Archives by: Gary Hoag

Citing Isodore of Sevilla, on vices and virtues, Defensor Grammaticus writes “Sometimes little vices ward off bigger ones. But you cannot heal vices with others vices; healing comes rather through the practice of virtues.”

Defensor Grammaticus in Book of Sparkling Sayings 27 (SC77, pp. 352ff) in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 132.

Lent is a season to practice the virtue of giving. We get better with practice. With regard to money, some people battle with materialism, or spending money on things. Others hoard seeking security in holding large sums of money. Those are just a couple examples.

How do we grow beyond these vices? Practice giving. It’s what God made us to do. Need help or inspiration in this area? Check out the 40 Acts website and take the generosity challenge this Lent. Help your giving find healing.

And thanks for your prayers for me as I lead a governance seminar in Cairo today and then spend the evening with a cohort of workers that I trained in raising local funds. I hope to encourage them in their progress.

For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. Matthew 25:29

“It is important to understand the right use of external objects and pictures of them in our imagination. The reasonable use of them produces for its fruit the virtues of chastity, charity, and right knowledge. Their unreasonable use results in debauchery, hatred, and ignorance.

It is through the measure in which we misuse the powers of the soul, namely its desire, emotion, reason, that the vices install themselves: ignorance and folly in the reasoning faculty, hatred and debauchery in the desires and emotions. Their right use, on the contrary, produces right knowledge and prudence, charity, and chastity. 

Nothing that God has created is in itself bad. Food is not bad, gluttony is; the procreation of children is not bad, lechery is; wealth is not bad, avarice is; glory is not bad, only vainglory is. So you see nothing is bad in itself, only the misuse of it, which is the soul’s negligence in cultivating it’s true nature.”

Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662) in Centuries on Charity, 3, I (SC9, 123) in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 125.

Welcome to Lent. The reason we have a season in church history for focusing on giving, praying, and fasting is that we often need to reset our lives to be sure we are on track.

Related to wealth, there is a right use of it and an unreasonable use. When we follow God’s design for living, He often blesses us with wealth. During Lent we root out avarice through right enjoyment and sharing.

Some may choose not to discipline themselves to grow in prayer, fasting, and giving. But there is a danger because these are central disciplines to the Christian faith. They are not optional.

What we have may be taken from us, so our lives will instead be filled with debauchery, hatred, and ignorance. Hear my heart. I am only trying to awaken you to the importance of these formational practices.

We order our desires through fasting and prayer to feast on what will enrich and enliven us. Father, during this 40 day season, teach us the right use of all you have given us and make us more compassionate. Amen.

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. Song of Solomon 4:7

“You can see that a city is prosperous by the wealth of goods for sale in the market. Land too we call prosperous if it bears rich fruit. And so also the soul may be counted prosperous if it is full of good works of every kind.

But first of all it has to be farmed energetically. Then it must be watered by abundant streams for heavenly grace for it to bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some hundredfold. The soul only acquires goodness and the capacity of fulfilling its duties if it has the grace of God.

On the other hand, what is uglier or more disgusting than a soul given over to base passions? Look at the hot-headed person: he is like a wild beast. Consider the slave of lust or gluttony: who can bear the sight of him? Pity the victim of melancholy whose spirit is totally prostrated.

It is for us to seek to acquire beauty, so that the Bridegroom, the Word, may welcome us into his presence and say, ‘You are utterly fair, my love, and there is no flaw in you.’ 

Basil of Caesarea (330-379) in Commentary on the Psalms 29, 5 (PG29, 316) in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 110.

Lent is a season when we energetically farm and water our souls with the grace of God to acquire beauty. We want to become the Bride that Christ desires that is full of good works. So what will Lent look like for you?

Today is commonly known as Fat Tuesday, the day of indulgence that precedes Ash Wednesday and the start of the 40 day fast. Indulge on this today, that is, the notion that Jesus wants us to indulge on the Word.

