Dear Partner,
At the time of this writing, the Southwest
Believers' Convention is only six days away.
This one is SWBC No. 45. The first one was
in 1981, and Gloria and I preached faith in
all 45 of them! So, what is faith? Let's turn
in our Bibles to Hebrews 11:1 in the
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition:
1 Now faith is the assurance (the
confirmation, the title deed) of the things
[we] hope for, being the proof of things
[we] do not see and the conviction of their
reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is
not revealed to the senses].
Real Bible hope is EXTREMELY
IMPORTANT! Natural hope answers the
question, "Will you be healed in the
service tonight?" with:
"Well, Brother Copeland, I sure do hope
so."
They might as well have said, "I sure wish I
could, but I probably won't."
Now let's look at the word hope in Noah
Webster's 1828 edition of the American
Dictionary of the English Language: "A
desire of some good, accompanied with at
least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or
a belief [faith] that it is obtainable." There
it is! It goes on to say, "Hope differs from
wish and desire in this, that it implies some
expectation of obtaining the good
desired….Hope therefore always gives
pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire
may produce or be accompanied with pain
and anxiety."
Let's look now at what the Bible says
about anxiety in Philippians 4:6-9, AMPC:
6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about
anything, but in every circumstance and in
everything, by prayer and petition (definite
requests), with thanksgiving, continue to
make your wants known to God.
7 And God's peace [shall be yours, that
tranquil state of a soul assured of its
salvation through Christ, and so fearing
nothing from God and being content with
its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that
peace] which transcends all understanding
shall garrison and mount guard over your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
8 For the rest, brethren, whatever is true,
whatever is worthy of reverence and is
honorable and seemly, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and
lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and
gracious, if there is any virtue and
excellence, if there is anything worthy of
praise, think on and weigh and take
account of these things [fix your minds on
them].
September
2025 PA R T N E R L E T T E R
