Pastor Shares How Painful Past Fuels His Mission to Rescue Youth Trapped in School-to-Prison Pipeline
A former drug dealer turned pastor is sharing his powerful real-life story about overcoming grief and regaining faith in God.
Pastor Michael Phillips, 47, grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and pictured a career in basketball rather than becoming a fourth-generation preacher.
But Phillips' life took a downturn when his father passed away unexpectedly when he was just 12-years-old – a tragedy that pushed him away from the church and his faith.
During a recent message shared on YouTube, Phillips admits that his "entire orientation of the world, of God, was completely disrupted" following the death of his father.
"Everything I thought about God changed. Every time I heard, 'God was good,' I was suspicious of His goodness," he explained. "Every Time someone said, 'God was just,' I was suspicious of His justice. I was suspicious because my father was gone. And I asked God the question, 'How could You do this to me?' Pain entered into my life at this moment and I could no longer see the stars. I could no longer see the sky. I could no longer see the reflection of His creation in the mirror. All I could see was pain."
He recalled the anger he felt toward God during his father's funeral when the preacher quoted , "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away."
"I said to myself, if that's the type of God He is, I don't want nothing to do with that type of God ... and I shut God out of my heart completely. I didn't want to know Him. I didn't want to feel Him. I didn't want His presence in my life because of the loss I suffered."
Years later, during his first year of college at West Virginia University, Phillips suffered life-altering injuries during a car wreck and lost his basketball scholarship, according to The Baltimore Sun.
He returned home to Baltimore, where he became mixed up in drugs and got arrested. At the age of 19, a judge gave Phillips two choices: go to jail or get an education.
"He asked me, 'Do you want to go to jail, or do you want to go to school?'" Phillips recalled. He chose to attend a college program at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma that included mandatory church services.
"I hated, loathed, did not want to have anything to do with church. So, I smoked some weed and I drank some vodka - a lot of vodka - and I went to church in that state," he said. "All of a sudden, something lifted. I was suddenly sober. I felt this peaceful presence I have never felt… the presence of God… I knew at that
Phillips went on found and lead the Kingdom Life Church, a non-denominational congregation in Baltimore. He is also the founder of LifePrep and currently serves as the Chief Engagement and Fulfillment Officer for the TD Jakes Foundation.
A strong advocate for school reform, Pastor Phillips established several nonprofits that support disadvantaged students in West Baltimore. He is an inspirational speaker and has also released a new book, "Wrong Lanes Have Right Turns: A Pardoned Man's Escape from the School-to-Prison Pipeline and What We Can Do to Dismantle It."
The school-to-prison pipeline includes policies that recommend incarceration over education, leading students out of school and into jail.
In his book, Phillips blends his painful past and valuable life lessons with ideas for education reform to help turn around the lives of other youths.
"When we acknowledge the challenges and trauma certain communities face through a lens of equity, a heart of empathy, and a willingness to act with moral courage, we can create significant change," said Phillips. "Education is the path, but we need to start with changing the system."
To learn more about Pastor Phillips, click here.
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