Archives by: Gary Hoag

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

“God kills thy comforts from no other design but to kill thy corruptions; wants are ordained to kill wantonness, poverty is appointed to kill pride, reproaches are permitted to destroy ambition.”

John Flavel (1630-1691) in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 7.

On this long trip, on days when I have not had comforts, I am reminded that perhaps I wanted them more than I should have. In times of need I have found that God not money is what carries me through any and every situation.

Of course I favor good days over tough ones, but God ordains and allows these difficulties to kill the aspects of my character and flesh that need to die. He allows wants, poverty, and reproaches to help make me more like Christ.

I have learned some of these lessons first-hand on my long journey and pray they help me serve more generously on my next trip. I pray they help you too. For now I am thankful to head home to see Jenni, Sammy, Emily, Sophie and Peter.

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. Philippians 1:20-26

“When I read the life of such a man as Paul, how I blush to think how sickly and dwarfed Christianity is at the present time, and how many hundreds there are who never think of working for the Son of God and honoring Christ.”

D.L. Moody (1837-1899) in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 3.

With two days remaining in the longest trip of my life, I find myself energized rather than exhausted with only two days remaining. I say this because when I give my life in generous service, I don’t end up empty. I find myself enriched.

While many equate my global service to the work of Paul, the fact of the matter is that Paul did not work alone. He had about 80 mates with whom he collaborated. He said, “join me” and they replied “with you” and gave their lives in service.

At this point, don’t let your inner man or woman discount what you have to offer. More than half of the work of ministry is just showing up. Paul describes the work here not as preaching or teaching but as “my being with you” to the Philippians.

With a deeper resolve than ever, I am confident that Christianity globally needs ordinary men and women to step up and to give their lives in service to the Son of God. Will you honor Christ by helping others for their progress and join in the faith?

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Luke 18:22

“I have heard of a monk who in his cell, had a glorious vision of Jesus revealed to him. Just then, a bell rang, which called him away to distribute loaves of bread among the poor beggars at the gate. He was sorely tried as to whether he should lose a scene so inspiring. He went to his act of mercy; and when he came back, the vision remained more glorious than ever.”

T. L. Cuyler in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 26.

Have you ever had a powerful time with God and desired to stay in that place?

The monk in this story could have passed on his act of mercy to enjoy more special time with God. But he stayed true to the task of distributing to those in need. The best part of the story is the climax. His time with God not only picked up where He left off but got even better.

What’s the lesson for us today related to our generosity?

We get up early to spend time with God not to stay in that place but to find true riches for sharing widely. The glorious times equip us for acts of mercy. When we watch Jesus on mission we see Him spend time with the Father and then go forth to distribute blessings.

Let’s be like the monk. Enjoy solitude with God and serve as a generous distributor.

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:32-33

“Give to God what belongs to Him, and remain lovingly passive in His hands. Hold for certain that what takes place either exteriorly or interiorly is best for you. Allow God to act, and abandon yourself to Him. Let the chisel perform its office, the needle do its work. Let the brush of the artist cover the canvas with many tints which only have the appearance of daubs. Correspond with all these divine operations by a simple and constant submission, a forgetfulness of self, and an assiduous application to duty.

Continue thus in your own groove without studying the way, the ins and outs, and surroundings, the names or particulars of the places; go on blindly pursuing this path, and you will be shown what is to follow. Seek only the kingdom of God and His justice by love and obedience, and all the rest will be added to you. We meet with many souls who are distressed about themselves, and inquire anxiously, “Who will direct us so that we may become mortified and holy, and attain perfection?”

Let them search in books for the description and characteristics of this marvellous work, its nature and qualities; but as for you, do you remain peacefully united to God by love, and follow blindly the clear straight path of duty. The angels are at your side during this time of darkness, and they will bear you up. If God requires more of you, He will make it known to you by His inspirations.”

Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) in Abandonment to Divine Providence (Grand Rapids: CCEL) 70.

In my teaching on this trip which has now brought me to my last stop, Melbourne, Australia, I have reminded those I have served to wait on the Lord and to allow God to act. This is particularly difficult for people who come from well-resourced countries. Why trust in and wait for God when you can act?

Our actions might reflect taking matters into our own hands. God wants us to abandon ourselves to His providence, to remain lovingly dependent upon Him. What path will you choose? There’s a catch you must know before you decide. God is looking for people willing to follow Him blindly, to trust Him completely.

This relates to generosity because times of darkness are inevitable. We can trust Him to sustain us and bear us up. The test is whether we will choose instead to act on our own or choose to worry or fear. This 29 day trip has stretched me. But I trust Him to bear me up and pray you can too.

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Psalm 112:5

“Providence has made such a man able to lend, and grace makes him willing to lend. Wisely, he uses the talents instructed to him, and exercises great care and discretion in the choice of the objects of his benevolence, and also in the management of all his affairs.”

