Archives by: Gary Hoag

There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. Acts 4:34-35

“I believe that Jesus saved us from our sins and decided to follow Him. Then naturally I should practice what Jesus has taught and shown. No other option! Up to now I have just keep the basic law in my offerings, the tithe. I have often thought that I do not have enough money. But I am learning it is not matter of how much I give, but a matter of priority. My giving should be based on love and faith in God. The early church showed how they used their possessions with others who were in need. Sharing in community is impossible without faith in God. The sharing life in the early church is completely different from modern church that donates a certain percentage of collected offering to orphanage or nursing homes. Compared to the way of sharing in early church, the modern church might lack love and sincerity.”

Lim Yon Hyok, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Hyok reveals a level of honesty and transparency that moves us as readers to consider our own situation. Do we exhibit “the sharing life” as he calls it, rooted in love and faith in God, or do we just dole out a percentage of money thinking of ourselves above others rooted in the scarcity notion that we ourselves don’t have enough?

Hyok was struck by the selfless and sharing posture of Jesus and the early church and challenges us all to see if there is faith, love and sincerity in our own hearts. He was convicted that giving a percentage was like paying a tax and thinking he had done his part. What about you? What are the priorities of your heart and your church? 

Hyok challenges us to focus on our posture and priorities rather than the percentage of our giving. In plain terms, the posture of our lives must be one of faith and trust in God, and the priority of our caring and sharing must think of others ahead of ourselves. Living this way reflects God’s love to the world like the early church!

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. Matthew 25:35

“God is always with the weak and the poor. He remembers what I have done to them even though I don’t realize. He also commands me to live a faithful life with my doing the good to them. If all the resources belonging to and surrounding me are from God, because God is good, everything is good and sharable for His glory. As I don’t know fully the relationship between everything, everything should be aligned to His good will and the goodness of God.

Since I did not create my time, money, family, and will not take these with me on my leaving this world, these are not mine but belong to the Creator. To use these according to the will of God is natural and prerequisite to be regarded as righteous.

God is the only Provider of everything. Like water flow, the blessing should be flowing from the Provider to everywhere in need. Only when the blessing flows through me, I may be with God forever, because God’s blessing is not stopped at a certain point. I know I have to make the flow happen from God to the place in need.”

Jung Woo Park, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in her Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Jung Woo beautifully describes our role as conduits of God’s blessings, whether material or spiritual. The blessings flow through us, and only when they flow toward the poor and needy are we “with God” in our generosity. It’s why we are on this earth, to minister to the lost and the least!

Only when we steward all that God has entrusted to us rightly, are our actions “righteous” before God. And lest anyone misinterprets what is at play here, consider this explanation: God desires we all live rightly with Him and for others, rather than in self-indulgence for ourselves.

What about you? Are resources flowing from God to the people and places where they are needed through you? When we become the clog in the system, it is likely because fear has made its way into our hearts. As Jung Woo put it, we must live a “faithful” (rather than faithless) life in our doing good.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

“In God’s economy, we are to first receive from God and then give, because we cannot give what we do not have. We cannot share love if we have not experienced the true love of God first. We cannot show mercy and grace if we have not been first shown mercy and grace. We cannot forgive others if we have not experienced His forgiveness.

On the same note, we cannot give generously unless we have experienced His generous giving towards us. The good news is that He has freely and richly given us all! God has withheld nothing from us. He has given us the greatest gift we could ever receive, and that was Himself! He has given us Jesus Christ to die for our sins and given us this new eternal life of abundance in Him. He came and gave him up for us all so that we may have life and to have it to the full…

Jesus is a generous and gracious giver and because of that, we are able to give generously and graciously as well. We have limitless resources of love, grace and gifts for us to share with others. I can give not because I am loaded but because God is loaded, and His resources and love never run out!”

Sarah Shin, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in her Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Shin drips with enthusiasm because life in God’s economy is abundant and worth celebrating. Imagine if we only had a little love to give, only a little mercy to show, only a little grace to dispense, only a little forgiveness to extend. Everything about life in the economy of God shouts that we enjoy “life of abundance” thanks to the generosity of God.

So what do our lives look like? Are we an enthusiastic dispensers of God’s abundant love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and generosity? We must remember, as Shin rightly notes, that we can live richly in all these areas, not because we are loaded, but because God is!

