The Thanksgiving weekend is one of my family's favorite times of the year. This is one of two times a year our entire family gets together. I look forward to the food, fellowship, and the laughter we share with one another. I feel very fortunate that we are all still here on planet earth and can enjoy one another. Many of us have forgotten the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
I recently sat down with my father, Dr. Ron Phillips, and asked him some questions. I want you to hear his heart and get to know one of my heroes.
Spend a little time around youth activities (sports, arts, music, dance) and you’re sure to hear someone accuse a parent of “living their life through their kids”. I know I have said it about people and I am certain that people have said it about me. But what does that really mean? As I reflect on that statement, I want to pay tribute to my son, Ronnie Marion Phillips, III (Trey) on his Senior Night for his football team.
Every Christian has had to deal with guilt at one time or another in their life. The definition of guilt is “responsibility for a crime or doing something bad or wrong; a feeling caused by knowing or thinking you have done something bad or wrong”. Guilt is a necessary emotion that leads us to complete freedom. In fact, guilt is often what leads us to pursue a relationship with God. We feel guilty and we seek peace and forgiveness; in that regard guilt is necessary and works together for the good for those who are called according to His purpose.
The news from Paris that spread throughout Europe and across the Atlantic on Friday, November 13th, is still inconceivable, and yet the most horrific truth is that we are only temporarily stunned. We are growing accustomed to a cycle of terrorism while expecting the next attack and watching as our children’s dystopian future materializes.
I grew up idolizing Deon Sanders, Warrick Dunn, Derrick Brooks, and Coach Bobby Bowden. I got to meet Coach Bowden as a 12-year-old boy in Orlando at the Southern Baptist Convention in front of 40,000 people. My father was able to arrange this special time for me and I’ll never forget Coach Bowden’s words to me. Crying my eyes out in awe, I said “Coach Bowden you are my hero and I would like to play for you.” He said, “keep your grades up” and then he said in his southern twang, “Boy, why are you crying?” Coach Bowden then said something I have never forgotten: “Boy, what your daddy does is a lot more important than what I do.” I got to meet with Coach Bowden two more times, and my children got to meet him the year before he retired, when he spoke at Abba’s House.
Christians often have their own vernacular. We say things like “blessed and highly favored,” or “we need to die to self,” but often we forget the origins or meanings of these expressions of our faith in Jesus Christ. For example, have you ever considered what the Apostle Paul means when he writes, “your life is hidden with Christ?”
