Archives by: Gary Hoag

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

“I ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o’clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: ‘Early will I seek thee’; ‘Thou shalt early hear my voice.’ Family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness, and I can do no good to those who come to seek from me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then when in secret prayer the soul is often out of tune, I feel it is far better to begin with God — to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another.”

Robert Murray McCheyne as recounted Power Through Prayer: A Healthy Prayer Life by Edward M. Bounds and Edward D. Andrews (Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2018) 37.

The generous life, if it is to have power, must choose to start each day like David began his days and like Christ modeled for us. We must open them in prayer with the Father. This requires discipline on our part.

When I travel internationally, it is so hard to maintain this discipline, but I try to do it because without prayer, as McCheyne says, my soul goes unfed and I can be no good to others.

What about you? What is your discipline to be filled first before engaging with others? If you do it for a season, the process transforms you, and you tap the source of power. Need inspiration? McCheyne adds this.

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” Remember, He is “with you!” The question is: Are you with Him?

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing. Psalm 37:25-26

“Generous acts have the ability to lift us to a higher level where we are more human, more the person we really want to be. In the very act of encouraging someone else we are graced with awareness that life is better. Generosity has the power to make us feel better about helping others.

Will generosity save our lives? Yes, it can be an essential element in enriching our lives, building a more co-operative future, improving our emotional and physical health, and simply making life more fun. It’s also a very serious business because our society is showing the strains of violence, poverty, selfishness, and neglect.”

Dave Toycen in The Power of Generosity (Waynesboro: Authentic Media, 2004) 15.

Have you ever had one of those days where various circumstances came together to send you a message? The name of my hotel in Curitiba, Brazil, where I arrived yesterday, is Dunamys Hotel. Knowing Greek, I immediately said to myself, “power,” as dunamys is the Greek word for “power.”

Then the speaker at the conference spoke on the difference between the sermons of the book of Acts and the sermons today. He emphasized the same word, “dunamys” or “power,” from which we get the English word, “dynamite.” What’s my point and the message related to generosity?

There is power in generosity because it follows God’s design for life and living. When we live it out, we discover that there’s no other way to live because the power of generosity breaks the power of mammon in our lives? It addresses poverty, counteracts selfishness, and blesses those in need.

Generosity has the power to make us more human. You could say that’s the aim of my GTP efforts in Brazil in collaboration with Nydia Garcia Schmidt. We are here to do more than teach or speak. We are helping implement structures of accountability to empower people to unleash the power of generosity.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Philippians 4:6

“The Christian should never worry about tomorrow or give sparingly because of a possible future need. Only the present moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come. Money is really worth no more than as it can be used to accomplish the Lord’s work. Life is worth as much as it is spent for the Lord’s service.”

George Muller in The Autobiography of George Muller (New Kensington: Whitaker House, 1984) 212-213.

As many readers know, my wife, Jenni, and I follow the example of George Muller in his four-part rule of life. We let God know our needs, wait on His supply, avoid debt, and as He supplies more than enough, we share it. It’s simple, anyone can do it, and it requires the one thing God expects of His followers: trust.

Many in Rio de Janeiro have resonated with this message. Nydia Garcia Schmidt, GTP Regional Facilitator for Latin America, and I have taught multiple groups about trust, accountability, and generosity. Keep praying for us. Today we fly to Curitiba for more meetings with influential ministry workers who lead huge networks.

Wherever you are and whatever you do, never worry about tomorrow or give sparingly. Money is useless unless you put it to work. Spend yourself for Christ and His kingdom either right where you live or wherever He leads you. As you go, remember you are not alone, listen for His still small voice. It whispers: “With you!”

Few places on the planet are like Rio de Janeiro (pictured above at sunset from Pão de Açucar). While the people are great, it quickly became one of my favorite cities in the world. Why? If you need a reminder that Christ is with you, just look up. That’s “Cristo Redentor” or “Christ the Redeemer” lit up on the hill looking over the city.

But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Numbers 14:24

The Lord had freed ancient Israel from four centuries of bondage in Egypt, opening up for them what had once been an unthinkable opportunity to inherit “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). But at a key moment in their pilgrimage to Canaan, a majority of Israel’s population shrank back from the daring endeavor of claiming God’s promise. They chose the safer route, the more easily explainable route, the more reasonable and protective route, rather than the guaranteed, take-no-prisoners route that led to conquering a whole new realm of territory for themselves and their children.

