The Phoenix Journey: The Journey from Salvation to Eternity Eternity with Jesus Jesus Messiah Salvation through Jesus

By Roger W. Parks

This book is intended to have a positive and encouraging impact on the reader to understand when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that is just the beginning of our growth and transformation journey to become like Him. It is intended to be an encouragement as we continue our journey in spiritual growth and build our relationship and knowledge of Jesus.

This book is intended to touch four different types of readers:

Those individuals who are not saved but have an interest in learning about God, Jesus, and salvation.

Those individuals who are recent converts and new believers in Christ to help them understand that when they got saved, that was not the end game but the beginning of their spiritual journey to grow and become more like Jesus every day. This book will provide encouragement, tools, and information to assist them in their growth journey.

Those individuals who have been Christians for a longer period but their walk with Christ has been stifled or stale due to setbacks in life or any number of life experiences that can impact an individual's walk with our Lord. This book should help them become reinvigorated in their Christian walk and provide encouragement as well as suggestions to help restore the "fire" they once had for serving and living for Jesus.

Anyone else who is interested in learning more about God the Father, His Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798890432049

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The Phoenix Journey

The Journey from Salvation to Eternity Eternity with Jesus Jesus Messiah Salvation through Jesus

Roger W. Parks

ISBN 979-8-89043-203-2 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89043-205-6 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-89043-204-9 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Roger W. Parks

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Introduction

Chapter 2

Overview of the Phoenix Journey

Chapter 3

Level-Set Who and What We Are

Chapter 4

Getting Started

Chapter 5

Evidence and Proof

Chapter 6

Introduction to Salvation

Chapter 7

How Do You Get Saved?

Chapter 8

Why Full Emersion Baptism

Chapter 9

The Role of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 10

The Role of Jesus in Salvation

Chapter 11

The Reason God the Father Sent His Son Jesus

Chapter 12

How We Should Pray

Chapter 13

The Book of James: How to Live Our Faith

Chapter 14

Case Study 1: Story and Testimony of Sergio

Chapter 15

Case Study 2: Story and Testimony of Brooke's Journey

Chapter 16

Case Study 3: Story and Testimony of Joel's Journey

Chapter 17

Case Study 4: Story and Testimony of Geena's Journey

Chapter 18

Case Study 5: Story and Testimony of Allison's Journey

Chapter 19

Case Study 6: Story and Testimony of Jesse's Journey

Chapter 20

Case Study 7: Story and Testimony of Robert's Journey

Chapter 21

Case Study 8: Story and Testimony of Ted's Journey

Chapter 22

Case Study 9: Story and Testimony of Sara's Journey

Chapter 23

Case Study 10: Story and Testimony of Eric's Journey

Chapter 24

Case Study 11: Story and Testimony of Rogelio's Journey

Chapter 25

Case Study 12: Story and Testimony of Rhett's Journey Near-Death Experience Conversion

Chapter 26

The Apostle Paul's Journey

Chapter 27

Tithing Is an Act of Worship and Obedience

Chapter 28

Partial Obedience Is Disobedience

Chapter 29

Overview of the Bible

Chapter 30

Satan Is Real

Chapter 31

Spiritual Warfare

Chapter 32

Hell Is Real

Chapter 33

Next Steps and Your Calling

Chapter 34

Wrap-Up / Conclusion

About the Author

This book is dedicated to the One who created me, saved me, and lives in me. I am eternally grateful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and is written under the spiritual leadership of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Triune God, also known as the Holy Trinity.

The Holy Trinity defines one God that exists in three coequal divine persons that are the same in essence: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Triune God define who God is, while the one essence defines what God is.

God the Father, who created everything seen and unseen. God the Father loved us enough to send His only son, Jesus, to exhibit and reveal the Word to all mankind and to reconcile us through the obedient sacrifice Jesus made to save all mankind. God the Father sent His only Son, Jesus, to be an example of His identity and sacrifice so that all mankind might be saved and live eternally in heaven with Him.

God the Son is Jesus the Messiah, the Christ and Savior of the world, and my Lord and Savior. Through His life, He gave us a living example of the Word and modeled for us how we are to live our lives. Jesus willingly surrendered His life to save each of us; He willingly suffered an excruciating crucifixion, death, and resurrection so that all who accept Him as Lord and Savior will be saved. When a person truly asks Jesus to come into their life and save them believing He is the Son of God, and they repent of their sins and choose to follow Jesus, they will be saved.

