Tag: Abba’s House

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Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Living It Out In Real Time Miracles Out of Nowhere The Big Event The Life of Faith The Mysteries of God The Secret Place

Angels In The Snow

Ok… we’ve finally made it to summer weather (winter just seemed so unrelenting this year in the Tennessee Valley). Feeling the warmth outside as we head into the dog-days of summer, I thought I’d give you a brief respite from the heat and tell you a little story… about snow. Snow and angels.

Gena’s story…

There are angels among us. You never know if it’s that person standing next to you in the elevator, behind you in line in the market, or even the pizza delivery guy.

One of my dearest friends worked as a full-time nanny for a very nice family of five that lived way out in the Indiana countryside. Being a mother-to-be herself, she certainly had her hands full with taking care of their children… but she did an amazing job.

imageI’d gone over there one weekend to spend some time with she and the kids while the parents were out of town. It was a wonderful December day and had started to get late. It was time for me to leave. It really snowed that day, so everything was completely covered. After I’d warmed my car, I was trying to back out and had somehow found myself no longer on their driveway, but instead on their lawn. That’s when I got stuck. I tried rocking the car back and forth in my attempt to get the car out, but all that did was make a mess of their yard. Feeling just awful about it, I went back inside and announced to my friend, “I’m stuck.” My friend began looking for shovels, salt, two-by-fours… anything that might help. “Surely these folks have tools; they live in the country!”

No luck.

I’d gone back out to the car to have another go at it, and was getting really frustrated. By this time, it was around 11:00p.m., very cold, and although the snowing had slowed to almost nothing coming down, it was difficult to get around since the snow from the day was fairly deep. Back in the car, I sat there thinking that I didn’t want to worsen the near-ditch I had already dug in their front yard. I couldn’t believe this. “How could I have done this?” I asked myself, I didn’t even have anyone to call for help. I started to pray. After a few minutes, for some reason I glanced down at my odometer. To my ironic horror, it read the numbers 666. I became angry and yelled, “I rebuke this!” I quickly pushed the button, resetting the odometer back to zero.

Just then, a small car with a Domino’s Pizza delivery sign on top pulled up to the house. I remember thinking, “Way out here? That’s odd.” A man got out of the car. With a big smile, he walked over and chuckled, “Looks like you could use some help.”

I was giddy with thankfulness and replied, “Oh yes… thank you! Thank you so much!”

He laughed and said he’d give it a push while I gave it a little gas.

I sat in the car and looked behind me through the rear window. The man stood behind my car, and for a few moments, he looked at it in what appeared to be a very thoughtful way. It was like he was gathering information with his smiling eyes.

“OK, then!” he called out. I pressed gently on the gas pedal… I certainly didn’t want to fling the icy slush and mud on him.

He placed his hands on the trunk of my car and forward, up, and back onto the driveway I went. I thought, “Oh my! He didn’t even lean.”

I got out of the car and was so surprised, all I could get out of my mouth was a barrage of “thank you”s and a “Wow! You’re strong!”

He laughed and asked that I be very careful out there on the road.

I went to reach for my purse in the car to give him some cash for helping me out, and when I looked up, he’d already gone all the way back to where his car was on the road. He stood by his car and waved before getting in and pulling away.

I quickly jumped into my car and backed out to the road. He was gone. No taillights…

No tire tracks in the snow.

AngelsYour prayers matter to our Father and activate angelic assistance. Remember, no prayer goes unnoticed or unanswered. I realize that, to some of you, that doesn’t make sense, when you have prayed for healing and the healing hasn’t come, or when you have suffered greatly and there seemed to be no relief. However, our prayers have been entrusted to angels until their appointed time. As allies with the angels, we must be reassured by the power of prayer and spend time regularly with God.

— from the book, Our Invisible Allies by Ron Phillips published by Charisma House Publishers Copyright © 2009 by Ron Phillips
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Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Friendship Living It Out In Real Time The Big Event The Life of Faith The Mysteries of God Through The Looking Glass

The Journey Home

Through The Looking Glass2

I once heard the story of an old missionary couple that was returning home after years of faithful service on the mission field. As their journey across the sea began, they discovered that they were sharing their ship with none other than President Theodore Roosevelt.

Activity swirled around the President as the old couple went virtually unnoticed.

Finally, when the ship arrived in New York, bands and dignitaries came out to greet the President, while the old couple slipped off of the ship, and disappeared into the crowd.

The old man became bitter with God about the fact that they were in no way recognized. Complaining to his wife about how unfair it was, his wife encouraged him to take it up with God.

