Phillips, Craig and Dean

Phillips, Craig and Dean

                                       

~   L I V E  ~

February 29, 2012

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

"The Cross Made The Difference"

"The Cross Made The Difference"

Sin took its toll on the body and on the soul,

and then, the spirit suffered loss

But, The Lord Jesus Christ touched us, washed us,

and He showed us His cross

He suffered so, and finally He arose; He lives

now, to save the whole of mankind

He paid the cost and shed His blood, so we could

bask in His love, so sublime

The ragged garments of sin's devastation have become

robes of white, without taint

He has made us the sons and daughters of God,

with a new name of Saint

Blessed be the Lord, the Holy One of Israel,

and the lover of our souls

He pulled us from the darkness of dust's domain,

and placed us in the fold

We are the sheep of His pasture, no longer alone;

we now have a Shepherd

We have been rescued by love, and our hearts are

eternally safe and captured

As we walk in His light and we are humbled by

this newfound nobility

We realize His Spirit gives us entrance to realms of

glory, and heavenly mobility

Thank You, Lord, for Your grace, Your love, Your

blood and Your sacrifice

You paved our way to Gates of pearl, rivers of glass,

and eternity in paradise

Our worship we bestow with restless abandonment, for

all You've done for Your creation

Our Holies rise with tears of thankfulness in a posture

of complete and rampant oblation

We are robed in white, Saints of God, the ones who were

remembered and grafted in

And now the blessings of Abraham are ours to partake,

we have become family, and all one kin

You are a God who loves all, from the least to the greatest;

You never show preference

And, Saints of God are growing, as the light shines from Sea

to Sea, because "The Cross Made The Difference."

(Visit promiselandchurch, net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

"Truth - A Marketable Commodity"

Melchizedek, blessing Abraham

"Truth - A Marketable Commodity"

"Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils."

(Hebrews 7:4)

Genesis 14:20 states, "And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.  And he gave him tithes of all."  (Genesis 14:20)  Tithes, paid by Abraham to Melchizedek, and paid by obedient Christians today, are the reason the gospel is reaching into all the world with fervor.  Investors:  Here it is, the treasure you can lay up where neither moth nor rust can touch it, the investment that never loses its value, the investment that far exceeds earth's market value; what is it?  "Truth - A Marketable Commodity."  

 Barnes' notes gives an excellent commentary

of  Abraham's tithe to Melchizedek:

 "And he gave him a tithe of all.  -  This is a very significant act.  In presenting

the tenth of all the spoils of victory, Abram makes a practical acknowledgment

of the absolute and exclusive supremacy of the God whom Melchizedek

worshipped, and of the authority and validity of the priesthood which he 

exercised ... It is obvious that here we stand on broader ground than the 

special promise made to Abram.  Melchizedek was not a partner in the call of

Abram, and yet the latter acknowledges him as a priest of the Most High God.

Hence, we must fall back on the covenant made with Noah - the representative

of the whole race after the deluge - as the broad basis of authority on which 

Melchizedek acted.  That covenant, then, was not a dead letter.  It still lived 

in the heart and will of a part of the nations.  Its hallowing and exalting 

truths had produced at least one center of pure and spiritual worship on the 

earth.  Even Abram, the called of God, acknowledges its constituted head. 

And the Most High God, Founder and Upholder of heaven and earth, 

thereby guarantees its validity for all who in every place call on his name

in sincerity and truth."

Melchizedek and Abraham

The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary states, "Just when and where the idea arose of making the tenth the rate for paying tribute to rulers and of offering gifts as a religious duty cannot be determined.  History reveals that it existed in Babylon in ancient times, also in Persia and Egypt, even in China.  It is quite certain that Abraham knew of it when he migrated from Ur. (Gen. 14:17-20)  By Abraham's day, the giving of tithes had been recognized as a holy deed."  Indeed, the Encyclopaedia Brittanica says that, "the custom was almost universal in antiquity." 