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33

“A man had a vision to start a school for underprivileged children in Nepal. On one occasion, this man shared his vision with an American professor, and the professor said to him that he was willing to help him. Next day, the professor went to meet him, and handed him a box, and said, “Here is help for you to start a school.” The man was very happy to receive the box, but his happiness vanished the moment he saw the things inside the box. The box contained pencils, pens, notebooks and some textbooks. The man was not expecting these items from the American, but he was expecting dollars. When the professor saw his disappointment, he said to him, “You need these items to teach them.”

The purpose of this story is not to condemn this particular man, rather to show the transformation of my understanding of God’s providence. This story transformed my understanding and my whole life. When we think of ministry or God’s work, immediately our minds run after bigger things whereas we forget the available or smallest resources at our disposal to glorify God or tools to start a ministry. This had shaped our orphanage. We started with nothing, trusting God as the source when He calls us for ministry. Every day we have experienced His providence throughout ten years. He has been and will be our Provider till His return.”

Deepak Pradhan, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Pradhan shared this story in his paper and I had to pass it along. He’s the first student I have ever had who, along with his wife, has run an orphanage for over a decade, so as you can imagine, he had miraculous stories of God’s provision like George Mueller of Bristol, England. At present his wife is back in India caring for 21 orphans while he completes his seminary degree.

After growing in his understanding of biblical stewardship and Christian generosity through the Scriptures in the class, he shared that he plans to champion these biblical truths as a torchbearer in the state of Assam in Northeast India. He wants to inspire others to focus not on the financial resources they don’t have but to faithfully use “the available and smallest resources” they do have for God.

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

“Most Christians are not only influenced by the Bible, but also by the cultural elements and the capitalist social system. In particular, they give priority to the right of individual ownership, which is emphasized by capitalism. However, the concept of stewardship is to govern and manage the mandated wealth appropriately according to the will of the owner…

The material and wealth given by Creator God must be shared with the poor neighbors. The rich are easy to oppress the poor. The rich can act unjustly to accumulate their wealth and neglect to fulfill their responsibilities to their neighbors. Neither the rich nor the poor can escape death and judgment, and at that moment possessed riches are of no value…

Christians should take social responsibility for neighbors by practicing justice with generosity and compassion with the wealth given by God. Therefore, riches are resources for serving others. Christians should not despise or discriminate the poor because it is seen as a crime against God. When accumulating wealth, one should not abuse their authority or wage exploitation of those who are under their influence…

A steward should embrace the life of frugality, generosity, and sufficiency. Paul encouraged Christians to be generous and be satisfied about their wealth. He also warned them by referring to those who have desire for wealth is coveted, and greed is idolatry. Greed makes people to love money by moving people away from God’s love…”

Kwang Lee, economist for The Korea Economic Daily and student at Torch Trinity Graduate University, in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship paper dated 2 July 2017. It’s not everyday you have a student who works for the leading financial publication in the nation in which you are teaching. Lee is not only a brilliant economist; he has taken hold of life in God’s economy.

Here he brings out the critical distinction between the Christian and the capitalist. The earthly economic system emphasizes “individual ownership” while God’s design is rooted by “the concept of stewardship” and backed by His love. Through the paper and this course, Lee discerned rightly the role of the steward as “practicing justice with generosity and compassion” and to treat people with fairness rooted in lifestyle of frugality.

For Lee, we are either moving toward greed or toward God. Which way are you moving?

Jenni, Sammy, Sophie and I have arrived safely at Camp Spofford at Spofford Lake, New Hampshire (pictured above) where I will teach eight times over the next six days at Family Camp on “Spiritual Formation for Families” from Deuteronomy 6:4-9. I’d appreciate your prayers for the Holy Spirit to speak through me (and my family members as they will assist me). Pray also for receptive hearts and a refreshing week. Thanks.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

“In the incarnation, God did not send an angel to come to man’s rescue but He came down Himself and provided for man. God expects us to respond personally to the needs of people around us not only teaching and appealing to others to help…In God’s economy, He expects us to share generously our possessions and money in a way that no one among his children will be lacking. The only reason He keeps on giving to us is that we may always have and always give generously…

We must not only give to those we think are worthy to receive our assistance. To do that is to treat the grace and love of God with contempt. Jesus calls us to handle our possessions radically different from the world, to the point of providing for those communities’ men see as unworthy of care. Our good deeds towards people should not be motivated by temporal reciprocity but based on our obedience to God’s order and our desire to follow the example of Christ…

Based on God’s mercy, grace and unconditional love towards us in rescuing us while we were still sinners, we must respond to such a limitless and indescribable gift of God to us by demonstrating a timeless and limitless generosity to all needy, poor and oppressed, starting from our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the utmost part of the world. Our generosity according to God’s economy must transcend race, nationality, continent based only and only on God’s revealed heart to us about giving, money and possession. We must look beyond the receiver to see Christ’s love for us.”

