Archives by: Gary Hoag

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

“The hill, though high, I covet to ascend,
The difficulty will not me offend;
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear;
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”

John Bunyan (1628–1688) in The Pilgrim’s Progress (Minneapolis: Desiring God, 2014) 45

The Pilgrim’s Progress is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. Today Bunyan inspires us to press on with powerful language.

Why post this as a meditation to spur readers like you to love and good works? It’s a fair question.  This phrase holds the answer: “Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear…”

Biblical teaching and modern research both confirm that weariness and worry surface as top competing factors to living, giving, serving and loving generously.

In short, we faint or we fear. We grow weary and doing good because the road is hard. It’s difficult. It’s easier to offer bandaid solutions than to solve systemic problems. And we worry that in serving others our own needs won’t get sorted.

So, now you can see why these words resonated with me? “Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear…” We must encourage each other to not grow weary and to not worry.

And it’s a collective charge. We must together resolve not to give up and not to fear. We’ve got this. God’s got us. It’s the right way to go. And, though hard, it’s way better than woe, which is what I think the rich fool felt (see Luke 12:13-21).

Remember in when he failed to put in play the abundance God supplied? That did not end well for Him. So, while most speak at this time about year-end giving, I want you to ponder your year-end keeping.

Remember that God looks not at what we give but at what we don’t give and what it says about our hearts. Let’s not grow weary or worry, and obediently put in play what God has supplied to people and ministries He cares about.

“Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear…”

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed and in the sight of all. Men will even give their lives if only the ordeal does not last long but is soon over, with all looking on and applauding as though on the stage. But active love is labor and fortitude, and for some people too, perhaps, a complete science.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) The Brothers Karamazov (Project Gutenberg ebook, 2009).

The Brothers Karamazov is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics.

Read this closely as you think about your generosity this year end. Don’t support efforts that show “love in dreams” with your giving.

This comes into view as ministries that promise results in short order. On the international level, they tend to ask you for funding and promise to deliver certain outcomes.

They are, in Dostoevsky’s language “greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed.” Give us money and we can get it over with right away.

Alternatively, the long hard road paved with “labor and fortitude” which addresses not just symptoms but the deeper problems is active love.

This love in action really is “harsh and dreadful.” Think of the Christ of Christmas. He came and showed love in action and gave His life. He calls us to die to self too.

So this Christmas I urge you to support your local church and ministries that show love in action by addressing real issues over the long haul.

And with your international giving, give to GTP. As many ministries that work globally have large numbers of American staff, I am the only one.

Our team is from the world and serves the world with love in action. We don’t give handouts that create dependency but a hand up that builds disciples.

And we do this living and serving in Australia, Egypt, Guatemala, Hong Kong (soon relocating to Canada), Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, and USA.

In addition to the 10 staff we around 50 volunteers that serve as board members and that help deliver program for a network of 5,600 Christian workers in 110 countries.

We show love in action with labor and fortitude. Watch Palmful of Maize to see how we have empowered national workers to build trust and grow local giving in Malawi.

Give generously, always combining actions with truth.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10

“We Western peoples are apt to think our problems are external, environmental. We are not skilled in the inner life, where the real roots of our problems lie. For I would suggest that the true explanation of the complexity of our program is an inner one, not an outer one. The outer distractions of our interests reflect an inner lack of integration of our own lives.

We are trying to be several selves at once, without all our selves being organized by a single, mastering Life within us. Each of us tends to be, not a single self, but a whole committee of selves. There is the civic self, the parental self, the financial self, the religious self, the society self, the professional self, the literary self. And each of our selves is in turn a rank individualist, no co-operative but shouting out his vote loudly for himself when the voting time comes. And all too commonly we follow the common American method of getting a quick decision among conflicting claims within us.

It is as if we have a chairman of our committee of the many selves within us, who does the votes at each decision, and leaves disgruntled minorities. The claims of each self are still pressed. If we accept service on a committee on Negro education, we still regret we can’t help with a Sunday school class. We are not integrated. We are distraught. We feel honestly the pull of many obligations and try to fulfill them all.

And we are unhappy, uneasy, strained, oppressed, and fearful we shall be shallow. For over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call, a premonition of richer living which we know we are passing by. Strained by the very mad pace of our daily outer burdens, we are further strained by an inward uneasiness, because we have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper in all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power.”

Thomas R. Kelly (1893-1941) in A Testament of Devotion (New York: Harper, 1941) 91-92.

A Testament of Devotion is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics.