It transforms us from becoming ugly victims of our own lusts into beautiful souls full of goodness. To grow in compassion, perhaps feast on Scriptures this Lent linked to God’s love for us, so He makes us more compassionate.

As I teach African seminary leaders in Cairo (pictured above) on generosity in contrast to prosperity in the Gospels today, I am already seeing God work in them. Our compassionate God will transform some to bear fruit thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some hundredfold.

He desires that His grace turns us into people who, as Basil puts it, are “full of good works of every kind.” The beauty we acquire is not for ourselves but for reflecting His goodness to the world.

God, make us beautiful reflectors this Lent we pray. Amen.

“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Joel 2:12

“Many people eat plenty and grow fat on it. Others abstain from some kinds of food in order to practise asceticism, and condemn those who eat. Put shortly, they have only hazy ideas why they should eat or why they should abstain. 

We, on the other hand, when we fast, give up wine and meat, not because we detest them, as though using them were a crime, but because we hoping for an eternal reward. We willingly go without things that please the senses in order to be able to enjoy the pleasures of the spiritual table: we sow in tears today in order to be able to reap in joy tomorrow.

Do not despise those who eat, when they are eating in order to keep their strength up. Do not condemn those who drink wine in moderation; it does their stomachs good. Never regard meat as an evil in itself… If you abstain from those foods, do not do so as if they were unclean. Rather, think of them as a good thing which you are content to give up for love of a far greater spiritual benefit.”

Cyril of Jerusalem in Catecheses, 4, 27ff (PG 22, 489) in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 75.

Are you ready for Lent, the season when we return to God and focus on fasting, giving to the poor, and prayer? It starts Wednesday.

Consider the fasting part today in this light. It’s giving up a good thing “for love of a far greater spiritual benefit.” It’s a pathway to greater gain.

To grow a heart of compassion linked to generosity this Lent, perhaps we need to jettison something first.

Think of something to fast from in order to feast on “the pleasures of the spiritual table?” Take time to pray about this today.

I’m doing the same between teaching sessions in Egypt. I love this season of year but I think it must started with prayer.

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10

“There are good things, bad things and things that are indifferent. Some of the things that are indifferent people consider to be good or bad while in reality they are neither. I will give you an example, to explain my meaning more clearly.

Poverty is in general thought to be evil. Not so; if someone who is poor practices watchfulness and wisdom, poverty itself can completely overcome evil.

On the other hand, wealth is regarded as a good thing by most people. But that is not entirely true: it depends how you use it. If wealth were a good thing in itself and on its own account, then everyone who possesses it ought to be good. Yet, not all rich people are virtuous, only those who manage their money in a responsible way. Therefore, wealth is not a good thing in itself, it is only an instrument for doing good.

So with regard to indifferent things: they are either good or bad according to the use that is made of them.”

John Chrysostom in Commentary on Isaiah, 3ff (PG 56, 146) in in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 46.

It’s hard to keep my days straight while traveling and tech issues delayed this post. It’s Monday morning in Istanbul en route to Cairo. Don’t know why it did not post before I left Seoul.

To my Father, Jack Hoag, in Lake Wales, Florida, I want to send birthday greetings. Happy 81st Birthday, Dad. I love you. Thank you for teaching me to use wealth as an instrument for good.

By the time you read this, I will be looking toward my next assignment which is teaching on “Wealth in the Old Testament” on Monday to African seminary leaders convening in Cairo.

Wealth is an indifferent thing. It can be an instrument of good or evil. It shows where we place our trust. Today’s Proverb reminds us that we must honor the Lord with it.

We must be sure, however, to read such Proverbs descriptively, and not prescriptively. Descriptively is shows us God’s design. Generosity will not leave us empty but rather enriched.

A prescriptive reading, however, results in prosperity gospel, or to put it plainly, a way people would attempt to manipulate God. I will do this so God will give back to me. Giving to get. Don’t go there.