Tithing was a sacred duty revealed to Abraham by God.  And, Melchizedek was called the King of Salem, which means King of peace according to Hebrews 7:2, and he was a priest of the Most High God.  In Psalm 110:4, the coming Messiah (who is Jesus Christ our Lord) is said to be made Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

You say, "What does all this have to do with me?"  People, today, are looking for investments like gold, and other commodities that don't quickly lose their value.  Why?  The dollar is failing; the euro is failing; Nations are going bankrupt; the world is tottering on the precipice of a One World Currency, which is the oracle of endtime Bible prophecy about to be fulfilled.  So?  Giving to the work of God is the best investment you could ever make!  Your investment has eternal value.  And, tithing, as shown, is Biblical, a tenth of all income is the foundation of all giving.

Money is loved for a lot of wrong reasons, but it's still the need to accomplish all things valuable and invaluable.  It's the source of greed, the source of power, the source of position, the commodity of the rich, the angst of the poor, the Market's baby, the hard worker's dime, the Joy of a lotto winner, the ultimate downfall of a slothful squanderer, the valuable lesson for the lemonade stand owner, the family war at the reading of the will, a wielding and unmerciful wand for the hounding IRS, the bargaining earmarks for hungry politicians  ...  Or it's the billboard that calls you to the Lord Jesus Christ, the tracts, the Holy Bibles and the food that feed the Nations, the Easter production and Christian movie that caresses your very soul, the wings of flight that carry the Truth of Jesus Christ our Lord to every Nation - kindred and tongue, it's the Church's wheels, the Bible's wind, the honest anointed Preacher's world vision, and it's "God's"  ... when we place it back in His Holy hands  ...  It all belongs to Him  ...

The love of money can be the root of all evil or it can be dedicated to the root of all Good.  Who will fund Truth?  Who will take up his cross of wealth and follow the Lord, paving the road with money to market Truth?  Who will give so that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ burns like a roaring flame in every Nation of our hungry lost world?  Who will lay up his treasure in heaven that everyone possible in earth can go to heaven?  Who?  Who?  Who?  Maybe Almighty God is knocking on Your heart  ...  It's all about the One who died and rose again; the One who's coming again very soon; the One who's looking for a Few Good Men or Women to carry the cross, light the flame, and light the world with the only thing that will save planet earth: "Truth - A Marketable Commodity." 

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

Contact promiselandchurch.net to Give online!

Investing in the souls of men, women and

children is the greatest investment of all!

     

What's Your Grammy?

What's Your Grammy?

"David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your  head.  This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

(I Samuel 17:45-47)

Everybody's got one.  One what?  We all have a talent, a gift, a sense of humor, an attribute, "A Grammy," a 'song' that defines us and makes us unique.  Often times, like David, people take one look at us and say, "What makes you think you can do that?"  They told Walt Disney at his first university that he wasn't creative enough; Einstein flunked the first grade  ...  We can find people everywhere who were told they could not or would not do something.  Christians have the opportunity to make what they do count for the highest of all causes, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Everybody was afraid of Goliath, but suddenly this very young handsome lad shows up and kills this bigmouthed ogre with nothing but a slingshot and a stone.  It's the world's favorite Bible story, but let's look at David's reasoning  ...  He did it so that the whole world would know that there is a God in Israel!  And furthermore, he made the point that everyone would know that it's not by sword or spear that the LORD "saves"  ...  What?  He's "killing" a giant foul-mouthed monster, but He's saying it's so the world will know that God "saves," and not by sword or spear, but that the battle is the LORD's. 

The tricky thing is that "inner motive" of why we want to do whatever we do.  The "song" has a motive, an underlying reason, and God is constantly testing that in us.  What does He want "us" to know?  That's the #1 question; "What's Your Grammy?"  In other words  ...  Where is the song; what is the song; why is the song; who brings the song; and is it even a song?  Huh?  You'll see.

The Lord Jesus Christ

Hmmm, interesting, huh?  David's reasoning sounds just like God to me!  Our Lord kills to save, takes down to lift up, gives to take away, covers to reveal, humbles to exalt, sends us to the valley to climb the mountain, teaches us to lose to get, diminishes to multiply, brings beauty from ashes, sends the fire to cause a flood  ...  Oh Yeah, that's my Lord Jesus!

