Stay tuned to meet one of the most 00:00:01.33\00:00:02.80 acclaimed singers of our time. 00:00:02.83\00:00:04.80 My name is Yvonne Lewis 00:00:04.83\00:00:06.57 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:00:06.60\00:00:08.60 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:00:31.86\00:00:34.03 My guest today is Pastor Wintley Phipps, 00:00:34.10\00:00:37.00 Singer, Speaker and Author. 00:00:37.03\00:00:39.73 I had the privilege of interviewing him 00:00:39.77\00:00:42.17 on the "Anchors of Truth" Set so let's take a look. 00:00:42.20\00:00:47.41 I have the privilege of sitting on the Set 00:00:47.44\00:00:51.45 of our Anchors of Truth Program 00:00:51.48\00:00:53.95 with our Presenter for this Series, 00:00:53.98\00:00:56.38 Pastor Wintley Phipps, 00:00:56.42\00:00:57.79 he is no stranger to you, I know, 00:00:57.82\00:01:00.76 but just in case you've not heard of him, 00:01:00.79\00:01:03.73 he is an Author, he is a Speaker, 00:01:03.76\00:01:07.60 he is a Singer, he is a Pastor, 00:01:07.60\00:01:11.37 and he is a blessing to us, 00:01:11.40\00:01:13.50 thank you so much for being with us on Urban Report. 00:01:13.54\00:01:16.24 Thank you very much, good to be with you. 00:01:16.27\00:01:18.17 Pastor Wintley, I have known you for so many years 00:01:18.21\00:01:22.54 you even were... there were two pastors 00:01:22.58\00:01:25.95 that blessed my son, Jason, and you were one of them. 00:01:25.98\00:01:29.95 So, that was like almost 30 years ago. 00:01:29.98\00:01:32.55 So, I've known you for a long time 00:01:32.59\00:01:35.06 and during that time, 00:01:35.09\00:01:36.79 I have seen so many things in your career 00:01:36.83\00:01:40.66 in your ministry, you have sung for... 00:01:40.70\00:01:44.47 how many Presidents? 00:01:44.50\00:01:45.83 Six United States' Presidents. 00:01:45.87\00:01:48.54 Six Presidents! 00:01:48.57\00:01:50.07 Yeah, which is a blessing, and very unusual blessing. 00:01:50.14\00:01:53.34 That's amazing 00:01:53.41\00:01:54.81 and you have written this upcoming book, 00:01:54.84\00:01:59.35 Yes. tell us about the book 00:01:59.41\00:02:02.15 because people know you as a Singer 00:02:02.18\00:02:05.29 but I want our Viewers and our Audience 00:02:05.32\00:02:08.42 to know the Writer, 00:02:08.49\00:02:10.16 tell us about the book, what's the title of it. 00:02:10.23\00:02:12.36 The title of the book... and there are two books actually 00:02:12.39\00:02:15.16 one is a Workbook... a Study Guide, 00:02:15.20\00:02:17.53 it's called, "Perfecting Me 00:02:17.57\00:02:19.83 Becoming the person you were created to be" 00:02:19.87\00:02:24.07 the other book is entitled, "Your best Destiny 00:02:24.17\00:02:27.91 Becoming the person you were created to be" 00:02:27.94\00:02:31.68 and I wrote the book because 00:02:31.71\00:02:34.72 like you and many others myself... 00:02:34.75\00:02:39.72 I chased what seemed to be 00:02:39.75\00:02:44.29 like the destiny God had prepared for me, 00:02:44.33\00:02:47.66 and the destiny that I was dreaming about living 00:02:47.76\00:02:51.13 all of us have dreams when we're growing up 00:02:51.17\00:02:54.90 for me, it was to sing to multitudes 00:02:54.94\00:02:58.61 and to travel the world, 00:02:58.64\00:03:00.48 and when you get to do those things, 00:03:00.51\00:03:04.55 you realize that there are blessings 00:03:04.58\00:03:08.38 but there's something more important than that 00:03:08.45\00:03:12.59 and after doing a lot of prayer and research 00:03:12.62\00:03:16.76 God revealed something 00:03:16.83\00:03:20.50 incredible to me 00:03:20.53\00:03:22.03 and what He revealed to me was that 00:03:22.06\00:03:24.80 those opportunities that I was chasing 00:03:24.83\00:03:29.00 were really "Moments of Destiny" 00:03:29.04\00:03:32.61 and there were moments of destiny 00:03:32.64\00:03:36.14 meaning... moments that I really could not orchestrate 00:03:36.18\00:03:40.32 I couldn't put together but yet how do you 00:03:40.38\00:03:43.28 end up ministering to six Presidents 00:03:43.35\00:03:48.59 of the United States or how do you travel the world 00:03:48.66\00:03:51.66 or how do you meet some of the most amazing 00:03:51.69\00:03:54.03 personalities of the 20th Century, 00:03:54.10\00:03:55.90 I was blessed to be able to do all those things, 00:03:55.96\00:04:00.04 but what God showed me was 00:04:00.07\00:04:01.40 that those were moments of destiny 00:04:01.44\00:04:04.47 for which I was created but they're not the reason 00:04:04.51\00:04:09.44 for which I was created. 