God the Holy Spirit lives within each of us who accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the third person of the Holy Trinity. Like God the Father and God the Son, the Holy Spirit existed before creation and has no beginning and no end. The Spirit resides in heaven and on earth in the heart of every believer. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God within us. He comforts us, He teaches us and reveals God's Word to us, He convicts us of sin, and He is our intercessor in prayer. More on the Holy Spirit in chapter 9.

I was blessed to be introduced to my Lord and Savior Jesus at a young age by my mother. I grew up attending church, and while in college, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and I was baptized. My life has been a roller-coaster ride in my relationship and walk with Jesus. However, as I look back over my life, the only constant relationship I have had with so many people over the years coming in and out of my life has been Jesus. He has been the only one that has been a constant companion to me my entire life.

Acknowledgments

This book is a culmination of several years of intermittent work and focus. Over these few years, I was blessed to be able to invest myself in praying about this book, researching, studying different spiritual resources, and listening to several outstanding Bible teachers. I primarily sought guidance from the Holy Spirit to guide me in what to include and how to include the information the Spirit wanted me to share in this book for His intended audience. I also have maintained several notebooks over the past twenty years with notes I recorded from many sermons and conferences I have attended. Plus, there have been several epiphanies I felt God shared with me at different points in my life, which I have recorded in my notebooks. This book is compiled from many of the notes over the past twenty years and lessons I have learned from outstanding Bible teachers.

The Bible, specifically the Life Application Study Bible—New International Version, is the primary Bible I referenced in all that I have composed in this book. Technology also contributed to my research. I am grateful to Google and the enormous inventory of information available through various Google searches.

Over the years, I have been blessed to be exposed to the teachings and Bible insight of several gifted Bible teachers across the United States. However, I want to recognize four outstanding and spirit-filled pastors and Bible teachers that have imparted relevant information of God's Word to me through their teachings and sermons.

Randy Harvey, the senior pastor of the Crossing Church in The Woodlands, Texas, is my pastor and a man filled with the Holy Spirit. He has a deep understanding of God's Word. I feel blessed that God brought my family and me to this church and for us to be members of the Crossing Church congregation. This is a spirit-filled and spirit-led church under Pastor Harvey's leadership.

The second major outstanding Bible teacher that I have read some of his books and listened to many hours of his sermons without him knowing about me is Robert Morris. Robert Morris is the senior pastor at Gateway Church in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex.

The third is Dr. Charles Stanley, my pastor when I lived in Atlanta. Dr. Stanley is pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, after serving as senior pastor for forty-nine years. He is the founder and president of In Touch Ministries.

The fourth is Rabbi Jason Sobel. Rabbi Sobel is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and author. Rabbi Sobel is well-known for founding Fusion Global, a teaching organization that unites the historical and contemporary Yeshua Jesus.

My wife, Cyndi; our daughter, Gracie; and son, Jonathan, have been an inspiration and encouragement to me in writing this book.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Christianity Is a Relationship with Jesus, Not a Religion

Second Chronicles 7:14: "¹⁴ If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

When I decided to author this book, I had several objectives or goals in mind.

First, this book is intended to have a positive and encouraging impact on the reader to understand that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we get saved and have eternal life. However, that is just the beginning of our growth and transformation journey to become like Him. I want this book to be an encouragement to you as you continue your journey, spiritual growth, relationship, and knowledge of Jesus our Christ, Messiah, and Lord. This book can help you if you are a new believer and recent convert or if you have been a Christian for many years but found your growth and maturity in Jesus has been stifled or negatively impacted by life events or cares of this world and the desires of this world.

Second, it is an easy and quick read, so it does not require a great deal of time or time commitment to experience the information presented in the book.

