Author Archives: Dr. Philip W. Turner

The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) Mary faced a seemingly impossible scenario: giving birth while still a virgin.  She had already askedContinue reading “The Work of the Spirit”

“Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34)          Life is full of questions about things that we do not understand.  Whether it is a student in school wrestling with Algebra, a stranded motorist looking under their car on the side of the road, a worried father looking overContinue reading “How Can This Be?”

And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. (Luke 1:31) How many times have you heard someone in church say from the pulpit, “Let’s stand and sing,” and then offer a hymn number for you to join the singing?  It is an invitation to participate inContinue reading “Conceived”

December 3 Luke 1:30 The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.          I have always liked scary movies.  There is something about watching individuals face something they are afraid of.  It might be a monster, ghost, or some other entity that leaves them fighting for survival.  Scary movies haveContinue reading “Do Not Be Afraid”

Luke 1:29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Sometimes life leaves our heads spinning and stomachs turning.  Some experience or event has caught us off guard, and we are left “shell shocked.”  We don’t know if we are coming or going. Such times can seem overwhelmingContinue reading “Perplexed”

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. (LukeContinue reading “The Lord is With You”

Perhaps one of the strangest symptoms of the COVID 19 virus has been the loss of taste. Some people who have contracted the virus lose their ability to taste. Indeed, it would be a strange sensation to put something in your mouth, and your taste buds do not respond to what is there. Eating andContinue reading “Taste and See”

Trying to find a Christmas gift for someone can be challenging at times. Some people are just hard to shop for. Choosing something to give them as a gift does not come easy for various reasons. We search for what we think will be a fitting present, but even the gift we finally decide onContinue reading “The Gift of Forgiveness”

The perfect life. What does it look like? Every individual imagines what life would be like for them if it were perfect. Maybe they would have plenty of wealth so that questions about how to pay for anything were irrelevant. Perhaps a life without illness, not even a runny nose. The perfect life could beContinue reading “Picture Perfect”

Not everyone has had the experience of their vehicle running out of gas. We may have driven on “Empty”, but we made it to the nearest gas station to refill the tank. Some of us, however, know the feeling of your vehicle starting to putter as every drop is used up by the engine. WithoutContinue reading “Running Low on Patience”

I am one of those individuals who salt everything I eat, often before I have even tasted it. For me, salt just makes everything taste better. Seasoned food is something most people appreciate. For those who must eat a bland diet, the food is just not the same. Seasoned food makes a big difference. InContinue reading “Salty Talk”

How often do we ask these days, “Has anyone seen my phone?” Oh, how we tend to misplace them in our homes. We go to reach for it, and it is not where we thought we left it. After a moment or two, panic can set in as we don’t know how to go aboutContinue reading “Is There Any Good News?”

We are bombarded daily by advertisements of products that promise to do this or that for us. Such advertisements guarantee that their product is exactly what we are looking for and it would be foolish to pass up such an offer. However, most of us know that often these products fall short of how theyContinue reading “His Strength is Perfect”

I recently watched a video on YouTube that captured small children making messes in their homes and on themselves. They had gotten into something they were not supposed to and as a result created a mess for mom or dad to clean up. Some found bags of flour and spread it all over the floors.Continue reading “Messy Church”

We’ve all said things that didn’t come out the right way. What we intended to say sounded perhaps insensitive, harsh, or even rude. We’ve also had things said to us that hurt our feelings, made us upset, or left us harboring ill will toward the person who said it. Yet once something is spoken, goodContinue reading “Forgiveness: The Last Word”

If you live in the city, it can be difficult to see stars at night compared to living out in a more remote area. The reason for this condition is the city’s light pollution. Light pollution is a side effect of industrial civilization. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, commercial properties, offices,Continue reading “Star Light, Star Bright: Choosing our Words”

For a majority of fairytales, the ending is often the same, “they lived happily ever after.”As the story comes to its end, the couple now joined together in their love are swept away into a life of everlasting happiness. At least, this is how the story is told. Yet, most of us probably have concluded thatContinue reading “Happily Ever After”

         When the Colonial Pipeline shut down this past week because of a cyber-attack, panic buying followed.  With the possibility of running out of gas both at the local station and in your own vehicle, people quickly lined up at the pumps in an effort to not end up on empty with no place to purchase gasContinue reading “Living on Empty”

Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head? For whatever reason, you find yourself singing or humming a tune over and over again throughout the day. You may be engaged in another activity, but you keep replaying the song over and over again in your head. Often, you are not even conscious that youContinue reading “A New Song”

Sometimes life piles up on you. You find yourself having to deal with several difficulties or stressful situations all at once. You resolve one problem only to have it followed by something else that is just as trying or even greater than what you just went through. It seems that you have to deal withContinue reading “One Thing After Another”