http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282 BEN THINKIN' In case you were wondering what was on my mind...here's what I was thinkin'. pb This is not a picture of me... AdvancedMinistry Advent is a season of waiting; but I've Ben Thinkin'. Just who is it that waits? The Lord says through Isaiah, "All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations." (65:2)We make much of how difficult it is to wait on God, and to be patient. But have we ever considered how difficult it must be for God to wait on us? He waits for us to chase out the clamoring crowds, to finish with all of the machinations and preparations of the season. He waits for us to finish shopping, shoving, shipping and shouting! The Lord waits for a lull in the din of our lives through which he may make an Advent.  David says in Psalm 40:6 "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have opened." It is only then, when God is able to make his voice known that David can say, "here I am... I desire to do your will, O God." In this Advent season I challenge you to create a space for God; a space of quiet contemplation into which he may make an Advent, and through which he may make his will known to you.pb  THE FIVE MILE FAMILY REVERSE FEAST IS THIS SUNDAY!We are drawing close to the day we will come together to build Christmas boxes for families in need. We have had some cash donations toward the food, but could still use turkeys or hams to complete the boxes. The gift cards are covered and then some thanks to all of you and to the Good Word congregation!  We mostly need hands to pack boxes and drivers to deliver them on Sunday.Many families are looking forward to receiving a box on Sunday. See you there. http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=29753 29753 Fri, 2 Dec 2011 14:45:00 +0000   Ben Thinkin'...about THANKSGIVING   Thanksgiving is just a few days away. As I have been preparing for the next few weeks of important services, the Lord has strongly led me toward a passage in Isaiah that teaches something that feels so opposite to what most of us will be doing next Thursday: Fasting! The more I think about it though, what could be more fitting to think about? "True fFasting" includes sharing with the hungry. Isaiah rhetorically asks God's people concerning fasting. "Is it not to share your food with the hungry...?"  It is my hope that as each of us sits down to our Thanksgiving dinner we will be looking across the table to someone we have invited to share the meal with; someone who would otherwise not have a meal, or who would have far less on their own.  It may be that you will invite someone who is even more hungry for love than for food. Fasting has two sides. There is the negative of denying yourself food, but there is the positive of sharing that food with someone in need!  Pray that God will open a door for you to do just that this Thanksgiving. pb  The heart of Thanksgiving!  "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say:  Here am I.  "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=29398 29398 Sat, 19 Nov 2011 11:58:00 +0000 Communion is Participation Certain words grab my attention and hang on with the tenacity of a pit-bull!  For me the word "participation" is one of them. The Greek word is one so familiar that for people in the church it has almost become a part of the English language. The word is "Koinonia" which means "fellowship, communion, association, sharing" and even "partnership."  When I was a young(er) man nearly every church had a "Koinonia" Sunday School class. I don't know that "Koinonia" always happened in those classes, but at least it was an admirable goal.  We most commonly translate "Koinonia" as "Fellowship", but fellowship is a bit too squirrely for me.  I can't quite get a handle on what that means. So you may imagine my delight when I found the apostle Paul using the word "Participation!"  You see, I am an Includer (one of my top five strengths) so I can understand participation!  Nothing makes the includer inside of me ping more that seeing someone left out, or someone who chooses not to participate in what is going on!  When people are not there on Sunday, I usually know it. When people disengage, I usually sense it and feel it.  This is a strength that the Lord was pleased to put in my makeup. It is a part of me, but let me tell you, the Lord Jesus is all about including! Jesus is the all time, ultimate, Super-Includer! He instituted the Lord's Supper so that we might participate in his shed blood and broken body, and in so doing we might participate in the life of Christ and the eternal joy of the kingdom of God!  This Sunday we will explore together what it means to be fellow participants in the body and blood of Christ. During the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and the Advent season that follows, you will have many opportunities for Koinonia with the Body of Christ, his people who believe in His Name. Come join in.  Don't get left out! Pastor Ben http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=29099 29099 Wed, 9 Nov 2011 11:36:00 +0000 A couple of weeks ago my family and I were driving along, running some errands and talking about what we were going to do for supper. We talked of going out to eat or the possibilities of ordering in a pizza-- or two! The next minute, I received a text from one of the young teens in our church. He said he had a question, so I called him. "Pastor Ben, do you think the church or someone could help us?" he asked. It turns out that his family was hungry. I nearly wept when he opened his refrigerator and listed the items before his eyes. I said, "That's not food, those are condiments!"  Suddenly our family was no longer hungry. We immediately drove by the church and got a few things out of the food pantry and then picked up some groceries at the nearest store for this hungry family.I realize that this probably is not a one time event in the life of this family; and not only that, but it may very well be the situation for many families in our congregation.  I have been convicted by the scriptures I am studying this week. The Apostle Paul, in bringing correction to the Corinthian believers says "for anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on themselves." (1Corinthians 11:29) The problem in Corinth was not simply bad manners, it was bad theology and Christian practice. There is something sacred about the meals we share together as a church. The Corinthians had lost that sacredness through division and discrimination.Whether that meal is a pot-luck or the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, when believers eat together, we are participating in the life of Christ that was given for us! More than that, it is sinful for me to eat and drink when I am aware of someone in the body of the Lord who is hungry and thirsty.This Sunday I will be revealing a plan that the Lord laid on my heart this week. I believe it will make a difference for those among us who may need a boost this holiday season and beyond.  ~pb http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=28979 28979 Fri, 4 Nov 2011 15:10:00 +0000 The Backside of the Canvas This morning I watched an artist paint a sunrise. I could hardly contain my emotion as He brushed on one dazzling color after another. Each delicate layer more astounding than the one before it! I was amazed at how adept the artist was at staying out of the way of the scene he was painting. I never once had to crane my neck to peer over his shoulder to the right or left. And then it dawned on me that I was not looking over his shoulder at all, but was merely seeing the backside of his canvas! I was moved to an even greater wonder when I realized that one day I will stand by his side and see it all from his perspective! But for now, I am satisfied to see only the backside of His canvas! Pastor Ben Turner   Psalm 89:5-8 "The heavens praise your wonders, LORD,    your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.  For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;  He is more awesome than all who surround him. Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?    Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?    You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you."   http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=28964 28964 Fri, 4 Nov 2011 10:38:00 +0000 Well -- okay -- that was a gutsy question from a friend of ours as we sat around a table with our quarter-life friends last night. He went on to remark that today's culture in America makes it increasingly hard to find a woman with views similar to his own. He said it seemed like some women feel degraded if they have to wash a dish while their husband changes the oil in the car.  He doesn't want a wife that feels like she has to do all the dishes.  He just wants a partnership where they each do the things for which they have the talent to make a marriage better.The rest of our friends voiced various opinions about today's culture and how it has affected marriage and family life.  It was a mixed crowd.  Some of us were women, some were men, some have careers while others are still feeling their way through not-so-great jobs.  We all agreed that it seemed like the culture of our times has bashed on men and elevated women in business to the point that it is now harder for men to find really great jobs, even with an education, while women are finding it easier to work outside of the home and even become CEO's.  None of us felt it was bad for women to have a career, but the question was asked, by several: What is the price we are paying for two careers in the household?  Incidentally, the guy who asked about finding a wife wasn't looking for a stay-at-home wife, that would be submissive to the point of jumping up to supply every need he had.  He said he would be glad to stay at home with the kids if his wife has the better job -- when the day comes that he gets married and has kids.  He was adamant about one thing: his future children would be raised at home and would not go to daycare.  Now, my own kids did have to endure daycare, and it was sometimes disastrous.  The most difficult repercussion was when my son told me, a few years after the incident, that his daycare provider slapped him in the face.  I had not known about it, and it was way too late to go back and correct her (three states away), although I wanted to in a bad way!Some of the quarter-lifers believe they will eventually marry and have a traditional family. Some of the women already have a career but have mixed feelings about how to incorporate career into a marriage and family when the day comes. Some believe they will never marry, and some just aren't ready to even talk about the topic.  They believe they need a lot of personal work on themselves before they are ready to be married and raise children.  It's true, there are a lot of hot buttons on this issue, so can we blog about this without exploding?  Can you honestly, without the baggage of cultural rhetoric, say what is on your mind?  Do you have an idea about making a great marriage and raising children in the 21st century?  --MT http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=13891 13891 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:02:25 +0000 As we discussed what drives us and what stops us for moving forward, one of the guys said something that has made me think. "When we become dissatisfied with people around us maybe we just need to run to Jesus. Maybe that is His way of making us focus on Him for a change.  And maybe when we are not hearing God very well and it seems like He is very far away, we need to run to our community and rely on each other to help us through that time."Wow! That has made me think.  When I am dissatisfied with the people around me do I press closer to God, or do I just get angry and frustrated?  When I have trouble hearing God's voice in my life, do I turn to the support and help of my community, or do I get angry and frustrated and pridefully refuse to admit my troubles to my best friends?Good questions for me to consider.  Maybe you have insights from your life.  --MT http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=13288 13288 Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:19:24 +0000 Last Monday night 25Sense had our fourth gathering in the space of 9 days! In those four gatherings we have spent approximately eleven hours of focused time together. We have talked about everything from dirty jobs, sex and Jesus! We have eaten everything from donuts to hot pickled okra.  After all that, what I see happening is that I think we are beginning to like each other and are finding that we can trust each other.One expressed goal of this group is to provide a safe place where we can experience authentic community. In such a place we are finding that we can be transparent without fear of being judged, preached at or shunned. How is that working for you? Do you agree, disagree or have any suggestions? Talk about your experience.PB http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=12852 12852 Sat, 29 May 2010 22:42:22 +0000 Do we trust God and everything that He is to give us direction in our lives?  Can we take our hands off enough to let people discover God in their lives without giving them an "info dump" from our "great knowledge"?  This is the question I have to ask myself as we launch the 25-Sense movement.  I want you to tell me, "What does it mean to navigate what some people have called the 'quarter-life'?"  Care to comment?  I'm listening and learning with you!  -- Pastor Ben http://www.fmnaz.org/index.cfm?i=6840&mid=25&blogid=4282&comments=12760 12760 Fri, 21 May 2010 11:30:12 +0000