Archives by: Gary Hoag

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

“To live rightly in this world we must understand and accept God’s particular calling for our lives, and within that call, use moderately the resources He provides…Each calling is unique, each journey we take, even though we walk next to others, is especially appointed by God, so we are to take all that He has given us and made us, and use this toward His ends.”

Thomas D. Hawkes in Sanctification: A User’s Guide to Becoming More Like Jesus (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2020) 208. Thanks again to Don Knox for alerting me to this book.

God blesses us with resources to accomplish His purposes, His ends. As He blesses us, we must not indulge the flesh with them. This is key to living rightly with moderation.

Many people rationalize self indulgence rather than practice sharing.

What Hawkes draws out is that our callings are unique, so the way God resources us will be different. I don’t have what you have, and vice versa. You don’t have what He has given me.

So, comparing is not the answer, submitting everything is the secret.

We must each submit all we are and all we have to God and all of it to be used toward accomplishing His purposes for His glory. Moderation comes into view as meeting our needs, not our wants.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

“Contentment is an important part of the Christian walk. Contentment shows that we trust God to provide for us, that we know God is in control and that we are happy to live within God’s will for our lives. A big part of contentment is knowing and believing that God will never leave us or forsake us. If we spend some time with this thought, that God is with us always, it becomes difficult to be discontent. We have God—what more could we want?

Still, we live in the world, and the world is always preaching discontent. The enemy always wants us to want more, more, more—more stuff, more money, more activities—because he knows that this “stuff” will separate us from God. Hebrews tells us to keep our lives free from the love of money. The best way to do this is to focus on the fact that no matter what, God will never, ever leave us. No matter what, God has our back with His almighty power, a power to which earthly wealth cannot compare.”

Christopher D. Hudson in NIV, Once-A-Day At the Table Family Devotional: 365 Daily Readings and Conversation Starters for Your Family. Thanks to my friend and Daily Meditations reader, Randy Bury, for sharing this quote with me.

I think contentment is not only an important part of the Christian walk. It’s foundational.

What struck me about this post was this statement: “We have God—what more could we want?” Many of us say this is true, but our bank balances reflect that we put security in money.

Would people say that you are content? Or would they say you seek after more stuff, more money, more activities because possessions, power, and pleasure is where you search for meaning, satisfaction, and security?

Sobering as it sounds, our faith is in whatever we place our trust. Contentment only comes when we place our trust in Christ to sustain, satisfy, and secure our present and future.

Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. Psalm 106:4-5

“So whether believers are rich, or in robust health, or wonderfully endowed with the Spirit’s gifts, they acknowledge that God’s favor is it’s only source. Their joy is real, and so is their thanksgiving. That is how they will use the good things of this present life. Nevertheless, while life for believers may be easy today, they will be ready tomorrow to endure whatever afflictions God may send them. He may, perhaps, take from them the goods he has give. They are prepared to surrender them, since they know they have received them on one condition–that they should hand them back whenever God should choose.”

John Calvin in Sermons on the Beatitudes 77-78 as quoted by Thomas D. Hawkes in Sanctification: A User’s Guide to Becoming More Like Jesus (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2020) 207.

Special thanks to my friend and Daily Meditations reader, Don Knox, for alerting me to this quote and the recently released book from which it was drawn.

Calvin echoes the psalmist in noting that favor comes from only one source, the Lord God. When it comes to us, it is coupled with joy and praise. It also comes with responsibility. He refers to this as the “one condition” or as we might say in modern times, the fine print.

We are not the owners or masters of anything. We have been commanded to enjoy and share everything, and not to hold back anything for ourselves. Sadly most put up walls to avoid suffering or affliction when those experiences are often our greatest growth seasons.

No wonder so many of us in modern times appear as immature believers. We are not willing to endure the discomfort, the suffering, and the stretching that Jesus promised we would endure. Perhaps those who avoid such a path show they are not really sheep in the fold.

What I do know is this. The favor of God is sweet. It brings joy. And it requires complete surrender. Thanks God for the favor you give and for the afflictions as well. It’s all good because through it all we grow. Remember each of us Lord, in your mercy.

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

“Luke’s description of Paul preaching ‘with boldness’ and ‘without hindrance’ symbolizes a wide open door, through which we in our day have to pass. The Acts of the Apostles have long ago finished. But the acts of the followers of Jesus will continue until the end of the world, and their words will spread to the ends of the earth.”

John Stott in The Message of Acts (TBSP; Downers Grove: IVP; 1990) 405.

Why mention that Paul lived in a rented place?

I think I know. It provided freedom despite the fact that he was on house arrest in Rome. Why? Whatever we think we own, owns us. By living in a rented place, he ministered with boldness and without hindrance.

Think about it.

