tuesday after work, spent the night with my dad and headed to Bolivar for FUGE. Our first week of camp at my alma mater and it went great. Wonderful team lead by Brady. Was great to be back on campus after 25 years and  I got to stay with my mother-in-law. We had a great time together and got a little painting done along with a little sink dr...

I have been remiss in posting. I am embarrassed, ashamed . . . and now I am over it. We have been busy around here. The girls finished their semester of college and are now in Rome, GA working camp (Morgan at Winshape) and in Glorieta, NM (Shelbi working FUGE). It was nice to have them home for about 2.5 hours. (slight exaggeration) My dad came to visit last week and we enjoyed him being here. He and the cicadas hit about the same time and both made a lot of noise. We welcomed Dad, not so much the cicadas. If you are unfamiliar with cicadas, google it and we have the 13 year kind hanging around. Loud, everywhere, and creepy. There are millions of these things. They show up, breed and die. Turn on your weed eater and they swarm. Morgan is not a fan. I have been traveling to FL, LA, and various other locales. None of them exotic although I did get to spend a little time on the beach last week in FL. The knees are recovering well. I have become a bike rider, elliptical beast and stati...

I am not even sure how to comment on this. Be sure to watch it all the way through though. Gives one a new appreciation for the many uses of chain saws, as well as, a new spokesperson for Gatorade.

Wednesday, May 11th marked our 26th wedding anniversary. I know that the gift for 25 years is silver and since my hair turned that color about 10 years ago, I figured I was good for that. Not really sure what the gift is for the 26th wedding anniversary but I presented Sondra with a Kindle a week or so earlier. She loves to read you know, and I think she will adopt the technology well. Actually, she already is. It has been an incredible 26 years and yesterday we headed out to Carrabba's for dinner and The Cheesecake Factory for dessert. It was awesome. Many of you have asked how we have made it so long. I was reminded of this clear, concise answer via video. This is the secret to our happy marriage - it's all about the fries.

Love The Skit Guys and here is one for Mother's Day