"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)

    

"In The Image of God"

Paul and Timothy

"In the Image of God"

"But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and

follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,

love, patience, meekness."

(I Timothy 6:11)

MEN!  Just the mention of that word, today, conjures up images of muscular, tan, powerful looking, glistening hunks who grace the covers of magazines, show off their mighty bulging physiques in commercials, movies and everywhere else Hollywood gains their entrance, but this is not exactly the image God looks for in a man.  What about WOMEN?  Billboards can't seem to advertise any product whatsoever without a scantily clad female staring down into your vehicles on your innocent way to work.  Our world has lost touch with what "godly" means.  And, all of the marriages everywhere would endure a lot better if gals could find guys, and guys could find gals, who are living and walking "In The Image of God." 

Why?  Girl, if you've ever been married; you know what I'm talkin' about.  It's a matter of the heart; men, according to scripture, are supposed to love their wives as Christ loves the Church.  It's great to look like a "hunk," but there should be something substantial underneath those biceps, and it's about treating you right, honoring you, and "I'm sorry" are two words of continual marriage vocabulary!  But, hey Girl, you gotta' treat him right too; it's a reciprocal agreement  ...  God must be in the middle, and if He is, it's not a hunk and a fox on either side, it's an "image of the heart of God" on either side  ...

Paul designated Timothy as a "Man of God."  By the way, it should be noted that the attitude and posture of "meekness" is not at all weakness.  Meek means 'mild' or 'slow to anger,' and what lady doesn't want that in a man?

                                             

Moses was considered a "man of God."  Why?  He spent time with His Maker.  He sat on a mountain in the misty lonely altitude of cold untempered winds to hear from God.  And, when He did; it was a life changing experience  ...  the finger of God writing the commandments on tablets of stone as Moses sat spellbound in utter awe watching the lightning striking strokes penetrating into the depths of rock with expert accuracy and precision.  It's no wonder when Moses descended the mountain, his countenance was on fire and changed, his spirit was moved to its core, his heart was profoundly humbled, and he was in no mood to burst into a lascivious spactacle of nudity, idolatry, and unimaginable sin!  That would be like stepping out of the Holy of Holies into an XXXX film live before your eyes.  Sin is sickening to the Holy man or woman of God, especially so when you've been in His Holy presence for a period of time  ...  

                                                               

David, being anointed



 O, David, the man after God's own heart.  He was a man who was brave, who trusted in His God, who loved His Creator with the descriptive adoring words of his very soul, who sang his melodic tunes in the light of the moon, and the wispy breezes carried them on angels' wings straight to the throne room of God.  No man in earth is perfect, and he made his mistakes, but what made David a giant, himself, is that he humbled himself and acknowledged his sin.  It's something we all must do: men, women, teens, children  ...  we all come to God the same way, through repentance, sorrowful and sincere repentance, and this is the way we remain in God's favor and blessing  ...  our daily lives must be repentant as long as we are mortals in earth.  The purity of the covering of grace does not lie upon a bed of sin  ...

Elijah

Another "Man of God;" there is no doubt that Almighty God was with Elijah.  Miracles, prophecy, and power overshadowed him.  The prophets of Baal found out what the God of the universe thought of Elijah, because God answered him by "fire."  

God will answer YOU by fire, as well, after repentance; he will fill you with the Holy Ghost and fire, and you will speak in a language you never learned, feel the glory of a God you've never felt, experience joy such you can't even imagine, step into a dimension you never dreamed possible, and it's the kind of thing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ our Savior loves to do.  He ever lives to "live in YOU!"

Elisha receiving the mantle when

Elijah was taken up

Ah, then there was that mighty, but persistent, Elisha, who was no dummy; he observed all that God did through Elijah, so he purposed to be like him and His God, in fact, "double" like him.  Elisha wanted a double portion of the power Elijah had and so he followed him around like white on rice.  Why?  Because Elijah told him that if he, Elisha, saw him go away, he would receive the mantle of a double portion of his power in God.  Elisha saw it, and Elisha caught the mantle, and he had a double portion. 

The call to be holy is for men, women, teens, children, all of us.  Imagine what it would be like to live in a world of people who patterned themselves "in the image of God."  We will not be perfect until we reach heaven, but we could walk in love, rid ourselves of hatred, jealousy, envy, strife, drunkenness, sin, lust, murders, fornication, evil, and seek to be "like" our God in all of His ways.  What is God like?  The Holy Bible is who God IS; He will never say anything different than what is in His Word; all of the sought after answers to life's questions are in His Word; all admonitions to live in His image are in His Word.  If we don't read His Word, or know His Word, we will have much trouble being like Him.

To be "In The Image of God" is to take up our cross and follow Him.

(Visit promiseland church.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

          

"Fabulous February & Magnificent March!"

"Fabulous February & Magnificent March"

Phillips, Craig and Dean on February 29th; Dr. Raymond Larson on March 1st, and Rick Pino on March 2nd through March 4th with 50 hours of Worship!  

