Pete Wilson - Let Hope in: 4 Choices That Will Change Your Life Forever

PRAISE FOR LET HOPE IN

I feel like Pete Wilson writing about hope is like Max Lucado writing about grace. It reads like a conversation with a friend who has been down the road youre on and knows which potholes to avoid and which vistas not to miss.

Jon Acuff

New York Times Best-selling Author of Start

After reading this once, I quickly knew that my copy would become well-worn. Pete tells the truth in such a profound, yet relatable way, giving practical choices that will bring true healing and freedom to so many. Let Hope In is a powerful reminder that God can redeem and transform any situation, and that change really is possible.

Natalie Grant

Gospel Musics 5-Time Female Artist of the Year Grammy-Nominated Recording Artist

With all the hurt and pain in the world today, people are hungry to hear the message of hope found in the good news of the Gospels. In Let Hope In, my friend Pete Wilson challenges you to make the practical choices that will set you free. Stop living as a prisoner of your past and read this book today!

Rick Warren

Founding Pastor, Saddleback Church Author of The Purpose Driven Life

Pete Wilson is a master communicator with a gift for encouraging hurting people with just the right words. Let Hope In is a brilliant look at the healing and growth we can all experience in Christ. I seriously love this book and Im so thankful Pete wrote it. I cant wait to share it with others and see the healing this book points us to!

Jud Wilhite

Senior Pastor, Central Christian Church Author of Pursued

Hope is one of the most powerful things in the world. With it there is not a problem that cannot be conquered, a relationship that cannot be restored, or a burden that cannot be lifted. However, we seem to live in a world that attacks the thought of having hope by consistently feeding us with information on how bad things are... and how bad things are going to be. I am so glad that Pete wrote this book to help us shift our thinking from how bad things can be to how good things can be, and how if we switch our thinking to making better choices that our lives will be flooded with hope unlike anything weve ever experienced.

Perry Noble

Senior Pastor, NewSpring Church

It is impossible to live fully without hope. Yet, so many are trying to live without it. Pete Wilson writes with compassion and confidence that every person may experience a new beginning in Christ and live with the confidence and expectation that the future is in His Hands. I highly recommend this very practical and helpful book.

Jack Graham

Pastor, Prestonwood Church

In my more than twenty years of working with hurting people, Ive seen old wounds tear families apart more times than I can count. Some tragedy or mistake in the past totally derails their life and puts them in a downward spiral of guilt, shame, fear and regret. In Let Hope In, Pete Wilson tackles our old hurts head-on, showing us a biblical, practical process for letting go of old wounds and moving forward into a new future.

Dave Ramsey

New York Times Best-selling Author

Nationally Syndicated Radio Show Host

Pete Wilson doesnt just write about hopehe embodies it. These are the choices that God uses to bring hope to you. I wouldnt miss it!

John Ortberg

Senior Pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church Author of Who Is This Man?

Read this book armed with a highlighter, Bible, and box of tissues. You will want to highlight several dozen great insights. Youll want to read for yourself the Bible stories Pete presents. And the tissues? We all get emotional when hope comes in. Prepare yourself for tears of joy.

Max Lucado

Pastor and Best-selling Author

Pete Wilson is the real deal. His life and ministry points you and me to a tangible hope available to us all. If youve ever felt like an unlikely candidate for hope in the present because of mistakes in the past, then welcome to the club. Were all there. Petes latest bookand more importantly, the life he leadspoints us to a God who loves unlikely candidates, bringing hope to those who might describe themselves or their situations as hopeless. In the Kingdom of God, hopeless isnt a word that exists. Dont believe me? Then, Let Hope In.

Jeff Henderson

Lead Pastor, Gwinnett Church

LET
HOPE
IN

2013 Pete Wilson

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing Group. W Publishing is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Pete Wilson is represented by The A Group, a full-service marketing, technology, and brand development company in Brentwood, Tennessee. Learn more at www.AGroup.com.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT). 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scipture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from Amplified Bible, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013911625

ISBN 978-0-8499-6456-5

Printed in the United States of America

13 14 15 16 17 RRD 5 4 3 2 1

To my wife, Brandi
You truly are my solace in the storm.
Ive never loved you more fully and
needed you more deeply.

CONTENTS

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you.

Ephesians 1:18 NIV

I do some of my best dreaming with my boys. We love to sit in our screened-in porch off the back of our house and just talk. Recently, I proposed the question I often do with them regarding the future. What do you guys want to be when you grow up? I love asking my boys this because it changes about once a month and is usually dependent on the last movie theyve watched.

My youngest, Brewer, went first. I want to be a policeman, he said boldly.

My middle son, Gage, took a little more time to think before he sheepishly said, I think I might want to be a teacher like Pee-Paw.

Then Jett, my oldest, said, Dad, I want to be an NFL football player. What I cant figure out, though, is whether Ill play in college or if Ill just skip college and go straight to the NFL.