Third, it provides some examples of twelve different Christians and the journey each experienced to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and as they grew in their relationship and growth in Christ. These twelve individuals whose background and journey to find Christ were uniquely different. My goal or objective in doing this was to have a variety of examples that whoever reads this book may identify with at least one of the brother's or sister's story in this book. This would be an encouragement to you as you identify with someone that came from a similar place or background and experience to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And by capturing the ethos of everyone whose story and testimony is recorded will be an encouragement to you as you continue your journey to become more mature in your spiritual growth in becoming more like Christ every day. With a better understanding of Jesus, His gift of salvation, the Triune God, His Word, and applying His Word to your own life.

Each case study with their story and testimony are amalgamations of at least two different individual's story that are similar in their respective backgrounds, conversion experience, life story, and testimony. These are the result or by-product of individuals I have interviewed, people I know and my knowledge of their story and conversion, research I have done on different individuals and their conversion experience, and through open conversations with individuals willing to share their story and testimony with me. By combining their stories, I have attempted to mask the identity of each one without losing or compromising the accuracy of their actual story and testimony. These Christian brothers and sisters are not ashamed of their conversion or in sharing their story. I made the decision and chose to maintain the confidentiality of each in this book.

Fourth, in addition to the twelve individual stories and testimonies, I have included several chapters on topics that are valuable in a believer's growth and transformation as they continue their journey to grow into a deeper more mature relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus. I have included scripture verses from the Bible in each of these chapters to support and validate the information I am sharing. Again, this is how the Holy Spirit directed me in writing this book.

Fifth, impart to the reader some of what I have learned over my long life from my growth in my relationship with Jesus. This includes some of my life experiences and the great joy that comes only from a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus. Plus, an assortment of research from a variety of sources and sitting under the leadership and training of outstanding Bible teachers. My lifelong training has included some epiphanies that I have had through this journey in my relationship with Jesus, some information that I have received being a student under the teachings of several outstanding Bible teachers and Bible scholars, as well as hours of reading and studying God's Word and research from a variety of reliable sources.

My desire and hope in writing this book is that it will encourage you if you have not already received and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to make the decision to accept Him as Lord and Savior. My prayer for you reading this book is it will be the catalyst that encourages you to make that confession of faith by the time you finish reading this book. Followed by the beginning of your personal lifelong journey and growth in your relationship with Jesus. It is the single most important decision you will make in your entire life.

After you are saved by the Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus, you should pray and be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit as you seek to find a church home. Today many churches and pulpits are watering down the Word of God to make it more acceptable to the culture that is dominated by self-love, self-centeredness, and are openly counter to the inerrant Word of God. You must be diligent in finding a church home that is Christ-centered, Bible-believing, and the pastor teaching the unaltered and undefiled Word of God.

Writing this book has had a major impact on me personally. I have had the opportunity to stop and ponder my own experiences in my growth in Jesus since accepting Him as my Lord and Savior. Diving deeper into God's Word has revealed more to me each time I read it, and learning more in my research has drawn me closer to Jesus with a deeper understanding of what it means to belong to Jesus, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to have an intimate and personal relationship with my creator Jehovah God.

The good news is Jesus accepts each of us no matter where we are in life. All we must do is reach out to Him and sincerely ask Him to come into our life, repent from our sinful lifestyle, and be our Lord and Savior.

If you are a new believer and follower of Christ or you have been on your journey for a period of time to mature in Christ, I have included several chapters in addition to the stories and testimonies of the twelve individuals I am showcasing in this book. These chapters succinctly address topics intended to provide brief information and encouragement to you as you continue your Phoenix Journey. These chapters offer just a smidgen of information about each topic, and there are books written by other authors that address each of these topics in more depth. These topics include the following:

Evidence and proof that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God

Introduction to salvation

How you get saved

Why full emersion baptism

The role of the Holy Spirit

The role of Jesus in salvation and reason He came

The reason God the Father sent His Son Jesus

Suggestions on how we should pray

Tithing is an act of worship and obedience

An overview of the Bible and history of the Bible

Satan is real

Spiritual warfare

Hell is real

And more

All Bible verses quoted in this book are from The Life Application Study Bible, New International Version.

You will find in each chapter I provide supporting verses of Scripture for the subject or topic in that chapter. In most cases, I provide the recorded verse within that chapter. However, there are several instances in some chapters where I provide the Scripture verses without recording the details of those scriptures, and in those cases, I want to encourage you to open your Bible and read those for yourself. My intent is to encourage you to incorporate reading your Bible as you travel through this book.

