Why Hope Worth Having

Pastor Mike talks about how and why Hope Worth Having got started about 20 years ago. 

Hello and welcome to the Hope Worth Having podcast here, just reminding you always that in Christ, there’s hope worth having. So today we’re joined by Pastor Mike. Pastor Mike, how you doing? Hey, we’re doing great.

Good. So, actually, our topic today is going to be on Hope Worth Having. Alright, so first, why don’t you just kind of explain exactly what Hope Worth Having Ministries is? Well, it’s a ministry of proclaiming the Gospel on every available platform, and our main platforms of trying to teach the Bible are television, radio, then we’re doing internet, live streaming, social media.

And our goal is to just get the message of Christ and the hope that is found in Him to every person. Yeah, that’s awesome. So, about how old is Hope Worth Having? Hope Worth Having is actually over 20 years old, and I started it in my first ministry when I was in Connersville, Indiana.

Wow, that’s awesome. So, kind of what made you want to start, you know, Hope Worth Having? Well, I recognized quickly that, first of all, that there were people who were open to listening to the Gospel and the Bible to being taught in a different format as opposed to always coming.

And as a pastor, as I was ministering to people, I found that some people had problems with work schedules, they had problems with sickness, or there were just different challenges that were in their life that were preventing them to be able to assemble regularly and learn the Bible.

So that was kind of really the original, just trying to create more access to the teaching of the Bible. And I’d always admired great pastors like Chuck Swindoll, and certainly Charles Stanley, and just thought that that’s a great way to connect with people.

And so when we saw that opportunity, even… on a local level, we felt like it could make a really big impact. Yeah, that’s awesome. So kind of what were what were some of the steps? How’d you how’d you get off the ground?

Because you know, a lot of people say, Oh, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that. So how did you kind of logistically make it happen? Yeah, so what I wanted to do, first of all, I thought radio was the easiest.

So then I went to the local radio station, and I wanted to be more than just AM. So I sought out the FM guys. And we just sat down and talk with them. And I kind of explained where I’m at, what my passion is, and what some of their needs, how I felt like it could be a win win, because sometimes it’s hard to, there are certain times of the day, it’s hard to get programming, or it’s hard to get advertising.

And so I thought we could fill that gap for them. And then it would open doors for us to be able to get the gospel out. Thank you. And so we made some contracts that way. And then the next step was I had to train some lay people in my church on taking my sermon, which is usually 40, 45 minutes.

And how do we get that down to about 25 minutes with an intro and an ending? And so we worked on that. And fortunately everywhere I’ve served, I’ve always had people who were A, willing, and B, that had a little bit of background in this.

And so they actually enjoyed it and saw it as a ministry of theirs to be able to contribute to help get the gospel out. Yeah, so you said you started this at your old church. So once you kind of transitioned to the open door, how did that, did that kind of help the process?

Did that delay it? Well, it was, they had already had a television program built in that was already reaching regionally, even down into the DC area. So that was a great blessing, but I realized that we didn’t have the technology nor the equipment.

And so I led the church in a campaign to upgrade all that. And we were able to drop about $75 ,000 into our equipment. And one of my new staff members who came with me from Connorsville, he was already overseeing Hopworth having TV, radio, et cetera.

So he was able to take a team, train them, and he really got it off the ground here. We expanded with radio here. And I just simply asked people, if you would sponsor a week, it was like $200 a week.

And so I just got people who were willing to sponsor and it was a great response. And so as soon as we start putting it out there, it went real well. The next avenue is we started doing little clips, one minute clips of just taking excerpts out of what I was teaching.

And that went, that was a big. hit on the radio, especially during Christmas time. Yeah, so this being 20 years old, you kind of have gone through a little bit of a transition just in technology and the way people access content.

So how was Hope Worth Having able to adjust from radio being the number one thing to now social media, Twitter, podcasts, all this stuff. How were you able to adapt your ministry to the culture? Well, I’ve always been fascinated with technology and I was always looking for other means to get the message out.

At first, I was a little bit skeptical of social media. I thought it might just be a fad that was coming and then leaving. And so I didn’t really want to invest a lot into it, but after doing my research, reading after some great leaders, they were encouraging Christian pastors to get.

into the social media world that it was going to become a platform which would gather millions of people and to have the opportunity to share Christ with them. So my goal was never to get rid of TV or radio but to just continue to add to the platforms that Hopeworth having was broadcasting.

