May 20, 2002 - State Directors receive Turning Point Distinguished Ministry Award.

A church in Brandenburg has discovered an effective ministry to hurting people through a small-group ministry designed to help people with life-controlling problems.

“Turning Point is not just about meeting the needs of our addictive society, it provides a much deeper level of fellowship,” said Pastor Levi Titus, associate pastor of Glad Tidings Christian Center in Brandenburg. Turning Point Ministries, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tenn., produces a series of eight-to-nine week Bible studies for use in a small, closed-group setting in the local church.

“What we like about it is that it’s an interactive Bible study,” said Titus. “It’s not a format of somebody simply teaching. It’s Christ-centered, but it also brings about a fellowship among that group of people. You really get a depth of understanding in that group.”

That understanding involves group members helping each other, through a focus on scripture, recognize and change life-controlling behavior in their own lives, Titus said. Life-controlling behavior includes not only substance abuse, a hot temper, or a sexual addiction, but the more common, everyday issues people face, he said. “When I think of people with life-controlling problems, I tend to think of addiction or serious sexual problems. But I found out there’s some ‘innocent’ life-controlling problems, too, like my seeing food  as a form of entertainment. I love to eat. I recognized that Turning Point was not just for people with serious life-controlling problems. I think it would be greatly beneficial to everyone who is in church.”

Turning Point Ministries was founded by Dr. Jimmy Ray Lee. The ministry offers a high-impact video-based training called “Living Free.” Rev. Clayton Arp, director of Teen Challenge of Kentucky, in Louisville, is a certified Turning Point trainer. 

Titus attended a Turning Point training session, conducted by Arp in 1999, in Louisville. According to Turning Point, “thousands of churches have used our focused discipleship group materials to help hundreds of thousands of people move beyond personal issues that hinder spiritual growth in Christ.”

Since 1999, 150 to 175 people have participated in the Turning Point ministry at Glad Tidings, from a congregation of  between 300 and 350, said Titus. The church is situated in a town with a population under 3,000, in rural Meade County.

Titus said the ministry has been very positive for his congregation. “I wish I had had access to this 25 years ago. It flows very well regardless of what denomination you are.”

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Turning Point Ministries, in Chattanooga, Tenn., recently recognized the great accomplishment Teen Challenge of Kentucky has made in training congregations to understand people with addictions. The ministry awarded Teen Challenge Executive Director V. Clayton Arp, and his wife, Beth, the Turning Point Distinguished Ministry Award May 20th. “Through numerous Turning Point church-based ministries, now in place across Kentucky, churches have been equipped to provide relevant ministry to people with life-controlling problems,” said Rev. Arp. “This means, in practical terms, that people with life-controlling problems can receive help within the church, whereas, before, a referral outside the church was necessary in every case. This award is an honor for Teen Challenge of Kentucky, as well as all the supporters, and volunteers who make our ministry possible, including the numerous churches which have embraced a Turning Point ministry.

The award was presented to the Arps May 20th, at the Assemblies of God Leadership Conference in Louisville. Dr. Jimmy Ray Lee, president of Turning Point Ministries, Inc., said the award recipient must have five years outstanding service in Turning Point, a small-group discipleship ministry; must exhibit faithfulness, integrity, compassion, godliness, be respected by peers, and have a demonstrated pursuit of excellence. This was the second such award presented by Turning Point, a ministry founded in 1988.  The Arps, said Lee, were recognized for the outstanding work they have done in helping establish a strong Turning Point ministry throughout the state of Kentucky.

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