00:04:09.48\00:04:11.98 Ah, now unpack that for us a bit. 00:04:12.01\00:04:15.22 In other words, it was not the purpose 00:04:15.25\00:04:19.42 for which I was created. 00:04:19.45\00:04:21.82 So singing for all these different people, 00:04:21.86\00:04:24.79 and being in Stadiums and filling Stadiums, 00:04:24.83\00:04:27.66 that's not the purpose. 00:04:27.73\00:04:29.43 That's not the reason. 00:04:29.50\00:04:30.93 What is your purpose? 00:04:30.97\00:04:32.30 And that's what God had to make very clear to me 00:04:32.33\00:04:35.17 moments of destiny 00:04:35.20\00:04:37.07 are moments for which you were created 00:04:37.11\00:04:38.74 but they're not the reason, 00:04:38.81\00:04:40.44 and then God showed me the reason for which I was created, 00:04:40.48\00:04:44.75 was to grow more every day 00:04:44.78\00:04:49.42 to resemble, reflect, and reveal the character of God. 00:04:49.45\00:04:56.89 Hmmm... now why is that important? 00:04:56.93\00:05:00.76 Well, first of all, we were created 00:05:00.83\00:05:04.43 in the image of God, which means that we were created 00:05:04.47\00:05:10.41 to reflect the character of God, 00:05:10.44\00:05:13.98 the character of God is the glory of God. 00:05:14.01\00:05:18.78 Hmmm... so when we hear something about the glory of God 00:05:18.81\00:05:23.52 it's synonymous with the character. 00:05:23.59\00:05:25.79 Absolutely. Okay. 00:05:25.82\00:05:27.46 You know, for example, when Moses cried out, 00:05:27.49\00:05:30.96 "God, show me your glory," you know, 00:05:31.03\00:05:34.83 God didn't show him fireworks and lightening in the sky 00:05:34.86\00:05:38.23 instead God said and told Moses, 00:05:38.27\00:05:41.97 about His character, 00:05:42.00\00:05:43.91 the character of God is the glory of God 00:05:43.97\00:05:49.84 so when we seek to lighten the world with the glory of God, 00:05:49.88\00:05:54.82 we are seeking to lighten the world 00:05:54.85\00:05:57.92 with the true knowledge 00:05:57.95\00:06:00.99 of the character of God. 00:06:01.02\00:06:03.96 Hmmm... and how is that connected to our destiny? 00:06:03.99\00:06:07.66 Well because that's the ultimate destiny 00:06:07.73\00:06:12.50 for which we were created, Ahh... 00:06:12.53\00:06:14.70 it is the supreme destiny, it is the highest destiny, 00:06:14.77\00:06:20.58 and that's why I said, and I titled the book, 00:06:20.61\00:06:22.91 "It is your best destiny" in other words 00:06:22.94\00:06:25.85 if you achieve all these other wonderful accolades 00:06:25.88\00:06:32.42 and achievements and awards 00:06:32.45\00:06:35.66 and "Firsts" and you know, 00:06:35.69\00:06:38.86 you achieve all those things... those are wonderful things 00:06:38.89\00:06:41.10 but if, in your character, 00:06:41.13\00:06:44.73 you do not resemble Christ, and resemble God, 00:06:44.77\00:06:50.21 you have missed your best destiny. 00:06:50.27\00:06:54.38 Ah, come on now, I see, I see, 00:06:54.41\00:06:58.51 so, there are moments of destiny 00:06:58.55\00:07:02.72 and then there's your "best," come on... 00:07:02.75\00:07:05.92 You got it. 00:07:05.95\00:07:07.42 Pastor, I got you now, I got you now, 00:07:07.49\00:07:10.29 so, one of the things that I see in our young people, 00:07:10.36\00:07:15.63 is this... a lack of really knowing 00:07:15.66\00:07:20.84 their purpose, Yes. 00:07:20.87\00:07:22.37 Why am I here, 00:07:22.40\00:07:23.74 what has God put me on the planet to do? 00:07:23.81\00:07:26.51 Right, and in many ways, very few people are teaching 00:07:26.54\00:07:32.61 what I've just shared with you, 00:07:32.65\00:07:34.98 