Crazy Faith #5: Crazy Faith Takes Progressive Steps

Crazy Faith 5 teaches that faith grows in progressive steps: God leads you one act of obedience at a time, and He is never finished with your story. In this message Dr. William P. Hohman builds on Proverbs 4:18, where the path of the righteous grows brighter and brighter, and shows from David, from Paul’s letters and from his own travels that we move from faith to faith, from strength to strength and from glory to glory. It follows Crazy Faith #4: It Takes Desire to Follow Jesus.

Below you will find the full video, a structured summary of the sermon, every key Scripture linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway, a timestamped outline, and practical steps for building progressive faith this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This message was streamed live from the New Testament Church in Merrill, Wisconsin, in May 2020. Dr. Hohman explains that God is leading him to build people’s faith so they can walk through hard times and not just barely make it, but grow and succeed. Anyone can recognize problems, he says; you do not have to be born again for that. Seeing the power of God takes a person of faith, and that faith is meant to keep growing in progressive steps.

The Crazy Faith Series So Far

Dr. Hohman begins by reviewing the earlier messages. Crazy faith, first of all, takes thinking of others. Philippians 2:4 tells us to look out not only for our own interests but also for the interests of others. Jesus also said not to worry about your life or about tomorrow (Matthew 6:25–34).

Second, crazy faith does not despise small beginnings. As he puts it from Zechariah 4:10, the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. If we are born from heaven, he says, “miracles are in our DNA.”

Third, crazy faith takes courage: stepping out in an area where you are weak and have no physical proof of the outcome, because the just shall live by faith, not by fears, worries or the news of the day. Fourth, it takes strong desire, like an Olympic runner leaning forward at the finish line.

Jesus put the choice in terms of desire: if anyone desires to come after Him, let him deny himself and take up his cross, but whoever desires to save his life will lose it (Luke 9:23–24). Dr. Hohman shares that he gave his life to Jesus at 11, ran from the call of God into addiction, and when he recommitted his life he knew it was all or nothing.

Crazy Faith 5: Progressive Steps Like David

The new point in Crazy Faith 5 is that crazy faith takes progression. There are progressive steps to it. Dr. Hohman’s first example is David, the shepherd boy sent by his father to bring lunch to his brothers at the battlefield. His brothers, unwilling to fight, mocked him. David said he would face the giant anyway.

David answered that when a lion came to steal the sheep, he grabbed it by the beard and killed it, and when a bear came, he killed that too, and it was God, not him (1 Samuel 17:34–37). Those were the progressive steps that brought him to the place where he could say, I’ll take on this giant.

The warning is direct. If we are not willing to take steps of faith when there is minor opposition, then when the giant comes we will be like David’s brothers hiding in a tent. “David built his trust in the Lord progressively, step by step by step.” When your back is against the wall, you cannot expect to suddenly obey if you never built your muscle in faith through the little things God asked of you.

Then he gives his foundational Scripture for progressive steps, Proverbs 4:18. As he reads it, the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The path of every believer is progressive: more light keeps coming until you can see every obstacle, and the One greater than all of them.

To picture it, he tells a parable about a tribe that has lived deep in a cave with only a fire for light. A young man goes outside at night, sees a tiny slit of light, and is told it is the moon. Each time he returns he sees more, half a pie, then a full bright circle, and each time he is told the same thing: that is the moon.

The moon was always there; what changed was how much light it reflected. However much light the sun puts on the moon, that is how much we see. “That’s progression, that’s our life with Christ,” Dr. Hohman says. All revelation is progressive, so everything in the kingdom grows by progression.

From Faith to Faith, Strength to Strength, Glory to Glory

Dr. Hohman then gives three passages that show the same progression in three areas of life. The first is Romans 1:16–17, where the righteousness of God is revealed “from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.'” We grow in faith by hearing the voice of God.

The faith you have is good, he says, but God wants it to grow. Over the ministry’s 33 or so years, problems came and went, and today it reaches 34 nations with churches, Bible colleges, schools, free clinics and radio stations. Not one problem was bigger than God.

The second passage is Psalm 84:5–7: blessed is the man whose strength is in God, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring, and “they go from strength to strength.” He teaches that Baca means a place of tears and anguish, a problem place that is not easy.