If you want my handout from today’s talk, simply reply to this email and I’d be happy to share it with you. And please pray for Spirit-led teaching and receptive hearts. Thanks.

In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. Proverbs 23:5

“I am not telling a lie: human life is a dream.

In our dreams we look without seeing, we listen without hearing, we taste and touch without tasting or touching. We speak without saying anything, we walk without moving. We seem to be moving normally even though we stay still and to be making our habitual gestures even though we are not. The mind invents realities that are entirely imaginary.

When we are awake, our thoughts are like these dreams. They come and go. They meet and part. They fly away before we can catch them.

Nor is our body any different from a dream. Is not its beauty likely to go rotten before it is ripe? Is not its health continually being threatened with illness? How little it takes to destroy its strength! How easily its senses deteriorate!

Our careers are no less precarious. Often a single day is enough to scatter a great work to the winds. Many people who are held in respect and honor with a sudden change of events fall into disgrace. The greatest kingdoms on earth have been destroyed in a short time.

If we have so many changes of scene in life, and so many dark experiences, we ought to learn to distinguish what is virtuous from what is base, what is good from what is bad, what is just from what is unjust.

I give you an example of what I mean. Do you possess a lot of money? If so, give it away because the beauty of riches consists not in money-boxes but in helping the poor. Are you short of money? Be careful not to envy the rich. And don’t despair, because human affairs are always changing into their opposites.”

Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC – AD 50) cf. C. Cajetanus, Thesaurus Patrum VII, 4155, in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 35-36.

After preaching twice today in Seoul, I head to Cairo on a night flight. So it seemed fitting to cite Philo of Alexandria, Egypt, in this book I am reading.

Life is but a dream and how often to we set our affections on the wrong things and in a moment they are gone. How quickly can health erode!

Seoul appears gripped with fear as Coronavirus has everyone worried about the threat of disease. But Philo seeks to raise our sights higher.

We should really be worried if our hope is in money. And if we are storing it up on earth, we have it in the wrong place.

If this seems difficult for you to swallow. Meditate on Psalm 49. Riches cannot save us, satisfy us, or give us security. Only God can.

Don’t put your hope in things that can vanish in seconds. Fix your hope firmly on God and show that it is so by letting go of earthly wealth.

Do this and as your giving continues, you will grasp experientially what generosity is all about. Do it while you can as wealth often vanishes.

And that’s not a dream or a fantasy! The American Dream on the other hand, is nothing but a nightmare in disguise that seeks to hinder generosity.

They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches. Psalm 49:6

“An illness that has become chronic, like a habit of wrong-doing that has become ingrained is very hard to heal. If after that, as very often happens, the habit turns into second nature, a cure is out of the question.

So the ideal would be too have no contact with evil. But there is another possibility: to distance yourself from evil to run away from it as from a poisonous snake, once you have experienced it.

I have known some unfortunate people who in their youth let themselves slide into evil habits which have held them enslaved all their lives. Like pigs wallowing continually in the mire and becoming increasingly filthy, such sinners as these multiply their shame every day with fresh sins.

So, blessed is the one who has never thought of evil. However, if through his wiles the suggestions of the Enemy have found a foothold in your heart, do not remain inactive in the toils of sin.

Be careful not to be utterly overcome by it. If the sin is already weighing you down, if the dust of riches has already settled on you, if your soul has been dragged right down by the attachments to material things, then before you fall into utter ruin get rid of the heavy burdens. Before your ship sinks, follow the example of sailors and cast overboard the possessions you have accumulated.”

Basil the Great (330-379) bishop of Caesarea, in Commentary on Psalms 1, 6 (PG 29, 224ff) in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 40.

I am enjoying a daily devotional of early church quotes that I packed in my bag for my trip. Basil is inspiring me in preparation for preaching this Sunday on “Openhanded and Generous” living.