That’s why only two of the the original two million travelers — Joshua and Caleb — ended up walking as victorious landowners on Canaan’s soil. Factor it down, and you have a profound spiritual equation. Individually, these men were one in a million. And what set them apart, the Scripture says (of Caleb, but surely of Joshua too), is that they possessed “a different spirit.” They didn’t need to fit in. They didn’t need to be liked. They didn’t base their conclusions on the majority report.

They didn’t depend on the approval of their friends for determining which path they would choose to walk. They simply hit the dirt road toward the Promised Land and never looked back. They believed that the same God who could bring a mighty Pharaoh to his knees could do the same to any other enemy who stood in the way of His plans being fulfilled for His people. As a result, these two — and only these two — who’d begun their lives as slaves in Egypt were able to complete them as free men in God’s country. Because…they were different.

Abundant living mandates different living — different even from other believers who may be complacent with their freedom, lulled to sleep in their wilderness wanderings. To experience everything God intends, a difference is required. One in which your thought processes, self-disciplines, and most pressing choices carve out a narrow road that is not often tread. One on which you will nearly always walk alone. Alien. Stranger. Sore thumb. Are you willing? To be the one in a million?

The traveling conditions are rarely smooth sailing when heading into the direction of abundant living. The places where God’s presence and provision — His milk and honey — abound are where bold belief in His promises takes priority over man’s acceptance and affirmation. Ask the Father — the Deliverer — to give you the kind of courage by His Spirit that would make you willing to stand out form the crowd when called for. The difference will be worth it.”

Priscilla Shirer in Awaken: 90 Days with the God who Speaks (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2017) reading for Day 10. Special thanks to my friend and brother, John Cochran, for sharing today’s post with me.

Generous people are different people. They have a different spirit. While those around them aim at accumulation, they daydream about distribution. When most give lip service to the teachings of Jesus on money and stockpile wealth on earth, they set goals for sharing and storing up in heaven instead. These people know God’s promises are trustworthy because they depend on Him for their daily bread and everything else. They have a different spirit. They are one in a million.

Likewise, in my GTP work, when I see people willing to set standards of responsible stewardship in contexts riddled with corruption have a different spirit. It’s one thing for a group to say that a culture has trappings, that is,  sinful patterns, and it’s a whole different story for them to be willing to confess openly, “This is wrong! God forgive us. We must chart a new course.” That’s the ‘Caleb spirit’ I see in the testimony of a small group of Brazilians that I am working with this week. They have a different spirit.

What about you? Do you have a different spirit? I am convinced that the Promised Land in the Old Testament foreshadows the eternal heavenly kingdom in the New Testament. Only those who have a different spirit and are willing to go against the flow and live differently will find it. Is that you? Grasping abundant living now and eternal joy later is about the daring adventure of walking the narrow road no matter what everyone else is doing.

I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Joshua 1:3

“It is a delightful and profitable occupation to mark the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints, and to observe His goodness in delivering them, His mercy in pardoning them, and His faithfulness in keeping His covenant with them. But would it not be even more interesting and profitable for us to remark the hand of God in our own lives? Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of His goodness and of His truth, as much a proof of His faithfulness and veracity, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before? We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that He wrought all His mighty acts, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but doth not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints who are now upon the earth. Let us review our own lives. Surely in these we may discover some happy incidents, refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) in Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (Grand Rapids, MI: CCEL) morning reading for 9 July.

God has safely brought me to Brazil to speak on the connection between generosity and accountability with influential Christian workers interested in setting up a peer accountability group here (like ECFA). Upon arrival in Rio de Janeiro, I met up with Milton Monte, president of the National Missions Board in Brazil, and Nydia Garcia Schmidt, GTP regional facilitator for Latin America, who flew in from Mexico City.

My text for this trip comes from Joshua 1. I am meditating on God’s faithfulness and generosity to ancient saints like Moses and Joshua in today’s Scripture to see how He wants to aid us today in His service. After Nydia and I got checked into our rooms at the seminary (pictured above), Milton took us directly to Cristo Redentor, or Christ the Redeemer. There, we asked God for Brazil.

