Reverend Reverend Dr. Phil Hoskins
HIgher Ground Baptist Church
Kingsport, TN
Sponsor: Rep. Phil Roe, (R-TN)
Date of Prayer: 06/15/2011
One Minute Speech Given in Recognition of the Guest Chaplain:
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, today our guest chaplain is Dr. Phil Hoskins, a native east Tennesseean.
Dr. Hoskins attended East Tennessee State University, Milligan College, and Andersonville Baptist Seminary, where he earned his Doctor of Theology degree. For 12 years, Dr. Hoskins served as a full–time Southern Baptist evangelist and has conducted over 400 revivals and crusades in 28 States and Canada.
Dr. Hoskins is now the pastor of Higher Ground Baptist Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. Since accepting the pastorate of Higher Ground in 1991, he has helped his congregation grow from under 200 to well over 3,000 members.
Dr. Hoskins is here today with his wife, Brenda, and his two beautiful daughters, McKenzie Paige and Madison Jade.
It is a great honor to introduce Dr. Hoskins, whose dedication and commitment to serving God and his fellow man is unwavering.
I would like to yield to my friend from North Carolina, Heath Shuler.
Mr. SHULER. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee.
It is, indeed, an honor that you have asked one of my dear friends, Phil Hoskins, to be able to come and preside over the House this morning and lead us in prayer , a gentleman who baptized my wife, who administered the ceremony that married my brother and his wife.
So, Phil has meant absolutely everything to me and my family, and I love him unconditionally. He has been a man of great character, someone I can lean on, and I am jealous that you have him in your district.
Opening Prayer Given by the Guest Chaplain:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gifts of life and freedom. Thank You for the blessing of citizenship in the United States of America.
Today, I pray for our President and Members of the House and Senate. Lord, grant wisdom to our governing officials as they lead us during these challenging times throughout the world. Many have forgotten You and many also have forsaken You, but today we turn to You and acknowledge that You and You alone are the source of our strength and security.
Have mercy upon us, I pray. Now I claim the promise in Your word, as written in the second book of Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 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 will forgive their sin and will heal their land.''
In Jesus' name, amen.
To learn more about Members who have sponsored a Guest Chaplain, please visit the Congressional Biographical Directory