If we allow ourselves to become attached to things in this life, they will drag us down to destruction. Does utter ruin await you? Most people think. Calm down. I am okay. I can love God and things.

After all, they are gifts from God, right? Pause. Ask God to reveal to you if there are any areas where you have given the Enemy a foothold. Do this specifically with regard to money and possessions.

Two word pictures are vivid to me: “the dust of riches” settling on us shows how subtle are the ways of the Enemy and “cast overboard” any possessions tells us how they seek to work in our lives and pull us down.

In other words, our response to the ways of the Enemy must not be causal but careful. We cannot act with ignorance but rather with intentionality. Let us love and trust not the gifts of God but God alone.

Only openhanded people can be generous because they have tapped the abundance of God. People who hold on to wealth and things give only from scarcity, so by choice they quench the fruit of generosity from flowing.

Being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,  and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:11-12

“God created Adam in the beginning, not because He needs the human race, but so that He might have a recipient of His generosity.

Moreover, God commanded us to follow Christ, not because He has any need of our service, but because He wants to give us salvation. To follow the Savior is to share in salvation, just as to follow the light is to gain the light.

People who are in the light do not themselves provide the light but are illuminated and made bright by it. They do not contribute anything to it but, by being illuminated, they receive the benefit of the light.

Similarly, to serve God does not mean giving Him any gift, nor has God any need of our service. On the contrary, it is He who gives to those who serve Him life, immortality, and eternal glory.

He rewards those who serve Him without deriving any benefit himself from their service: He is rich, He is perfect, He has no needs.

God requests human obedience so that His love and His pity may have an opportunity of doing good to those who serve Him diligently. The less God has need of anything, the more human beings need to be united with Him. Consequently, a human being’s true glory is to persevere in service to God.”

Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-200) in Against Heresies, 4. 25 (Harvey II, p. 184) as recounted in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, ed. by Thomas Spidlik (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1994) 27.

I took the red-eye from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Seoul, South Korea last night, so the perseverance part of this post struck me while I read this on the long flight.

God does not need our generosity. He is generous by nature and blesses us to do good and bless others and reflect His light and love to a watching world.

In that light, our giving is no more than our participation in God’s generosity. God will bless people whether we participate with Him or not. It’s a profound idea.

It inspires us not to do things for Him but with Him, with His love and His pity (which is the ancient word for compassion). God help us show your pity and run with perseverance the race marked out for each of us. Amen.

Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love. Lamentations 3:32

“We should strive to keep our hearts open to the sufferings and wretchedness of other people and pray continually that God may grant us that spirit of compassion which is truly the spirit of God.”

Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) in Daily Inspiration: 365 Quotes from Saints (Boston: Wyatt North, 2018) 383.

I have two objectives in today’s meetings in Jakarta (pictured above). I want to listen well, and I want to inspire key professionals and ministry workers with biblical teaching.

As I listen, I pray to understand the sufferings and wretchedness of the situation so I can minister effectively. God fill me with a spirit of compassion.

We must not run from sufferings and wretchedness but run towards it with a spirit of compassion. This is what Jesus did for you and for me. What will this look like for you today?

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

“Fear is such a powerful emotion for humans that when we allow it to take us over, it drives compassion right out of our hearts.”

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in Daily Inspiration: 365 Quotes from Saints (Boston: Wyatt North, 2018) 371.

I discovered something in my reading just prior to departing on this trip. As you are reading this, I am somewhere between Tokyo and Jakarta.

Aquinas explains why there is not a lot of compassion in the world today. The world is gripped with fear, and fear drives compassion from our hearts.

What are you afraid of? Seriously, name your fears. Give them to God. In exchange ask for His perfect love to fill and restore you.

As we give God our fears–fear of not having enough, fear of sickness, fear of failure–we are free to show compassion like Jesus who had no fear.

He knew the Father had His every need sorted. He has your every need sorted too. He lived generously with this belief carrying Him. Do you?