Author Archives: Dr. Philip W. Turner

Jesus knew all along how his life would unfold.  He knew that there would come a point in which he would suffer and die.  The cross was continuously before him as he carried out his mission and ministry.  Each day drew him closer to this reality.  There would be difficult days ahead for him andContinue reading “Straight Talk”

Monday night is trash night at my house.  Bright and early Tuesday morning, you can hear the sounds of the truck as the sanitation workers will descend on our neighborhood and begin the weekly process of collecting the trash.  So, on Monday night we go throughout the house and collect the trash from the individualContinue reading “Trash Night”

Have you ever had an “aha moment?”  An aha moment is defined as a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension.  For different reasons what was unknown or even forgotten is recognized or remembered.  There is a break in your line of thinking when the truth breaks in and you discover understanding.  TheseContinue reading “An Aha Moment”

How many times have you said or heard another person say, “We better head for the hills?”  I know I have used it on occasion at different times sometimes jokingly and sometimes seriously.  Its dictionary definition reads: ” To move to higher ground, as in preparation for or response to a natural disaster.”  So, ifContinue reading “Head for the Hills”

Have you ever gone looking for something and not be able to find it.  You feel as though you have searched carefully, yet you have no luck in your search.  Yet, eventually, you or someone else does find it and the object was in plain sight all the time.  It is right in front ofContinue reading “Right in Front of Your Face”

We’ve all probably had the same experience.  You are sitting in your car at a stoplight when it is red.  The light turns green and you don’t start moving forward at the exact moment and someone starts honking their horn at you.  You’ve barely had the chance to react to the light change before someoneContinue reading “You Can’t Hurry Love”

How often have parents told their young children, “dirty, don’t touch.”  Toddlers especially are known to be curious about anything they see whether it be a piece of chewed gum stuck to an object, a piece of trash on the ground, or a decaying bird in the grass.  The toddler wants to pick it upContinue reading “Dirty, Don’t Touch”

At some point in children’s lives, the parents permit them to swim in the deep end of the pool.  Growing up with a public pool, I can remember the various roped off areas based on the water depth.  There was the shallow end, the larger pool that went from three feet to five feet, andContinue reading “The Deep End”

“What will I wear today” is one of the first questions that we ask ourselves in the morning.  We open our closets and examine our wardrobe and try to determine what we will wear.  Sometimes it is a quick decision while at other times we may struggle to decide.  We may try on a coupleContinue reading “Closet Choices”

Most people enjoy a good word game like crossword puzzles, word searches, jumbles, scrabble, and the like.  Such games are good intellectual stimulation, they can strengthen our vocabulary, and are simply fun to do.  Some people are good at them while others may struggle and take longer to complete.  Yet, like anything, the more timeContinue reading “Word Games”

You’re watching your favorite program on television when all of a sudden, the news interrupts your show with breaking news.  It usually begins with an announcement of some kind like “we interrupt this program for a special news alert.”  Something has happened that is of such importance that your regular program is interrupted.  Unfortunately, mostContinue reading “We Interrupt this Program”

Many people operate daily under a “to do” list.  That is, as they consider the day before them, they list the things that they want to accomplish.  Likewise, sometimes the “to do” list is prioritized based on what needs to be done first.  Somethings are more important than others and need to be taken careContinue reading “First Things First”

Sometimes things just come out wrong; that is, out of our mouths. We say the wrong thing or say something in the wrong way. Regardless, the words that flow from our mouths are heard by others in a negative light. I think most people can remember times in which they wished they had not saidContinue reading “Tongue Tied”

When I was a young boy there was an open lot across the street from my house.  As a result, it became a great place to play football with my friends.  We would often meet there after school to play.  When we played a game of football, we had to referee ourselves.  As a result,Continue reading “Do-Over”

I don’t guess any of us remember our first step.  The moment as infants, when we stop crawling, stand up, and take a step.  At first, we may only take a couple of steps before we fall again.  But eventually, we get the hang of it and commence to walking wherever we go.  It isContinue reading “Our First Step”

When I was young, I can remember taking weekend trips to the mountains with my family.  These were not well-planned trips.  My parents just had an urge to go and off we went.  In seeking our hotel accommodations, I can remember my parents reading the vacancy signs that used to be outside of hotels.  TheseContinue reading “Vacancy”

I wonder who it was that first shed a tear in the Bible?  Perhaps it was Adam and Eve after they had been banned from the Garden of Eden.  Did they weep over their fallen condition?  They had reason to cry.  Their paradise had been corrupted by their sin and they would no longer beContinue reading “A Story of Tears”

From the moment our alarm clocks go off in the morning and we begin a new day, we are surrounded by sounds.  The noises around us are many, changing, diverse, and constant.  From the sounds of the radio in our cars, the sounds of traffic, work, school, leisure, and the like, there is little inContinue reading “How Sweet the Sound”

I’m not sure how it happens, but sometimes I wake up in the morning with a song stuck in my head.  Somehow, a song that I heard or know, rises up out of somewhere and I find myself singing it or humming it throughout the day.  And once a song is stuck in my head,Continue reading “A New Song”

Good news.  It is hard to find in the media anymore.  Whether it is your local newspaper or television news channel or a national news program on cable, good news is rarely the topic of the day.  Rather, each day we are met with new headlines that remind us how broken our world is:  violence,Continue reading “Good News”