When we own things as followers of Jesus, they hinder us. They tie us down. What if we all were free and available to follow God’s leading? Might it increase the reach and generosity of our service?

These have become two of my favorite verses in Acts.

The Apostle Paul stored up treasures in heaven, not in real estate. May the rest of us be so courageous. Remember the Son of Man did not have a place to lay His head either.

Should we? Ponder this in your heart.

As you do, join me in celebrating 12 years. Today marks 12 years of daily posts dating back to 26 June 2009. Thanks God for all you have taught me on this journey and for the privilege of sharing with others.

With boldness and without hindrance.

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. Psalm 80: 3, 7, 19

“No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. the pulpit can be a shopwindow to display one’s talents; the prayer closed allows no showing off. Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.”

Leonard Ravenhill in Why Revival Tarries (Bloomington: Bethany House, 1987) 25.

It has been a privilege to gather for prayer with servants from various organizations working in the generosity space in Kansas City. We depart for our homes today.

Where our churches are stricken with poverty, the pathway to generosity is paved by prayer.

Three times in Psalm 80, Asaph, the psalmist repeats today’s Scripture.

Together we asked God for specific needs. We also lifted up global requests. We repented for our unfaithful use of money: searching for pleasure, squandering it on possessions, or seeking after power.

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. God saves us from our sins.

We asked God to cleanse us. It was a time of consecration and intercession, dedication and devotion. Along with prayer, we enjoyed the gift of table fellowship and time together to encourage each other. It was sweet.

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. God restores us and grants us favor.

What does prayer linked to generosity look like at your church or ministry? If you want to unleash heaven, then double down on prayer. Or be bold and make it your top priority. See what happens.

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. God shines on us when we pray.

The LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.” Numbers 18:20

“A good reason is given why they must have no inheritance in the land, for, says God, I am thy part, and thy inheritance. Note, those that have God for their inheritance and their portion for ever ought to look with a holy contempt and indifference upon the inheritances of this world, and not covet their portion in it. “The Lord is my portion, therefore will I hope in him, and not depend upon any thing I have on this earth,” Lam. 3:24. The Levites shall have no inheritance, and yet they shall live very comfortably and plentifully—to teach us that Providence has various ways of supporting those that live in a dependence upon it; the fowls reap not, and yet are fed, the lilies spin not, and yet are clothed, the Levites have no inheritance in Israel, and yet live…”

Matthew Henry in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Numbers 18:20.

Yesterday we looked at “portion” in Lamentations.

Today we turn to the text Jeremiah was quoting from Torah, which celebrates that God’s servants, the Levites would have no inheritance of this world but the promise of God to provide. It’s such a beautiful truth. It also reminds us to have indifference toward any earthly form of supply.

Again, I pray this touches the hearts of all who serve God.

It should also convict us of times when we have tried to sort our supply with our own power rather than trusting in God. Know that He will care for us in His Providence, as He cares for the birds and the flowers. Thank you God for Your Providence. You are the place my help comes from!

I am learning that indifference is key to taking hold of this inheritance.

So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.” I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:18-24

“When he turns to more prolonged prayer in the second part of the chapter, it will be in a somewhat different tone. But when we get there we should not forget that the confession, protest, and appeals that we will hear there are grounded on the solid affirmation of faith here: YHWH (Yahweh) is the known and remembered God of proven covenant love, compassion, and faithfulness — bo matter what He has done or has not yet done. All His actions must be viewed within that light, even if it strains our theology to the limits (as it will)…Now, with his perspective transformed by what he has forced back into his mind, he can say something very different: I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him’. ‘I will wait’ is the verb of the same root as the lost ‘hope’ of verse 18…

Israelite families had their ‘portion’ in the land — their inheritance from generation to generation. The Levites, however, were given no territory as their allotted portion of land (so they were dependent on the tithes, first-fruits, and offerings of the landed population). Instead, they were told, the Lord Himself was their portion (Numbers 18:20). They could live without land, so long as they had the Lord. That background may be what gives the man hope. Even without the land, city, king, or temple, he had the Lord.”

Christopher J. H. Wright in The Message of Lamentations (BSTS; Downers Grove; IVP, 2015) 113.

This post is for all those out there who are in roles where the operating income is funded by the charitable giving of God’s people. And the message contains a powerful use of our word for the year: remember.

Say it out loud: “The Lord is my portion.”

In hard times, there is always hope because the Lord is our portion. We may not have land but we have the Lord working for us, producing what we need. This truth aims to give hope to a specific group, the Levites.

Who are the Levites and why does it matter for us today? The Levites facilitated worship in God’s house. Today, this is akin to how people who rely on outside support might be described.

Say it again: “The Lord is my portion.”

For my part GTP is 7 days away from the end of the fiscal year and praying for $25,000 to having funds to build out our online platform and translate resources into many languages.