it's a light bulb that's going on in your heart, 00:07:35.02\00:07:38.15 Yeah, yeah. and it went on in mine, 00:07:38.19\00:07:40.26 and for a long time, 00:07:40.29\00:07:43.56 I taught the same message to young people, 00:07:43.63\00:07:47.10 you got to find your purpose and when we said that, 00:07:47.13\00:07:50.33 often we were talking about finding your career, 00:07:50.37\00:07:53.60 finding where you're going to spend your life on a job, 00:07:53.64\00:07:58.87 or finding... we used to say, 00:07:58.91\00:08:01.34 and I would teach, 00:08:01.38\00:08:03.91 "Find something that if you never got paid for doing it, 00:08:03.98\00:08:08.82 you still love doing it," Right, right, right. 00:08:08.88\00:08:12.45 because trying to help young people focus in 00:08:12.49\00:08:16.06 on what their purpose was, and there is a place for that 00:08:16.12\00:08:21.80 but even when they achieve, 00:08:21.83\00:08:25.97 like I have been blessed to achieve, 00:08:26.00\00:08:28.60 like you and others have been blessed to achieve, 00:08:28.64\00:08:32.74 and be around some of the most amazing personalities, 00:08:32.77\00:08:36.85 of our time, who themselves have achieved, 00:08:36.88\00:08:41.08 even many of them, realize... "Is that all there is?" 00:08:41.12\00:08:47.36 Yes. For example, you know, 00:08:47.39\00:08:49.19 I've been on some television shows 00:08:49.26\00:08:54.10 like Saturday Night Live, so you put it on your resume, 00:08:54.10\00:08:58.90 that's a big thing, you're on Saturday Night Live, 00:08:58.93\00:09:01.07 what if you do it again, 00:09:01.10\00:09:03.44 you put it on your resume again, 00:09:03.47\00:09:05.17 what's that? 00:09:05.21\00:09:06.54 Right, right, yes. What are you chasing? 00:09:06.57\00:09:10.08 More moments to write on a resume, 00:09:10.11\00:09:13.18 is that what your destiny really is? 00:09:13.21\00:09:16.25 You know Pastor, that is such a good point 00:09:16.28\00:09:18.62 because, so many people are chasing the moment, 00:09:18.65\00:09:24.29 Exactly. the moment... 00:09:24.36\00:09:26.39 and once you get there, you say... 00:09:26.43\00:09:29.96 like, I used to really be into the accumulation of things, 00:09:30.00\00:09:35.94 buying the best things and all that, 00:09:35.97\00:09:38.21 but once you get it, you say to yourself, 00:09:38.24\00:09:42.61 "Is this it?" That's right. 00:09:42.64\00:09:44.65 So, your point is so well taken 00:09:44.68\00:09:48.22 because those little... those major things, 00:09:48.25\00:09:51.52 being on Saturday Night Live, okay, that's great, 00:09:51.55\00:09:54.26 but there's got to be more, Oh, absolutely. 00:09:54.29\00:09:58.19 there's got to be more. 00:09:58.23\00:09:59.56 Absolutely, and that's what happened to me. 00:09:59.59\00:10:01.46 I've always admired people 00:10:01.50\00:10:05.97 who seem to have arrived on the stage of history 00:10:06.00\00:10:10.27 just at the right moment and accomplished incredible things, 00:10:10.31\00:10:15.08 and I've lived many of those moments myself, 00:10:15.11\00:10:17.98 I remember singing, "Amazing Grace" 00:10:18.01\00:10:20.78 and Mother Theresa, beckoning 00:10:20.82\00:10:23.45 to get up out of her wheelchair, so she can hug me and thank me 00:10:23.49\00:10:27.16 that's a moment of destiny. Yes, yes. 00:10:27.22\00:10:30.69 You know, I remember, singing "Amazing Grace" 00:10:30.73\00:10:33.56 and to my left is Mrs. Rabin, 00:10:33.60\00:10:37.57 and to my right is, her nemesis, Yasser Arafat, 00:10:37.60\00:10:41.60 and I'm in the middle singing, "Amazing Grace" 00:10:41.67\00:10:45.64 That's appropriate. 