Chapter 2

Overview of the Phoenix Journey

Definition of Phoenix

A phoenix is a mythical bird that bursts into flames at its death so that it can be reborn from its ashes. It is a mystical firebird that represents rebirth.

Every person that sins suffer from leprosy of their spirit and soul—just as Jesus was able to heal the physical leaper, He can heal all of us that are sinners that come to him for spiritual healing and salvation. This is like a Phoenix experience. When you ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you confess your sins and repent from your sins; you are reborn from the ashes of sin and a soul separated from God. Repentance is not a one-time event it is a lifestyle. Repentance washes us clean of the sin when we confess and repent.

Far too many people read the Bible and try to apply the Word to themselves and their specific desires and agenda. When, in fact, the Bible is about learning and understanding who God is and the manifestation of His Word through His Son Jesus. Many people claim various scripture verses they feel align with their specific agenda and claim scripture to benefit themselves. That was never the intent of the Word. It is to teach and equip each true believer to live the life that God called them to live and do it with a focus, knowledge, and passion on becoming like Jesus, serving our Lord, and advancing His kingdom around the world.

When you accept the salvation for eternal life that comes only from the Son of God, Jesus, you will love God and have a desire to be obedient. Having a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus is the only way you will truly have peace and joy in your life.

The Temple of God is a holy place to be honored and revered. In the Old Testament, we were taught that the temple was the symbol of God's presence and the place set aside for worship and prayer. The temple was the spiritual center for the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, we are taught that our human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us.

Therefore, we must be cognizant of this change when we truly accept and submit our lives under the Lordship of Jesus. As Paul admonished us in the book of Romans when he told us in Romans 12:1–2, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will."

God told us He desires obedience over sacrifice. Obedience from the heart is more important than any sacrifice we may make. The importance of obedience is presented in 1 Samuel 15:22, Psalm 40:6, and Amos 5:21–24.

Our sacrifice that pleases God is a broken and contrite heart. God who created us knows our heart and our innermost being and feelings. David shared with us in Psalm 51:16–17, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise."

When you accept Jesus as your Lord Savior and Christ (Messiah), you experience the initial step of your Phoenix Transformation Journey. You are raised from the ashes of sin and separation from God to a new and everlasting relationship with the only true God through His Son Jesus. Through your acceptance of Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you surrender your life to become His disciple and submit yourself to be His follower. You are truly born again raised from spiritual death to a spiritual rebirth, and you become a new creation in Jesus. With your surrender and submission to the Lordship of Jesus, you also receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

This book will provide a story about twelve different individuals and their journey after accepting Jesus as their Savior. Each growing into a mature understanding of their relationship with Jesus and their spiritual rebirth and commitment to living the surrendered and fully committed life to serving Jesus. Growing in their spiritual knowledge and their relationship to Jesus is when each of these individuals found real joy, meaning, contentment, and the purpose for their life.

I have had an opportunity over the years to experience my own Phoenix experience with my personal growth and continued journey of maturing my relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus, although I am still a long way away from where I want to be in my relationship and life with Jesus. I have also had the privilege of knowing and growing a relationship with several Christians that I admire and learning from them to understand their salvation experience and their Phoenix transformation journey. Out of that group of individuals I have selected to share the story of twelve with you. I have changed their names for the purposes of this book and to protect their anonymity.

Each of these individuals experienced different transformation journeys and training by the Holy Spirit. There was variability of time for each to get to their deep understanding and relationship with Jesus, and their journey and training were due to several factors. Some of the most common factors or influencers I found in my interviews included the following:

Their childhood and their parent's influence

Their view of their self-worth

The circle of friends and colleagues they associated with

The environments they lived and worked in

And more

I have included a brief overview of their testimony with their story. Their testimony is a testament or declaration of their faith in Christ and His presence in their lives. Their testimony is essentially a story of their relationship with Christ and a confession of His saving grace.