Notice our proclivity to say that the problems exist outside us (and are often solved by money). Or our competing selves keep us so busy we miss what God has for us. Perhaps you can relate? I know I can.

Here Kelly teaches us the pathway to richer living. We must be “organized by a single, mastering Life” so that we are not crushed under the weight of many obligations. I have found this to be true. Seriously, if you feel “unhappy, uneasy, strained, oppressed, and fearful” then hear the still small voice of Jesus calling you to something more, to grasp abundant, richer living.

This relates to generosity as this unhurried existence creates margin in life to live, give, serve, and love generously. Pause this holiday season to find “serenity and peace and power.” It will position you for rich generosity!

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Luke 2:10

“All the towering materialism which dominates the modern mind rests ultimately upon one assumption; a false assumption. It is supposed that if a thing goes on repeating itself it is probably dead; a piece of clockwork. People feel that if the universe was personal it would vary; if the sun were alive it would dance. This is a fallacy even in relation to known fact. For the variation in human affairs is generally brought into them, not by life, but by death; by the dying down or breaking off of their strength or desire.

A man varies his movements because of some slight element of failure or fatigue. He gets into an omnibus because he is tired of walking; or he walks because he is tired of sitting still. But if his life and joy were so gigantic that he never tired of going to Islington, he might go to Islington as regularly as the Thames goes to Sheerness. The very speed and ecstasy of his life would have the stillness of death. The sun rises every morning. I do not rise every morning; but the variation is due not to my activity, but to my inaction.

Now, to put the matter in a popular phrase, it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to a lifelessness, but to a rush of life. The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.

But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in Orthodoxy (London: John Lane Company, 1908) 33-34.

Orthodoxy is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. Here Chesterton teaches us a valuable lesson that fits well with the Christmas season often filled with materialism: “exult in monotony.”

We get bombarded with messages that “new” or “more” will better satisfy our needs. Chesterton reminds us to not only “exult in monotony” perhaps through the face of a child this Christmas season, and to celebrate repetition in nature as a “theatrical encore” of the Creator.

Yesterday, we observed Christmas as a family. Sure, it was 8 days early. But with schedules and travel going different directions, it was the day we could all get together. We ate food, played games, and exchanged some gifts celebrating the birth of Jesus, God’s greatest gift to us.

I loved hearing my granddaughter giggle. Her joy does not link to any material gifts she got. It connected to the bliss of bouncing on my knee. Her squeals said “do it again” though she cannot yet form words. And the delight on her face proclaims the good news of the birth of the Savior.

So, this Christmas, exult in the monotony that our good God has given us another year to live, give, serve, and love. In that light, we serve as God’s encore that can bring a weary world to rejoicing. More is not better. Celebrate the monotony in nature that brings into view the generosity and faithfulness of God.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 1 Peter 4:1

“Indeed, the truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most: and his suffering comes to him from things so little and so trivial that one can say that it is no longer objective at all. It is his own existence, his own being, that is at once the subject and the source of his pain, and his very existence and consciousness is his greatest torture. This is another of the great perversions by which the devil uses our philosophies to turn our whole nature inside out, and eviscerate all our capacities for good, turning them against ourselves.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in The Seven Story Mountain (New York: Harcourt, 1948) 107

The Seven Story Mountain is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. Here Merton teaches why we should not try to avoid suffering. In short, it “eviscerates all our capacities for good.”

Think about it. Christ embraced rather than avoided suffering. We must have the same attitude. God allows it to stop us in our tracks, to cause our reflection and the changing of directions, often turning from sin and turning to Him. Perhaps you can relate? I know I can.

But notice a related idea today which teaches us what happens when we try to avoid suffering. Merton helps us see that it causes fear to control us. The little possibilities of life consume our attention, which in turn eviscerates all our capacities for good.

So without fear of suffering, let us resolve to live, give, serve, and love generously. Let us not worry about whether we will have enough money or time or energy, but trust God to sustain us. Fear of suffering can hinder our generosity, while the righteous will live by faith.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Since all the downward tracts of time
God’s watchful eye surveys,
Oh! why so wise to choose our lot,
And regulate our ways?

Since none can doubt His equal love
Unmeasurably kind,
To his unerring gracious will
Be every wish resigned.

Good when He gives, supremely good;
Nor less when He denies,
Even cross from His sovereign hand,
Are blessings in disguise.”

Brother Lawrence (1614-1691) in The Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of Holy Life, being Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence. The third stanza of this poem is found in the front matter to the book.

