Mike Triem with Jim Durbin and Matt Hocking of Hope for Today Ministries about the enduring impact of Dr. David Hocking’s Bible teaching and the ministry’s plans for the future.
They discuss the continued importance of Christian radio, the new “Minutes in the Word” feature, and the life-changing stories of listeners reached through the broadcast. The conversation also highlights Dr. Hocking’s book, The Church of Jesus Christ, which calls believers and churches to remain grounded in the whole counsel of Scripture, resist compromise and keep Jesus Christ—not personalities or popular culture—at the center. Jim and Matt also share the biblical
00:00:00 Introduction and future of Hope for Today
00:00:50 Minutes in the Word and reaching people online
00:13:13 Free book offer and listener call to action
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey, it’s Mike Trane with Crawford Media Group. I’m here with Jim Durbin and Matt Hawking from Hope for Today, ministry with Dr. David Hawking. And guys, we want to talk about the future of Hope for Today, a book by David Hawking, The Church of Jesus Christ, just a lot of exciting things going on with your ministry. And thanks for joining us, first of all.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for having us.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s an honor. Great to be with you.
SPEAKER 01 :
The listeners won’t know this, but we’ve been, you know, Satan’s been trying to get in the way of this interview all day. But guess what? We’re going to do it anyway, right? Yeah, for a week, two months.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, yeah. With all the medical stuff, right? So, Matt, I’m going to throw the first question at you. We’re really excited about the future of Hope for Today. Talk to us a little bit about some of the things going on. And, Jim, interject as you feel the need to, too, please. Sure.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you know, it is exciting just to see, you know, first and foremost, just see people are coming to Christ, you know, because the Bible is definitely, it’s forever. You know, it’s good. Yesterday, it’s good. They might say it’s good tomorrow. And I love the living word by the living God. It’s so amazing. And so what we’re doing is that we’re trying to reach people wherever the outlet is. So right now we have a new thing coming up called Minutes in the Word. Our focus is always radio, but we have Minutes in the Word where we can meet people online so they can see and drive them to the radio broadcast.
SPEAKER 03 :
And the Minute in the Word feature takes an excerpt from a message by David, centered on Scripture, packages it up, We can release that on our website, social media, and many of the radio stations are taking the audio version of that as well. Gives them a short taste to hopefully capture their attention and direct them to even more feeding through the radio station itself or the website. Awesome.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. You know, I tell you, so one of the biggest blessings, too, is we actually right out of Colorado there. We had a young man calling, 29 years old, was listening to the radio station on the way to work, and he gave his heart to the Lord and took his family church. They gave their heart to the Lord. Now, the whole family is worshiping out there in Colorado.
SPEAKER 01 :
I thought radio still makes such a gigantic impact. You know, people come to Christ. Yeah, right. That’s the biggie. It’s in the car. It’s reliable. It’s resilient. It’s always there. So anyways, go ahead, Jim. Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, yes, about the future of the ministry. Of course, we are reaching out through social media and the website. We’ve got some design changes coming for our website. We’re looking forward to that as well, making it more user friendly. But we are even more excited about radio. We see the impact and the companionship that we have in ministering together. We look at your station out there, your work in Colorado as a partnership in ministry, sharing the gospel everywhere we can in those cars, in prisons, in houses where people are working. Wherever radio reaches, we want to be there with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God. That is what changes people’s hearts and lives. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. Totally. And Dr. Hawking, Matt, your dad is so clear in his teaching style, so emphatic and very strong. And I think a lot of people resonate with that strength because they hear They hear God working through your dad. They get that sense that, boy, this this is somebody convicted about the Bible, convicted about God’s word and what it says. And he speaks about it really clearly with God working through him.