At the feet of Jesus, Nydia read Psalm 2:8 in Spanish, I recited Joshua 1:3 in English, then Milton read 2 Chronicles 7:14 in Portuguese, and we reiterated our request to God asking for Brazil. As you observe His goodness in the lives of ancient saints and review your own life, what do you see? I pray you invite the living God to work as He did in the days of old. Big meetings in Brazil today. Come to my aid, Lord Jesus.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us — so that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise You, God; may all the peoples praise You. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise You, God; may all the peoples praise You. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him. Psalm 67

“When God makes Himself the guide of a soul He exacts from it an absolute confidence in Him, and a freedom from any sort of disquietude as to the way in which He conducts it. This soul, therefore, is urged on without perceiving the path traced out before it. It does not imitate either what it has seen, or what it has read, but proceeds by its own action, and cannot do otherwise without grave risk. The divine action is ever fresh, it never retraces its steps, but always marks out new ways. Souls that are conducted by it never know where they are going; their ways are neither to be found in books, nor in their own minds; the divine action carries them step by step, and they progress only according to its movement.

When you are conducted by a guide who takes you through an unknown country at night across fields where there are no tracks, by his own skill, without asking advice from anyone, or giving you any inkling of his plans; how can you choose but abandon yourself? Of what use is it looking about to find out where you are, to ask the passers-by, or to consult maps and travellers? The plans or fancies of a guide who insists on being trusted would not allow of this. He would take pleasure in overcoming the anxiety and distrust of the soul, and would insist on an entire surrender to his guidance. If one is convinced that he is a good guide one must have faith in him, and abandon oneself to his care.”

Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) in Abandonment to Divine Providence 2.7 (Grand Rapids: CCEL) 72.

When I travel, I read classic devotionals like this one to nourish my soul. The authors are sojourners. Their voices are familiar. Their words touch me deeply. And, it’s a privilege to share excerpts of what I learn in my daily posts.

The Guide of the nations wants to be the guide of your soul and mine. What a profound truth! He asks us to give Him our absolute confidence, to trust His guidance, and abandon ourselves to His leading and care. Do you?

Today I meet up with Nydia Garcia Schmidt. She’s the Americas Director for Wycliffe Global Alliance and GTP Regional Facilitator for Latin America. She’s also a trusted friend. I don’t work in Latin America without asking her advice and following her lead.

Pray for us. We will teach on Christian generosity and accountability with pastors, ministry workers, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals interested in forming a peer accountability group like ECFA in Brazil. These meetings could shape the future of ministry in Brazil.

Also consider your own situation. Do you trust God and abandon yourself to His care? Until you venture in uncharted territory with nothing but God as your Guide do you really know He’s all you need and have ever needed all along.

We serve a generous God who is an unfailing Guide. He’s the Guide of the nations, but is He your guide? He demands our absolute confidence. We must not just call Him in crisis. He invites us to rely on Him today and every day to live a generous life.

When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:19

“Consolation is a beautiful word. It means “to be” (con-) “with the lonely one” (solus). To offer consolation is one of the most important ways to care. Life is so full of pain, sadness, and loneliness that we often wonder what we can do to alleviate the immense suffering we see. We can and must offer consolation. We can and must console the mother who lost her child, the young person with AIDS, the family whose house burned down, the soldier who was wounded, the teenager who contemplates suicide, the old man who wonders why he should stay alive. To console does not mean to take away the pain but rather to be there and say, “You are not alone, I am with you. Together we can carry the burden. Don’t be afraid. I am here.” That is consolation. We all need to give it as well as to receive it.”

Henry Nouwen in Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (New York: Harper Collins, 1997) reading for 21 January.

“With you.” Those two words bring me great consolation. I am traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, today via San Francisco and Panama City. I find consolation on my long trips knowing Christ is with me. I listen for His whisper, “With you, Gary.”

We can offer others this same gift, but only after we ourselves have learned to receive it. Do you turn to God for consolation? He shares our sorrows, restores our spirit, and lifts our sights. He does this so we can console others.

Sometimes God has us traveling afar to be with people, which is my ministry. Other times, we console those close by, like my wife does. As we serve a generous God, all the time we can find consolation and joy in Him.

We also get to urge others to listen for His voice, which always says, “With you.”

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

“Prayer is not a machine. It’s not magic. It is not advice offered to God. Our act, when we pray, must not, any more than all our other acts, be separated from the continuous act of God Himself, in which alone all finite causes operate.

If would be even worse to think of those who get what they pray for as sort of court favorites, people who have influence with the throne. The refused prayer of Christ in Gethsemane is answer enough for that.

And I dare not leave out the hard saying which I once heard from an experienced Christian: “I have seen many striking answers to prayer and more than one that I thought miraculous. But they usually come at the beginning: before conversion, or soon after it. As the Christian life proceeds, they tend to be rarer. The refusals, too, are not only more frequent; they become more unmistakable, more emphatic.”

