Archives by: Gary Hoag

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:6-11

“I wish to give a short similitude to those who live and fare in the tempest, so that they may valiantly and obediently persist in this manner of living, and attain to high virtue.

There is a little beast called the ant. She is strong and wise and hard to kill. And she loves to live in the company of her fellows in a hot, dry land. And she works in the summer and gathers up food and corn against the winter; and she splits each grain in two, so that it cannot germinate and spoil, but so that the ants can benefit from it when there is no other food to be had. And each ant does not make a separate path, but they all follow the same path. And when the season comes that she has been willing to wait for, then she is able to fly.

Thus these men ought to do: they should be strong in awaiting the coming of Christ, wise against the revelations and suggestions of the devil. They must not wish for death, but always for the honor of God and to win for themselves fresh virtue. They must live in the company of their heart and all their powers, and be obedient to the demands and the compulsion of divine unity. They must live in a hot, dry land, which is in the violent tempest of love and in great impatience, and they must work in their lives summer, and gather the fruits of virtue against eternity, and split them in two.

The one portion is that they must evermore desire the high and delectable unity: the other is that they must restrain themselves by means of reason, so far as they may, and await the time that God has ordained: so the fruit of virtues is preserved to all eternity. And they must not make separate paths or peculiar manners for themselves, but they must follow the path of love through all the storms on the way that love leads them. And while man awaits his time, and furnishes himself with all virtues, he is able to contemplate, and to flee into God’s secret refuge.”

Jan van Ruysbroek (1293-1381) in The Spiritual Espousals (London: Faber and Faber, 1952) 110-111.

This similitude aims to inspire every reader to press on and grow in generosity while we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to fare valiantly and obediently.

Thanksgiving week in the USA brings tremendous focus on things, materialism, shopping, and spending on self.

But we must rise above this. We must maintain our focus and divine unity that all times. This means we gather like ants, not for self but for the colony. It means generosity must remain in focus. This is true whether you live in USA or not.

For that to happen, we must focus on thanksgiving and gratitude. All we possess came from God to us for a purpose: to enjoy and share.

Do this, for out of thanksgiving and gratitude flows unity and generosity. Unity because we restrain our selfish motives in receiving every good and perfect gift from God. Generosity follows as we use those gifts rightly.

No wondering off the path. Stay on the way of love, thanksgiving, gratitude, and generosity!

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:10

“My friends can give aid to three kinds of people. First, to the damned; second, to sinners, that is, to those who fall into sins and get up again; third, to the good who stand firm. But you may ask: ‘How can a person give aid to the damned, seeing that they are unworthy of grace and it is impossible for them to return to grace?’ Let me answer you by way of a simile.

It is as though there were countless holes at the bottom of a certain precipice and anyone falling into them would necessarily sink to the depths. However, if someone were to block up one of the holes, the person falling would not sink down as deeply as if no hole had been blocked up. This is what happens to the damned. Although by reason of my justice and their own hardened malice they have to be condemned at a definite and foreknown time, still their punishment will be lighter if they are held back by others from doing certain evils and instead urged to do something good. That is how I am merciful even toward the damned. Although mercy pleads for leniency, justice and their own wickedness countermand it.

In the second place, they can give aid to those who fall down but get back up again by teaching them how to get up, by making them take care not to fall, and by instructing them how to improve and to resist their passions.

In the third place, they can be of benefit to the righteous and perfect. Do not they themselves fall as well? Of course they do, but it is for their greater glory and the devil’s shame. Just as a soldier lightly wounded in battle gets all the more stirred up because of his wound and becomes that much keener for battle, so too the diabolical temptation of adversity stirs up my chosen ones all the more for the spiritual struggle and for humility, and they make all the more fervent progress toward winning the crown of glory.”

Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) in The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden, 2:14.

In this classic work from Bridget, she gives us insightful guidance on our giving to three kinds of people.

