MARCH 2025

Ever precious greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is my great honor and privilege to share my heart with you once again. One Saturday in March, I again drove down to Bayside State Prison. It is 94 miles away – one way! The last time I was there (if you remember), in my Stockholm syndrome condition, I got up and stood in the line with the prisoners when the visits were over!

After having taught our home group the Friday night before, I had to leave at 5:45am to be in line at 7:30am for the 8 o’clock visit. Make no mistake, I am not complaining, but sharing the joyful fullness of the life Christ has given me, thanks to your prayers and support. And boy, when I get there, I had better be on my P’s and Q’s! I must be on time and dressed right with nothing in my pockets (which they check). I must also stand where they tell me to stand and speak when I am spoken to or I’m not going to get into the prison – period, the end! I submit. It comes very easy to me now having learned the hard way that the police are God’s ministers for my good 😇 (Rom.13).

At Bayside State Prison I visit Isa, my son in the Lord, who is very dear to my heart. I wrote about him in the December 2024 “Outside Perspective.” He came to the Lord in the Hudson County Jail in 2023 as a Muslim. Upon hearing the gospel for the first time, he repented and gave his life completely to the Lord! He is sold out in a very refreshing fashion. It’s truly an honor and a blessing for me to serve this brother. He reminds me so much of myself as a new believer – everything all fresh and new! We both came out of deep, deep darkness, and by the grace of God – into His marvelous Light (Col. 1:13).

It is written, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have Life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).

Isa is running after the Lord with a grateful fervor that I pray to see in all new believers! There is much more than meets the eye concerning Jesus’ words, paraphrastically. . . “he who sins much, loves much!” (from Luke 7:47-48) It is a very observable, spiritual truth. It is particularly noticeable in the countenance of many of the redeemed in the prisons. I see it in Isa, and I am
delighted by his joyous zeal. He is a very grateful man.

Where there is new Life, there is always growth. Some slothful, some quick, but everything that has Life grows. Through my witness and testimony, Isa sees that he, too, can be used much by the Lord. I am humbled that by faith he draws much hope from my life. He is very aware (at my prodding) that we all have come out of the same dumpster. For those of you who have not yet seen that clearly, may God, in His mercy, humble your pride.

It is my goal to visit Isa semi-regularly, albeit it is a very long trip for me to and fro. I always think that I’m going down there to encourage him, but in the big picture, God ends up encouraging me through him. I am reminded of the value of the Living Word of God, the very gospel message that gives Life unto the dead. Indeed, I myself was dead, and behold, in Christ,
I am now alive forevermore!

In the course of my trip, I was keenly reminded by the Lord of all that my precious Deborah Ann went through to love and encourage me. I became astutely cognizant, by the Lord’s quickening, of all that my Debbie had “willingly” endured to serve me for all those many, many years – 26 to be exact! Behold, what manner of woman is this? There are things that we can know, and there are things that the Lord personally quickens to us in the moment! In such, He shows us their weight and the import in a new and Living manner. Finally, we can taste the experience for ourselves as if it were our own. Such it was for me. I knew all these things intellectually, but now – I know them. I used to be a believer, but now I know. Knowing is deeper than believing. Thus, I am ecstatically grateful! 😊

I had to walk in Debbie’s shoes before I could really understand her living sacrifice for me. I had to fight on the phone to accomplish the visit. I had to experience the long drive in the wee hours of the morning. I had to stand in long lines waiting to get a locker. I had to honor the police, even in my frustration. I had to jockey for position while waiting to sign in with
murmurers, complainers, and haters of the Lord surrounding me – all because I love Isa. If I did not visit him, he would not be visited. Nobody visits him, but me.

It is written, “. . .I was in prison, and ye came unto [visited] me.” (Matt. 25:36b)

More so, in the course of my trip, I was keenly reminded of all that Christ had done! Christ was in Debbie visiting me. He still serves me in her as my help mate. All because He loves me. We were all in the prison of our sin, and yet He drove down to earth, as it were, to become flesh. I believe He found joy in His disciples and was grateful for the Father’s perfect will to serve
them. What manner of Christ is this? He had to battle the very devil himself to accomplish our salvation! In the wee hours of the morning, Jesus was found praying fervently; great drops of blood, holy blood, squeezed from the press of His burden. If He did not visit us with salvation, we would not be visited. Nobody visits us in the prison of our sin, but Christ. Beloved, are you
ecstatically grateful?

Christ waited in line before Pontius Pilate to be sentenced. He knew the governor was the Father’s minister for His good to bear the cross. In holy, sinless frustration, he gave up the right to be right for our higher good. Yes, Jesus jockeyed with the forces of darkness for His position on the cross – waiting in line to die vicariously for our sins. He did our bid in Hell – so we don’t have to!

Jesus was the perfect prototype of a true Living sacrifice. He was surrounded by murmurers, complainers, and haters of His Lordship. Yes, He was astutely cognizant, by the Spirit’s quickening, of what He would soon “willingly” endure to serve us. All the while, He was keenly aware of His Father’s perfect will as He prayed over His own crucifixion. Perhaps you knew these things intellectually. But, have they ever been quickened to your spirit personally? Do you know them? Knowing is deeper than believing. In the quickening, by revelation alone, He reveals to us the weight and the import of His work in a new and Living way. Finally, we come to taste the experience for ourselves as we cry out with Paul. . .

“I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST: NEVERTHELESS I LIVE; YET NOT I. . .” (Gal. 2:20)

JOYFULLY IN JESUS,
LOVE, PHILIP