PROMISELAND CHURCH ON FIRE!

                                                                       

                                                                          

What is it all about?  It's about WORSHIP, Power, Glory, and FIRE on the altar of God!  It is the single most spectacular week and weekend of PromiseLand's history!  It starts with a concert on February 29th with Phillips, Craig and Dean, who won the Inspirational Album of the Year award on 4/26/10.  
  

      

41st Annual GMA Dove Awards

Then, on March 1st, we welcome Dr. Raymond Larson, who brings truth to the New Church Order at 10:00 am.  He's a Pastor, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Influencer.

 

Are you excited yet?  Here it comes:  March 2nd through March 4th, we will go up in the smoke of the Holy Ghost with awesome worship and leading us into the Holy of Holies with Rick Pino.

"Rick Pino is the Founder of Fire Rain Ministries, a "voice crying out" ministry who for the past 7 years has been calling people to lives of radical love, radical holiness, and radical devotion to Jesus.  His music is known for being militant, joyful, intimate and prophetic.  Rick is also the co-founder of "Fire on the Altar" regional worship events, which are 50-hour gatherings of non-stop worship in the heart of the tabernacle of David.  During these gatherings there is only one agenda: to bring the Lord an offering of unbroken love."  (rickpino.com) 

   



Dynamic, earthshaking, incredible heaven moving, human stirring, soul moving, AWAKENING!  What can you expect?  Expect to come out totally different than when you arrived; expect to overflow with the Holy Ghost and fire; expect to have a move of your spirit such as you have never known; expect your soul to explode in power and wonder; expect the presence of Almighty God, Jesus Christ our Lord; expect signs, miracles, and wonders; expect the greatest move of the Spirit of God that you have ever seen or experienced; expect the unexpected  ...

                                          

We can already feel the soon influx of the heavenly hosts' arrival in anticipation of our mortal Holy, Holy, Holy's.  Day by day the thrill in our souls rises, as does the thrill in the soul of our mighty King of Kings.  It will be a Holy completed circle  ...  Holy, Holy, Holy's in heaven and Holy, Holy, Holy's in earth  ...  "in earth as it is in heaven;" and the rain will fall; the glory will be manifested; the Spirit will move; humans will step into another dimension for 50 hours!  Just imagine 50 hours of nonstop, Holy, glorious, and powerful WORSHIP! 

 

Come join us through Live Streaming!

"Fabulous February & Magnificent March!"

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

"Shepherds 101"

"Shepherds 101"

"And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.  And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods."

(Ezekiel 34:24-25)

Ah, David, an example of "Shepherds 101!"  He was the shepherd, next only to the Main Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord.  David is mentioned 1,127 times in the Bible, more than any other person.  David was a man after God's own heart, and as a young shepherd boy, his trust in God was such that he expected God to help him slay the lions and bears that came to attack his sheep.  If you want to sleep in the woods, it's best to have little ole David around  ...  even as a young lad, he was fierce and fearless.  

David, being anointed by Samuel

David was anointed three times, the first time in Bethlehem by Saul; the second time was for part of Israel; and the third time was for all of Israel, the latter anointings in Hebron.  Why is this important?  "Anointing," anytime, anywhere, anyhow IS of utmost importance.  God had His eye on David, and no doubt, the holy love songs in the dark moonlit pastures with the tinkling lilting of the harp, moved God to select him from an early age.  David had this fearless edge, even though his heart was full of melodies and psalms, that intricacy of phrases and soul-stirring wording, which still moves the coldest of hearts today.

David and Goliath

David had his exploits, and so do our shepherds in this hour.  Our "godly" Shepherds, Pastors and Prophets, over the sheep in our Churches today, spend their time weeping between the porch and the altar, fighting the wolves in sheep's clothing, warring with devils and demons, protecting their flocks by night, hearing the distant thunder, discerning the face of the skies, testing and gauging the winds, following the cloud by day and the fire by night, and moving with the directional unction of God  ...  They are Shepherds in need of our constant prayers of protection, for if the Shepherd is destroyed, the sheep will scatter  ...  

Everett Fox of jhom.com explains nuances of David's life as a shepherd, and when he was king, exquisitely:  "As a youngest son and a shepherd, he rises from powerless beginnings; his youth is marked by unparalleled success as soldier and incipient leader; he is loved by women and by Jonathan, the crown prince (who should be his rival); he miraculously escapes death on numerous occasions in his flight from Saul; his path to the throne is enabled by overzealous subordinates, whose bloody deeds on his behalf somehow do not reach as far as their master; and ultimately he is able to unify a tribal society, secure lasting peace, and create a new order based on a triad of dynasty, royal city, and temple."

Further, Fox states, "No one in the Bible gets away with anything, not Jacob, the ancestor of Israel, not Moses, the liberator and lawgiver himself, and not even the charismatic and beloved David, as much as he is said to 'strengthen himself in YHWH his God,' as noted in I Samuel 30:6, and despite the fact that he is credited in biblical tradition with writing some of the world's great religious poetry in Psalms."