As I had the privilege of visiting with and interviewing each of them regarding their conversion experience and the life they lived up to the time of their conversion, I found they were willing to share information about the following:

Their childhood backgrounds

Environment in which they were raised

Value system that had been instilled in them growing up

Relationships that influenced them

Their cultural-based priorities

Their bifurcated struggle of being torn between following this world and following Jesus

Being trapped in a world of idolatry

And more

These factors or influencers seemed normal to them and had to be dealt with and displaced before they could find their absolute position in Christ. Each recognized and realized they had to remove and eliminate their sinful behavior or sinful propensity from their lives so they could be truly transformed to serve and represent Christ. Each of these individuals provides a testimony at the end of their story of how they view their journey and their relationship with Jesus today.

Again, the name I have given to each person whose story and testimony they have allowed me to share in this book is not their real name. I have assigned pseudonyms to each to provide anonymity for each and to protect their privacy as they requested to be anonymous.

The first is the story and testimony of Sergio and his elongated journey with many wrong decisions following his acceptance of Jesus as his Savior. After he initially accepted Jesus as his Savior, he was on fire and had a passion to serve Jesus. However, after about a year or so, the excitement of his commitment faded. The desires of this world drew him back to his original lifestyle. He always had a hunger in his heart for Jesus throughout his life, and outwardly, he seemed to have a relationship with Jesus but was living a miserable bifurcated lifestyle. After realizing his desire for the excitement and perceived satisfaction this world had to offer was all null and void, he came to the realization that it was all unfulfilling. He realized the only real joy and satisfaction in life come only from a truly committed and intimate relationship with Jesus. I witnessed him experiencing God's unending grace on his life.

The second is a story and testimony of Brooke and her journey to experiencing her true relationship with Jesus. She was raised in a dysfunctional family with neither parent showing her any love. In her teenage years and early adult life, she sought love from a variety of men. None of these proved to be real love, and each man only used her. During this time, she had an abortion and felt she was completely worthless. At a low point one evening, when she was seriously contemplating ending her life, feeling that no one could or would ever love her and that she was not worthy to be loved, an older lady sat down beside her on the park bench and engaged her in conversation. During that conversation, this older lady shared her testimony of growing up in a similar environment to Brooke. Her life followed the same path as Brooke's until she was in her midthirties. At the low point in her life, she ended up walking into a church service just looking for a place to sit and escape from the reality of her life. She sat in the back of the church since a service was in progress, and during that service for the first time, she heard about Jesus and the Good News of how Jesus came to this world, willingly gave His life in such a brutal crucifixion, and how He forgave those that falsely accused Him and crucified Him. He willingly came to redeem and save all mankind, and He loved her as much as He did everyone else. That night, she gave her life to Jesus, and her life changed forever. She was a new creation in Christ, and Brooke could have that same forgiveness and eternal salvation with the love of Jesus.

The third story and testimony are of Joel and his journey in accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Joel grew up in a home where his family attended church on a regular basis and felt they were Christians because of that. However, in looking back, it now seems church attendance was more of a social experience that provided business and social connections than a spiritual experience in worshipping and growing closer to Jesus. Materialism was considered the most important thing in life by his father, and that attitude about life was propagated to Joel. His father felt the measure of success was how much money a person made annually, how big your home was, what type of car you drove, which country clubs you were a member of, and more. Joel attended a local university where he dropped out in his junior year to become an entrepreneur. He did not want to wait to start making a lot of money. He thought he could make more money with his ideas about investments and selling his investment acumen to investment service providers. For the first few years, he was very successful, and his portfolio grew. During that period, he became more and more distant from God. Some shady dealings caught up with him, and he was convicted of extortion and went to prison for five years.

The fourth story and testimony are of Geena and her journey from being raised in a Christian home by Christian parents and how she fell away after she married her husband. Her husband was also raised in a Christian home, and because he felt Christianity was forced on him as a child, he rebelled after he became an adult. He did not want anything to do with going to church or worshipping Jesus. He did not see any benefit to having a relationship with or living for Jesus. He was being successful in his career and had a strong and domineering personality. Unfortunately for Geena, he influenced her to stop going to church, and she slowly began to walk away from her relationship with Jesus to keep peace in her marriage. She discovered that her husband was having an affair with another woman.

The fifth story and testimony are of Allison. She admitted that she had lived a life of sin and depravity, even after she had tasted the goodness of God. This is the story of her conversion, her backsliding away from Jesus, and her journey of restoration back