Archives by: Gary Hoag

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

“Taking up one’s cross, my dear, means simply that you are to go the road which you see to be the straight one; carrying whatever you find is given you to carry, as well and stoutly as you can; without making faces, or calling people to come and look at you. Above all, you are neither to load, nor unload yourself, nor cut your cross to your own liking.”

Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 168.

The GTP board has joined me in commissioning the regional facilitators and today, following God’s leading, I am challenging them to consider prayerfully the faithful activities they will engage in this launch year.

In a way it is bearing a cross because we have discerned that to be people of confession, we must not only confess our sins, but following the example of the cupbearer, Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:5-11), we bear the sins of our people with our own.

What’s your cross to bear? Will you carry whatever you find stoutly, that is, with courage and determination? This relates to generosity as the giving of ourselves in complete surrender to God is often unthinkably hard.

Father in heaven, help each of us carry our cross as stoutly so that our faithfulness contributes to fruitfulness around us and so that our lives bring You glory. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4

No wearisome days, no sorrowful nights; no hunger or thirst; no anxiety or fears; no envies, no jealousies, no breaches of friendship, no sad separations, no distrusts or forebodings, no self-reproaches, no enmities, no bitter regrets, no tears, no heartaches; “And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”

R. S. Foster in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 300.

This post seemed fitting as today marks the 10th anniversary of my herniated disc and stenosis condition. Ten years of chronic back pain has caused me to live every day in light of eternity.

I had to change my diet, give up every cardio sport I previously enjoyed, and determined that rather than complain, I would live every single day for God with every ounce of strength He supplies.

None of us are immune from pain and tears. What we can do is control our response to these situations. We must not complain, but rather, press on and hold on to today’s text, one of the most generous promises in the Scriptures.

Whether you suffer from pain or tears, heartaches or regrets, all that will be forgotten when you meet our Lord. So, let go of those conditions and live as generously as possible with every minute God gives you.

Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. Exodus 30:30

“God consecrates us with His Spirit; whom He adopts, He anoints; whom He makes sons [and daughters], He makes saints; He doth not only give them a new name, but a new nature. God turns the wolf into a lamb; He makes the heart humble and gracious; He works such a change as if another soul did dwell in the same body.”

Thomas Watson in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 159.

Today the GTP board will consecrate and commission the staff and regional facilitators for the work ahead. May God make us humble and gracious workers to serve the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As Watson notes, God consecrates us with His Spirit, and in so doing, gives us the gift of a new name and a new nature. What great gifts! The new name on us is His own, which is why our lives must exhibit Christian generosity.

The new nature is the power to live out His teachings. Will we tap it or go at it alone? Will we give abundantly from His supply? When we keep in step with the Spirit we exhibit the fruit of generosity.

We serve as conduits of blessing. What will you do? My prayer for myself and my fellow staff and regional facilitators is that His name and nature are made known through my humble obedience and service.

And I pray Jesus also makes it so for you.

Know that the Lord has set apart His faithful servant for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him. Psalm 4:3

“If you want to live in this world, doing the duty of life, knowing the blessings of it, doing your work heartily, and yet not absorbed by it, remember that the one power whereby you can so act is, that all shall be consecrated to Christ, and done for His sake.”

Alexander Maclaren in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 158.

In our generous service, how do we draw the line between doing our part becoming absorbed by it in the process? It’s not an easy question to answer. For my part, I wrestle with this as my wife and family could feel forgotten because of the rigors of my travel and the work God has put before me on a global scale.

So, how should we live and work in a manner that is consecrated to God? These questions and more are at the heart of the GTP Empowerment Journey, an evening and morning experience that we are piloting at the Dubai Global Gathering with the board and regional facilitators.

We start with the idea that each person matters to God. From there, we consider that we are part of something bigger. God has not only set us apart for Himself but has something He wants to know. He cares about our ‘being’ and ‘knowing’ as well as our ‘doing’. We challenge participants to reflect prayerfully while they rest before thinking about their ‘doing’.

Then on the following morning, we talk about how together we can make a difference in our roles, but we must set God-honoring standards and hold each other accountable. In short, only glorify Him when we work together to preserve His honor. The journey is designed to help us consecrate ourselves together for Christ so that as one body we serve Him.

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Deuteronomy 10:14

“Live, as it were, on trust. All that is in you, all that you are, is only loaned to you; make use of it according to the will of Him who lends it; but never regard it for a moment as your own.”