Then when we had the opportunity to go Facebook live, live streaming, that was really exciting that there were companies out there that could actually facilitate this whole process. So we were already doing TV so it really wasn’t a big step for us to jump into live streaming.

It was just a matter of trying to use some of the technicalities of like sound and picture lighting and everything to make sure it was correct for what we need on TV as well as what we need on live streaming.

Yeah so something you said earlier kind of caught my attention. I want to go back when you’re talking about you know the congregation being behind you and you being able to raise that money for equipment.

How did it feel to you know have your congregations be behind you? Well it’s honoring and I’m very blessed that every time we have shared the vision of Hopeworth having that God has always provided people who have rallied and not only do we have our congregation which is the base of our support of Hopeworth having but it’s great that now we’re getting people who are listening to the message or watching the message that they’re sending in gifts and now that we’ve jumped on with the app people can just go straight to their app make a donation.

It really streamlines everything and what we have watched every year is the giving grows as we continue to expand our audience. Yeah so while I’m sure a good chunk of the congregation does follow you ever kind of run into people who say you know you just need to focus on on us and you know your specific church and have you ever kind of run into any criticism or any kind of negativity from your congregation about doing an outside ministry?

Yeah there are those who feel like that it’s not legitimate and that maybe we’re enabling people to stay home and keep them from gathering with God’s people and there may be a small percentage that that is true but honestly what I have found is we are ministering to people who don’t have access and whether it’s a caretaker taking care of a ailing parent or a spouse and there’s no way that they could be connected on a regular basis to the church they have been able or whether they’re in a maybe a nursing home or they’re in different places where they work different hours that they would not have the access without these platforms and that’s bringing God’s Word to them.

So yes, there is pushback, but I’ve always just tried to be positive and I’ve always been a person that if you’re going to complain, I need you to be a part of the solution. And if you’re not willing to be part of the solution, I’m just not going to buy into your complaints.

Yeah, I mean, that’s some solid advice right there. So what were some of the key things in kind of help and build your following? Because I mean, this thing is grown and I’ll let you talk about that too.

Just firstly, how many different states, different channels are you on? So we’re on three different television networks that cover multiple states as well as multiple regions. And we have found we were kind of just doing different stations, but the expense of that was more than what we could handle.

But by going regional, we were able to cover a lot of ground. So that’s wonderful. And you know, when you get into this, you kind of learn the tricks of the trade, right? But television was big in the sense that obviously you have all these potential viewers that can turn you on and be able to communicate.

So that that’s kind of opened the door where people started responding. And they would write me letters. Even people in prison would write me letters. Of course, everybody wanted me to get them out, but I don’t have those capacities, but certainly glad to minister to them.

And then the radio, of course, you know, that was a big hit as well. Because in our area, we have a lot of people traveling to DC, Baltimore for their jobs. And so the way we set it up is that it could work out to where they could hear the message and they could just jump on the radio and be connected there.

So that was also great and then of course social media just really took everything to a whole new level beyond what I’d ever dreamed of and just the ability to people to have instant communication, instant response, messagings.

I get so many messages every week from people and I’m not able to respond to all of them but just expressing their appreciation or expressing things in their life. I just had a man message me and just how much he felt like his life was growing and changing.

We get a lot of requests for people to want a copy of the sermon either through downloading it or a CD format. and all that is we capture those names and then we communicate with them regularly through a newsletter and of course our website helps them keep updated on what’s going on.

Yeah that’s awesome so I mean you you you know introduce them to Jesus you give the gospel but it kind of seems like you don’t just leave them there you want to continue growing them and develop them and that’s kind of a good chunk of what this podcast you know this this whole podcast kind of is about you know getting people the gospel and then taking them further so so that’s awesome.

So again you’re a pastor and there’s many different things that go along with being a pastor so what kind of made you feel like you know you you were ready or you were going to be able to do you know the this hope worth having ministry on top of all the other duties and requirements of being a full -time pastor.

Well I have always take taken to heart the words of the apostle to Timothy who was a pastor in Ephesus to do the work of an evangelist and so I believe the work of an evangelist is simply to proclaim the gospel to teach people how to be saved to teach them how to have a relationship with God.