00:10:45.67\00:10:47.84 That's a moment, that is a moment, 00:10:47.91\00:10:51.58 and I've lived so many of those moments, 00:10:51.61\00:10:53.78 but then I had to understand, 00:10:53.85\00:10:56.55 and God had to help me understand, 00:10:56.62\00:10:58.69 that there is a bigger destiny than those moments, 00:10:58.72\00:11:03.43 and that bigger destiny is that one day 00:11:03.46\00:11:08.30 I will be able to hear the voice of God 00:11:08.33\00:11:13.23 looking at me and saying, 00:11:13.30\00:11:17.77 "Wow! you look so much like my Son. " 00:11:17.81\00:11:21.98 Oh, yes. "You look so much like my Son" 00:11:22.01\00:11:26.18 Yes, yes, yes. "in your character 00:11:26.21\00:11:29.18 in your temperament, in your attitude, 00:11:29.22\00:11:33.19 in how you treat people, in how you love, 00:11:33.25\00:11:37.09 you look so much like my Son. " 00:11:37.13\00:11:40.46 I will tell you this, 00:11:40.50\00:11:41.80 I often wondered why the most fiery, 00:11:41.83\00:11:48.70 red-hot blistering sermon Jesus ever preached, 00:11:48.74\00:11:53.94 was not to confirm sinners but to the most devout, 00:11:54.01\00:11:59.88 religious people of His day, the Pharisees, 00:11:59.95\00:12:03.42 and they were the preachers of their day, 00:12:03.49\00:12:05.99 they were the evangelists of their day, 00:12:06.02\00:12:08.59 they were well respected in their day, 00:12:08.66\00:12:11.03 they actually would study the Scriptures with people, 00:12:11.06\00:12:17.77 like our evangelists do, 00:12:17.80\00:12:19.67 then they would baptize them by immersion, 00:12:19.70\00:12:22.94 like our evangelists do, 00:12:22.97\00:12:24.57 when you came up out of the water, 00:12:24.61\00:12:26.24 you were a new Jew, you were a new member 00:12:26.27\00:12:28.68 but Jesus said of them, "You go to the ends of the earth 00:12:28.71\00:12:32.98 to make these new members, to make these new disciples, 00:12:33.01\00:12:37.19 but when you're through with them, 00:12:37.25\00:12:40.02 they're twice the child of hell that you are. " 00:12:40.06\00:12:43.53 That you are. That you are... 00:12:43.59\00:12:45.39 that's what Jesus said to them. 00:12:45.43\00:12:47.23 Whew! that's scathing. 00:12:47.30\00:12:48.60 Yeah, He said, "You are graves full of dead men's bones, 00:12:48.63\00:12:53.80 you are vipers, you are snakes, 00:12:53.87\00:12:55.47 you are... Empty sepulchers. 00:12:55.50\00:12:57.57 That's right and I would say, 00:12:57.61\00:12:59.61 "Why was Jesus so hard on these people 00:12:59.64\00:13:02.91 who seem like they were doing good stuff, 00:13:02.94\00:13:05.71 studying the Scriptures, baptizing, 00:13:05.75\00:13:08.85 bringing in new members, why was Jesus so hard on them?" 00:13:08.88\00:13:12.85 And then the Lord showed me, 00:13:12.89\00:13:14.26 what Jesus was really saying to them was, 00:13:14.29\00:13:16.46 "You go to the ends of the earth 00:13:16.49\00:13:19.13 to make these new proselytes, these new members, 00:13:19.16\00:13:21.70 but when you're through with them, 00:13:21.73\00:13:24.37 they look more like you than they look like me. " 00:13:24.40\00:13:29.50 Oh, wow! "They look more like you, 00:13:29.54\00:13:33.38 than they look like me, 00:13:33.44\00:13:35.78 they are cultural clones 00:13:35.81\00:13:38.18 of who you are, 00:13:38.21\00:13:40.08 you teach them to like what you like, 00:13:40.12\00:13:43.02 to act the way you act, 00:13:43.08\00:13:44.42 but when I look at them, I don't see 'me. ' " 00:13:44.45\00:13:49.06 Yes, oh yes, see, the important thing of... 00:13:49.09\00:13:53.66 the whole idea of being like Christ, 00:13:53.70\00:13:56.46 is so critical, 00:13:56.50\00:13:58.40 nothing else really satisfies the soul 00:13:58.43\00:14:01.54 until we're like him. That's right. 00:14:01.57\00:14:04.51 So conforming to His image, that's why we're here, 00:14:04.54\00:14:08.68 to conform to His image. 00:14:08.71\00:14:10.95 That's our purpose, that's our best destiny 00:14:10.98\00:14:15.55 and if you're not chasing that destiny, 00:14:15.58\00:14:19.39 you're missing out on the most glorious, 00:14:19.42\00:14:23.19 wonderful adventure of your life. 00:14:23.22\00:14:26.59 Becoming more like Christ every day 00:14:26.70\00:14:29.90 is the greatest adventure of life" 00:14:29.96\00:14:33.20 most people teach it and people come away scared 00:14:33.23\00:14:38.61 because... "I got to be like Christ 00:14:38.64\00:14:40.74 or I'm going to be lost, or I'm going to be damned," 00:14:40.78\00:14:45.41 you know, Hmmm... hmmm... 