Nuekpe Dieudonne Komla, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University, in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017. Grading these papers blessed me so much! Komla pastors in Ghana and plans to implement what he learned in 2018 so that he can give testimony to other churches and wants to invite me to teach his whole denomination in West Africa in 2019. Make it so, Lord Jesus.

Komla makes many great points in his paper, but two are noteworthy. The incarnation of Christ models for each of us the posture of our generosity. In God’s economy, we are His hands and feed to “respond personally” to the needs of people in need. Simultaneously, we must joyfully bless others with all God supplies because of God’s limitless love for us. To do this we must “look beyond the receiver” as Komla notes, to the matchless love of Christ for us, whose great love motivated Him to empty Himself for us.

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

“We run our life schedules and aspirations around acquiring wealth…We continue to look to money to sustain us…In the garden, man and woman crossed a boundary line that God had given because their hearts set upon more than God had provided for them, believing that he would withhold some good things. This desire for acquisition has plagued us ever since…Sin has caused a great imbalance, where the constant dissatisfaction of the flesh causes those who have to amass more wealth for themselves, while those that have not remain in need…

How then do we serve God and not money? What do we still have to learn to make this a reality? By looking through the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the life of the early church [in the rest of the New Testament] the message of God is clear. I am your Provider; I will bless you so that you can be a blessing to others, so take care of those around you who have little with the abundance you have; imitate my Son in order to reveal my love, and in so doing store up for yourselves treasure in heaven…

We do not give tithes or offerings to the Lord to profess our allegiance to Him. Nor do we give dues to show that we are part of the Christian “guild.” Rather, we give out of gratitude and love because Christ has already paid our dues to be members of his body and sons in the family of God. We give out of an overflow of His love, to share and demonstrate the same love to others.”

Emily Tregelles, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University, in her Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017. Over the next few days I plan to share excerpts from my students’ papers. They blessed me and I pray they are a blessing to you too. And these thoughts are fitting for me and my family today as we fly to New York City, a place where the love of money is evident in so many ways.

What strikes you in reading Emily’s thoughts? Or perhaps more pointedly, what motivates your giving? And what measure do you use? She passionately believes that you and I are the answer to the great imbalance in the world, between those with plenty and those in need. We get to bless others with all Christ has given us motivated by love. And we no longer measure it out by percentage like we are paying dues, for as she keenly notes, “Christ has already paid our dues” for us. As we are blessed we get to bless others in proportion.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

“Do you see how God’s generosity is described here? It says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift” that is given to us is from “the Father of lights.” Our Father is the provider of gifts to His children. And His gifts are “good” and “perfect.” God the Father’s gifs are “good” because they are also what are best for us. And they are also “perfect” because God knows us perfectly. God the Father is never stingy, never holds back, but is incredibly generous. His gifts are always “good” and “perfect.”

If we began to number God’s gifts to us, we would end up with a pretty lengthy list. Every breath you breathe is a “good” and “perfect” gift from God. Every day you have life is also a gift. Even each second of the day is a gift from your Father. The people in your life are God’s gift to you to help you through life. You can look around you and just about everything you find is a gift from God…The reason He gives you these gifts is because He’s your Father and He is generous.”

Joel Bruce in Our Generous God: Discover God’s Generosity to You in Christ (Bloomington: Westbow, 2011) 61.

I am safely home and profoundly thankful for many “good” and “perfect” gifts from God. To name a few, I am thankful for the gift of life as I learned a woman in our church died of cancer while I have been teaching in South Korea. Every day of life is a “good” and “perfect” gift of God.

