"Think About Your Thinking"

Dear friend,

Do you think about your thinking? "If it feels good, do it" is one of many slogans that allure our minds and landslide into our emotions. My friend, the sad reality is we're in a battle for our mind. It's a battle that rages each and every day. Experts say we have over 10,000 thoughts come through our minds every day which represents not only a lot of thinking but a lot of battling going on! Did you know the difference between success and failure for a person is what takes place in the mind and the emotions associated with it? Where do we go for hope? What can we consult to conquer the ravages of an unskilled mind and runaway emotions?

God gives us encouraging news in Romans 12:2a, when Paul writes, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." God wants mind renewal. The Devil wants to capture and sabotage your mind, but God wants to refresh and renew your mind with His Word. How do you stand spiritually strong and defeat the emotionally charged temptations of our day? Renew your mind with the bible daily. THINK about what you are thinking. Don't emote through life... periodically think about what you're thinking and align your mind with the truth of Christ. When you do, you'll know more of the His peace, presence, and more assurance of His love. The difference between success and failure for the Christ follower is what takes place in the mind. If you don't fill your mind with the bible, the Devil will gladly fill it with his lies. Think about that and then renew your mind today.

Sincerely,

Rick Hoppe
Teaching Pastor
Faith Bible Church

Do you know your mission?

Dear friend,

I love life! I enjoy seeing people reach after mountain-sized goals. One of the qualities I appreciate in people is focus. It is the valuable, sometimes rare quality of laser-like attention. Have you ever noticed WHO possess this type of quality? What kinds of people seem to charge through life with lion-hearted passion and ferocious focus? One thing is certain - apathetic people do not contain the drive necessary to achieve long-term focus and produce long-term results. What kind of people do? Well, if you have eyes that see, you will spot them everywhere.

 

One of the common denominators of people with this focus is that they all seem to be going somewhere. They have an insatiable goal they are pursuing. In a word, they are on a MISSION! There was one man who lived 2000 years ago emphatic about His mission. In fact, he was so driven by it that He died for it. He had the best mission and He lived it out to perfection-his name was Jesus Christ. In astounding fashion, as He is speaking to God His Father, Jesus said of His life in John 17:4, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do." Wow, what focus! What passion! What desire. What a fulfilled mission. Jesus "accomplished the work" which God gave Him to do. Have you accomplished the work which God has given you to do? Jesus accomplished His work because He knew He was on a mission from God. He was on a mission and He would not stop until the mission was done!

 

My friend, our world is screaming for people who know their mission and can help the gigantic needs of mankind. Which part of your world will you help today? Do you have that rare quality of focus? Do you have the passion and focus of someone on a mission, or do you often struggle with indecision, fear, worry, periods of apathy-even depression? Your problem might be bound up in the fact that you don't know why you exist and therefore don't have a sense of mission in your life. Can I encourage you to at all costs find why you exist. Take time to discover and search for YOUR mission. God says we have been created for His glory (Isaiah 43:7). The stakes are too high for you to continue with an unfocused vision which always leads to an unfinished mission. If you chase your mission in life, it will ultimately finish on dead-end streets. But if you learn and do God's mission for your life, I can promise you an adventure like no other. My friend, lay your plans at God's feet. Your mission is still unfinished. Make sure you know why you exist. Ask Him to show you why you exist (James 1:5). This is a process, but as you follow Him, He promises to direct you every step of the way. Let's say goodbye to apathy and indecision and start living out our mission. Leave behind your blurred vision, and start finishing the work He has called you to do. You'll be glad you did!

From my heart,

Rick Hoppe
Teaching Pastor
Faith Bible Church

Romans Powerful Effects

Dear friend,

Many things affect us. Books, TV, radio, movies, the internet are just a few of many influences that capture our attention and affection. However, some things have a life-changing effect on us. One immoral man named Augustine, was one such person. He was pervasively gripped by the bible and powerfully impacted history. If you're like me, you desire to encourage other people's lives for good. What was it that caused Augustine to have such an impact? How could such an immoral man end up serving his fellow man? The key was how God broke into Augustine's life with Romans, and how God broke open his life to communicate the truth of Romans.