François Fénelon (1651-1715) French archbishop and theologian in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 159.

Today is a historic day in Dubai, UAE! The GTP Board (from 7 countries) and Staff (from 3 countries) will welcome our Regional Facilitators who live in the 12 regions of the Lausanne Movement (in parentheses). They have come from Switzerland (Europe), Moldova (Eurasia), Egypt (MENA), Nigeria (EPSA), Côte d’Ivoire (Francophone Africa), Hong Kong (East Asia), India (South Asia), Philippines (South East Asia), Australia (South Pacific), Jamaica (Caribbean), Mexico City (Latin America), and South Dakota (North America).

One big objective brings this group together: a desire for trust, a longing for people to live in light of the reality of God’s ownership and their stewardship. They believe that if God’s servants live obediently and administrate His work according to standards that ministries can flourish with sustainability and be positioned to endure suffering. What about you? Do you live like all that is in you and all that you are is only loaned to you? Do you make use of it according to the will of Him who lent it to you?

Do this and you will discover what trust is. Do this and you will find there is no other way to live. Do this and grasp the life that is truly life! If you are in, shout, “With You!”  But, I capitalize the “You” because don’t say this to me, but to Him who lends you all you have and Who can be trusted in all things, for all things. You can trust Him with your life, you wife, your husband, your children, your children’s children, for all you have ever needed, need now, and will ever need. “Live, as it were, on trust.”

And the Word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.

“‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’” Zechariah 7:8-14

“Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly.”

Francis Bacon in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 521.

We studied today’s Scripture on Opening Day at the Global Gathering for GTP among other texts. God’s people were in captivity in the days of Zechariah for their failure to follow His instructions. As a result: “This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.”

What about you? Will you follow God’s design with whatever riches He supplies? Will you contribute to flourishing or desolation around you?

When I saw the sand dunes outside Dubai yesterday afternoon (pictured above), I could not get those words out of my mind: “This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.” When we don’t follow God’s design it has an adverse effect. It brings death rather than life.

Then, in my reading I found this short quote. In the time we have on this earth, let us acquire justly, that is, not by taking advantage of others but through just work. Then, let us keep only what we need and share the rest with sobriety, cheerfulness, and contentment.

Or, the alternative is to do what the world says. Don’t listen to God. In so doing, don’t expect Him to listen to you.

We either live for God and others or against them. There’s no middle ground with God. And whatever we choose, He lets us have what we want. I want to be a person that brings flourishing rather than desolation and leaves contentedly.

How will you live and leave? Aim to get, use, distribute, and leave riches according to God’s design.

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

“Every real friendship is a sort of secession, even a rebellion. It may be a rebellion of serious thinkers against accepted clap-trap or of faddists against accepted good sense; of real artists against popular ugliness or of charlatans against civilised taste; of good men against the badness of society or of bad men against its goodness. Whichever it is, it will be unwelcome to top people. In each knot of friends there is a sectional “public opinion” which fortifies its members against the public opinion of the community in general. Each therefore is a pocket of potential resistance. Men who have real friends are less easy to manage or “get at”; harder for good authorities to correct or for bad Authorities to corrupt.

Hence if our masters, by force or by propaganda about “Togetherness” or by unobtrusively making privacy and unplanned leisure impossible, ever succeed in producing a world where all are companions and none are friends, they will have removed certain dangers, and will also have taken from us what is almost our strongest safeguard against complete servitude. But the dangers are perfectly real. Friendship (as the ancients saw) can be a school of virtue; but also (as they did not see) a school of vice. It is ambivalent. It makes good men better and bad men worse.”

C.S. Lewis in Four Loves on “Friendship” (Project Gutenberg Canada ebook #1202) excerpt from chapter 4.

Today marks the start of the first-ever Global Gathering in Dubai, UAE, for Global Trust Partners. We convene as 27 men and women from 15 countries for the week. Most importantly, we come together as as good men and women aiming to ask God through confession, prayer, and fasting to clean up what is bad in the global church.

Pray with us that our coming together will make us all better. And make that same difference where you are! Lock arms with other generous people to make a difference. You will develop bonds deeper than family ties, these will become friends for who you will give your life in collaborative service to Christ.

Find people who will look you in the eyes regardless of the challenge and say, “With you!” These are some of the greatest treasures in the world. They are the people with whom I find myself. Their friendship makes me a better person. Go make your community or your world better today through friendship.

