House of Hope Online

February 25, 2024

Here is the audio version:

Or, if you prefer Spotify:

Today is the one-year anniversary of the House of Hope Online Blog and Podcast.  To commemorate what the Lord is doing, we have a special podcast this week that reviews the origin of the House of Hope Online, including the vision that we have for the blog/podcast.  Our son Will, and daughter Laura, who were both instrumental in setting up the recordings and blog site, speak on this week’s podcast about their shared vision of what the Lord is doing.  I encourage you all to give it a listen.  I will summarize here what they have said for those who are unable to access the recording.

As I mentioned previously in the “About the House of Hope Online” podcast, the House of Hope began as a small group that met in our house about 20 years ago.  We would simply get together and soak in the Holy Spirit and wait on the Lord.  The Lord was very faithful to speak into our spirits as we worshipped, and we would share the word of the Lord.

After we stopped meeting in the house, we continued to share the word of the Lord via email each week with a group that eventually grew to about 35 people.  On my 69^th birthday in December 2022, all four of my children went in on a gift for me that included recording equipment, and shared their desire for Nancy and me to begin recording these words for a podcast and for a blogsite that might reach a larger audience.  I am happy to report that we now reach about 49 people each week with a WordPress.com generated email containing links to the podcast, with the potential to reach even more with Spotify and a Facebook posting.  The stats reported by WordPress.com show that the site has had over 1,700 views, mostly in the U.S., but also reaching Canada, Ireland, the UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Pakistan, and many others.  We are excited that the word of God is going forth, and we pray that all who receive it will be blessed.

Introduction of My Son Will

I am pleased to introduce my son Will to the podcast this week to share the original vision that he had for the podcast, and to explain the work he does behind the curtain, so to speak, to improve the sound quality of the recordings.  To give you an idea of how the sausage is made, I record the word in an audio file using the equipment and software my children gifted me, and then I share that file with Will, who cleans up any computer hiccups or quality issues with the recording, which I then post on the Podcast Page of the blogsite: https://houseofhopeonline.com/blog/  which is based at wordpress.com.  WordPress.com then generates emails to the 49 subscribers, giving them access to the audio file and the text of the written word, which includes the various scriptures for the week.  So, let us welcome Will to the podcast.

Here is a Summary of Will’s Remarks on the Podcast

Our family has always been into the scriptures and the importance of God’s word in guiding and directing our lives.  We share scriptures via our family text chain, and we celebrate with amazement the wisdom and relevance of God’s word in the world today.  My dad has a business background that prepared him to analyze business contract language and he applies that gifting in communicating the word of God.  But we know that a head knowledge of the scripture is not enough.  What we need is the revelation of the Holy Spirit to understand the scriptures, and that is what we strive to share each week in the blog and podcast.  Being led by the Spirit of Truth will change our lives.

A few years ago, the Lord sparked in me an idea of the value of recording these weekly emailed words in a podcast, which could be posted online.  Beyond the ability to reach a larger audience, an audio version of the word increases the portability of the messages, as it allows us to listen to God’s word as we drive to or from work, or while we are doing other things in our busy lives.  But more importantly, I have two sons and several young nieces who now have access and exposure to the word of God in a format that works better for them, which increases their interest.  Today, evil is on the rise in our world, and the spirit of confusion can affect our children, especially in the educational world, so it is important to teach our children that the scriptures are there to guide them in all areas of their lives, and they can trust the word of God with everything.  Every problem they face can be solved by getting with the Lord, and opening their Bible, and letting Him lead them into truth.

Finally, another great benefit of the weekly blog and podcast is that we all now have a database of words from the Lord that we can access going forward.  This is something that will outlive us and be a blessing to those who follow us.  It is out there on the internet, and it is there forever, and we can pray that the Lord has His way with it.

That is the heart behind this and the idea that we had.  I hope the podcast continues to bless everyone who listens to it as it blesses me.  Praise God for this, and we look forward to what the Lord will do with this in 2024.

Introduction of My Daughter Laura

It is my pleasure to welcome my daughter Laura to the podcast to share her perspective of what the Lord is doing here.  Like Will, Laura was very instrumental is setting up the blog I use at WordPress.com, the site she also uses for her own blog: https://anotherwaythroughtheway.wordpress.com

Laura also maintains the Worship Music page of the House of Hope Online blogsite.  From time to time, the Lord inspires music and lyrics into her spirit.  Laura, a relatively new pianist, composes the songs, plays the music, sings the songs, and posts them on both blog sites.  If you haven’t visited the worship music page, or Laura’s blogsite, I strongly encourage it as a way to worship the Lord, to soak in Holy Spirit, and to wait on Him to speak into your spirit.

