Archives by: Gary Hoag

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Joel 2:12-13

“Abstain not from any good works, but do them. Hear, said he, what the virtue of those good works is which thou must do, that thou mayest be saved. The first of all is faith; the fear of the Lord; charity; concord; equity; truth; patience; chastity.

There is nothing better than these things in the life of man; who shall keep and do these things in their life. Hear next what follow these. To minister to the widows; not to despise the fatherless and poor; to redeem the servants of God from necessity; to be hospitable; (for in hospitality there is sometimes great fruit) not to be contentious, but be quiet. To be humble above all men; to reverence the aged; to labor to be righteous; to respect the brotherhood; to bear affronts; to be long-suffering; not to cast away those that have fallen from the faith, but to convert them, and make them be of good cheer: to admonish sinners; not to oppress those that are our debtors; and all other things of a like kind.

Do these things seem to thee to be good or not? And, I said, What can be better than these words? Live then, said he, in these commandments, and do not depart from them. For if thou shalt keep all these commandments, thou shalt live unto God. And, all they that shall keep these commandments shall live unto God.”

Shepherd of Hermas (c. 100-160) in Commands (His Second Book) Chapter VIII. 8-12.

Safely home from Australia. Yeah! Learned of the moral failure of a friend yesterday. Deeply saddened! I am clueless of the details. I neither condone the sin nor condemn the sinner. That said, it’s a reminder to myself and all readers that we must live unto God with every ounce of strength we have. Our generous living unto God includes admonishing sinners and laboring in righteousness.

The Shepherd of Hermas was one amazing pastor. How would he admonish my fallen friend? He would likely urge him to turn around, to abstain not from any good works, and live unto God. When we do, it keeps us out of trouble, and most of the time we find ourselves doing tasks that are ordinary and humble, but the collective impact is “charity, concord, equity, truth, patience, and chastity.”

Today’s post is long: the longest of nearly 3,000 daily posts. It’s fitting as my day will be long. I woke up in Sydney, fly about 18 hours to Los Angeles and then Denver and arrive before noon on the same day. Just like the reward of being reunited with my wife at the end of the journey, I promise that all who read this post will be blessed.

Below is a brilliant excerpt from a second century philosopher who converted to Christianity after exploring the behavior and thinking of the so-called Christians. I cited a portion of it back on 11 December 2011, but more recently, Jot Turner alerted me to a talk that cited it, so that brought it back into my view. I felt led to share a larger portion with you.

This post is the climax (parts 15-17) of the 17-part work known as “the Apology of Aristides” to Roman Emperor Hadrian, who reigned from A.D. 117-138. It portrays the generosity without grudging of the Christians. As you read, pick a phrase that you want to describe you and ask God by His Spirit to cause your life to exhibit that same trait so we shine for Jesus.

May God help us, by the Holy Spirit, to live in such a manner that these are the kinds of things people say of us, our families, our local congregations, and the global Christian Church!

“Now the Christians, O king, by going about and seeking have found the truth, and as we have comprehended from their writings they are nearer to the truth and to exact knowledge than the rest of the peoples. For they know and believe in God, the Maker of heaven and earth, in whom are all things and from whom are all things: He who has no other god as His fellow: from whom they have received those commandments which they have engraved on their minds, which they keep in the hope and expectation of the world to come; so that on this account they do not commit adultery nor fornication, they do not bear false witness, they do not deny a deposit, nor covet what is not theirs: they honour father and mother; they do good to those who are their neighbours, and when they are judges they judge uprightly; and they do not worship idols in the form of man; and whatever they do not wish that others should do to them, they do not practise towards any one, and they do not eat of the meats of idol sacrifices, for they are undefiled: and those who grieve them they comfort, and make them their friends; and they do good to their enemies: and their wives, O king, are pure as virgins, and their daughters modest: and their men abstain from all unlawful wedlock and from all impurity, in the hope of the recompense that is to come in another world: but as for their servants or handmaids, or their children if any of them have any, they persuade them to become Christians for the love that they have towards them; and when they have become so, they call them without distinction brethren: they do not worship strange gods: and they walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them, and they love one another: and from the widows they do not turn away their countenance: and they rescue the orphan from him who does him violence: and he who has gives to him who has not, without grudging; and when they see the stranger they bring him to their dwellings, and rejoice over him as over a true brother; for they do not call brothers those who are after the flesh, but those who are in the spirit and in God: but when one of their poor passes away from the world, and any of them sees him, then he provides for his burial according to his ability; and if they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs, and if it is possible that he may be delivered, they deliver him.