The Practice of the Presence of God is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. Herein Brother Lawrence teaches us how to navigate life. In short, remain in thankful prayer.

As you read this poem, did a word or phrase stand out to you? Ponder with the Spirit why this may be the case. What might God be saying to you? I was touched by three points linked to generosity and my current situation. Let me explain.

Firstly, I love the part that “none can doubt His equal love, unmeasurably kind.” Imagine if there was a limit to the love of God? We’d all be in trouble! He knows our needs and can measure what we need when we need it. Such amazing love and kindness!

Secondly, our God is “good when He gives, supremely good.” It inspires me that though I might have personal needs or GTP may have needs, because He’s supremely good, or in plain terms, because He’s the best, I can trust Him to supply.

Thirdly, and this really hit me: “nor less when He denies.” God’s goodness to us remains supremely good, even when He does not answer our requests as we offer them up, because His plans for us are even better than our own. They may just be blessings in disguise.

Father in Heaven, thanks for all your blessings and even for hard times. We resolve to rejoice always and pray continually with thankfulness. Shape us into humble submission to your will so our lives bring you glory. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mark 10:17-21

“If there be skilled workmen in the monastery, let them work at their art in all humility, if the Abbot giveth his permission. But if anyone of them should grow proud by reason of his art, in that he seemeth to confer a benefit on the monastery, let him be removed from that work and not return to it, unless after he hath humbled himself, the Abbot again ordereth him to do so. But if any of the work of the artists is to be sold, let them, through whose hands the transaction must pass, see to it, that they do not presume to practice any fraud on the monastery. Let them always be mindful of Ananias and Saphira, lest, perhaps, the death which these suffered in the body (cf. Acts 5:1-11), they and all who practice any fraud in things belonging to the monastery suffer in the soul. On the other hand, as regards the prices of these things, let not the vice of avarice creep in, but let it always be given a little cheaper than it can be given by seculars, that God may be glorified in all things (1 Pt 4:11).”

Benedict of Nursia (480-547) Founder of Twelve Communities and Author of the Rule that governed them. This excerpt is from The Rule of St. Benedict 57 entitled “Of the Artists of the Monastery.”

The Rule of St. Benedict is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. It’s essentially an Italian discipleship manual from the late fifth and early sixth century.

Let’s lean into a powerful idea that wages war against generosity and surfaces in today’s Scripture and meditation. It’s fraud. As we see in today’s Scripture, it tarnishes even the most devout and diligent person. Notice the rich man in the Scripture reports keeping all the commandments.

And a look closer reveals that Jesus adds one that’s not part of the proverbial top ten list (cf. the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20), namely, do not defraud. Before digging further, let’s clarify definitions. To defraud is to commit fraud. So Jesus tells the rich man not to commit fraud.

So, what is fraud. In biblical terms it’s the wrong handling of God’s money for personal gain. Most people don’t think of bad stewardship as fraud, but that’s exactly what it is, and we are all guilty of it at one time or another in our lives.

So, now lean into the post from Benedict. Each gifted or talented person in the monastery was to do five things: use their talent, remain humble, avoid fraud, charge a less than competitive price for wares, and ensure God’s glory in their use of their giftedness.

What great advice for us! Don’t follow the economic rules of your society, but rather a rule like this one for disciples. And notice the benefits. It helps you avoid avarice and positions you to serve as a fruitful and generous servant as part of a community of faith.

One more thought from Paul. The purpose of work is not to amass wealth but to have resources to share. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:28

Why bring this up? Many think that the fruit of their labor belongs to them. Moses reminds us that even the ability to produce wealth comes from God (cf. Deuteronomy 8:18). These are powerful ideas so soak in the Scriptures if you sense any conviction from the Spirit.

To grow in generosity and avoid avarice, let’s all use giftedness, stay humble, avoid fraud, charge less than competitive rates, and ensure God’s glory in all we do. We can do this. God will take care of us. Anything else is fraud. Don’t go there.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

“My dear friend in God, I beg you, stay alert and attentive to the way you are progressing in your vocation. And give thanks to God for this calling, so that with the help of His grace you may stand firm against all the subtle assaults of the enemies who will harass you from within and without and so that you may come to win the reward of life unending. Amen…

Be sure that if you are occupied with something less than God, you place it above you for the time being and create a barrier between yourself and God. Therefore, firmly reject all clear ideas however pious or thoughtful.

For I tell you this: one loving, blind desire for God alone is more valuable in itself, more pleasing to God and to the saints, more beneficial to your own growth, and more helpful to your friends, both living and dead, than anything else you could do.”