So that has always burned in my heart since the days that I was walking the halls of Bible College. I have always just this just been in my heart and a strong desire so when I jumped into pastoring I realized that that was part of my gift set and that I needed to find other people to take care of other things that sometimes tied down the pastor and so I’ve learned to organize my leadership team my staff and different volunteers to get them more involved to take care of some of the logistical responsibilities of serving here and taking care of God’s people but that my passion to stay focused on proclaiming the gospel,

doing the work of an evangelist, and teaching the Bible, helping people to grow in their faith. It’s not that I don’t do other things, I’m always doing other things, but that’s how I’ve been able to balance those things.

I’m not afraid to delegate, I’m not afraid to equip, and I find it kind of invigorating, and then I’m okay to give you something, and then let go, and let you do it to the best of your ability, and just kind of give you feedback along the journey.

Awesome, so now it’s kind of, maybe there’s some other pastors out there, just maybe some other people in general are kind of thinking they want to start a similar thing. So how, what are some things they should look for when knowing, hey, maybe it’s time that I should do this, like what are maybe signs, or some indications, or things that they can do this and do it well.

Yeah well all they need to do is open their eyes because the nation is a mess and the key is that if every church and every pastor would get back to doing the work of an evangelist then a lot of these things would take care of themselves because you would have more of God’s people in the nation and they would be serving in different areas of the nation and they would always seek to glorify God rather than their own personal fleshly desire.

So what I would say to every pastor is get back to doing the work of an evangelist. Don’t just stay huddled into your little bubble and unwilling to reach out and though it may not be your style or it may not be within your comfort zone, step out and I would encourage you to start where you’re at.

Start small and so for me like I say I started in radio, jumped into TV, and then went into the internet and the social media and streaming and all that and that was kind of my process but what I would encourage people is maybe to start in the process of social media.

Just that’s what I would advise young pastors today is start getting out there try to be on every platform that you can be on and then get these apps that where you can post they’ll post for you automate some of this stuff for you so you and then try to find a young person who will help take what you’re already doing.

So here’s what the pastors fail they think they got to do this on top of what they’re already doing but really what they’ve always done for me is just take I’m already teaching several times a week. I’m already writing several times a week.

I’m already doing a lot of this content information and just take it and repurpose your content. Then I would go sit down with your radio guy and I’d get on radio as quick as possible. possible. And then once you’re on radio, I would want to get people to rally behind it.

And it just get fine sponsors, you know, that would be willing to do that. And that if you continue to see growth, and you continue to see that you’re making impact, jump in on television, jump in on streaming, get all those things done, and just continue to be willing to grow and make sure you have a good infrastructure for equipment.

Yeah. So how would you encourage maybe a pastor or, you know, any any Christian who is, you know, I want to do this, but you know, I’m just not I’m just not smart enough. You know, I don’t have enough knowledge of the Bible.

How would you kind of encourage encourage that? Well, first of all, nobody can be dumber than Mike Sanders, because I didn’t come with all this intelligence, I just came with passion. And then I was smart enough to beg borrow and if you will, still, and I’m using metaphors here, but I’m just trying to say that I was willing to learn from people who were already doing, be teachable, and then just take what you’re already doing,

take your devotion time, take what you’re writing, what you’re thinking, and put it in your phone, you got all these places to keep notes, just you have thoughts and things that pop in your head. It drives my wife crazy because in the old days, I would say, I got to run down to the office, I got a few more thoughts that I want to add to my sermon.

Well, now I can just put it in my phone, and when I’m back in the office, it all syncs together, but what I’m saying is that you’re already thinking these things, you’re already seeing these things, learn, you know, like I try to learn from people that are already posting on Twitter and Facebook, and one of the things I tell pastors, you don’t have to be long -winded, you don’t have, be short, be succinct,

be right to the point, people like it, the greatest responses I get are just one -sentence statements, or maybe two -sentence statements, or just anything that’s thought -provoking, or questions that pop in my head, and I say, why this?

And I just throw it out there, and you get great interaction. That makes me think about any Ecclesiastes where, chapter one, I believe, where the author just goes, hey, there’s nothing new under the sun, you know, we try to reinvent the wheel where, you know, all people need is the gospel, that’s all they’re really looking for, whether they know it or not.