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 4:8

“When I go to the house of God I do not want amusement; I want the doctrine which is according to godliness. I want to hear the remedy against the harassing of my guilt and the disorder of my affections. I want to be led from weariness and disappointment to that goodness which filleth the hungry soul. I want to have light upon the mystery of providence; to be taught how the judgments of the Lord are right; how I shall be prepared for duty and for trial; how I may fear God all the days of my life, and close them in peace.”

John M. Mason in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 151.

This post touched me deeply and paints a well-rounded picture of the work I aim to do all over the world. In training overseers of the work in God’s house and in ministries in accordance with godliness, I (and those who serve with me) shape peoples’ lives and their eternity, and they have that impact on others. So, wherever you gather to worship, this is my prayer for you from Dubai on the even of the first-ever GTP Global Gathering. Herein, hear my commitment to helping you nurture such faithfulness through these daily posts.

May your church for ministry setting be a place that trains people in godliness, that helps everyone have rightly ordered affections, that leads everyone to trust in the goodness of God. May that light of the mystery of God’s providence and the richness of His judgments be lifted up in order to build everyone up for Christian duty and to endure suffering. May you fear God and show that reverence through an obedient and generous life and a peaceful departure to your eternal home. And may you hear “well done” upon arrival from Jesus. Amen.

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:15-16

“The man who labors to please his neighbor for his good to edification has the mind that was in Christ. It is a sinner trying to help a sinner. Even a feeble, but kind and tender man, will effect more than a genius, who is rough and artificial.”

Richard Cecil in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 128.

When asked who my favorite character is in Scripture (apart from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, of course), I always answer: Paul. Most would guess this right as I am a Pauline scholar, and I serve as a modern-day apostle for accountability.

For my part, I love Paul because he understood himself as a sinner, he had a deep knowledge of God who saved him, and he wanted everyone to know that God personally. The power the drove Paul, in part, was confession, that is, proclaiming what is true with humility.

When I convene with the GTP board, regional facilitators, and the staff this week in Dubai, we will focus on the practices of confession, prayer, and fasting. Through these rhythms, our strength will grow out of our weakness. We are sinners co-laboring for our neighbors in nations.

What does this have to do with generosity? The greatest commandment of Christ, to love your neighbor, propels us to empty ourselves in order to edify others. Some do this on a local level, others on a national level, and a few on a global scale.

The key is not to try to be the genius, who comes across as rough and artificial, but to take a feeble, kind, and tender posture. Was Paul feeble, kind, and tender? Rather than go there, just ask yourself if you are those things.

How do we become more feeble, kind, and tender? We become these things by laboring and loving our neighbors for their good and God’s glory. So, go build others up today do “good to edification,” and your generosity will exceed that of the greatest genius.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27

“If the world is ever conquered for our Lord, it is not by ministers, nor by office-bearers, nor by the great, and noble and mighty, but by every member of Christ’s body being a working member; doing his work; filling his own sphere; holding his own post; and saying to Jesus, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”

Thomas Guthrie in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 128.

The first snowstorm of the year greatly delayed my departure (5 hours) from Denver to Chicago to Frankfurt, so, thankfully, United Airlines re-routed me on the direct (and more expensive) flight to Frankfurt from Denver at no extra charge. Thanks to God and United Airlines I am safely in Germany.

I am en route to Dubai. Yes, Dubai is home to Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world (pictured above back in May 2019). You may recall this huge building in the “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” movie. The GTP board (12), regional facilitators (12), and staff (4) will convene in Dubai shortly.

We are a group of ordinary people—lawyers, accountants, ministry administrators, and business professionals—who serve an extraordinary God. We are 28 men and women from 15 countries. Our focus is not so much to conquer the world though. We gather, largely speaking, to encourage each other to hold our posts and do our part in the regions of the world.

We claim territory for God by taking the “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” posture each and every day and by calling others to the faithful administration of God’s work. In this light, our generosity is deeply Christian. It’s “deeply Christian” because we are all doing our part as members of the body of Christ.

So, whether you are in Dubai, Delhi, Daegu, or Denver, hold your post. Not one of us is more important than the other. Need inspiration to stand fast? Read 1 Corinthians 12 to remind yourself that everyone matters. Or read Nehemiah 3 and discover how rebuilding projects require each one to do their part.