David, in shame, after Nathan,

the Prophet, reveals his sin

The most Anointed ones of all are the most vulnerable of all.  The power and greatness, that God grants to His chosen, should be taken with great trepidation.  Those who watch for our souls, who stand guard in the moonlight, who beat the wolves away from the helpless sheep, who carry the torch of truth, who lead the march with authority  ...  who drip with anointing  ...  They are the stalwart David's of our day, and we can never pray too much for them  ...  God will always have One who is a Moses, a Joseph, a Jeremiah, a Paul, a David  ... a Shepherd, as He is  ...

  

There are not many David's, those nighttime lonely moon gazers, those lovers of God with new worship phrases always on their minds, those dreamy-eyed far off thinkers who never seem to be "here," the humans who appear to not inhabit mortality, those that don't fit in with the unholy mundane surroundings of earth, those visionaries who are years ahead plotting the route from years ago, those with eyes ablaze with the two that don't seem to go together: love and prophecy, those who would rather meditate and cogitate than relate, those who look into your eyes and know what you're about before you say even a word, those who live an ethereal eagle existence  ...  those who are ever far "away" with God  ...

"Shepherds 101" teaches us that David's are 'pasture people;' and, I know, that may sound rather out of touch to you, and not socially acceptable, but they actually socialize very well, because they know that they know  ...  You feel uncomfortable around them at times, because they seem to be way ahead  ...  and they are  ...  They dwell in a realm beyond the borders; they expand with God's universal vision; they see what others don't see; they feel what we wish we could feel  ...  They dance to music we can't hear  ... 

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

        

"REVIVAL!"

"REVIVAL!"

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour

out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters

shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,

your young men shall see visions."

(Joel 2:28)

It's REVIVAL in February!  Where?  In Austin, for sure; at the PromiseLand Church; through the Live Streaming for sure; and the fire is spreading to other Churches, other Nations, other kindreds, other tongues, and all around the world.  "What's happening?" you ask.  It's simple; somebody prayed, somebody fasted, somebody bowed low to climb high, somebody moved HIM!  Moved Who?  Our Almighty God!  When God is moved, things happen, Spirit falls, people are stirred, winds blow, dreams come, visions are seen, angels appear, chains are broken, the bound are loosed, tongues speak, hearts are changed, souls are revived  ...  It's called "REVIVAL!"

"And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,

and all mankind together will see it.  For the

mouth of the LORD has spoken."

(Isaiah 40:5)

Barnes' notes on the Bible says it like this: "And the glory of the Lord - The phrase here means evidently the majesty, power or honor of Yahweh.  He would display his power, and show himself to be a covenant-keeping God, by delivering his people from their bondage, and reconducting them to their own land.  This glory and faithfulness would be shown in his delivering them from their captivity in Babylon; and it would be still more illustriously shown in his sending the Messiah to accomplish the deliverance of his people in later days."  

Hallelujah!  I said, "Hallelujah!"  The Messiah has come!  The Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived, died upon a rugged splintered cross, and rose the third day  ...  He's Alive!  And, we know it, because we feel His Spirit in our hands, in our feet, in our souls day by day.  People all over the world know it, 580 million of them and it's growing minute by minute.  Why?  REVIVAL!  It's happening here, there, everywhere.  Why?  It's "all flesh" time; there's a rustling in the treetops; the ground trembles and moves at the anticipation of His coming; even the animals are restless; lots of people are looking up; the Lord God's Church is exploding with power and Spirit  ...  Why?  "In earth as it is in heaven." 

The word "Revival" means in one definition: a New Production!  Earth is in the middle of a "New Production."  Heaven is coming down, spirits are reaching up, angels are descending, hearts are rising, 'reign'  is falling, glory is emanating, power is flowing, tongues are erupting  ...  REVIVAL!

"The heavens proclaim his righteousness,

and all the peoples see his glory."

(Psalm 97:6)

Get in it, or get run over!  The magnificent fire of the Holy Ghost is a consuming element; it falls upon whosoever will receive it.  All it takes is a hungry heart, a sincere humbled repentant soul, a desperate human  ...  someone who is ready to give it up, ready to let the Lord fight the battles, ready to feel forgiven, sanctified, innocent, delivered, and "revived."  It's Yours  ...  for the asking  ...

The price is being paid by many; the altar is drenched with tears and ready for the fire; the voices are sounding their calls as a trumpet; humanity is crying aloud for its Creator; the lines have been drawn in the sand  ...  The righteous will hear from their God; the hungry will be filled; the weary will be joyful; the lame shall dance; the deaf will hear; the blind shall see; the lost will be found  ... The ready will be "caught up"  ...

Ah, "REVIVAL;" what is it all about?  It's about serious sorrowful repentance; it's about the SPIRIT of the living God taking up residence in worshipful "dust;" it's about being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking with tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance ; it's about being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins  ...  It's about water and fire  ...

We can wrap it up in one word, "REVIVAL!"

                                                                     

   

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)