00:14:45.45\00:14:47.12 but I strive now... every day, to more resemble, 00:14:47.18\00:14:52.39 reflect and reveal the character of Christ, 00:14:52.42\00:14:54.86 and I don't do it out of fear, 00:14:54.89\00:14:57.49 I do it out of great joy, 00:14:57.53\00:15:01.30 why? because I know, 00:15:01.33\00:15:04.43 I am making my Lord very happy, 00:15:04.50\00:15:08.84 I do it because it's a source of happiness for me 00:15:08.87\00:15:13.41 and I know that it is a source of happiness 00:15:13.48\00:15:17.28 for my Savior, 00:15:17.35\00:15:18.68 watching me striving to be more like Him. 00:15:18.71\00:15:22.12 And isn't it a cooperative effort 00:15:22.15\00:15:25.85 because the power comes from the Holy Spirit, 00:15:25.89\00:15:29.79 the choice is yours. 00:15:29.82\00:15:33.13 Yes. Let's talk a bit about choices 00:15:33.16\00:15:35.13 Okay. and the importance 00:15:35.20\00:15:37.77 in terms of your destiny of the choices that you make. 00:15:37.80\00:15:41.80 Well, again, we know that in terms of your physical destiny, 00:15:41.84\00:15:48.28 if I can call it that, and those moments of destiny 00:15:48.31\00:15:52.11 choices are very important, and the choices come 00:15:52.15\00:15:55.92 because you got to learn to listen 00:15:55.95\00:15:57.95 to the Spirit of God speaking to you, 00:15:57.99\00:15:59.92 and He will tell you what to do and what not to do 00:15:59.95\00:16:03.76 and you make a choice, Hmmm... hmmm... 00:16:03.79\00:16:05.46 and He'll tell, "you turn left," and oooh! 00:16:05.49\00:16:07.66 you run into somebody you hadn't expected 00:16:07.73\00:16:10.17 you know, a blessing you hadn't imagined 00:16:10.20\00:16:12.63 and all of a sudden, wow! 00:16:12.67\00:16:14.14 "if I had gone that way... I would have missed that" 00:16:14.17\00:16:17.14 so you have that kind of blessing, right? 00:16:17.21\00:16:21.21 but then, you have a situation 00:16:21.24\00:16:24.18 where, when it comes to your best destiny 00:16:24.25\00:16:29.05 you have moral choices to make 00:16:29.08\00:16:33.46 Wow! hmmm... hmmm... 00:16:33.49\00:16:35.89 to keep moving in the direction of a destiny 00:16:35.92\00:16:38.89 to become more like the character of Christ, 00:16:38.93\00:16:41.86 it's not... "do I go ten minutes early 00:16:41.90\00:16:46.37 or do I go ten minutes later," 00:16:46.40\00:16:47.74 it's not that kind of "moments of destiny" 00:16:47.77\00:16:50.37 it's another kind of choice you make 00:16:50.41\00:16:52.44 and the choice is, 00:16:52.47\00:16:53.84 "to be obedient to the impressions 00:16:53.88\00:16:59.15 of the Spirit of God," choices to be obedient 00:16:59.18\00:17:02.98 to what you know and understand 00:17:03.02\00:17:05.29 to be the will of God and as you do that, 00:17:05.32\00:17:11.73 you grow to become more like the character of God 00:17:11.76\00:17:15.23 and as you study the character of God, 00:17:15.26\00:17:18.07 I must tell you, one of the things 00:17:18.10\00:17:20.84 that I was amazed about is that we don't study 00:17:20.87\00:17:24.71 the character of God. 00:17:24.74\00:17:26.07 Yeah, let's talk a bit about the character of God, 00:17:26.11\00:17:30.45 we know about the aspects, Omnipotent, Omniscient, 00:17:30.48\00:17:34.65 Omnipresent, right? but the character of God, 00:17:34.68\00:17:38.22 what are the attributes of the character of God? 00:17:38.25\00:17:41.32 First of all, you are an awesome interviewer, 00:17:41.39\00:17:44.43 you're asking just the right questions, 00:17:44.46\00:17:46.83 That's why we pray first, 00:17:46.90\00:17:48.20 we ask the Lord, "Please give me the questions" the Lord is good. 00:17:48.23\00:17:50.93 So, in answer to that question, 00:17:50.97\00:17:52.30 that's one of the first things I said, "God... " 00:17:52.33\00:17:55.70 like Moses said, "Show me your glory" 00:17:55.74\00:17:57.67 I said, "God, show me your character" 00:17:57.71\00:17:59.61 God said, "Study the Word," get this, and He handed me a key 00:17:59.64\00:18:05.08 God handed me a key, and this was the key, 00:18:05.11\00:18:06.98 