First, she encouraged giving to the damned, she uses the word picture of blocking up a hole so people don’t sink to the depths. It’s merciful giving. Trying to save people from destruction.

Second, she advised giving to those who fall down in order to teach them how to get back up again. This again requires grace and mercy and kindness to help orient the disoriented.

Third, she urges giving to those that are on the right and mature path. This brings into view people in ministry that may be making a difference in the large spiritual battle of life.

So as you think about your giving, how would it rate? Do you support work that stops up holes so the damned don’t sink to the depths? Do you support sinners to get back up, and the good who stand firm.

If we look in the mirror, we realize that we were once in group one, then maybe moved to group two, and hopefully we have all transitioned to group three. Regardless, give to others as you would have them give to you.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5-8

“The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; and at the right time, and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus.”

Hudson Taylor as recounted by David George in The Daily Thought Shaker (Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2014) reading for 8 July.

My 14-day GTP trip to Brazil, Chile, and Panama has been unfathomably fruitful.

I had plenty of opportunities to worry and most of the time, found peace in abiding in Christ and watching the Spirit work for the glory of the Father in heaven. And God answered prayer and produced fruit that I could have never imagined.

If you want a copy of my trip report, reply and I will gladly share it.

For example, on the last day we took the group (37 from 14 countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and USA) to the Panama Canal.

We only had 90 minutes there and got to watch a ship go through the Miraflores Locks. It’s pictured above setting out to the Pacific. This offers an image of the fruits on the trip.

We will launch new peer accountability groups (like ECFA in USA) in Brazil and Panama in the next 6 months. Four others want visits to help get groups going. By convening in Panama, we accelerated the process of their formation.

Getting people together helped speed up the process, just like passage through the Panama Canal cuts days off a trip around South America. Anyway, I praise God for the fruits.

And yet GTP has real needs so I am thankful today’s Scripture reminds me to ask and trust. Join me in praise and prayer today. Let’s abide and rest in the goodness of God.

For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! Acts 28:30-31

“We should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried. The more I am in a position to be tried in faith, the more I will have the opportunity of seeing God’s help and deliverance. Every fresh instance in which He helps and delivers me will increase my faith. The believer should not shrink from situations, positions, or circumstances in which his faith may be tried, but he should cheerfully embrace them as opportunities to see the hand of God stretched out in help and deliverance. Thus his faith will be strengthened.”

George Mueller in A narrative of some of the Lord’s dealings with George Müller: Written by himself (London: Nisbet, 1855) 460.

I am thankful for this quote from Mueller today about help and deliverance.

Despite house arrest in Rome, today’s Scripture notes that the Apostle Paul continued to serve with all boldness and without hindrance. We must follow suit.

The Latin America regional event has exceeded all expectations. Reply if you want a copy of the trip report. We will complete it today with God’s help before returning to our countries tonight.

Thanks for your prayers. Participants have been empowered to replicate trainings to grow stewards and to help ministries follow standards across Latin America. God has worked powerfully.

Moments this week were a faith-stretching week for all of us. For example, the opposition from the evil one is real. One person flew to Panama from Ecuador and was not let in for odd reasons and deported.

But the victory of Jesus has already been won so for everything we need, we pray. Right now I am praying for about $200,000 for GTP by 31 December 2022. Pray please, let’s exchange shrinking for supplication.

You, LORD, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands. Psalm 16:5

“God wants you to have something far better than riches and gold, and that is helpless dependence upon Him.”

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) is widely attributed with this quote.

It’s been an indescribably good week in Panama. The training to multiply generous stewards and empower them to follow standards has unleashed heaven among these influencers from across Latin America.

Pause to pray with me for these 36 workers from 14 countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and USA.

Soon, they go forth equipped and commissioned to entrust their future in God’s hands with helpless dependence. We armed them with the word of God and taught them how to train others and replicate trainings.

We gave them not what the world thinks they need but what God knows they need. I can’t wait to hear the stories that come from this time together.