After a short time, the old man emerged from their bedroom with a changed countenance. He explained to his wife that, as he was complaining to God about not being recognized on returning home, the Holy Spirit gently spoke to him and said…

“You’re not home yet.”

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An Unexpected Stop on a Holy Quest

New MexicoCenturies ago there lived a young German monk. This devoted man took his holy orders seriously. His life was one of discipline. He had surrendered everything and viewed soberly the holy obligation of the church. Still, his struggling heart was empty. Finally, the young cleric decided that pilgrimage and penance was the way to God. He crawled up the high stairs in Rome where many made their pilgrimages, the staircase known as Scala Santa. Worn out and bloody from the journey, he still had no answer from God.

Returning home, the young monk was browsing in a library when he came across a complete copy of the Latin Scriptures. He was astounded, for he had never held the entire Word of God in his hands, in spite of years of Bible study as a monk. That day the light came powerfully to Martin Luther as one verse from God’s Word broke over his soul—

“The just shall live by faith.” ~ Romans 1:17

Luther knew that Paul had written those words, echoing the prophet Habakkuk, to the church at Rome. Now, 1,500 years later, the same truth that had become almost smothered by church traditions exploded in his heart. In that moment of revelation, Martin Luther had a profound conversion and filling of the Holy Spirit. He moved from religious ritual to a personal relationship with Jesus. Now, at last, his quest for life together with God was made possible by the journey to Jesus.

Luther went on to lead thousands of others to that same freedom!

Fast forward about 500 years…

Not unlike Luther, in 1989 I came to realize my own life had become one of religious works done to please God and to rise in denominational prestige and position. My early quest for life together with God had been swallowed by religious obligation. With a legalistic work ethic, I worked hard and achieved a measure of success — if nickels and noses were any measure in church life. Vacancy After twenty-two years in the ministry I found myself empty and powerless. My walls were lined with books I had mastered, a few I had written, degrees I had earned, and awards I’d received. Yet I had no close relationship with God. I had received His salvation, had dedicated my life to ministry, yet my soul was emaciated, starved for spiritual things. My pride in my knowledge kept me from talking about my hunger. I was opinionated and mean-spirited to those who didn’t agree with me. Being right was more important to me than being righteous. God graciously began to allow disappointment and difficulty to exhaust my flesh. I became so miserable that I could no longer stand myself, nor did I feel I could continue as a pastor. My life had reached critical mass… something had to give.

It was then that my life was overturned completely by what some call the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Up until that heavenly invasion, I had my faith neatly stacked into an orderly package. I believed that God did great things in the past and one day in heaven I would see Him. I was thoroughly orthodox and adamantly opposed the “mystics” who believed God could speak, act, and touch people like He did in the Book of Acts. Like a Pharisee, I had turned the written Word into an idol. I was a “Scripture expert” but a miserable failure at life.

AMotel Signt the moment I was ready to tender my resignation from the ministry, God met me in a hotel room in New Mexico. Oh, blessed invasion! Oh, divine disruption! I had a literal and personal awakening in the long night of my despair! God spoke to me, baptized me, filled me, and called me to an authentic relationship with Him. From that new relationship would flow a new ministry, wild and free like a rushing river. This experience was not an end but the beginning of a fantastic quest for intimacy with Jesus. All my life I have been in hot pursuit of an intimate life dwelling together with God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

—from The Power of Agreement
by Ron Phillips and Ronnie Phillips, Jr.
Published by Charisma House, © Copyright 2014

 

 

 

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America Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Healing The Big Event Through The Looking Glass

As We Remember

Flags & Graves2

Today, we in America will observe Memorial Day. This day was first observed as Decoration Day, and originated after the Civil War, as a way of remembering the over 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were killed during that horrific conflict which pitted brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and countryman against countryman. While the aftermath of that conflict was a  wounded nation brought back together, and many other brave American men and women have since fallen in wars and conflicts around the globe, we as American citizens must be ever mindful of the price that was paid, and ever vigilant as watchmen to protect the freedom for which they died.

As we today honor those who have fallen in battle, I am reminded of a letter penned by President Abraham Lincoln to a widow, Mrs. Lydia Bixby, whose sons had died fighting for the Union army…

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Iwo JimaOn this day, as we go about our family gatherings and picnics, please take a moment to remember the solemnity of this day by offering a prayer of thanksgiving for those who gave their lives so that you could be free, as well as a prayer of comfort for those who are still grieving a loss unimaginable by most of us. Let us remember that those who gave their full measure of devotion for the cause of freedom are not nameless and faceless, but are husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and friends.

