Greater Love (Remembering Derek Simmons)

Greater Love (Remembering Derek) 

Derek Clayton Simmons

Today marks 15 years since I lost one of my best friends. Derek Simmons died of an accidental overdose around people that cared very little about him. I tell the detailed version of his death in the "Power of Agreement". Not a week goes by that I don't think about him. I celebrated 15 years of marriage this past year and all Kelly and I could think about was how he would have enjoyed the celebration. The country artist, Cole Swindell has a song on the charts now titled, "You should be here". It is a pretty fitting song for anyone that has lost someone they love. Derek's death on 5/5/2001 altered they way I viewed life, faith, and many other aspects of how this fallen world operates. Derek has lived on through his parents, friends, and his brother Colt who was married this past year. Ironically, Colt's wife's name is Derika (you can't make this stuff up).

Derek and I had our teenage struggles, but he believed in me and told me I would preach and serve God one day. To date, I have seen over 5,000 people make decisions for Christ when I tell his story. Last night, I prayed for one of our members who had a brother in jail. The brother's name was Derek. 

The events surrounding Derek's death are still very fishy, but his friends and family are at peace with his transition and know God used it for good (Romans 8:28). Today, I honor the legacy of my friend and will continue to live with the pain of regret that fuels me to spread the gospel and help people in the struggle. Somehow by helping them I am helping him. 

I am thankful that Grace is never about how good we are, but always about how good God is. Derek was saved, baptized, and was touched by the Holy Spirit as a teenager. He died in a season where he drifted away, but I believe I will see my brother again in Glory. Jesus Christ laid down his life for his friends. Derek's death changed the lives of many for the good and was and still is a reminder of what Jesus did for all of us. He had to die so that we might live.

There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15:13

I am praying for every person that has lost someone they truly loved. Hold on to the hope we have in Christ Jesus and his word.

Here is a message I preached at Abba's House (Collide 2015) in memory of Derek. I have told his story in 8 different states and 3 countries. I have shared it in high schools, middle schools, churches, and universities. God continues to use this story to touch this generation, but at the end of the day I still miss my friend. 

In Awe of God!

In Awe of God 

Reflections on our RPMI Passover Conference

Over the last three weeks, we've been talking about how we were made for MORE! I have challenged you to take small steps to begin living a life of faith, stand shoulder-to-shoulder in agreement with fellow believers, and ask God for His physical power daily.

Today, I want to challenge you to increase the amount of awe you have in your heart for God.

According to Dictionary.com, "awe" means "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures."

We serve an awesome God, and He does awesome things for us day in and day out.

But do we notice? Do we take the time to stop and thank Him for everything He has done? Do we look for His answers to our prayers, and admire Him and His work when we see Him move?

 I don’t know about you, but sometimes I forget. If you’re human, you probably do too. And when we do forget, we tend to start thinking that He isn't working. When we don't thank Him for His blessings and recognize them as such, we lose our wonder for our good, GOOD Father.

 But there's an easy remedy. Romans 1:20-21 tells us how to solve this problem:

 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (emphasis mine).

According to this passage, glorifying God and being thankful are the opposites of thinking futile thoughts and having our hearts become dark and foolish. So if we want to live a life of awe, focused on God's tender, loving care and His awesome works, we can do so by glorifying God and giving Him thanks.

 I'm in a place of awe right now. I’ve been overwhelmed with gratitude for God all week. We just wrapped up our first Ronnie Phillips Ministries International Passover conference this week, and God showed out in a big way. Here are just a few of the amazing things He did:

 ·       People Accepted Jesus Christ as Savior.

·       The Kingdom of God was Accepted and Embraced.

·       Blind eyes were opened. I know this may sound crazy to some, but a man walked in with a “See and Eye” dog with someone to help him move around. He could not open his eyes, but later opened them and was reading the Bible after our intercessors prayed for him. I was brought back in to see this for myself.

·       Unity and Restoration came to Faith Worship Center and they have shifted to another level.

