A Hope-Filled Life is the Best Way to Live

This is an excerpt from a heartwarming story that recently appeared in a Tampa Bay, Florida newspaper.

SEMINOLE – For the Essenburgs, the news is sadly familiar: staggering unemployment, failing banks, and families struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.

John "Jack" and Ella Essenburg are contemporaries of the Great Depression. It's when they met, married, and started their family that now extends to five generations.

The Essenburgs—he's 97 and she's 96—recently celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary. What is the key to the longevity of their marriage? Among other things, the couple has developed a well-honed rhythm of long-time companionship.

Sunday mornings, for instance, they settle in front of the television to catch the "possibility thinking" philosophy espoused by Robert H. Schuller's Hour of Power.

Deeply anchored in Jesus Christ... the Hour of Power Provides an Ongoing Message of Hope

There is great power in hope. Hope opens doors where despair has closed them. Hope sees problems as opportunities. Hope is essential for life...so essential, in fact, that Scripture describes hope as "a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls" (Hebrews 6:19).

One of the earliest symbols of the Christian faith, the anchor has at its center a cross. For Christians, the cross-shaped anchor reminds us of the hope we have in Christ. In the same way an anchor steadies and secures a ship during stormy weather, hope-anchored by faith in Jesus Christ-holds the wind-tossed, storm-torn, and weary believer during his or her most perilous times.

An untold number of persons have written to us over the years, saying, "I felt hopeless and alone. Then I found the Hour of Power and for the first time in a very long time, I felt hope again. You saved my life." For millions of persons around the world, the Hour of Power is their only spiritual anchor. Over the past forty years, God has called on countless loving and generous individuals like you to support this ministry financially.

You have been a link in the chain that has kept the weekly Hour of Power program securely anchored on television screens. In this unsettled economy, the Hour of Power is closer now than ever to being swept away from it's mooring and will only remain "anchored" on television if you continue to support this ministry with your financial gifts.

To thank you for your generous gift of $40 (if you can-$1 for every year we've been on the air), we will send you a very inspiring poster with the words of Dr. Schuller's "Possibility Thinkers Creed" printed on it. You can hang this poster on your wall or display it in your home or office. Its words will encourage you to never give up on your dreams, to seek God's amazing solution to your "impossible" situation, and to hold on to hope through the storms of life.

While an uncertain economy continues to pose a serious threat to the Hour of Power, our hope is anchored in Jesus Christ and your faithfulness. Thank you for allowing God to use you as a vital and necessary link in the chain that will keep our faith-filled, hope-full Hour of Power on the air. Time is of the essence! Please respond today.

Jesus - Our Anchor of Hope for the Storms of Life

By Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman

An experienced sailor never leaves port without at least one anchor on board. He knows that storms may come while at sea and that the anchor will help secure and steady the ship during those storms. Our lives are like long-distance sailing journeys. Storms will hit when we least expect them. So it's foolhardy to set sail in life without an "anchor" on board.

When buffeted by a life-storm such as foreclosure, abandonment, or a life-threatening disease-without an "anchor," we will be tossed from discouragement to desperation to depression and even defeat. Hopeless, we may stop trying and cease believing we will survive the storm-much less reach our final destination.

Jesus is the only "anchor" strong enough to hold us steady during the stormy times of life, giving us enough faith to keep us from sliding aimlessly or sinking hopelessly.

There is no such thing as false hope-especially if our hope is anchored in Jesus. Hope always prevails. Hope never fails! Even if the doctor tells you there is no hope for a cure-hope anyway. Even when your family tells you there is no hope for reconciliation-hope anyway.

Hope changes everything! Hope changes our attitude-from being negative and defeated to being optimistic, looking for possibilities. If we are anchored in Christ, he will give us the faith we need to ride out the storm. And when the storm clouds clear-and they will-no matter in what port we find ourselves, we will be right where we should be and we won't be alone! We'll be surrounded by those who love us. And we will know the Captain of our soul more intimately than we ever dreamed.

So, go ahead and hope. Hope in Jesus Christ. He is the anchor you and I need to weather the storms of life, bringing us through to live the glorious life God has in store for each one of us.

Finding Hope to Face His Tomorrows

By Robert H. Schuller

Some years ago I received a phone call from a man who lived in Monte Carlo.

"Dr. Schuller," he said, "we have never met, but you saved my life. I want to come see you and thank you in person."

A few days later, this man flew to Los Angeles and arrived in my office. A tall, handsome, broad shouldered man, probably in his early fifties, he limped toward me, a white cane in his right hand, one leg conspicuously shorter than the other one. A black patch covered his left eye, while his right eye stared upward, unfocused. His companion spoke first, saying, "As you can see, Juan is blind. But he's alive-thanks to you. Juan and I were business partners and friends before his accident. He wanted to tell you his story himself."

Juan shared that he was an only child, the sole inheritor of his wealthy Cuban family's fortune. Fearing he might lose it all under Fidel Castro's regime, Juan sold everything except his large private yacht, which he sailed to Monte Carlo to dock in front of his new, luxurious, waterfront home.

One rainy weekend, Juan and his girlfriend headed to Switzerland in his Rolls Royce. Driving too fast, he lost control on the slick road and wrapped the car around a tree. Seven months after, he awakened from a coma to find that the accident had killed his girlfriend, caused him to go blind, and badly deformed his left leg.

Juan went to bed every night hoping he would die in his sleep. Eventually he planned to kill himself with a revolver on a Sunday morning after dismissing his staff. Once alone, he would turn up the TV's volume as loud as possible. With one hand holding a gun to his temple, he would use his other hand to press the TV "on," filling the room with sound, drowning out the gunshot. Sunday morning came, Juan followed his plan, but before he could pull the trigger, he heard the bellowing voice of a TV preacher: "This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

"Dr. Schuller," Juan said, "those words exploded through my mind and soul. It was like divine shock therapy. I couldn't pull the trigger. I dropped the gun, falling on my knees beside it, and listened to your every word. I could hardly wait for the next Sunday to arrive. I wondered if you'd be back. You were! And you were there the next Sunday...and the next...and the next. In time, I invited Jesus Christ into my life." Just then, Juan reached into his coat pocket, drew out a flat, slender package, and handed it to me, saying, "Thank you, Dr. Schuller. You saved my life!"

I opened the package to find a beautiful gold anchor, my initials inscribed on one side, on an exquisite chain. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. I wear it often, and every time I do, it silently whispers to me the words of Hebrews 6:19: "...hope is an anchor for the soul."

Before Juan found God, he was shipwrecked in the sea of life. However, once he anchored himself to a mighty force-faith-Juan left behind his shipwrecked life to live a buoyant life anchored in hope.