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, it’s amazing that the people who call in, they just they they get the clarity of the Bible. You know, I told my dad, we were talking the other day. I said, you know, the one thing. that you never went topical, Dad. You always went straight forward, and all you did was preach the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible. And that’s why you know that the Word’s going to go out no matter what. We’re not the main characters. Of course, the only little Lord is here. But he was such a willing soul to do all that study and the work. That’s all he did. That’s really all he did. As we said before, 4 o’clock in the morning, every morning, vacation or not, he would be studying the Word of God. Four hours. That was the start of his day. Every day. Wow.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Jim, I have to wonder why, you know, in some churches today, there’s a hesitancy to proclaim what the word of God actually says. I mean, Hebrews 4.12 says the word of God is quick, powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing, even to the dividing center of soul and spirit of the joints and marrow as a discerner of the thoughts and hearts and intents of men. The Scripture itself, the plain teaching of Scripture, the deep dive into Scripture, that is what we need more of today.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, I agree. And you just said the word sharper. I think it’s the sharper part that some are really struggling with. Your dad did not struggle with that. He would be sharp and focused and give the truth, but also hope with it. That’s why it’s called Hope for Today, right? The hope of Jesus is part of that. And then there’s the book, The Church of Jesus Christ. That’s our featured book. We want to talk about that. Jim, I’m going to start with you, then throw it to Matt when you’re ready. Tell us about The Church of Jesus Christ, that book by David Hockey.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, David was very concerned with the state of the church today. I really think there’s confusion over what the church should believe or practice. That confusion seems to be everywhere. Compromise is welcomed, even if it violates Scripture. And God’s Word gives us His design for the church. And you know something? I want to know what God’s heart is for the church. I want to know His design for the church. The Word of God is our central guidance on that, and that’s what this book is all about.
SPEAKER 02 :
and you you know there’s there’s a popular persuasion for churches to describe their services in terms of traditional liturgical or contemporary and often the services appeal more to the unchurched using modern ideas of communication and ministry and neglecting the true gospel of our lord and savior jesus christ it’s good i mean the bible the bible predicts the coming of of great and widespread deception we see that today big time right but That’s what we want to do. This book, people prepare for it. You know, you expect attacks from the outside, but today the church is being undermined, you know, from within. Yeah, yeah. False teaching is everywhere and the continual attempts to redefine the church world instead of preaching transformation by God’s word, you know. I look at it this way, Mike.
SPEAKER 03 :
If we’re offensive, that’s wrong in the way we present. But if people are offended by Scripture, the Bible tells us that’s going to happen
SPEAKER 02 :
And you can soft sell the Bible and the gospel and watch people go right into hell because they’re not hearing the truth of God’s word.
SPEAKER 03 :
They’re not hearing the sole efficacy of the gospel to save.
SPEAKER 02 :
And the churches are fostering the conformity with the world, and we can’t do that right now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, Matt, you and I have talked about this before. There’s a real trend to, hey, we’re going to make the Bible fit our lives instead of, how about we make our lives fit the Bible? And it could be that simple, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. And it’s to realize that we’re nothing without Christ. We have nothing. We need to surrender all to him. Like we had talked about before, Jim on the phone. I mean, Mike on the phone. And it’s when you know that you’re following the word, you realize there’s nothing about us at all. You know, it’s all about him. Yes. And that’s to keep us on point. And that’s what, you know, Jesus Christ originally set up. When he was here, he gave us a whole guidance about how to set up the church, you know? And it’s always with him at the center, you know? But we’ve tended to over time just made it our own. I think David – go ahead, Mike.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I was just going to add to that. I think if your dad was right with us right now, Matt, he’d probably say, it’s not the church of me. It’s the church of Jesus Christ. And there’s a reason for that because it was the church of me – me would screw everything up, and that would not be a church you people would ultimately want to follow.
SPEAKER 02 :
And there’s the distractions, too. There’s something that surrounds us to get us off of the point of Jesus. You know, that’s it.
