Our Beliefs

The Bible

Hope Rising believes that the Bible is the inspired, authoritative, living, eternally reliable Word of God; equal in all parts and without error in its original manuscript, absolutely infallible, and our source of supreme revelation from God, superior to conscience and reason, though not contrary to reason. It is therefore our infallible rule of faith and practice and necessary to our daily lives. [II Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12]

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Salvation

We believe that man and woman, by transgression, fell from a state of righteousness and holiness in which he was first created into total spiritual depravity, a state of death in trespasses and sins in which he is held as a slave of sin and an enemy of God. As such, he is unable to attain divine righteousness by his own efforts but must be redeemed and delivered by the power of the gospel. [Romans 5:12-21; I Corinthians 15:1-4]

We believe that repentance and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ is an integral part of God’s work of justification of the believer. Through faith in the shed blood of Christ, he or she is justified and made a partaker in the death of Christ. [Romans 5:1, 9]

We believe that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” [Ephesians 2:8-9] We further believe that the emphasis for a continuous walk in grace should be on demonstrating righteousness and purity of heart, believing in the keeping power of God, walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh, living a lifestyle that demonstrates the character, standards and convictions of Jesus Christ, and not being conformed to the world. [Jude 24; Romans 8:25; Galatians 5:16-25; Romans 4:1-5; 12:1-2]

We believe that repentance is dependent upon the convicting action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of sinners and believers and their response. The conviction of the Holy Spirit, which often accompanies the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will result in the revelation of the sinfulness of self, which should lead to godly sorrow. Remorse, or worldly sorrow, is a feeling of deep regret, hopelessness, or even despair. It does not lead to constructive change.

On the other hand, godly sorrow produces repentance that causes us to turn away from sin and selfishness and to receive faith for change. Repentance is evidenced by an earnest desire to change. Repentance changes the way we feel and act about sin, self and God. Repentance is a total change of mind, will and emotions. [II Corinthians 7:10; Psalm 51; Acts 11:18; II Timothy 2:25; Romans 1:18-32; Matthew 9:12-13]

We believe that in the final judgment, which will accompany the return of Christ, every person will give an account to God of every aspect of this earthly life. The Judgment Seat of Christ (Bema Seat) is the judgment of believers in reference to rewards or lack thereof. The Great White Throne Judgment is the judgment of unbelievers who will be eternally separated from God and in torment. [I Corinthians 3:10-15; II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15]

We believe that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. [Genesis 2:20-25, Matthew 19:5-6] The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. [Genesis 1:27] A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. [Ephesians 5:25, Colossians 3:19] A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. [Ephesians 5:24, Colossians 3:18]

We believe that all intimate sexual activity outside the marriage relationship, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise, is immoral and therefore sin [Genesis 2:24-25; Exodus 20:14, 17, 22:19; Leviticus 18:22-23, 20:13, 15-16; Matthew 19:4-6, 9; Romans 1:18-31; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 15-20; 1 Timothy 1:8-11; Jude 7] We believe that God created the human race as male and female and that all conduct with the intent to adopt a gender other than one’s birth gender is immoral and therefore sin. [Genesis 1:27; Deuteronomy 22:5]

We believe that children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. [Psalm 127:3, Psalm 139:12-15, Matthew 19:14] Parents are responsible for training their children in the ways of the Lord through encouragement, teaching, and discipline. [Deuteronomy 11:19, Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21, Proverbs 13:24, 19:18]

Is Human Trafficking Really an issue in Texas?

Yes. According to a 2016 University of Texas study, an estimated 79,000 minors and youth are victims of sex trafficking in Texas each year.

How many homes do you currently have for survivors?

We are constantly growing, but at the moment we have 7 homes. 

Is sex trafficking different from prostitution?

We don’t like to differentiate between the two. When statistics show that the majority of women in prostitution were forced, coerced, or lured before the age of 18, it’s difficult to ever want to make the assumption that a woman chose the life for herself. Instead, it is safer to assume that women are trafficked into prostitution.  We do recognize that some may choose this lifestyle for themselves, but we are more interested in protecting the majority, which were not given the ability to make a choice.