Here is a Summary of Laura’s Remarks on the Podcast

It has been amazing reflecting on this year of the House of Hope Online Blog and Podcast, and all the words and scriptures that God has been flowing through my dad.  I have also been reflecting on the original House of Hope meetings in our living room when I was a teenager.  It was a really important time for me.  My parents taught me about worship, and about how important it was to really focus on God.  My dad did a series back then about soaking in the Spirit.  I still remember it.  We would spend time listening to instrumental worship music because lyrics require use of the brain, which involves our flesh, and so we wanted to stay in the spirit, to focus on Jesus and just allow the Lord to minister to our spirits through the instrumental music.  What it taught us is the Lord would speak His scriptures and the truth of His word to us as we soaked in Him.  And so, it was a great lesson for a teenager to know that when we hear from God, it is always consistent with the scriptures, and He would never contradict Himself with a spoken word.

Another thing I learned back then was the importance of raising our hands as we worship the Lord.  There are two podcasts during the past year in which my dad describes the struggle he had with raising hands when he first came to know the Lord.  If you listen to “A Born-Again Marriage” from March 26, 2023, and “Palm Sunday Praise vs Pride” from April 2, 2023, you will hear the details of how Father God lovingly explained it was pride that was preventing my dad from raising hands, and how my dad felt a lifting in his spirit when he finally yielded to His Lord and Savior by raising his hands in worship.  Raising hands in worship was never a pride issue with me, thanks to the early days of the House of Hope, and these recent podcasts teach that raising hands is how we humble ourselves, submit to God, let go of our pride and our own abilities, and get to a place of focusing on God. In doing so, we allow the Holy Spirit to mold our hearts and give us His word.

I also learned to close my eyes during worship to avoid distraction and to focus solely on the Lord.  If you keep your eyes open, your mind kicks in, you see things you like or don’t like, and that gets you into the flesh, which is opposed to the Spirit of God.  Instead, focus on Jesus, lift your hands, and sing the words of worship to enter His presence.  It’s beautiful.

That is the process I go through as I seek the Lord for the songs He has been giving me.  It is cool because He gives me scriptures to sing and words to share with others from His Spirit.  He says: “Come to me and I will fill your spirit.  I will give you love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

And so, all of this leads to the conversation that Jesus had with the woman at the well in John 4.

John 4:

 19 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

 20 “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you [people] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father.

 22 “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

 23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”

 26 Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am [He.”]

I love this passage because Jesus teaches we are to worship in spirit and truth.  The way to worship in spirit and truth is to focus on Jesus as we wait upon the Holy Spirit.  The Greek word for “worship” in this passage means to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand; to crouch toward, to prostrate oneself in homage or reverence to, and to adore.  There is motion involved in a direction toward Him, and if you think about it, when we raise our hands, we are making a motion toward Him, and we are therefore worshipping in spirit and truth.  This is what Jesus said is required of us to be true worshippers.  The word “spirit” is “pneuma,” which is a current of air or a blast of wind, or the breath of God, and Jesus is the Word of Truth.  This is the place where we hear from God, and He gives us words we can share with others.  It impacts our lives and can help the lives of others, too.

If you are interested in learning more about what is called “soaking in the spirit,” you can go back and listen to a podcast entitled: “Gifts of the Spirit,” on March 12, 2023.

And so, yes, we are excited about what the Lord has done to date through these podcasts, and how He has used Will in doing this.  The words the Lord has been flowing through my dad are awesome.  I love listening to podcasts, and I love that my young daughters are getting to hear their grandfather give these words.

We hope these podcasts are helping others and we look forward to what is coming in the years ahead.

Closing

Thank you, Will and Laura, and thanks to all those reading or listening.  We hope you are benefiting in some way from what the Lord is saying.  His words today are significant and important to a confused world, and we have no other motive than to share this with others, in the hope that the Holy Spirit will draw us all near to Him to guide and direct us.  We pray blessings over you as you listen and meditate on the scriptures.  God bless you all, in the mighty name of Jesus!