He said, "Study the Word 00:18:07.05\00:18:08.38 and whatever God asks you to be, He already is 00:18:08.42\00:18:15.12 and He is so in perfection. " Whoa! 00:18:15.16\00:18:19.49 "Whatever He asks you to be, 00:18:19.53\00:18:23.97 that's His character, 00:18:24.00\00:18:26.97 He would never ask you to be, what He's not. " 00:18:27.04\00:18:32.37 I love it. 00:18:32.41\00:18:34.18 So now, as I go through the Word of God, 00:18:34.21\00:18:36.98 as I went through the Word of God, 00:18:37.05\00:18:38.61 and I studied the Word, 00:18:38.65\00:18:40.02 I was coming up with all these enlightened dimensions 00:18:40.05\00:18:43.89 of the character of God, I'd never seen before 00:18:43.92\00:18:46.35 because there's no Scripture that says, "God is happy" 00:18:46.39\00:18:50.93 it says... well, the Scripture says, 00:18:50.96\00:18:52.29 "He rejoices" but the Scriptures just say, 00:18:52.33\00:18:54.56 "He wants you to be happy" 00:18:54.60\00:18:55.93 He would never ask you to be 00:18:55.96\00:18:57.87 what He's not, 00:18:57.90\00:18:59.23 so, you can conclude, "God is happy" 00:18:59.27\00:19:01.90 there's no Scripture that says, "God is cheerful" 00:19:01.94\00:19:06.71 and that's probably why a lot of Christians 00:19:06.74\00:19:09.98 can't even conceive 00:19:10.01\00:19:11.35 a God who is laughing or smiling or cheerful, 00:19:11.38\00:19:14.82 but He says, "I want you to be cheerful," 00:19:14.85\00:19:17.65 And He wants us to have fullness of joy. 00:19:17.69\00:19:20.42 Right! He says, "I love it when you're cheerful, 00:19:20.49\00:19:23.49 I love a cheerful giver," 00:19:23.56\00:19:24.89 I said, "Oh! so God is cheerful" Hmmm... hmmm... 00:19:24.93\00:19:28.66 so, understanding now, 00:19:28.70\00:19:30.27 I was able to see all these amazing dimensions 00:19:30.30\00:19:34.37 of the character of God that I had never seen before, 00:19:34.40\00:19:36.71 but then I came across eight specific dimensions 00:19:36.74\00:19:41.94 of God's character 00:19:41.98\00:19:43.75 that He says, "I want you to have these eight" 00:19:43.78\00:19:47.52 and I found in 2nd Peter where He says, 00:19:47.55\00:19:50.59 "I want you to have faith, I want you to have virtue, 00:19:50.62\00:19:55.12 I want you to have wisdom and knowledge, 00:19:55.16\00:19:57.99 I want you to have patience, 00:19:58.03\00:20:00.00 I want you to have temperance 00:20:00.03\00:20:04.67 or self-control, 00:20:04.70\00:20:06.17 I want you to have a respect for what is sacred, 00:20:06.20\00:20:09.87 I want you to have love, I want you to have kindness" 00:20:09.90\00:20:15.14 and those eight dimensions are... again... 00:20:15.18\00:20:19.68 He would never ask you to have what He's not. 00:20:19.71\00:20:24.19 In perfection... He has perfected, 00:20:24.25\00:20:27.02 He is perfect. 00:20:27.06\00:20:28.62 He is perfection of all those things, 00:20:28.66\00:20:30.59 so He is faith... in perfection. 00:20:30.63\00:20:32.23 Yes. You know, 00:20:32.26\00:20:34.03 and our belief in perfection, 00:20:34.10\00:20:36.43 I mean, just think about when God believes 00:20:36.46\00:20:40.60 or when God dreams... planets are born. 00:20:40.67\00:20:44.67 You know, He has the power, this is just so incredible 00:20:44.71\00:20:48.64 but He has the power, whatever He has faith in 00:20:48.68\00:20:52.95 or believes in, 00:20:52.98\00:20:54.32 He has the power to see it come into being, 00:20:54.35\00:20:57.92 so He's got faith in perfection, we, in a little way, 00:20:57.95\00:21:00.46 and this is amazing but we, in some way, 00:21:00.49\00:21:04.16 have that same powers but not to that end, 00:21:04.23\00:21:07.30 not to that degree, 00:21:07.30\00:21:08.96 in other words, what we believe in, 00:21:09.00\00:21:10.77 Hmmm... what we have faith in, 00:21:10.83\00:21:13.03 comes into being, Hmmm... 00:21:13.07\00:21:15.27 "faith is the substance of things hoped for, 00:21:15.30\00:21:17.37 the evidence of things not seen," 00:21:17.41\00:21:18.74 so God is trying to get us to be like Him, 00:21:18.77\00:21:22.51 in that