·       Worship took us to the King!

·       We almost met both of our financial goals for the mission of RPMI.

 I'm in awe of His goodness and at the generosity of His people. Because of your help, our ministry is working on these mission projects and more:

·       We’re hosting an evangelistic crusade in Nicaragua in June.

·       Plans are underway for Abba's House Haiti and Abba’s House Cuba.

·       We have a dream to build a second church in El Rubio, D.R. This area has not been reached with the Gospel yet, but we have people on the grounds that are eager to begin the work there.

·       We will be able to continue funding our local feeding and homeless ministries every week.

·       We want to support local churches in the inner-city as they work to solve Chattanooga's gang problems with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are talking with like-minded individuals right now about some partnership ideas. 

 All of these things are just the beginning. I can't wait to see what He does and where He leads us from here!

 I want to thank all the people who helped make this conference possible, and then I want to challenge you to do something special this week that will help you deepen your awe of God too.

 First, let me give honor to whom honor is due:

 Kelly and I want to thank Pastor Greg & Tiffany Collins and the Faith Worship Center leadership team for believing in RPMI and having the faith to host us. We want to thank Abba’s House, RPMI (Bill, Jim, Alicia, Greg), our intercessors who prayed and drove to Chatsworth every night to help us, all of our guest speakers and worship leaders, choirs, friends, and every person who helped us! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Now, I want to ask you to do something special that will help light your fire the way God has lit mine this week.  

• Get out your smartphone, journal, or notepad. 
• Start a list right now of everything God has already done for you today. For example, did He help you make it to work on time? Did a friend call you to say hello at just the right moment? Did you get an unexpected check in the mail? Did your lunch date pay for your lunch unexpectedly? Write it down.
• As you move throughout your day, keep jotting down each thing God does for you. 
• As your list grows, THANK HIM for each thing He does.

 If you will do this, I believe you will begin to notice God at work in your life in tremendous ways that you might not have seen before. You'll see His provision, His favor, and His blessing in undeniable, blazing color. His tender mercy in your life will become obvious, the moment you begin to look for it.

 And as you glorify God and are thankful, your "awe factor" will increase. God's power will become more real to you, as you honor Him with your attention.

 Our Father has been so good to us, and He deserves every bit of the worship and thanksgiving we can give Him. Will you join me as we stand in awe of His work in our lives today?

We are so thankful for our new partners who have made a decision to stand side-by-side with Kelly and I to do the work of the Kingdom. Many have asked us how they can become a monthly partner. We now have the capability for you to do that on our website. Click on the “Give and Partner” button and register to become a monthly partner or give through the APP. No gift is too small. If God hasn't lead you to give, then go ahead and sign-up for our free weekly devotionals and become a prayer partner. Will you come into agreement with us? We hope you will. Thanks again to our friends and family for loving us and believing in us.

 Pastor Ronnie & Kelly Phillips 2016

Made for More Challenge # 3: Risen for Power!

Made for More Challenge #3: YOU Can Tap Into God’s Physical Power

The last two weeks, we’ve been talking about the risen life—how you can walk in the MORE for which God created you. The first week, I challenged you to take a step toward a life of faith by finding one Scriptural promise to claim for your need and praying that promise back to God. Did you do it?

The second week, I challenged you to commit to a life lived in agreement. I asked you to dedicate one hour each week to attending a small group at your local church, so you can build friendships and find like-minded people to walk with you on this journey of life. I hope you’ll be in that small group this Sunday, worshipping and studying God’s Word together.

Today as we celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits, I want to talk to you about a life lived in power. Christ himself was and is our Firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:23).

Did you know that you can tap into God’s physical power?

God’s power is not reserved for an elite few. It’s not just something you can see at church services, when people get healed or fall to the ground in the glory of the Holy Spirit. No; God’s power is available to everyone. Our Father wants us to be filled with His power in our daily lives.

Romans 8:11-12 says:

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.”