SPEAKER 03 :
I was going to say, the common excuse, and your dad mentions this, Matt. You know, I talked to a fellow one day, and the fellow says, well, I wouldn’t want to go to church. There’s too many hypocrites here. And your dad says, well, one more won’t hurt. We don’t want to excuse sin, but the fact of the matter is that the church is made up of people who desperately need a Savior, who desperately need the Holy Spirit’s work in their life, who desperately need to be in the Word of God, because that is going to transform their life like nothing else.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. Is that the why people need this book, The Church of Jesus Christ? Because it’s offered through the website. I’d like, Jim, for you to give that information already here. But I guess that’s the why. They need the book, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, because there’s an effort to abandon the whole council of biblical teaching. I mean, to treat scripture like a pick and choose, like a smorgasbord. It’s going everywhere. Everyone’s trying to do it. It’s time that we return to the Bible. You know, the whole Bible, nothing but the Bible. Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, that’s what the Church of Jesus Christ needs to have the Bible at the center. It was interesting. I think I shared this in a previous interview. They did. Forgive me. But, you know, my dad has recently moved into our area with us. He tried out a church in the area and he came back and I said, how would you think of that church? He says, well, the person preaching never opened up the Bible. and never shared one single scripture verse the entire morning. I thought, well, if the pastor doesn’t open up the Bible, why go to church? You know, because the pastor’s opinion is entertaining, but the Word of God is what we need.
SPEAKER 02 :
You and I talked about it the other day, Mike. It’s not about the pastor. It’s about the Lord. And that’s why you should be leery.
SPEAKER 01 :
And I know that’s a little bit of a side tangent, but when these churches are all built around the pastor, the personality, it should be one of your warning signs. It’s like, you know what? Respect a David Hawking. Respect a Charles Stanley. Of course. Deeply. But at the same time, Those are men that didn’t make it about them. They made it about Jesus.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the pastor doesn’t have to be entertaining. I mean, look at the Apostle Paul. He preached one night, and the guy fell out of the window. The best of men are men at best, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
We have to look to the Lord first and foremost.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, Jim, before we go, or you could throw it to Matt, but talk a little bit about how people can learn more about Hope for Today. How do they get connected? There’s so many resources, so give them a sense of that. Sure.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, certainly on the website, davidhawking.org, davidhawking.org, there are a number of free resources there, particularly on the homepage, but also in our media center. There’s dozens of video teaching series by David on there. We have our radio broadcast center, so if you don’t catch it on one of the Crawford stations or another station that carries it, if you miss it, you can always catch it on the website. And we have a number of resources in print and audio sources you can purchase as well. And when you purchase those resources, it’s going to be a blessing to you, but also it’s going to help the ministry of Hope for today.
SPEAKER 01 :
And Jim, give us the website.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, davidhawking.org. And of course, davidhawking.org or phone number 875-BIBLE-CALLS. We love speaking with listeners. 875-BIBLE in the U.S.
SPEAKER 01 :
And you actually talk to listeners, which is because Matt will share stories.
SPEAKER 03 :
Do you? Yes. Yeah. It’s just amazing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come into the office here and Matt’s on the phone talking to the listener or praying with him or one of the volunteers, Cheryl, Mary, all the wonderful volunteers and people I have working here. They have such a heart for people and praying for them. It is really one of the key ministries of Hope for Today is praying for our listening family.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, we literally stop everything and just pray if it need be, because we know that that’s the most important thing, you know. We look at the two things that we’re supposed to do here on earth. We have fellowship with God and the other one is the Great Commission, right? So it’s amazing.
SPEAKER 01 :
On that, Jim, there are no – I can’t think of another ministry where they have that kind of access and the ability to call and say, can somebody pray for me right now because I’m really struggling. Jim, give that form number again and the website.
SPEAKER 03 :
875 Bible, and Bible by the numbers is 222.
SPEAKER 01 :
I hope our listeners will take advantage of that. Again, I’ve had the opportunity to pray with Matt, and he is Holy Spirit-led. I mean, he and his staff, they’re really grounded in God’s Word and being sensitive to what God’s doing. Tell us a little bit more about the book, The Church of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, Mike, how about we make a copy of this available to your listeners there? The Church of Jesus Christ. We’ll send you a copy. Give it to one of your listeners who calls in free. This book takes you into Scripture to show you God’s heart for the Church, God’s design for the Church, what the Church should be. And again, all according to Scripture. It’s going to be enlightening and encouraging to your listeners. That’s awesome. Just get a hold of us.
SPEAKER 01 :
Call us 303-481-1800, 303-481-1800, or just go to 670kltt.com. Thanks, guys. Thank you. God bless.