Thank you heroes, for your service and sacrifice. We owe you a debt we cannot repay.

May God bless America.

Flags & Graves

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The Spirit and Spectre of the Past

Med2Nostalgia can be a nice feeling. We love getting nostalgic around special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, and funerals. Remembering times-past and reminiscing about days-gone-by is accentuated by the smell of home cooking, watching “grainy” and “black and white” home movies, and looking through scrap books and photo albums of those whom we have loved and lost. It’s like pouring warm syrup over a hot biscuit with too much melted butter — it just makes you feel good all over.

However, sometimes dark clouds can rise from the past and, for a season, joy can be obscured. It is during those times that nostalgia can turn into noxious, poisonous thoughts.
We must all understand that the past is exactly that — past: Past memory… Past history… Past glory. Whether we celebrate it or mourn it, the one thing we can never do is re-live it. The past is over forever… it can never be brought back. It makes me sad to see people trying to reinvent that which was good, but is now gone. One person said it well…

“The past is prologue.”

We can be thankful to God for the journey that has brought us forward in the will of God, but we have to make up our minds to go on with God. We have to resist the urge to live in a past that only has the potential to corrupt, crush, and enslave us.

SONY DSCAmerican journalist, playwright, and politician Clare Booth Luce once said…

Take your hats off to the past, but take your coats off to the future.

While we can “take off our hats” and show respect to the past, and those who have gone before us, it is our task at hands to “take off our coats”, roll up our sleeves, and get about the business of living in the NOW. I am truly grateful for the three decades I have served the Lord at Abba’s House, and all we have seen God do. Yet, I am glad to continue serving hand-in-hand alongside a group of people who are relentlessly moving forward on a God-given mission.

Speaking of nostalgia, as I write this, I am listening to some music, and an oldie by The Four Tops — “It’s All In The Game” — is now playing. One of the lyrics says…

Many a tear has to fall
But it’s all in the game.

It’s true — our past has good times, bad times, laughter, tears, pain, sorrow, and joy — it’s all part and parcel of life. We all have mess to deal with, but we have to learn to go on. As Bishop Blake of Los Angeles has said, “You’re gonna have some of that…” We all must learn to move forward, and take joy and wisdom from every season of life.

There is a popular song that we sing at my church called Moving Forward, written by Ricardo Sanchez and Israel Houghton. The chorus says…

I’m not going back
I’m moving ahead
Here to declare to You
My past is over in You
All things are made new
Surrendered my life to Christ
I’m moving, moving forward

We are the Army of God. Although we may be advancing on our knees, we should always be advancing, looking forward, watching the horizon… not the rear-view mirror.

Pastor Ron

 

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America Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Living It Out In Real Time The Bible The Big Event The Secret Place Through The Looking Glass

Hidden Passages & Dead-End Paths

Through the Looking GlassThe ancient city of Sardis stood high on a hill as an impregnable fortress.

When the invading Persian army besieged the city, it proved nearly impossible to approach. One day a soldier, while leaning out over the wall, dropped his helmet to the ground far below. Thinking nothing of retrieving his helmet, he left the confines of the city by a secret passage. The enemy, however, was watching. At nightfall, a platoon of Persian soldiers entered the city through the hidden entrance, attacked, and conquered the city with ease.

We have an enemy who is watching and waiting. The enemy sees ours weaknesses, and is standing ready to attack. We are called to live lives of holiness and diligence, giving no point of entry that the enemy can exploit to minimize our usefulness to the Kingdom of God. I’ve heard it said that “integrity is who you are when no one is watching”. Integrity and character walk hand-in-hand, and who you are when the world is watching is far less telling than who you are when you’re alone. Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson once said…

If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.

American revolutionary Thomas Paine had this to say about character…

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

So how are you spending your company time when the boss is not watching?

How do you act and talk when “church-folk” aren’t around?

What are you watching or looking at on your computer in the dark hours of the night?

Peter reminds us of the importance of holiness in our lives when he says…

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy. ~ I Peter 1:14-16

Make no mistake… your enemy is watching your every move. The only path the enemy has into your life is the one YOU give him.

The Way of Life is the path that stays close to the Savior, and never leads you to a dead-end.

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Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Living It Out In Real Time The Big Event The Life of Faith The Mysteries of God

Uninstall First

Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a computer whiz. I do not know a megabyte from a mosquito bite. In my world, crashes, runtime errors, blackouts, and “blue screens of death” are the norm. Yet, in spite of my technological illiteracy, I am fully equipped with a laptop computer with a touch screen, an Ipad, an Iphone, and a desktop computer. All of these devices apparently reside in heaven because they relate to each other automatically on the cloud.