The righteous do not just survive that valley; they turn it into a spring, because rivers of living water flow from within. He compares it to Isaac, who sowed in a time of drought in enemy territory and reaped a hundredfold in the same year (Genesis 26:12). Going from strength to strength means growing in our trust in God.

The third passage is 2 Corinthians 3:15–18. Reading the Bible only for law leaves a veil on the heart, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. All of us, with unveiled face, are being transformed into His image from glory to glory.

From this he draws a key encouragement: “don’t ever think that just because something didn’t turn out the way you thought it should that it wasn’t God.” Why? “Because God ain’t done yet.” He reminds listeners of the man whose daughter was dying. While Jesus was delayed, word came that she had died, yet Jesus told him to only believe, and He raised her (Mark 5:35–42).

Obeying Without Knowing What Comes Next

“Some of the greatest times I’ve ever had were when I heard from God,” Dr. Hohman says, and simply did what He asked without knowing what would come next.

His story is a progressive one. During the $4.7 million third phase of the church campus, in a blue-collar town of about 9,500 people, a man stopped by with a pastor from Uganda named Peter. Dr. Hohman gave him some of his limited time, then wrote him a check for $500 to sow into his work, even in the middle of his own building project. He cites the principle of giving a portion to seven and also to eight (Ecclesiastes 11:2).

Then he told his son Paul they were going to Uganda. As their plane circled the international airport, Paul looked over from the window seat and asked, “Dad, what are we going to do here?” His answer: “I don’t know, Lord just told us to come.”

On arrival, people assumed he was part of a United Nations meeting on HIV. He told them Jesus wants to heal Uganda, which led to a news interview and a morning television appearance. Through that one step, all of Africa opened up to the ministry. So do not question what is supposed to take place, he says; do what God asks, because “he does nothing but big kingdom business.” It may be hard, but it is the progressive path where you grow.

Hearing God on a Plane to the Philippines

Dr. Hohman teaches that every one of us can hear from God. In the last days, God pours out His Spirit on sons and daughters, menservants and maidservants, and they prophesy (Joel 2:28–29). Revelation 19:10 says “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

If you only talk about the problems of the day, you grow in the world’s voice, not His. According to Romans 12:6, we prophesy in proportion to our faith, so the more he shares about Jesus, the more he grows in faith and the more clearly he prophesies.

His central story comes from a flight to a convention in Angeles City in the Philippines, days after ministering in Dundee, Scotland. Unprepared, he opened his Bible on the plane and asked the Lord what to share.

Instead, the Lord directed his attention to a young man across the aisle, who by his haircut seemed to be in the military. Dr. Hohman said to him, “So you’re running away from your family, are you?” He told him the Lord had shown him that he was from Kansas City, Kansas, had a wife and two little children, and was running from his responsibility. He also saw him as a child on his grandmother’s lap while she sang songs of the Lord.

The young man wept, admitting his marriage was in trouble and he was being transferred to Korea. Dr. Hohman told him that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, with the chastisement for our peace upon Him (Isaiah 53:5). The young man prayed and asked Jesus into his life.

When he asked what to do next, Dr. Hohman told him he had to tell people that Jesus is his Lord. The young man stood up and asked everyone on the plane to stop what they were doing, then announced that he had just been born again. The whole plane clapped, and a pastor a few rows ahead asked to disciple him for the rest of the flight.

The Rest of the Story: God Is Not Done Yet

Next, the woman beside him, also bound for Angeles City, told him she had been a missionary there for 30 years, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and was going back to say goodbye. When he offered to pray, she refused, saying she did not believe God heals. He prayed silently that her eyes and ears would be opened to God’s love.

He pauses to show how every step of the series, including progression, showed up in that one flight:

At the convention, he preached the first night to over a thousand people, and the glory of God fell. Among a group of young people invited in from the streets, demons began to manifest, and he ran down from the platform to cast them out and pray. One young woman sat up and began crying out that she was giving her life to Jesus.

When he looked up from praying, he was at the feet of the people in the front row, and the woman in front of him was the missionary from the plane. She pointed at him and said, “I want you to pray for me, Jesus is going to heal me.” He prayed for her and testifies that God opened her eyes. “See, it’s progression guys, God isn’t done with you yet.”