And if there is among them a man that is poor or needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food. And they observe scrupulously the commandments of their Messiah: they live honestly and soberly, as the Lord their God commanded them: every morning and at all hours on account of the goodnesses of God toward them they praise and laud Him: and over their food and over their drink they render Him thanks. And if any righteous person of their number passes away from the world they rejoice and give thanks to God, and they follow his body, as if he were moving from one place to another: and when a child is born to any one of them, they praise God, and if again it chance to die in its infancy, they praise God mightily, as for one who has passed through the world without sins. And if again they see that one of their number has died in his iniquity or in his sins, over this one they weep bitterly and sigh, as over one who is about to go to punishment: such is the ordinance of the law of the Christians, O king, and such their conduct.

As men who know God, they ask from Him petitions which are proper for Him to give and for them to receive: and thus they accomplish the course of their lives. And because they acknowledge the goodnesses of God towards them, lo! on account of them there flows forth the beauty that is in the world. And truly they are of the number of those that have found the truth by going about and seeking it, and as far as we have comprehended, we have understood that they only are near to the knowledge of the truth.

But the good deeds which they do, they do not proclaim in the ears of the multitude, and they take care that no one shall perceive them, and hide their gift, as he who has found a treasure and hides it. And they labour to become righteous as those that expect to see their Messiah and receive from Him the promises made to them with great glory.

But their sayings and their ordinances, O king, and the glory of their service, and the expectation of their recompense of reward, according to the doing of each one of them, which they expect in another world, thou art able to know from their writings. It sufficeth for us that we have briefly made known to your majesty concerning the conversation and the truth of the Christians. For truly great and wonderful is their teaching to him that is willing to examine and understand it. And truly this people is a new people, and there is something divine mingled with it. Take now their writings and read in them, and lo! ye will find that not of myself have I brought these things forward nor as their advocate have I said them, but as I have read in their writings, these things I firmly believe, and those things also that are to come. And therefore I was constrained to set forth the truth to them that take pleasure therein and seek after the world to come.

And I have no doubt that the world stands by reason of the intercession of Christians. But the rest of the peoples are deceived and deceivers, rolling themselves before the elements of the world, according as the sight of their understanding is unwilling to pass by them; and they grope as if in the dark, because they are unwilling to know the truth, and like drunken men they stagger and thrust one another and fall down.

Thus far, O king, it is I that have spoken. For as to what remains, as was said above, there are found in their other writings words which are difficult to speak, or that one should repeat them; things which are not only said, but actually done.

The Greeks, then, O king, because they practise foul things in sleeping with males, and with mother and sister and daughter, turn the ridicule of their foulness upon the Christians; but the Christians are honest and pious, and the truth is set before their eyes, and they are long-suffering; and therefore while they know their error and are buffeted by them, they endure and suffer them: and more exceedingly do they pity them as men who are destitute of knowledge: and in their behalf they offer up prayers that they may turn from their error. And when it chances that one of them turns, he is ashamed before the Christians of the deeds that are done by him: and he confesses to God, saying, In ignorance I did these things: and he cleanses his heart, and his sins are forgiven him, because he did them in ignorance in former time, when he was blaspheming and reviling the true knowledge of the Christians. And truly blessed is the race of the Christians, more than all men that are upon the face of the earth.

Let the tongues of those now be silenced who talk vanity, and who oppress the Christians, and let them now speak the truth. For it is better that they should worship the true God rather than that they should worship a sound without intelligence; and truly divine is that which is spoken by the mouth of the Christians, and their teaching is the gateway of light. Let all those then approach thereunto who do not know God, and let them receive incorruptible words, those which are so always and from eternity: let them, therefore, anticipate the dread judgment which is to come by Jesus the Messiah upon the whole race of men.”

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. Philippians 2:14-15

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

“For the Providence which extends to us from God is not ministerial, as that service which proceeds from inferiors to superiors. But in pity for our weakness, the continual dispensations of Providence work, as the care of shepherds towards the sheep, and of a king towards his subjects; we ourselves also conducting ourselves obediently towards our superiors, who take the management of us, as appointed, in accordance with the commission from God with which they are invested.

Consequently those who render the most free and kingly service, which is the result of a pious mind and of knowledge, are servants and attendants of the Divinity. Each place, then, and time, in which we entertain the idea of God, is in reality sacred.

When, then, the man who chooses what is right, and is at the same time of thankful heart, makes his request in prayer, he contributes to the obtaining of it, gladly taking hold in prayer of the thing desired. For when the Giver of good things perceives the susceptibility on our part, all good things follow at once the conception of them. Certainly in prayer the character is sifted, how it stands with respect to duty.”

Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) in The Stromata, Book VII, Chapter 7.

This excerpt contains a profound idea. When we as thankful servants and attendants to the king, choose what is right and request whatever we need in prayer, we contribute “to the obtaining of it” through our faith. This is not prosperity gospel but God’s design for sifting our character and growing us as spiritual people.