So it’s just, again, it’s awesome that, you know, you have this ministry and it’s continuing to grow. Even kind of through the pandemic, why don’t you talk a little bit about how kind of the shutdown kind of affected Hope Worth Heaven?

Yeah, well, because we’d already had this vision, and it was already being fleshed out, and the infrastructure was there, it was a smooth transition. for us to be able to stream everything. Now we used to just stream my teaching but then taking the whole service so that the family could sit at home and watch the entire service participate in worship music and to be able to participate in prayers and to be able to participate in Bible reading,

all the aspects of having a service and being a part of what I call the means of grace where God is encouraging us, strengthening us and supporting us through these different avenues. We were just able to jump right on it.

Obviously there were things that we had to tweak and make better and we’ve gotten better and hope to continue to improve but that’s what I would say to these pastors. Look you now here’s I was just with a young pastor about two weeks ago.

We were having breakfast together and I asked him the question, what is your digital strategy? and he just looked at me and said I don’t have a digital strategy and I said you’re already behind so you have to have an in -person strategy you have to have a digital strategy and again there’s there’s so much content out there there’s a lot of great organizations that are helping pastors to ask the right questions about how are we going to be able to minister to these people that for maybe a year or two maybe three years that are not going to come back in person so we want a digital strategy we want to be able to minister to them but just take it even beyond that is that okay so we get people get confidence back and they feel like they can start doing in person but there’s always going to be a segment that you’re going to have to digitally reach what is your strategy it’s where the young people are you’ve got to be in that marketplace you’ve got to be sharing God’s truth and so I would definitely work hard on that yeah great stuff so just kind of one more question here um where where where did the name Hope Worth Admin come up from because it’s pretty creative so where did where did that come from yes so I told you I beg borrow and steal so I had a pastor friend who was pastoring down in Louisiana and he actually is the one that came up with Hope Worth Having and he had a radio program called Hope Worth Having and I was having lunch with him because he had resigned his church and he told me that he was going to be relocating and I asked him what are you going to do with Hope Worth Having and he said I’m just going to let it die and I said can I have the name and he said sure you can have it I said is there you know any uh you want anything for it any financial enumeration or anything I can do to make it right and he said no you can have it he said I’m going to be using it and I don’t plan on using it where I’m going.

So I took that name and knowing that it was a good name and others would want it and try to duplicate it because they’re just like me, beg, borrow, and steal. I trademarked it so nobody could touch it and so that’s how we came up with Hopeworth having.

It was a spin -off of the great preacher Dr. Adrienne Rogers’ love worth finding. As a matter of fact sometimes people will say to me Hopeworth finding and I say no Hopeworth having but yes we love it.

Yeah that just goes to show best things happen over food right so there you go isn’t that great that’s good buddy. So just as we as we kind of wrap up here just remind or where can some of the people where can they get in touch with Hopeworth having where can they get connected with Hopeworth having.

Yeah the best way is go to Hopeworthhaving .com and there we have a wonderful website. and we have a lot of contact information and you can even subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll keep you updated.

You can jump on our app, go to the Open Door Church PA in the Play Store and you will be able to just download that app and there go click once you build your profile just click Hope Worth Having and you’ll be able to follow along and keep up with all the different avenues where Hope Worth Having is and you’ll see that we’re on YouTube, we’re on social media obviously and that you’ll be able to see where all our on the website where all our radio broadcasts are where all the television is broadcasting the times and the opportunities for you to stay connected.

Yeah that’s awesome and you know you mentioned Charles Stanley earlier as kind of one of the the guys you looked after and I remember I was reading a couple months ago an article and he wrote how you know no matter what happens I think he was stepping down from his position as pastor you know whatever he worded as like I’m not retiring I’m just kind of moving on but you know the thing that kind of stuck out to me was my goal remains the same here I want to get the gospel out as clearly as possible as efficiently as possible to as many people as possible like that’s what it’s all about and I mean that’s 100 what Hope Worth Having is doing so you know we thank you for that and I’m sure I mean you get the letters all the time and you know even the ones there’s tons that you know we don’t even see that you know it’s making an impact and you know changing lives and furthering the kingdom of Jesus so yeah and that’s Hope Worth Having.

Pastor Mike thank you for joining us today. Amen sorry thank you. Oh you’re good you’re good. All right all right listeners thank you for listening and just again a reminder in Christ there’s always Hope Worth Having.