quality of faith, He wants us to be virtuous, 00:21:22.54\00:21:26.92 He wants us to be pure, He wants us to be morally pure, 00:21:26.98\00:21:31.25 He is a person of purity, 00:21:31.29\00:21:33.66 He is a person of righteousness and integrity, 00:21:33.72\00:21:36.49 He wants us to be a person of self-control, 00:21:36.52\00:21:40.06 because when you don't have self-control, 00:21:40.10\00:21:43.53 I tell people all the time, 00:21:43.60\00:21:45.63 when you can't walk away from something, 00:21:45.67\00:21:48.10 you don't own it, it owns you. 00:21:48.17\00:21:51.91 That's right. If you don't have self-control 00:21:51.94\00:21:54.98 enough to be able to walk away from anything, 00:21:55.01\00:21:57.98 you don't own it, it owns you. 00:21:58.01\00:22:00.92 That's very true. 00:22:00.95\00:22:02.28 And God does not want anything to own you 00:22:02.32\00:22:05.89 you can't develop your character, 00:22:05.92\00:22:09.29 as a slave to sin, Hmmm... 00:22:09.32\00:22:13.60 you see, and so, and you can go through all those 00:22:13.63\00:22:16.33 so those eight dimensions, and of course, kindness and love 00:22:16.36\00:22:20.40 are the two highest expressions of the character of God. 00:22:20.44\00:22:24.41 Kindness and love are the two 00:22:24.44\00:22:27.34 highest expressions of the character of God. 00:22:27.38\00:22:30.85 That is so beautiful, we often don't take the time 00:22:30.91\00:22:36.42 to consider the character of God, 00:22:36.48\00:22:40.72 and He showed you 00:22:40.76\00:22:43.19 and I'm thankful that you have written these books 00:22:43.22\00:22:46.13 to share with us, 00:22:46.16\00:22:47.56 so that we can go through each thing 00:22:47.60\00:22:49.83 and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. 00:22:49.86\00:22:53.70 Go through it and get to know God better. 00:22:53.77\00:22:56.84 You know, I'm sitting here in church a little bit 00:22:56.87\00:23:00.78 because, you're preaching my sermon for tonight 00:23:00.81\00:23:04.05 Oh, really? You are! 00:23:04.08\00:23:05.55 when you sit and hear the message 00:23:05.58\00:23:08.15 you're going to say, 00:23:08.18\00:23:09.62 Wow! that's just what we were talking about, 00:23:09.65\00:23:13.15 Praise God. because that's the next step. 00:23:13.19\00:23:16.66 Yes, I'll give you a little peek of it, for example. 00:23:16.73\00:23:19.66 Okay, good, good, we're getting the sneak peek! 00:23:19.69\00:23:21.96 Yeah, you're getting a sneak peek, the Lord says, 00:23:22.00\00:23:24.27 "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" 00:23:24.30\00:23:26.53 well, salvation... has a purpose 00:23:26.57\00:23:31.57 the purpose is, 00:23:31.61\00:23:33.38 the transformation of our character 00:23:33.44\00:23:36.08 to resemble and reflect and reveal His character. 00:23:36.11\00:23:39.45 Hmmm... hmmm... That is the purpose of salvation 00:23:39.48\00:23:42.82 to restore us into His image. 00:23:42.85\00:23:46.22 So restoration into the image of Christ 00:23:46.25\00:23:50.96 is the purpose of salvation. 00:23:50.99\00:23:52.86 Absolutely. Wow! 00:23:52.89\00:23:54.30 It is the purpose of the Plan of Salvation, 00:23:54.36\00:23:58.23 is to restore us into the very image of God 00:23:58.27\00:24:02.20 and when we were talking about "giving a little snippet," 00:24:02.24\00:24:08.18 you mentioned something also, 00:24:08.21\00:24:12.01 and it just slipped my heart here but 00:24:12.05\00:24:14.25 do you remember what you were talking about? 00:24:14.32\00:24:17.09 About... I don't know... 00:24:17.12\00:24:19.42 well, we were talking about essentially, 00:24:19.45\00:24:22.29 the character of God, 00:24:22.32\00:24:25.46 And it was: 00:24:25.49\00:24:28.43 "working out our salvation with fear and trembling" 00:24:28.46\00:24:31.20 That's it, so, salvation with fear and trembling, 00:24:31.23\00:24:33.94 get this, this is just incredible. 