Many have asked me in Australia: How do you survive long trips? How does your wife survive them? Prayer. We pray sincerely and confidently for everything we need. We text our requests back and forth and lift up one another continually. As we see God come to our aid and supply, it strengthens our faith in God’s Providence.

We are learning that living generously has nothing do with how much money we have, but rather, everything to do with how much faith we have in the God who supplies all things richly for our enjoyment and sharing. In other words, do we live like we believe in God’s Providence.

I am thankful on this trip He has richly supplied me wisdom, strength, and love for abundant service, while simultaneously giving Jenni grace, compassion, and love, for she has been privileged to journey unexpectedly with a friend who lost her father while I’ve been away.

Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11

“It is not the generous who are impoverished, but rather those who neglect the poor. Those who have their priorities right will not only increase, rather than decrease, their wealth, but will also receive a crop of righteousness.”

Edwina Murphy in her article entitled, “Cyprian, Paul, and Care for the Poor and Captive: Offering Sacrifices and Ransoming Temples,” Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 2016; 20(3): 432.

I have determined to shift from looking at facets of generosity in Christian Mystics to Early Church Fathers. I will start with this quote from a modern-day scholar and friend, Edwina Murphy, the wife of a good mate down under, Peter Murphy. I am privileged to preach at their church in Sydney this weekend.

Edwina kicks off this fresh focus with today’s post from her splendid scholarly article that explores generosity in the thinking of Cyprian of Carthage. Sowing generously is the only option if you want your bags refilled and want to expect a great crop of righteousness.

This reveals that one’s mentality becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you embrace a “scarcity” mentality mindset, then you will keep most of what you have for yourself and see little heavenly refilling, and you will reap a meager harvest. People who live by this mindset live by sight and not by faith.

Conversely, should you follow the passionate call of Cyprian and Edwina long after him and adopt an “abundance” mentality, then brace yourself. You will discover life like you never imagined. You will hold nothing back and not end up empty but enriched. And your harvest will be unimaginable.

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20

“Lord, shake us with the force of love,
To rouse us from our dreadful sleep;
Remove our hearts of stone, and give
New hearts of flesh, to break and weep
For all your children in distress
And dying for the wealth we keep.
Help us prevent, while we have time,
The blighted harvest greed must reap.

And then, in your compassion, give
Your Spirit like the gentle rain,
Creating fertile ground from which
Your peace and justice spring like grain;
Until your love is satisfied,
With all creation freed from pain,
And all your children live to praise
Your will fulfilled, your presence plain.”

Alan Gaunt in the second and third stanzas of “Great God, Your Spirit Like the Wind” (1991).

Special thanks to Nigel Grant who welcomed me to Australia, reads these daily posts, and alerted me to this hymn from church last Sunday. These lyrics are richly associated with Pentecost Sunday in recent church history because they speak of the work of the Spirit in our lives.

The Spirit changes everything. Our hearts of stone turn to hearts of flesh. Unrest and oppression turn to peace and justice. Greed is exchanged for generosity. The power of love shakes and wakes us. When love is expressed generously, nothing matches its beauty.

Those who sow sparingly are not the ones who sow only a few seeds, but rather they are the ones who don’t sow all the seed God has entrusted to them. The “wealth we keep” is what God sees. Those who sow generously are not the ones who sow lots of seed, but rather those who make sure they leave no seeds in the bag.

Avoid a “blighted harvest” while you still have time. Empty your bag to make God’s presence plain, and God will replenish your supply.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance, and none can say why some fields will blossom and others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices in life no more easily made. And give. Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than how it is shared, and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.”

Kent Nerburn in Letters to My Son: A Father’s Wisdom on Manhood, Women, Life and Love (Novato: New World Library, 1999) 189.

Special thanks to my mother, Patsy Hoag, for sharing this quote with me. The timing is perfect as I have flown from Melbourne to Sydney to serve the board of Christian Super, an organization that helps 25,000+ members live life with financial health and understanding based on biblical principles. My prayer today and tomorrow is to serve them well with spiritual truths so they can add true richness to the lives of all those they serve.

I pray my wife and I and our children grasp this too. The best assurance that our children will live this out is to run this race ourselves. The image of running a race is in my mind as my hotel room overlooks a track at the Sydney Olympic Park (pictured above) where runners are training. Like watching athletes compete, the world is watch how we live. “Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess.” I pray this thinking transforms 25,000+ lives to impact the nation of Australia!

Let all your things be done with charity. 1 Corinthians 16:14

“Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you all your life. God will reward you as only He can.”

Mary MacKillop in Lectio Divina | Praying the Scriptures in Lent | Year A 2017 (Pennant Hills: Diocese of Broken Bay, 2017) 54.

Mary MacKillop, originally from Melbourne, is a famous Australian saint. She trusted in God’s providence despite the ups and downs of life and ministry. What was her secret, or at least one of her secrets? She let charity guide her.