For example, Hugo Matos of Dominican Republic plans to replicate the Stations of Generosity training to all 32 provinces in Dominican Republic in the next 12 months. That’s just one example.

Thanks for your prayers. Please pray for a great last two days. Thanks.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:24

“I will place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. If anything will advance the interests of that kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving or keeping it I shall most promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time and eternity. May grace and strength sufficient to enable me to adhere faithfully to this resolution, be imparted to me, so that in truth, not in name only, all my interests and those of my children, may be identified with His cause.”

Robert Moffat (1795-1883) as recounted by David Livingstone in The Personal Life of David Livingstone: Chiefly from His Unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the Possession of His Family (London: Murray, 1881) 139-140.

From my research on the missionary who inspired Livingstone, I located this entry attributed to Moffat in Livingstone’s journal on 22 May 1853.

It inspires me to share something. Since GTP launched, over 3.5 years ago, I have kept a journal like Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, and George Mueller. I make an entry every few days or weeks as I feel led.

When I became CEO I sensed God speaking to me to “Take Notes” because I would have a front row seat of watching God build GTP. These entries, often serve as a resolution to the Lord. They announce my posture and dependence on Him.

Such resolutions emerge as vital for people who want to live generous lives. We declare God’s ownership of everything, resolve to use all He supplies to advance His purposes, and store treasure in heaven rather than on earth.

Think about it. Our living, giving, serving and loving flows from such a resolution. Our willingness to place no value on anything except in relation to the kingdom of Christ finds roots in a resolution to make Christ and His kingdom #1 on our priority list.

And it’s only possible to live out this resolution with grace and strength from God.

My meetings in Panama with God’s workers from 14 countries in Latin America continue to go well. Let me know if you want my trip reports from Brazil and Chile. Reply here and I will share them.

Appreciate your prayers to have the grace and strength to finish this two-week, three-country trip. Thanks.

Why are we also in danger every hour? I affirm, brothers and sisters, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily. 1 Corinthians 15:30-31

“When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” To that, Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.”

James Calvert (1813-1892) as recounted in Fundamentals of Evangelism by Dag Heward-Mills (Parchment House, 2016) 120.

The new header photo shows I have arrived in Panama. I snapped it from my hotel room downtown.

The GTP Latin America regional event has begun. We have welcomed 37 people from 14 countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, and USA.

I’ll share more about the gathering in the coming days. But in short, we came together to die.

Before you think I am saying something morbid, hear me say that we have come together to die to self. To ask God how we must decrease so that His life and love may generously be made known in and through us. The first part of the week is about becoming faithful and generous stewards.

When I think about Calvert, risking everything, my mind wonders how he died.

The answer…he lived to 80 and died in England. Why share that? Fear often hinders our generosity. What if this happens? Or that? So fear stops us from serving God as He desires. Pray with me for faith to overcome fear and to God to work among these influencers.

And I pray He works in you. I pray you die daily like Paul so you can live generously!

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42

“Christ never was in a hurry. There was no rushing forward, no anticipating, no fretting over what might be. Each day’s duties were done as each day brought them, and the rest was left with God.”

Mary Slessor (1848-1915) African missionary. I’m thanking God for African missionaries this week as the GTP Palmful of Maize video just released. Watch it here. Make a gift. Host a watch party with friends or at church. Click here for a kit.

And reflect on these words from Slessor which relate to today’s Scripture. We must not rush, anticipate, or fret what might be. We find peace and we serve far more generously when we instead do our part and trust God for any and all results.

So why do we do rush, anticipate, and fret? let’s ponder for a moment. I think they relate to the three temptations Jesus avoided. Rushing links to pride, anticipating to idolatry, and fretting to control. It’s easy to fall into these traps! 

When we have pride, we lead instead of following God. So we rush. When we anticipate, we think our power makes things happen rather than God. This is idolatry. And when we fret, it reveals that we think we are in control, when God is.

Let’s resist these temptations so that our generous living, giving, serving and loving is free from pride and rushing, anticipating and idolatry, and fretting and control. God help us!