I am thankful for the gift of sleep. I slept seven hours on my flight over the Pacific. I have never slept seven hours on a flight! The stewardess had to wake me up. Of course, then when went to bed after I got home, I only slept about four hours and woke up wide awake, at 2:30am. God help me adjust.

I am thankful for the gift of grace, which in biblical terms is unmerited kindness. I emptied myself in service to my students on 8 days of teaching and in preaching 6 times and returned home enriched with joy and enthusiasm because of the love, prayers, and hospitality I received.

I am thankful for my gift of family. Jenni and I along with Sammy, Sophie fly to the East Coast tomorrow to spend the week at Camp Spofford in New Hampshire. I will give eight lessons on spiritual formation for families based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and ask them to help me with illustrations from our own journey.

I named a few things. What “good” and “perfect” gifts are you thankful for today? Share a short list with someone or take turns sharing whatever comes to mind.

But since you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you — see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7

“As you consider where your congregation is today and where you want to be with stewardship and generosity in the future, I suggest you identify the three or four key teachings you would like everyone to know and practice. Each year assess the impact of your efforts from the previous year, and determine what outcomes you would like to see in the year ahead.”

Keith A. Mundy in “How An Annual Stewardship Emphasis Can Strengthen Generosity In Your Congregation” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, vol. 19 (Richmond: ESC, 2017) 14-15.

Today’s my last day of class and then I make the long journey home from Seoul to Denver later this afternoon. Each one of my students plans to do their project on growing generosity related to a church setting, so this is one of many points I plan to make on my last day. I will miss them so much. I love these students from South Korea, India, Ghana, Pakistan and USA.

I am confident that each one grasps a biblical understanding of what it means to be a faithful and generous steward. By God’s direction they will discern what biblical truths to sow in the hearts of those they serve in the coming year. What about you? Are you responsible for stewardship efforts in your congregation? What teachings will you sow in your church this year?

Let’s say God leads you to teach your church about these four items this year: contentment, sharing with the poor, service, and missional outreach. I remind my students, that the best first step is to ask God to teach you and your church overseers about these areas so that your lives match whatever you are teaching and so you can pray together for growth in your congregation.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ Acts 14:24-28

“Like all of creation, human beings are made to desire God, on whom we depend for life, meaning, and direction. If we are oriented primarily toward the glory of God, then we, like a mirror, bear the image of God. We may certainly love, appreciate, and even desire and depend on other creatures, but we do so because we recognize that they belong to God. Because our desire is directed primarily toward God, our religious affections have a kind of coherence and wholeness. All of our other desires are organized around our central desire for God. All of our other relative dependencies point to our ultimate dependence on God.

Properly ordered desire for and sense of dependence on God organize the affections, thereby giving us a stable center of personality that can hold in harmony all of our other relationships. Well-ordered affections allow us to maintain the boundaries that preserve the integrity of our identities, even as we enter into relationships with others. Depending on God allows us to rely on others without being subordinated to them. Desiring God allows us to long for others without losing ourselves in them. Longing for and relying on God, in fact, always move us into appropriate relationships with other creatures.”

Kendra G. Hotz and Matthew T. Mathews in Shaping the Christian Life: Worship and the Religious Affections (Louisville: WJKP, 2006) 35.

What does dependence on God have to do with generosity? And how do well-ordered affections shape how we live our lives? God made each and every one of us to depend on Him and have relationships with other people that reflect His image and glory. The operating system for those relationships positions God as Provider and people as faithful stewards. When we choose instead to depend on ourselves, by default we make the the decision to rely on the leading competitor to God in our lives, which is money. Consequently, we switch to loving money and using people to accomplish our purposes.

To hold onto money for ourselves when God’s design is for us to serve as conduits of blessing reflects disordered affections and adversely impacts our capacity to love God, to have coherent relationships, and to interface with anything in the created order. Why think about this today? In plain terms, today is a holiday in the USA that originally celebrated independence or freedom from oppression. For many, God has been supplanted as the source of our dependence. Many in the USA have become slaves to money, which has caused faith, relationships and much of life in society to unravel.

What can we do about it? Rather than focus on the macro issues, we must live life faithfully on the grass roots level. We must make God our central desire, faithfully steward all God provides in love and service others, and experience the joy of generous living following God’s design. And we must order our affections in the way regardless of what everyone else is doing! In short, let’s live in such a way that our lives declare our ultimate dependence upon God.