At least that is what I was told is how it is supposed to work…

I’m in my office at home one day wanting to listen to music on my computer. My musical tastes are pretty diverse, as I enjoy everything from Third Day, Rick Pino, and Bill Gaither to Celine Dion and Frank Sinatra. I click iTunes like I always do and, lo and behold, an error message pops up.

Well, fortunately for me, I have a program that automatically solves such issues. I run my “fit it” program (that I paid $29.95 for online) and voilà… problem solved, right? Right?

Wrong.

While the screen stares at me with a message that the problem is solved, everything else in my immediate reality is telling another story. The melodies that I SHOULD be hearing of Fly Me To The Moon are being replaced by the sounds of silence, and feelings of wanting to send this computer to the moon with one swift kick. However, calm and reason win out, and I decided to try to simply re-install iTunes.

More error messages.

I reboot the thing and it welcomes me back with the familiar Windows screen…

… and another error message.

After fighting the Battle of MegaByte Gulch for a solid day, I finally called Todd, our IT man at Abba’s House. I told him my problem and he said, “Try uninstalling iTunes and then reinstall.”

BINGO! iTunes fired up like an old friend, and the sound of music was once again filling the atmosphere of my office.

As I sat there working as the music played, the familiar sound of Ol’ Blue Eyes filled the air. As the song “My Way” played, the Holy Spirit showed up. He showed me that sometimes “my way” doesn’t work because it is locked in to an error laden program.

Paul understood the process of “rebooting” almost 2,000 years before computers, smartphones, and the Internet. In II Corinthians 5:17, he states…

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.

When we take on a new life in Jesus, we shed the old man — the “old program” — and we become a new creation. The old is not just dormant, silent, or locked away in some dark recess… it’s gone. Just like I couldn’t make iTunes work until I had uninstalled the old version, we can’t make a life in the Spirit work if we are hanging onto the very things that made our lives dysfunctional and error-laden to begin with.

This Sunday morning, I will be discussing this very topic — Uninstall First. How do we as Christians go about uninstalling the things that hold us back, or make our lives not work?

Join me at Abba’s House this Sunday at 10:30a.m. Let’s get all of our “programming” on the right track, and learn how to clean the error messages of the enemy out of our “registries” once and for all.

If you can’t be in the House, join us online by clicking here.

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Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Living It Out In Real Time The Big Event The Mysteries of God Through The Looking Glass

Living With The Dream Thief

President Theodore Roosevelt once said:

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”

Joyce Meyer had this thought:

“A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.”

Norman Vincent Peale wrote:

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”

We all have dreams. We all have a desire to be successful. No one sets out in life to be the poster-child for mediocrity. So who is the real “dream thief”? After all, in Philippians, Paul says…

Bible“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

So why don’t we?

John tells us in I John that…

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

So why don’t we live in victory?

Maybe it is because sometimes we allow our own mindset to hold us back. Sometimes — as the saying goes — “WE are our own worst enemy.” We diligently battle the enemy of our souls, but then turn around and speak things into existence out of fear or low self-esteem, forgetting that the power of the tongue is as much a force to be reckoned with as the greatest enemy we may face. Actually, sometimes, they are one and the same.

King Solomon understood this when he said in Proverbs:

“The tongue has the power of life and death.”

So, the next time you feel the urge to speak negatively about your current situation, do this:

Stop.

Think.

Speak a blessing instead.

Pastor Ron

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When Technology Touches Heaven (Can you hear me now?)

Prayer2We all need prayer. Chances are that, in the past month, you have either asked someone for prayer, or have been asked by someone else to pray for them. However, with all of our busy schedules, and the cares in all of our own lives, it is easy to let the life of prayer slip, and forget to perform the very act (prayer) that can make the most difference in our lives, and in the lives of others. It’s easy to fall into the enemy’s trap, and allow fear to replace faith, and panic to replace prayer.

Well, here’s a simple little thought that might help you. It involves tapping into the limitless power or prayer with the power of…

Your cell phone.

A friend shared this with me. He uses his cell phone to set reminders to pray for people at specific times during the day. He taps into Heaven by tapping into his phone and setting up reminders to pray for specific people, needs, etc. With such a busy society, we can all use a little help from time to time. Why not use the technology that most of us are already paying for, and is usually no more than an arm’s reach away? It’s a very simple idea, but one that can have a great impact. Here are some suggestions…

1) Pick a time in your day that you can, typically, spend a few minutes in prayer.