Abraham

  

Our Brother, Abraham, knows what I'm talkin' about.  He found out that "to sacrifice" means "to gain," that to surrender means he won, that the knife in the hand brings the arm of the angel, that the ram coming up the other side of the mountain is the answer for his side of the mountain, and that God's hurts are God's hidden miracles.  It's all about the beautiful paradoxical mind of the Creator.  To Almighty God, a "song" is way more than a song; it has many little intricate interweavings such as we have never pondered  ...

Esther

Esther, are you more than a beauty queen?  Are you where you are because of divine providence or because you're beautiful, or both?  What has driven your success?  "Have you come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"  We all know Esther's "song;" she saved the Jews from annihilation, and God put her there, but it was up to her to carry it out  ...  God provided the intersection, but she had to take the right road, and her "song" was perfectly and wisely executed.  Why?  She realized that her song was not really "her song" at all  ...

David

David's song started way back in the pasture, where his lonely heart grasped for the bigness of God's heart  ...  and he found it.  It molded who he was; his worship of Almighty God identified who he was in the scope of the world around him.  He found out that his song was the Lord's song, and the Lord's song was his song  ... his song revealed his God.  

A "Grammy" is a trademark for an award given by the music recording industry.  What song do we leave behind in our wake?  The word "music" means: a sound that produces an effect.  We only have 1 life in earth to "produce an effect," to reveal our own personal trademark, to sing our song in such a way that the whole world knows WHO we represent, WHO saved us, WHO we are because of HIM, WHERE we're going, WHY we're going there, and WHO is coming back  ...  So, What's Your Grammy?

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

                  PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)           

"The Ark Will Not Be Missed"

"The Ark Will Not Be Missed"

"In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly

in the land," declares the LORD, "men will no longer

say, 'The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.'  "It will never

enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be

missed, nor will another one be made."

(Jeremiah 3:16)

The Ark of the Covenant was the symbol of the Divine presence of God dwelling among the Jews, His Shechinah Glory, His Holy aura, but the scripture says there would come a time when this coveted golden sacred artifact would not be necessary; it would no longer exist; and as unheard of as it would have been to the Jews of that time; "The Ark Will Not Be Missed." 

Astounding, isn't it?  Remember what happened to Uzza?  "And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God."  (I Chronicles 13:10)  Why?  We should all take heed to be reverent, humble, respectful, and very cognizant in the presence of Holy sacred things.  We must not think it trivial in any of our dealings with Almighty God.  Through Jesus Christ, we come boldly to the throne of grace, but it's still a Holy Holy place. 

"And the Levites carried the Ark of God with the

poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded

in accordance with the word of the LORD."

(I Chronicles 15:15)

Why was Uzza killed?  God had given precise instructions that the ark was to be carried on poles upon the shoulders, but this day the ark was on its journey to the City of David.  Uzza and his brother Ahio, sons of Abinadab, had the ark upon a cart driven with oxen and it so happened that the oxen shook it, or stumbled, and the ark was in danger of being overthrown so Uzza reached up and touched the ark to steady it.  Uzza's death was needless; if they had just followed God's implicit instructions of carrying the ark on poles on the shoulders of men, and not on an ox cart, Uzza would not have had to die.  Interesting, isn't it?  And, it's tragic; when God gives instructions, He expects them to be followed; and if not, humans bear the consequences.  

If the Ark was so Holy and so revered, why would it not be missed in later years; why would it not even be thought of; why would there be no need for it?  I was just dying for you to ask!  The Messiah would come, and did come; the Holy One of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Ark, the Shechinah Glory, the Holy of Holies.  He IS the Mercy seat; He IS the blinding light of power and fire; He IS!

"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud

voice, he gave up his spirit.  At that moment the

curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to

bottom.  The earth shook and the rocks split."

(Matthew 27:50-51)

                      

The Ark of the Covenent was in the temple, behind the veil, and when Jesus died, the veil was split in two.  Why?  To let us in!  It was only the Priest who could go behind the veil, once a year, only he could feel the Shechinah Glory of God, but when Jesus died, the ark no longer was needed.  In three days, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and His Glory is sent back to us in the form of His Spirit, the Holy Ghost and fire!  We don't have to depend on a priest, or go behind a veil any longer; "It Is Finished."  Hallelujah!  I said, "Hallelujah to God!"  