He applies this progression to every situation: a doctor’s report, business, relationships or a stalled dream. It also means you do not have to look perfect; you answer to Jesus, not to critics. Paul wrote that now we see only in part, but one day we will know fully, just as we are fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12), and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

His last picture is the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13–32. Two disciples headed home said all their hope had been in Jesus, and it was handed over to be crucified with Him. Jesus caught up with them on purpose because He was not done with them, and then He opened their eyes. If your hope in a job, money or a relationship is crumbling, remember that God is a God of progression. The righteous may fall seven times, but they keep getting up (Proverbs 24:16).

Living Out Progressive Faith

Dr. Hohman closes with a prayer of salvation and a prayer for freedom from fear, reminding listeners that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Here are practical steps drawn from this Crazy Faith 5 message:

• Obey in the small things. Like David with the lion and the bear, build your faith muscle now so you are ready when the giant shows up.
• Turn down the noise. Spend less time rehearsing bad news and more time looking at Jesus, the great I AM.
• Testify about Jesus. Tell someone this week what God has done for you; the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
• Act without the full picture. When you hear God, do what He asks even if you do not know what comes next.
• Read disappointment as unfinished. If something did not turn out as you expected, do not conclude it was not God; keep believing.
• Keep getting up. The righteous may fall, but they rise again and go from strength to strength.

Timestamped Outline

• 13:00 Opening prayer for the listening audience
• 16:00 Recap: crazy faith takes thinking of others
• 20:00 Crazy faith takes strong desire
• 23:00 Progressive steps: David and the giant
• 26:00 Proverbs 4:18, the foundational Scripture
• 27:00 Parable of the cave and the moon
• 31:00 Romans 1: from faith to faith
• 33:00 Psalm 84 and the Valley of Baca
• 35:00 2 Corinthians 3: from glory to glory
• 37:00 Only believe: the daughter raised
• 40:00 The building project and Pastor Peter
• 44:00 Everyone can hear from God
• 46:00 Romans 12:6 and the trip to the Philippines
• 49:00 The young man running from his family
• 53:00 The missionary who refused prayer
• 1:00:00 The woman from the plane asks for prayer
• 1:03:00 The road to Emmaus
• 1:06:00 Prayer of salvation and freedom from fear

Crazy Faith Series

This message is part of the Crazy Faith series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue to the next part:

• First message: Crazy Faith, Part 1 — Thinking of Others Before Yourself
• Previous: Crazy Faith #4: It Takes Desire to Follow Jesus
• You are here: Crazy Faith #5: Crazy Faith Takes Progressive Steps
• Next: Crazy Faith #6: Being Led by the Spirit of God, Not Your Own Understanding

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Dr. Hohman call this kind of faith crazy?

Because acting on it can look foolish. He admits he is not a perfect person and does not care if he looks like an idiot in front of people, because his desire is to follow Jesus. Sowing $500 in the middle of a building project, or flying to Uganda without a plan, does not make sense on paper. Crazy faith obeys God first and trusts Him with each progressive step.

How can I hear God more clearly?

Dr. Hohman gives two practices. First, read your Bible. Second, start telling people about the goodness of God. You do not grow in hearing God’s voice by becoming an expert in world events. The more you share what Jesus has done in your life, the more confident you become in hearing Him; hearing God is progressive too.

What if I am in a hard season right now?

He calls it the Valley of Baca, a place of tears that many people pass through. The righteous do not just endure it; they make it a spring, the way Isaac sowed in a drought and reaped a hundredfold. Keep your heart set on pilgrimage and keep trusting God. The progression has not stopped, and God is not done with you yet.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• Proverbs 4:18 — the path that shines brighter and brighter
• Romans 1:16–17 — from faith to faith
• Psalm 84:5–7 — from strength to strength
• 2 Corinthians 3:15–18 — from glory to glory
• 1 Samuel 17:34–37 — David, the lion and the bear
• Revelation 19:10 — the testimony of Jesus
• Romans 12:6 — prophecy in proportion to faith
• Luke 24:13–32 — the road to Emmaus

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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