The book of Romans had a powerful effect on Augustine. The conversion of Augustine was very timely. In September A.D. 386, God rocked his intellectual world and the Holy Spirit wooed him to Jesus Christ. He was a brilliant professor and philosopher; but he was a dirty man who lived an immoral life. One afternoon, as he sat weeping in the garden of his friend Alypius, Augustine was gripped with the troubles in his soul and the wickedness of his life. He then heard the voice of a child saying, "Tolle, lege. Tolle, lege." In Latin it means, "Take up and read. Take up and read." An open scroll of the book of Romans lay beside him. He picked it up and went to his lodging. He then began to read Romans 13:13-14 which says, ..."Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." Augustine was gripped in the core of his being. He later wrote of that occasion: "No further would I read, nor did I need; for instantly, as the sentence ended, by a light, as it were, or security infused into my heart, all the gloom of doubt vanished away" (Confessions Book 8, Chapter 12). By simply reading a short passage from Romans, Aurelius Augustine, became a follower of Jesus Christ.

At that time in history, the church was fighting and feeling the bruises of strife. Why? A man named Pelagius (a fifth-century monk), taught and preached the poison of the Pelagian heresy. He said that man has the ability to obey God's commands. Pelagius purported that man can take the first and most important steps toward salvation on his own. This unfortunate teaching was causing the church to drink in its error and become deceived. Who would save the church of Jesus Christ from dangerous tentacles of the Pelagian heresy? Where would the voice of biblical reason come from? Did God have someone ready to battle this formidable foe of false teaching? Certainly! Augustine demolished the Pelagian heresy at that time. How? He simply expounded and explained the book of Romans. As he taught, Jesus Christ became clearer and haze of Pelagianism became dimmer. Augustine went from an immoral man, to a man in love with the Christ of Romans. History records that Augustine went on to become one of the church's outstanding theologians and leaders.

My friend, what book, paragraph, or sentence of the bible has had a powerful effect on you lately? What paragraphs of Scripture have penetrated your soul with life-changing results recently? What verses have rocked your world and caused you to endeavor to change your life? I long for this. I long for you to have this. How? The power comes from the Word of God empowered by the Spirit of God. God says the Word of God is "living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword." The bible penetrated deep into Augustine's soul. It changed him and he changed the world. It can do the same for you. How will you and I influence our world today? Augustine was only one man yet God used him greatly. You do not need to be Augustine but you do need to do the works God has called you to fulfill (Eph. 2:10). Let's do what God calls us to today. People need your influence for good today. Our world could use 1000, even 1,000,000 people like Augustine today. Augustine's life is over but your life remains. You be that person who shares the bible with others. Fill your mind with the truth ...then ... reach people with the great message of Jesus Christ.

From my heart,

Rick Hoppe

Teaching Pastor

Faith Bible Church

Humility Defined

Dear friend,                                                         

I love the inspiring yet challenging definition Author/Speaker John Dickson wrote in his book called "Humilitas." He said, "Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself." Shazam! I find that astonishingly powerful and extremely hard to apply. Do you ever wonder why humility is so hard to live out? It is because humility is the opposite of what our culture worships - self. True humility is a daily dying to self while the world is daily telling you to exalt yourself. At every age and at every phase of your life, your battle to increase in humility will be challenged...indeed it will be a war (I Peter 2:11)! Our nature yearns for status and recognition. I don't naturally deploy my resources to help others. I often contemplate, "What's in it for me?" before I serve others. This is truly a battle for me. But Jesus Christ said the greatest are those who serve others. Peter said in I Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time." God opposes proud people

but gives grace to the humble. 

 

As you live your life today, let's fight the tendency to exalt ourselves and make much of Christ. Tell Christ where you have failed him and experience His cleansing. Pride has destroyed millions. In his 2009 book, How the Mighty Fall, Author Jim Collins poignantly penned, "...when successful companies become arrogant, it often spells their downfall." Friends, the landscape of history is littered with casualties that have drank the poisoned perfume of pride - don't be one of them. Today, make the "...noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself." If you do, it is an indication God's grace is already working in you and through you!

 

From my heart,

 

Rick Hoppe
Teaching Pastor
Faith Bible Church
"To see unbelieving people become committed followers of Jesus Christ."