It’s what we think God wants us to do. So, we move boldly and trust Him to show up, to provide. And what gives us the courage to do this despite difficult times. We remember the Lord is our portion.

We’ve got this. God’s got us. But if you need inspiration along these lines, check out a recent podcast I did.

But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Luke 12:31-33

“Jesus talked more about money and possessions than anything else. He understood the pressures and anxieties we all face. He also knew the pull of the world to make money our ultimate goal. And He wants more for us than that. Jesus wants to train each of us to use the money He’s given us in a way that honors Him, loves people, and sets our hearts free. Giving is about more than money; it’s about our hearts.”

John Rinehart wrote a great book called Gospel Patrons. His next book will be called Giving Together. The thinking therein is rooted in “Ten Convictions about Giving.” Read them here. This post is conviction #2.

When our focus is on money, we feel nothing but pressures, pull, and anxiety. But when our focus is on obeying what Jesus wants to train us, we find the teaching sets us free. It trains us to honor Him and love people.

But we don’t learn this in a day. We learn it one step at a time, because it’s challenging.

Fear limits us when we think we have to supply our needs. But when we let go of what we have, we learn by experience that God sustains us and, in the process, become free of the pressures and anxieties that aim to enslave us. His training sets us free.

Want to learn from our journey? Visit this “It’s never about money podcast” that I recorded recently.

Jesus talked about money and possessions a lot because He knew how strong the pull of the world be. If I asked someone close to you what your handling of money reveals, what would they say about your giving and your heart?

Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. Psalm 107:17-22

“We meet rebellious fools who deliberately disobeyed God’s law and suffered for their folly. The “gates of death” led into sheol, the land of the dead. The Lord heard their cries and stopped them at the very gates and permitted them to live. They did not deserve this blessing, but such is the mercy of the Lord. In Scripture, sickness is often used as a picture of sin and its painful consequences, but not all sickness is the result of sin. Because the Lord healed these repentant rebels, they should praise Him, sing to Him, and bring thank offerings to Him. In verse 20, the Word of God is compared to medicine that God sends for their healing.”

Warren Wiersbe in Be Exultant: Praising God for His Mighty Works – Psalms 90-150 (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2004) 76.

All of us are guilty of disobeying God’s laws.

In Psalm 107, we are reminded that our sins take us toward destruction, like a sickness they aim to take our life, but God in His mercy delivers us, like medicine. What is our response to the healing that God gives so generously?

As we begin another week, I want to challenge you to join me in celebrating the healing we as “repentant rebels” have from the Lord. And consider responding with David by bringing thank offerings.

A thank offering was a response to God’s mercy. Pause to consider today what God has done for you, and delivered you from. In the Old Testament it took shape as cakes of unleavened bread.

Imagine a cake that was symbolically free of sin. We can make such cakes, such thank offerings to God, too. But how? Do something generous free of selfish motives that reflects God’s love and law to a watching world.

This kind of generosity shows the world a picture of God’s grace through the humble gratitude in our hearts. And in these pandemic times, it shows the world that God’s love is the only cure for the plague of sin.

Soak in Psalm 107 and ask God how your thank offering for His unfailing love should take shape.

Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. Deuteronomy 32:7

What are the “New Frontiers in Nonprofit Fundraising” that Christ-centered ministries and churches are pressing into as they navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and the changing landscape that has resulted?

Which ideas and strategies to fund the mission are gaining the most traction in these new frontiers? Here’s what ECFA’s survey participants told us. Top 5 Findings:

1. The biggest fundraising needs are (a) new donor acquisition and (b) moving existing donors “up the donor pyramid.”

2. Having the right people with the right priorities for CEO and paid fundraising staff is the biggest distinction between effective and ineffective fundraising programs.

3. The biggest channel of pandemic giving was major donors, the most effective fundraising medium for new donor acquisition was direct mail, and the fastest growing technology is paid social media postings/placements, most heavily Facebook.

4. The most important priorities of the CEO or equivalent top leader are to understand and model a biblical approach to fundraising and generosity. The most important practice of the CEO or equivalent top leader is to effectively share the fundraising role with others.

5. In the most effective fundraising programs, one or more staff members have specific donors they are building relationships with.

Warren Bird in New Frontiers in Nonprofit Fundraising.

Click here to download the research from ECFA at no cost. All these findings are helpful for church and ministry workers to understand.

Perhaps the one that spoke to me most was point #4. As a CEO of GTP, I must understand and model a biblical approach and share the work with others.

With intentionality I am pouring each of the four staff that report to me to me to help them understand and and model a biblical approach to partnership work.

Do this at your church or ministry and watch the impact of your efforts multiply!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, including my dad, Jack Hoag. I’m thankful he understands and models generosity. It’s touched my life deeply.