00:24:34.00\00:24:37.07 "Jesus paid it all, 00:24:37.11\00:24:41.68 but Jesus is not going to do it all. " 00:24:41.71\00:24:46.98 Whoa! now you've got to... 00:24:47.02\00:24:51.22 we have like two minutes, you have to unpack that for us. 00:24:51.25\00:24:54.79 In other words, there are some things that you must do 00:24:54.82\00:24:58.93 to work out your own salvation 00:24:58.96\00:25:01.33 that not even God can do for you. 00:25:01.36\00:25:03.67 Hmmm... such as? 00:25:03.70\00:25:05.67 Such as, He says, 00:25:05.70\00:25:07.34 "I want you to submit 00:25:07.37\00:25:11.37 to His will" 00:25:11.41\00:25:13.78 He can't do that for you. 00:25:13.81\00:25:15.21 That's true. 00:25:15.28\00:25:16.68 He can kind of lead you into situations 00:25:16.75\00:25:18.55 and make you want to submit, right? 00:25:18.58\00:25:21.15 but He won't make the ultimate choice for you. 00:25:21.18\00:25:24.32 You have to submit, He says, "Resist the devil" 00:25:24.35\00:25:27.46 that's not something 00:25:27.49\00:25:30.83 God can do, 00:25:30.86\00:25:32.19 you can do it through His power 00:25:32.23\00:25:33.90 Hmmm... hmmm... but ultimately, 00:25:33.93\00:25:36.63 you have to decide that I'm going to resist the devil. 00:25:36.67\00:25:40.24 Right. I'm going to flee 00:25:40.30\00:25:42.44 Right, right. He's not going to run for you, 00:25:42.50\00:25:45.37 you have to run... does that make any sense? 00:25:45.41\00:25:48.24 Because He doesn't need to run, we're the ones that need to run. 00:25:48.28\00:25:51.48 That's right, so, yes, "Jesus paid it all," 00:25:51.55\00:25:54.78 praise the Lord, but that doesn't mean 00:25:54.82\00:25:58.02 that you can just... not submit and not resist... 00:25:58.05\00:26:02.76 and you have a... it's a cooperative effort. 00:26:02.79\00:26:06.83 And that's the whole idea of spiritual growth, is it not? 00:26:06.86\00:26:10.27 Yes, yes. Every choice that we make 00:26:10.30\00:26:14.27 helps to move us 00:26:14.30\00:26:16.60 into that best destiny. 00:26:16.64\00:26:18.44 Come on now pastor... You got it, you got it. 00:26:18.47\00:26:20.61 Oh, we're getting ready to have church in here, 00:26:20.68\00:26:22.51 we're getting to sign off, I can't believe, 00:26:22.54\00:26:25.18 our time is going so fast, it's wrapping... 00:26:25.21\00:26:28.08 what do you... give us like a 30-second thought 00:26:28.12\00:26:30.99 of what you want our audience to know 00:26:31.02\00:26:34.06 about their best destiny. 00:26:34.09\00:26:35.92 Well, if you strive for this best destiny, 00:26:35.96\00:26:42.80 meaning, to resemble, reflect and reveal the character of God, 00:26:42.83\00:26:48.17 everyday, more and more, it will result... 00:26:48.20\00:26:52.71 because of Christ, 00:26:52.74\00:26:54.14 in you achieving your eternal destiny, 00:26:54.18\00:27:02.32 and that is that you will live with God 00:27:02.35\00:27:06.09 throughout eternity you will... 00:27:06.12\00:27:08.36 face-to-face commune with Him forever. 00:27:08.39\00:27:10.99 Thank you so much, 00:27:11.03\00:27:12.79 I cannot thank you enough for being with us. 00:27:12.83\00:27:15.36 Oh, you're very welcome. 00:27:15.43\00:27:16.77 May God continue to bless you. 00:27:16.80\00:27:18.13 God bless you too. Thank you. 00:27:18.17\00:27:20.64 Pastor Phipps gave us a lot of information, 00:27:20.67\00:27:25.84 a lot of really valuable information 00:27:25.87\00:27:29.08 that we can use in our own lives 00:27:29.11\00:27:32.08 and if you'd like to know more about these books 00:27:32.11\00:27:35.48 or would like to purchase these books or his music, 00:27:35.52\00:27:37.85 go to: goodsamaritanmall. com 00:27:37.89\00:27:41.19 and you'll be able to get these books 00:27:41.22\00:27:44.13 and really study them 00:27:44.16\00:27:46.06 and make the information your own. 00:27:46.09\00:27:48.16 God has a plan for you 00:27:48.20\00:27:50.43 and God wants you to reflect His character, 00:27:50.47\00:27:53.84 we can do that by His grace if we get in that Word. 00:27:53.90\00:27:57.17 Well, we've reached the end of another Program, 00:27:57.27\00:28:00.61 join us next time, because you know what? 00:28:00.64\00:28:02.84 It just wouldn't be the same without you. 00:28:02.88\00:28:05.08