The Ron Phillips Story
My mother remarried when I was 2. We were taken to Sunday School every Sunday morning, but my new daddy got drunk every night. I was intimidated by his drinking. All I wanted was a kiss or a hug. Always in trouble I would pray at night to God to help me get through the next day without a whipping . Not long after I was eight years old I was expected to work on the farm from dawn to sunset. The only respite was school or rain. I was 12 years old in Sunday School when I was taught the age of miracles was over . How could God really be a has been?
I remember feeling cheated. My heart broken I prayed, “God , If I could just see one miracle I could live for you” At church “Sweet Hour of Prayer” was often sung, but no one ever prayed five minutes much less an hour. By the time I was 15 my step-father had quit drinking but the stress of farming intensified His craving and frustration. One day the worn out tractor broke down again. Many times before he had swung at me wanting me to fight him like a man. This time when I got away from him I hitched hiked to Dallas to my grandmothers. My parents came and took me to Harry Hines Juvenile as a runaway. Then the steel door slammed shut to my jail cell. I knew nobody cared or loved me. Crying out to God.
I pleaded …………….“Why God?”
At 17, I lied about my asthma to join the Navy and was later discharged for the same reason. I was homeless at 19 working for a carnival, sleeping on the ground taking sponge baths in service stations. At 21 I met and married a backslid Pentecostal girl. Soon I met her Pentecostal grandmother who welcomed me with open arms. I was awed with her sincere testimonies of God’s healing power and her consistent prayer life. I knew she had what I needed.
At 23 I repented and got baptized in Jesus Name speaking in tongues just like they did in the Bible. Something real andtangible had happened to me. God started blessing me and I was doing well. My pastor came and told me to give God the glory for what he had given me or I would lose everything. I did not heed his warning and lost everything. Soon after my wife left me. I gave myself to drinking and drugs till I lost my mind. In a mental institution no one could help me. After getting out God dealt with me to no avail. One night God spoke to me saying,
“ If you don’t come back to me I will cut you off!”
In fear I went back to church and repented. I started obeying and not questioning what was preached verifying the preached word was in the Bible.
It’s said, L.S.D. (also called acid) is the strongest drug known to man, having up to 300,000 doses in one liquid ounce one dose. One dose had left me without a sound mind. Nine months later its effects still opened me up to thoughts I could not control. I could not sleep in the dark for eyes would be everywhere peering at me. I could not hold down a job. Tormenting spirits would taunt me night and day. Many times I could not pray and I would just say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, until there was enough peace of mind that I could.
Jesus was my only hope.
I could only read the Bible by underlining only 2 or 3 words at a time. Otherwise all would be lost. I had to exert all my mental energy on what I was doing or my mind would waver. My pastor tried to talk to me. I could hear the words but I could only comprehend part of what he was saying.
One night I went forward for prayer. As the pastor prayed for me, ( I prayed silently ) saying, “Lord I believe” over and over again. Then all of the sudden, like the volume of a radio being turned up I could hear the sound of the most beautiful bells. Then the volume was turned down and I could hear my pastor asking me, “Do You Believe?” over and over. At first it seemed I had lost the ability to speak but then the power of God fell. My knees crumbled under the power of God and then I got up and shouted, “YES!” speaking in tongues as the Spirit of God gave me the utterance. I was instantly delivered from the powerful self-destructive cravings I had felt for drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.
In the Old Testament, the High Priest wore a robe with bells around its hem. When he went behind the veil into the Holy of Holies, the other priests would listen for the tinkling of bells. This signified that God had accepted the sacrifice. Today Jesus is our High Priest who has already offered up His own Blood as the sacrifice for our sins. The tinkling of those bells I heard that day lets me know because of Jesus Blood,
I have been Forgiven. I have been Set free – FREE INDEED!
by ………..HIS LOVE & THE POWER of HIS BLOOD!
God has given me back my mind, my wife, my son who now is a minister of the Gospel and pastors Springridge United Pentecostal Church in Clinton, Mississippi where my wife and I also worship. We also have another son and 3 grandsons. All my children and grandchildren have repented, been baptized in Jesus name, and filled with the Holy Ghost! Now after 52 years of marriage and fifty years of living for God I can truly give and say……
I GIVE GOD All the GLORY! I GOT MY MIRACLE!
Footnote: God did bless my step dad’s continued effort to quit drinking. When he died he had not drank for over fourty years. He was well known and respected by many for having had such a wonderful influence and impact on peoples lives.