Day of Pentecost, Acts 2

What happened on the Day of Pentecost is still happening today, all around the world.  Over 580 million people worldwide have received the Holy Ghost and spoken with tongues.  Priests don't atone for sins anymore, because Jesus Christ paid the cost in full; He took upon Himself the sins of the whole world and all the Glory and fullness of the godhead dwelleth in Him!  And, it's a fact; the scriptures are true  ...  "The Ark Will Not Be Missed." 

                                

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)



"I Will ... If YOU Will"

"I Will  ... If YOU Will"

"And she (Hannah) vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come

upon his head.

(I Samuel 1:11)

 

What does God want?  In Hannah's case, God was waiting for Hannah to say those miracle words, "I Will  ...  If YOU Will," and then He did!  Hannah was barren and wanted a child, but God wanted a Prophet, so when Hannah finally prayed the "right prayer" for her circumstance, God gave her a child. 

We can see this pattern throughout the mighty Word of God in many scriptures where God is wanting something from us for Him to act:

Here, God is saying, If my people will,

then I will  ...

In this scripture, God is essentially saying,

"If you listen to me, then you will dwell safely ...

There are numerous Bible passages where the meaning is implied that a requirement from us brings the result from God:

The implication is:  You will prosper and

be in health in direct relation to how Your

soul prospers.

We get the picture, and the bottom line is that Almighty God has ulterior motives for everything.  What?  Yep.  He is, above all and in every situation, much more interested in the eternal result of our souls, and if He can do something here to further that positive result later, He will do it.  However, you can be sure that He will not override "our wills" to do it, unless we have prayed for His perfect will in our lives.  If we have, at some time, prayed that, then we must not whine when the test or trial comes to justify that prayer.  If we pray, "protect me;" then, that includes "from ourselves" also.  So, if the door is shut on something we deeply desire, we must know that it just might be "an answer" to our own prayer! 

Hannah

Hannah wept bitterly for a child for years, but the moment she said, "If you give him to me, I'll give him to You," she became pregnant.  God was waiting on her.  What prayer have you prayed for years that has gone barren; what desire of your heart has gone unanswered for decades; is there something you so desperately want that you now wonder if God hears you and loves you at all?  Oh, He hears you, and He absolutely loves you, but you might ask yourself this:  How does my desire fit into God's plans?  Do I want a son, but He wants a Prophet?  Do I want money, but He wants souls?  How does what I want fit into what God wants?  What does God want from me?  How can I commit, and follow through, with giving the answer to my prayer to Him?  

Hannah, delivering Samuel to live

with the Prophet in the temple, as

she promised.

You, say, "How does my giving up what God gives me in answer to my prayer, help me?"  Ah, the question that causes the God of the universe to look serious and prophetic  ...  Huh?  Well, think about it  ...  We, humans, all of us, have a problem with self; it always comes back to that; what about me?  We all do it.  So, what if God is always trying to get us to "prefer our brother?"  But, be prepared; when He takes you down that road, it's a long, winding, dusty, dry, lonely, and learning desert road.  What?  Let's just say, God's tests and trials are unique for every individual, but replicated in the perfection of the pearl, in the molding of the pot in the potter's hand, in the prison of false accusations, in the den of ferocious lions, in the fiery furnace of loyalty, and in the Job existence of the eternal question, "Where were you when I formed the foundation of the world?"

Your answer could be in your arms before 5:00 pm today, if  ...  Is God waiting on You?  What words does He want to hear?  You say, "I couldn't do what Hannah did."  It was tough all right, but she had many other children after that; she just had to climb over that initial "Be it unto me according to Your will" hurdle, and join the others who said things like, "Throw me in the furnace if you must, but I will not bow;" or "Perhaps you have been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this;" or "Though they slay me, yet will I trust Him;" and then, there's my favorite statement of all  ...  with her dead son lying on the bed at home and the servant asked, "Is it well with thy son?" and the woman said, "It is well."

Hannah prayed "that" prayer, got her son, and gave him back to God; then said in essence, It is well.  If we're gonna' pray it, we have to mean it; if we vow it, we must perform it; if we want to see it, it's going to come down to those five little words, "I Will  ...  If YOU Will."

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)