Today at the CMA conference in Australia I am leading a seminar called “Four Spiritual Practices for Discerning Direction” based on an article I wrote on 12 April 2017 for the CLA Blog. It’s practical counsel for groups that are “trying to follow” Jesus.

When charity guides us, it means we do everything with love and grace. We are propelled to love everyone the same: that includes those society deems deserving to people labeled as undeserving. When we live this way, our generosity reflects our Lord Jesus Christ.

MacKillop also rightly reminds us that a reward awaits us when we live this way. I am learning the reward comes both now and in eternity. When charity guides us, it transforms all our earthly relationships. While it has not always guided mine, this is an area where God is working on me.

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15

“Everyone wants to cling to his ways, refusing to give up any of his attachments. As a result such people feel neither thought to this and turn their attention again to their beloved possessions. And yet many of them have been wearing a religious habit for forty or fifty years. It is questionable indeed whether they will be saved at the Day of Judgment, for their spirit is habitually chained to created things and willfully entangled in them. You may be sure that such people are not aware of their state.

Of course they find numerous excuses: “I must have such and such a thing,” they will say. “Surely, it will do me no harm.” And thus they offer these obstacles a seat within themselves, and there they unite with their natural inclinations to such a degree that they can no longer feel any compunction and so they ignore them. These are strong and powerful obstacles, veritable fortresses erected against God’s work, and yet such people are not aware of them.”

Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361) in Sermons (CWS; Mahwah: Paulist, 1985) 112.

Today in Australia I have various speaking commitments at the CMA Conference in Melbourne. Among them is a seminar on nurturing generosity. Part of pathway to doing that is helping wake people up, spiritually-speaking, to the way in which possessions can tempt us into becoming attached or “habitually chained” and “willfully tangled” to them.

In plain terms, the work of Christian ministry workers is not to try to rob people but to help them. That happens not when we ask for something from them, but when we sow truth into them that they have been blessed to participate in God’s work. By identifying the strong and powerful obstacles to generosity that surface in our own lives, we are able to help others take hold of life with us.

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:1-5

“I want to be merciful to the world and provide for my reasoning creatures’ every need. But the foolish take for death what I give for life, and are thus cruel to themselves. I always provide, and I want you to know what I have given to humankind is supreme providence. It pleased me to create you in my image and likeness with great providence.

I provided you with the gift of memory so that you might hold fast my benefits and be made a sharer in my own, the eternal Father’s power. I gave you understanding so that in the wisdom of my only-begotten Son you might comprehend and know what I the eternal Father want, I who gave you graces with such burning love.

I gave you a will to love, making you a sharer in the Holy Spirit’s mercy, so that you might love what your understanding sees and knows. All this my gentle providence did, only that you might be capable of understanding and enjoying me and rejoicing in my goodness by seeing me eternally.”

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) in The Dialogue, translated by Suzanne Noffke (CWS; Mahwah: Paulist, 1980) 277.

In modernity, many enjoy Jesus Calling daily as it reads as though Jesus is talking directly to the reader. Though its not packaged as a daily reader, The Dialogue reads a bit like a Middle Ages edition of Jesus Calling because parts are written in the first person. When I travel and teach, I like a quiet hotel room so that in solitude, I can listen for His voice.

Today I am also meditating on Psalm 103 because my wife is teaching on it next week in her Women’s Bible Study so I am praying for her. Also I am giving thanks for “the gift of memory” as it helps us hold fast to and not soon forget all His benefits! He continues to show up powerfully and unexpected ways in these meetings Down Under.

As you recount His benefits and rejoice in His goodness toward you, I pray it transforms your living, giving, serving, and loving.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20

“Be reconciled to God.” This means nothing less than let a king give you His kingdom, take heaven as a gift. Let the Lord of lords of all the world give you His love, and be His friends, His children, those whom He protects.

Come, surrender yourselves to Him and to His will, and you will be free from every evil, from all guilt, and from all bondage. You will be free from your own selves, you have found your way home, you will be at home with the Father…

O Lord, give all of us new hearts, open and obedient to you: hearts that love our neighbor and pray to you for our church. Lord, give us a good beginning; open your fatherly heart to us and lead us…”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in his sermon entitled “Ambassadors for Christ” in The Collected Sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012) 93.

While traveling on Sundays, I often read classic sermons. Today I read a winner by Bonhoeffer. God’s generosity shines yet again as He gives us the kingdom as a gift. But notice what happens. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

When we receive and give this gift, we enjoy and share the gift of freedom. We quit trying to control people. Instead, we free to love them. Daily, when we are open and obedient to His work in us, our hearts are transformed.

Today, 64 delegates as Christ’s ambassadors serving God’s church in 20 countries will gather for strategic meetings in Melbourne, Australia. My prayer echoes Bonhoeffer: “Lord, give us a good beginning.”