When this posts I should have just arrived in Panama City. Thanks for your prayers for a fruitful week of empowering 37 Christian workers from 14 Latin American countries to multiply stewards and help ministries follow standards.

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

“I am a missionary, heart and soul. God had only one Son and He was a missionary and a physician. I am a poor imitation of Him, or wish to be. In this service I hope to live, in it I wish to die. I am immortal until my work is accomplished and although I see few results, future missionaries will see conversions following every sermon. May they not forget the pioneers who worked in the thick gloom with few rays to cheer, except such as flow from faith in the precious promises of God’s Word.”

David Livingstone in a letter to his family in 1850 as recounted in Livingstone’s Hospital: The Story of Chitambo, edited by Marion A. Currie (Bloomington: AuthorHouse, 2011) 44

As I reflect on the recent fruits of the GTP program work in Africa, I want to acknowledge the missionary service of David Livingston among others. They gave their lives to lay a foundation for the flourishing of future ministries. And they taught people us to hold on to God’s precious promises.

If you missed it yesterday, take seven minutes to watch this GTP Palmful of Maize video. See how God is working in the nation and hear how it is bringing people to Christ. But don’t just watch it. Make a gift and host a watch party with your friends or at your church. Click here for a kit. Why?

This vision to “give God what you have” is not only breaking the cycle of external dependency and solving the hunger issue in Malawi without outside support, it’s saving souls. And I must admit, when I was in Malawi, I realized that I was aiming too low.

I wanted to see local giving growing. God wanted to see the church growing. He had a bigger vision in view. Today I acknowledge that growth is happening there in part because people like Livingstone who generously gave their lives as pioneers who planted their lives as seed.

And thanks for y0ur prayers for my current travels. Stations of Generosity went great yesterday with Spanish translation in Puerto Montt, Chile, hosted by Caminando en Victoria. Today I speak again before departing in the evening on the night leg of my journey to Panama. Continued prayers appreciated.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

“Giving is a means by which we meet the needs of others who God also loves. By giving to others we testify to God’s love for them. So giving becomes not only a means by which people’s needs are met; it also is a form of evangelism which allows us to tell of God’s greatest gift, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will meet far more than their momentary physical needs. Giving to God is a guaranteed investment with certain return. Investment in God is a no-risk, always profitable, act that is not subject to the whims of the stock market or of economic uncertainties. It has been said that our lives should resemble a channel, not a reservoir. A reservoir stores up water. A channel is constantly flowing. God wants us to be a channel of blessing to others. When we are, it is we who receive the greatest blessing of all.”

Billy Graham in Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010) reading for 23 March.

Giving in the early church drew many to faith.

It’s happening again, right now through a vision GTP launched in Malawi called Palmful of Maize. Take seven minutes to watch a video. See how God is working in the nation and hear how it is bringing people to Christ.

But don’t just watch it. Host a watch party with your friends or at your church. Click here for a kit. Why?

This vision to “give God what you have” is not only breaking the cycle of external dependency and solving the hunger issue in Malawi with outside support, it’s winning people to Christ.

I was there in Malawi when a pastor testified that five new families had joined the church because they saw the change in their children who had learned about giving at the church. I heard similar stories in other districts.

Graham was right. Giving is not only a form of evangelism. It’s a “no-risk, always profitable, act.” Please watch the video. Host a watch party. Learn more and make a gift to GTP to spread this vision here.

This vision you see from the video tells the story of what’s happening in 12 of 28 districts in Malawi. I am praying for funds to deploy the team to the other 16 districts.

And I got an email from Zimbabwe last night begging GTP to train workers to spread the vision there. GTP will do this as God supplies funds. Pray with me for those resources and give God what you have! Thanks.

And pray for me today. I am facilitating Stations of Generosity in Puerto Montt, Chile, for Caminando en Victoria to empower their board, staff, and volunteers to replicate it for their network to multiply generous stewards.