Notice that Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit would give life to your mortal body! He wasn’t referring to some kind of heavenly power that would fill your immortal body after you go to Heaven. He was saying that God will give you the power you need to accomplish every task set before you on THIS earth, in THIS life!

That means the Holy Spirit will give you power to:

·       Take the kids to ball practice;

·      Face another day working in a tough job;

·      Say “au revoir” to your military spouse who’s leaving on deployment;

·      Save money and get out of debt;

·      Get to church every week;

·      Exercise and eat right; and

·      Take care of your marriage.

.   Forgive those who have hurt you

God’s power is available to you right now. He wants to help you with every task you will face this week.

So how do you tap into God’s supernatural power?

Your challenge today is to try out the two secrets to being filled with God’s power. Both of these secrets are found in Psalm 71:5-9, which says:

“For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.

My praise shall be continually of You. I have become as a wonder to many, but You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day.

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.”

Secret #1 to being filled with power is to ask.

The Psalmist specifically asked for strength. He said, “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Jesus said that if we ask, we would receive (Matthew 7:7), and the apostle James told us that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2).

So we need to ask God for help, even in the mundane circumstances of our daily lives. If something is important to you, it’s important to God. So ask your Father for the power you need!

Pray this simple prayer with me:

“Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, I want to thank You for Your Word today. I ask You to fill me with Your Holy Spirit right now. Fill me up with Your joy, which is my strength. Fill me with Your own strength, life, and victorious power today. Help me to notice Your power at work in my life, and help me to finish everything I have to get done today with more power and anointing than I ever dreamed. Bless all the work of my hands, and I give You praise and glory for what You’re going to do. Thank You, Father.”

Secret #2 to tapping into God’s power is to trust.

If you just prayed the prayer above, God heard you and He will answer. So believe Him, and go after everything you have to do today in faith.

Faith without works is dead, so you have to act and not just ask. However, if you’ll go after what you have to do today (the “works”) and believe Him to keep His promise (the “faith”), He will be right there to back you up with His anointing! He will put His “super” on your “natural” and do supernatural things that surprise you.

As you move throughout your day, it will build your faith AND your joy (and remember, the joy of the Lord is your strength) if you will keep an eye out for the Holy Spirit at work in your life. For example:

·      When you get the kids in bed and they haven’t burned the house down, thank God for His help!

·      When you get your housework finished, notice what a miracle that was and praise Him for it!

·      When you make it through a tough day at work and you weren’t sure you would, thank him for it!

Your final Made for More challenge is simple: ask, and you shall receive!

Ask God for physical strength. Ask Him to fill you with His victorious power. Then trust that He heard your prayer and will do extraordinary things in your ordinary life.

Do you need God’s power and strength today? Leave a comment below if this message speaks to you!

Also, don’t forget to pray for our RPMI Passover conference starting today! I'm asking God for a mighty outpouring of his spirit and partners to help me do what God has placed in my heart to do.

Here are the mission projects we’re currently working on:

• We’re hosting an evangelistic crusade in Nicaragua in June.
• We’ve almost finished the construction of Phase 4 of our new Abba's House Church and children’s center in Cien Fuegos Dominican Republic.
• Plans are underway for Abba's House Haiti and Cuba. 
• The dream for RPMI is to build a second church in El Rubio, D.R. This area has not been reached with the Gospel.
• Also, our feeding and homeless ministries needs additional funds. 
• We want to support local churches in the inner-city to assist them with Chattanooga's gang problems. We are working with like-minded individuals about some partnership ideas.

Will you be one of our partners? Will you come into agreement with the mission and vision God has given us and stand with us as we carry the message of Christ to the ends of the earth? We are asking those that can to Sow a Firstfruits offering to RPMI today. You can give securely on this website if you can't make it to the conference. If you don't have a church home, we invite you to join us live today at the Faith Worship Center (Chatsworth, GA) Facebook page at 10:30 am. 

Thank you in advance for your partnership and prayers, and please keep us in your prayers this week. Expect Big Things. Experience New Things. Exemplify Christ in all you do!