Excerpt from The Cloud of Unknowing in The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counseling (New York: Image, 1973) 36, 52.

The Cloud of Unknowing was written by an anonymous Christian mystic written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. It’s another book on this list, 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics.

The author wrote it to you and me as dear friends in God, so that’s how I reference the writer.

Notice our friend in God wants us to stay alert, focused on God, and not be occupied by anything else. We must not even think about generously doing things for God, but merely have “blind desire” for Him, reminding ourselves that this marks the best help we can give to ourselves and others.

God, we occupy ourselves with You, knowing this is the best and most generous thing we can do for ourselves and for our friends today and everyday. Amen.

If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:6-8

“Every action has its quality, and this quality God has reserved to His own will and gift. In order that the dependence of man upon God, the will of God, may be shown the more clearly, and that he may be plunged more deeply into humility, God has assigned to the will and strength of man only the quantity of prayer. He has commanded unceasing prayer, always to pray, at all times and in every place.

By this the secret method of achieving true prayer, and at the same time faith, and the fulfillment of God’s commandments, and salvation, are revealed. Thus, it is quantity which is assigned to man, as his share; frequency of prayer is his own, and within the province of his will. This is exactly what the Fathers of the church teach.

St. Macarius the Great says truly to pray is the gift of grace. Isaiah the Solitary says that frequency of prayer becomes a habit and turns into second nature, and without frequent calling upon the name of Jesus Christ it is impossible to cleanse the heart. The venerable Callistus and Ignatius counsel frequent, continuous prayer in the name of Jesus Christ before all ascetic exercises and good works, because frequency brings even the imperfect prayer to perfection.

Blessed Diadochos asserts that if a man calls upon the name of God as often as possible, then he will not fall into sin. What experience and wisdom there are here, and how near to the heart these practical instructions of the Fathers are. In their experience and simplicity they throw much light upon the means of bringing the soul to perfection.”

The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way, translated from the Russian by E. French (New York: Harper, 1965) 168-169.

The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way is another great book on the must read list: 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. It’s the source of today’s post.

The relationship between Paul and Timothy in today’s Scripture mirrors the unnamed Russian Pilgrim and his interaction with the Fathers on his spiritual journey.

It reminds me of my journey with the ancients through Daily Meditations.

What insight from the Fathers struck you? Read their comments again, if necessary. For me, the counsel of the venerable Callistus stood out. It reminds me of the phrase, practice makes perfect.

Of course, in biblical terms, perfection means completeness or maturity. So, Callistus says, frequent and continuous prayer coupled with good works brings even the most broken person to maturity in their generosity.

Thank the LORD! That means there’s hope for all of us then.

Jesus help me, on this my 55th birthday to imitate your generosity. Through frequent and continuous prayer, help this humble pilgrim keep growing to maturity so my life brings you glory. Amen.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Matthew 6:22-24

“Worldly possessions tend to turn the hearts of the disciples away from Jesus. What are we really devoted to? That is the question. Are our hearts set on earthly goods? Do we try to combine devotion to them with loyalty to Christ? Or are we devoted exclusively to him? The light of the body is the eye, and the light of the Christian is his heart. If the eye be dark, how great is the darkness of the body! But the heart is dark when it clings to earthly goods, for then, however urgently Jesus may call us, his call fails to find access to our hearts. Our hearts are closed, for they have already been given to another. As the light cannot penetrate the body when the eye is evil, so the word of Jesus cannot penetrate the disciple’s heart so long as it is closed against it. The word is choked like the seed which was sown among thorns, choked “with cares and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1979) 193.

Cost of Discipleship is another awesome book on the must read list: 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. It’s the source of today’s post.

At this time of year, the marketers work overtime to get our attention to purchase their wares. They used to focus on billboards and TV advertisements. Now we also get bombarded banner ads on the internet.

Like Santa in the songs knows everything what we want for Christmas, the search engines seem to know everything that will catch our attention and seek to convince us to buy.

Bonhoeffer would likely say in reply: protect your eye. This is not saying to put a patch on it but to guard it. It’s saying to be careful what captivates your view, because if your eye is unhealthy, everything will be unhealthy.

Rather than live, give, love, and serve generously, we will become consumed by the desire to acquire some consumer goods. What we think we need (apart from Christ) enslaves us. To avoid it, we protect our eye by fixing it on Christ.

Bonhoeffer rightly reminds us not to try to combine earthly stuff with Christ because it echos what our Lord said. We can’t serve two masters. What does your eye reveal about whom you serve?