About Steve Phillips
Even
as a youth inflated thoughts occupied my mind. Pride filled the
heart from my earliest days.
Though trained by my parents in manners, discipline, and
industriousness, the nurture and admonition of the Lord was wholly
absent in my upbringing. Our home was moral and orderly, but ungodly
nonetheless. No Bible was opened, no prayers ascended, and no church
was attended.
And so I lived for the first 19 years of my life; in many foolish
and harmful desires, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the
mind. Sports, especially swimming, basketball, and surfing, occupied
much energy, as did a growing obsession with rock music.
Unraveling mysteries and logical reasoning delighted the mind, which
led to various philosophies and eastern mysticism. At age 18, a
pastor's son would exit the school bus in tears after my public
ridicule of his Christianity.
Thus the first year of the university was entered; full of pride,
steeped in deluding philosophies, entrenched in rock music, and
enslaved by various lusts. Yet repeatedly, at 3 a.m. after attending
rock concerts and alone in the stillness of my room, an inescapable
emptiness plagued me. There is no peace for the wicked.
After that first year of study a summer job was obtained at an
explosives factory. Many university students also worked on that
night shift including Clyde, a master's degree candidate in
theology.
Advanced education dazzled me and drew me to him. The Gospel
consumed him and drew him to me. He preached Christ to me and my
heart was pierced to the core. Yet I managed to recover enough to
"logically" rationalize away his words.
He spoke the Gospel to me on another occasion accompanied by that
same inexplicable conviction. Once again, however, I hardened my
heart and continued to do so; that is, until our building exploded.
Clyde had left just the day before for vacation. It was 10 p.m. when
450 pounds of magnesium ignited, lighting up the skies for an
11-mile radius. Two coworkers were burned to death.
I was blown through the air, surrounded by flames, for a distance of
some 25 feet out the only open door of the building. Lying in the
dirt outside, I thought that I would surely perish. Were it not for
the God of mercies, I surely would have.
When Clyde returned he asked me if I would relate the events of that
night to him. He listened as I did. He then told me that God has
spared my life for a reason.
Now I was the one listening as he once again spoke the truth of the
Gospel. The Lord led him to focus specifically upon proofs of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. As he did, that same conviction came
upon me. This time I yielded.
We began to meet together each Friday night, where I would bring
questions I had from the Scriptures during the week. Often we would
discuss the Word until the early hours of the morning.
I read the Bible four and five hours or more daily. I neglected
schoolwork. I began to preach to my former mystical associates and
students on campus. I discovered from Clyde that one could actually
study the Bible at a college level.
It was in Bible college that I met the beloved Marchant King. I
eagerly attached myself to him as a Timothy to a Paul. I shall be
forever indebted to him for opening up grand vistas of the Word of
God to my heart. It is a heritage treasured by me and of inestimable
value to this day.
Life for me was now filled with the study of the Word, witnessing of
the Lord Jesus Christ, fellowship with the people of God, and
teaching the Scriptures. Worship of my Lord and Savior was all that
mattered to me.
Almost from the beginning, Romans 15:20-21 has been upon my heart.
"And thus I aspired to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was
already named ... as it is written, 'They who had no news of Him
shall see.'"
After 29 years of service for our Lord Jesus and waiting upon Him,
and after several short-term missions in South America and Africa,
the Lord confirmed His sending us to Nigeria in this passage:
"Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples ... Behold, you
will call a nation you do not know, and a nation which knows you not
will run to you, because of the Lord your God" (Isaiah 55:4-5).