Herbert Lockyer in Psalms: A Devotional Commentary (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1993) 472.

I’ve been reading from the Psalms this week. This Psalm reminded me that God’s generous design for life is rooted in providence and grace.

Providence is trusting God to supply and grace is acknowledging all that has been supplied is a gift from God to be enjoyed and shared.

This week I am teaching on governance in Brisbane and Melbourne. It relates to generosity as it is also rooted in providence and grace.

All we have comes to us from God. We don’t store it up on earth but we store it up in heaven by using it in God honoring ways.

Is this your aim? If so, make sure our living, giving, serving, and loving is done with discretion and faithfulness.

But as for me, afflicted and in pain — may Your salvation, God, protect me. I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves. The poor will see and be glad — you who seek God, may your hearts live! The Lord hears the needy and does not despise His captive people. Psalm 69:29-33

“While verse 29 signifies the low point of the psalmist’s attitude, verse 30 suddenly turns to the height of joy in God. This would be surprising if it weren’t typical of the laments, which help sufferers articulate their pain, but at the end, turn them to God to bolster their confidence. The laments usually do turn from weeping to rejoicing.

The psalmist begins by declaring his intent to turn to God, to praise His name with song and to thank him. Such praise will please God more than an ox, the thought being intensified in the second colon by saying that it will please God more than a bull with its horns and hooves. The reference is to sacrifice, and sacrifice of the most expensive type, an ox/bull rather than a sheep or a bird.

God does desire Israel’s heartfelt sacrifices, but what He loves most of all is His people’s praise. The fact that God wants praise more than a bull is good news, particularly for the poor. Why? because the poor cannot afford to offer a bull, but they can offer praise to God. Thus, one does not have to be rich to please the Lord.”

Tremper Longman III in Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove: IVP, 2014) 266.

On most every trip I take in service to God and often when things are going great with the ministry work, I am tormented with back spasms on at least one of the days. That was me this morning.

I am managing thanks to stretching exercises I have learned from my doctor and the grace of God. Also it helps that after meetings this morning I get to visit the Gold Coast (pictured above).

I would not blame my pain on the uncomfortable seat on my flight from Sydney to Brisbane yesterday or the bed I slept in last night. I actually see it as a gift which drives me to praise God.

Whenever pain moments come, I am learning to give God a gift that He loves that is more than a large expensive sacrifice that come at a financial cost. I am learning to praise Him in my pain.

What if you praised Him in your time of pain? When we do, we actually join the poor and captives who have limited or little financial resources and offer God a gift He loves, a sacrifice of praise.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14

“Those that walk by faith in the goodness of the Lord shall in due time walk in the sight of that goodness. This he hopes to see in the land of the living, that is, In this world, that he should outlive his troubles and not perish under them. It is his comfort, not so much that he shall see the land of the living as that he shall see the goodness of God in it; for that is the comfort of all creature-comforts to a gracious soul…

In heaven, it is that alone that may truly be called the land of the living, where there is no more death. This earth is the land of the dying. There is nothing like the believing hope of eternal life, the foresights of that glory, and foretastes of those pleasures, to keep us from fainting under all the calamities of this present time.

That in the meantime he should be strengthened to bear up under his burdens; whether he says it to himself, or to his friends, it comes all to one; this is that which encourages him: He shall strengthen thy heart, shall sustain thy spirit, and then the spirit shall sustain the infirmity. In that strength, Keep close to God and to your duty. Wait on the Lord by faith, and prayer, and a humble resignation to his will; wait, I say, on the Lord; whatever you do, grow not remiss in your attendance upon God.

Keep up your spirits in the midst of the greatest dangers and difficulties: Be of good courage; let your hearts be fixed, trusting in God, and your minds stayed upon him, and then let none of these things move you. Those that wait upon the Lord have reason to be of good courage.”

Matthew Henry (1662-1714) in his Commentary on Psalm 27.

At first glance this reading may appear to have nothing to do with generosity, however it may contain one of the most central ideas linked to generosity in the Scriptures.

The generous person is confident in waiting on the generosity or goodness of the Lord. Our capacity and ability to be generous is rooted in God’s faithfulness.

We don’t like waiting in modern times. But to the one who does, God sustains the spirit. We do this by humbly resigning ourselves to embracing His will for us.

I needed this today because I miss my wife and family back home. It’s day 22 of a 29 day trip. I find generous renewal by waiting on Him, being strong, taking heart, and waiting for the LORD.

Care to join me? Here’s a good starting point. Read Psalm 27. Enjoy.

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:5-7

“They go from strength to strength. So far from being wearied they gather strength as they proceed. Each individual becomes happier, each company becomes more numerous, each holy song more sweet and full. We grow as we advance if heaven be our goal. If we spend our strength in God’s ways we shall find it increase.

Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. This was the end of the pilgrim’s march, the centre where all met, the delight of all hearts. Not merely to be in the assembly, but to appear before God was the object of each devout Israelite. Would to God it were the sincere desire of all who in these days mingle in our religious gatherings. Unless we realise the presence of God we have done nothing; the mere gathering together is nothing worth.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon in The Treasury of David (notes on verse 7). Special thanks to one of my prayer partners, Linnea Baney, for alerting me to this Psalm today.

Though this journey that I am on right now is long, I feel I am spending myself and increasing in strength by God’s grace. He seems to supply more richly only as I go along in deeper dependence. Notice that the rains fill the pools that can only be accessed from the road while on the journey.

It reminds me of the first disciples sent out by Jesus with no purse or bag. They had to learn by experience that God would supply. The pilgrims in these verses found this to be true. God supplied along the way. Despite traversing desert country, they always had sufficient water.

What’s the connection to us today and for our generosity?

Sometimes we traverse deserts when moving toward God’s presence. It’s hard. But with fellow pilgrims our hearts can find refreshment along the way as we trust in Him and make the journey. We go from strength to strength. It does not mean we won’t suffer. It means we will be sustained until we meet God.

Read all of Psalm 84 for abundant nourishment for your journey.

“And whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:27-28

“We all know what the character of a faithful servant or slave implies. Devotion to the master’s interests, thoughtful study and care to please him, delight in his prosperity and honor and happiness. There are servants on earth in whom these dispositions have been seen, and to whom the name of servant has never been anything but a glory. To how many of us has it not been a new joy in the Christian life to know that we may yield ourselves as servants, as slaves to God, and to find that His service is our highest liberty, the liberty from sin and self?

We need now to learn another lesson, that Jesus calls us to be servants of one another, and that, as we accept it heartily, this service too will be a most blessed one, a new and fuller liberty too from sin and self.

At first it may appear hard; this is only because of the pride which still counts itself something. “If once we learn that to be nothing before God is the glory of the creature, the spirit of Jesus, the joy of heaven, we shall welcome with our whole heart the discipline we may have in serving even those who try to vex us. When our own heart is set upon this, the true sanctification, we shall study each word of Jesus on self-abasement with new zest, and no place will be too low, and no stooping too deep, and no service too mean or too long continued, if we may but share and prove the fellowship with Him who spake, ‘I am among you as he that serveth.’”

Andrew Murray (1828-1917) in Humility: The Beauty of Holiness (Abbotsford: Aneko, 2016) 22-23

Today I get to speak at a CMA Governance Forum in Sydney related to The Council: A Biblical Perspective on Board Governance. In short, I will remind them that service to God and one another is our highest liberty.

I will walk through four spiritual practices for boards: Scripture, Silence, Sharing, and Supplication. When we do them together, these rhythms help block out pride, deliver us from ourselves, and preserve this liberty.

Are you serving in an oversight role? Like the Council of Moses in Numbers 11:16-17 and like Jesus in today’s Scripture take a standing and listening posture so that you service reflects both liberty and generosity.

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. Psalm 96:1-3

“Sing with your voices, sing also with your hearts sing with your mouths, sing also with your conduct…His praise, you see, is not to be found in the synagogues of the Jews, nor in the madness of the pagans, nor in the errors of the heretics, nor in the applause of the theaters. You ask where it is to be found? Look at yourselves, you be it. His praise is in the Church of the saints…Submit yourselves, my dear brothers, to a thorough interrogation, turn out your innermost closets and cupboards. Take careful stock of how much you have of charity, and increase the stock you find. Pay attention to that sort of treasure, so that you may be rich within.”

Augustine of Hippo in Sermon 34.6-7 in Sermons 20-50 on the Old Testament, translation and notes by Edmond Hill (Brooklyn: New City, 1990) 168.

In the stillness of the morning hours, I can almost hear Augustine preaching this sermon.

“Sing with your mouths… sing also with your conduct… turn out your innermost closets and cupboards. Take careful stock of how much you have of charity, and increase the stock you find. Pay attention to that sort of treasure, so that you may be rich within.”

What message am I singing among the nations (or in Sydney this week)? Am I rich in charity? How about you?

Our lives sing whatever we cherish in the innermost closet and cupboard of our hearts. Augustine rightly charges us to make one thing most important. The thing the Apostle Paul labeled the greatest of all thing, charity. It’s love seasoned with grace.

Once we have charity we can live with generosity. Then we are rich within and resourced to sing His praise in word and deed.

God, fill me with charity. Like I stuff my suitcase for travels, fill the innermost closets and cupboards of my heart with charity, so that I may generously proclaim the truth with grace in Australia. Do this for everyone reading this so our voices and conduct sing Your praise to the nations. Amen.