2) Set a daily reminder on your phone to pray for specific needs, people, etc.

3) When your reminder goes off, stop what you are doing (if possible) and spend a few minutes in prayer for those needs your reminder is set for.

4) Set multiple reminders during the course of the day. You might set one for specific people, and another for something like “What is on my heart right now”, or “What I am worrying about this moment.”

Many of you reading this may already have a powerful prayer life. If you do, that is great. However, if you don’t pray regularly, this might be just the thing to set you on the path to consistency and power in your prayer life.

Pastor Ron

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Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Friendship Healing Living It Out In Real Time The Big Event The Life of Faith

A Life In Disagreement

This week marks a milestone in my ministry. My son Ronnie and I recently wrote a book together called The Power of Agreement, and this week, it hit the bookstore stands.

Charisma House (our publisher) recently featured an article by Ronnie in their online publication (www.charismamag.com).  I thought, for today’s blog, I would share Ronnie’s article with all of you. Enjoy!

“Can we agree to disagree?”

How many times have you heard that? How many times have you said it yourself? It’s a pretty popular saying, especially in the political and socially diverse environment in which we find ourselves today, but it’s a sad thing when all you have in common with another person is the fact that you disagree. Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they are agreed?” (NKJV). That’s kind of the million-dollar question—a question for which I had a resounding answer: Nope.

Growing up in the church, I had more than enough to disagree with. I’m not talking about theology, worship style, legalism or anything related to your admission into the pearly gates. My disagreements were far more simple and personal. As the son of the preacher, my disagreements were with unrealistic expectations placed upon me by those who thought they knew me by virtue of my name. My jumping-off point was with how “good church folk” treated my family (in particular my father) and the abuse we suffered at the hands of such people.

At the ripe old age of 23, I was mad at God, through with church, and living a life that in no way reflected my upbringing as a preacher’s kid. As a result of my poor decisions and the root of bitterness that had me firmly entangled, my relationships were strained, my marriage was a mess, and I was trying to deal with the pain, regret and humiliation of life by hiding inside a bottle. I was working my way up the corporate ladder in my secular job, but beyond that, everything else was crashing around me.

Yet in spite of the disagreements, fights, feuds and other assorted turmoil I had put my dad through, I still had to admit that he was my best friend. While I had done my best to push him away, my father, the son of an alcoholic-father-turned-church-deacon, knew what it was to be cast aside, knew the power and price of redemption, and knew that the best way to win over the object of your disagreement is with love.

Now, the problem with any disagreement is that the vast majority of the time, someone is in the right and someone is in the wrong. It pretty much went without saying that based on my lifestyle, I was wrong—although my dad would also be quick to admit he was not without fault. Still, I hung on to my bitterness and anger like a lifeline and refused to give an inch. I refused, that is, until I found myself on the bathroom floor—a total wreck—crying out and yelling at God. After consuming an inordinate amount of alcohol and a screaming match with my wife, I had collapsed on the floor of our bathroom late one night. Totally freaked out, she knew of nothing else to do than to call my father. I challenged her to do so, thinking he wouldn’t come. Ashamed and confused, I had no use for myself anymore. I figured he didn’t either.

In the middle of one of the darkest nights of my life, there was a knock at my door. It was my dad.

My initial reaction to seeing him was a hate-filled rant that quickly devolved into the cry of the prodigal. Once the angst-filled rebel gave way to the worn-down prodigal, the next couple of hours were filled with cries of remorse, tears of forgiveness, and promise—the promise of healed relationships and renewed commitment to my family, my heavenly Father and the calling He had placed on my life.

Someone smarter than me once said that the problem with running from God is that usually you end up running into Him. Living a life of disagreement with the godly people God has placed in our lives and being forever at odds with our gifts and calling will only lead to ruin and an up-close-and-personal view of the bathroom floor.

Is there happiness in disagreement? Sure. Even the Bible alludes to that in passages like Hebrews 11:25: “He [Moses] chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (NIV).

However, the momentary happiness that a self-serving life brings pales in comparison to the life lived in agreement with the call of God. Pleasures lose their luster. Riches lose their value. Prestige lasts until the next shiny new employee comes along. The only life that has any lasting, eternal value is the one lived for Christ.

Now, years later, I’ve left the parties with my friends for the peace and contentment of my family. I’ve given up the life of egotistical and selfish disagreement for agreement and harmony with my fathers (earthly and heavenly). I traded in the confinement of self-imposed loneliness and unworthiness for the wide-open spaces of promise and hope that only a life in agreement with God’s call can bring.

And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.