Does God then forsake just those who serve Him best? Well, He who served Him best of all said, near His tortured death, “Why has thou forsaken me?” When God becomes a man, that Man, of all others, is least comforted by God, at His greatest need. There is a mystery here which, even if I had the power, I might not have the courage to explore.

Meanwhile, little people like you and me, if our prayers are sometimes granted, beyond all hope and probability, had better not draw hasty conclusions to our own advantage. If we were stronger, we might be less tenderly treated. If we were braver, we might be sent, with far less help, to defend far more desperate posts in the great battle.”

C.S. Lewis in “The Efficacy of Prayer” in The World’s Last Night: And Other Essays (Orlando: Harcourt, 1987) 10-11.

Today I embark on a long journey. God is sending me to distant posts in Brazil, then New Zealand, then Australia. It’s not because I am anything special. I am just one of many little people willing to go wherever God leads, and I have an amazing wife, Jenni, who supports me to serve God in this way.

Before departing I reflected on prayer in the thinking of my favorite professor, C.S. Lewis. His generous inspiration came in a form I least expected. He reminded me not to depend on answers to prayer for my courage, but like Jesus, to trust the faithful will of the Father.

So, what does this have to do with generosity? The example of Jesus reminds us that the greatest act of generosity for you and me is surrender, to be obedient to do whatever task God calls us. He never said it would be easy, but He promised His presence with us. What a gift!

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. Acts 2:32-34a

“It’s not right for us to keep a reserve fund; it’s not the bishop’s business to save up gold, and repulse the beggar’s outstretched hand. There are so many asking every day, so many groaning, so many needy people pleading, that we have to leave several of them unhappy.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in Sermon 355.5 in Essential Sermons, translated by Edmund Hill, edited by Daniel Doyle (New York: New City Press, 2007) 410.

I read one of Augustine’s sermons this week while traveling with Patrick Johnson this week. When he was bishop of Hippo, he believed strongly that when a bishop had a reserve fund, needs would go unmet, so he had no part of it. As God supplied in the community, like the early church in Acts, they shared and somehow had enough.

Under Augustine’s leadership, the church did not give handouts which create dependencies. They would give people a hand up to build and restore them to become productive disciples. Regardless of what other bishops were doing, and no matter what others are doing today, don’t keep a reserve fund.

God’s design in a world where half the people have more than enough and the other half have less than enough is generous sharing. The community is sustained by obedience. If you are a pastor or ministry administrator, stop keeping a reserve fund. Put to work what God supplies if you want more (cf. Luke 16:10-12).

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18

“Fasting is the coercion of nature and the cutting out of everything that delights the palate, the prevention of lust, the uprooting of bad thoughts, deliverance from dreams, purity of prayer, the light of the soul, the guarding of the mind, deliverance from blindness, the door of compunction, humble sighing, glad contrition, a lull in chatter, a means to silence, a guard of obedience, lightening of sleep, health of body, agent of dispassion, remission of sins, the gate of Paradise and its delight.”

John Climacus (579-649) in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, translated by Archimandrite Lazarus Moore (Harper & Brothers, 1959) Step 14.33.

This is classic was written Abba John, Abbot of the monks of Mount Sinai, sent to another Abba John, Abbot of Raithu, at whose request it was written. Think of it as ancient document encouraging spiritual growth.

It is not surprising that fasting is a key discipline for the monks throughout church history as the instructions from Jesus about fasting appear in the heart of His sermon on the mount.

Recently many people have been asking me about fasting. Surprisingly, most of them say that they have never been taught anything from the Scriptures about fasting, though it is mentioned numerous times.

Climacus gives us a profound set of expressions. I suggest you re-read his post and pick one that resonates with you. For some, it may be “the uprooting of bad thoughts” and for others “purity of prayer.”

Many might see it as “deliverance from blindness” as they find clarity from God, while others may report “a guard of obedience” or “agent of dispassion” to get their attachments and affections reordered. What is fasting for you?

I believe fasting is also a “gateway to generosity” as learning to say “no” to our fleshly desires positions us to have margin for living, giving, serving, and loving generously.

However you see fasting, don’t make it a stranger! Patrick Johnson and I have fasted a number of meals recently asking God to pour out His Spirit on Generosity Dallas today. Pray for a great day and a safe trip home. Thanks.