Archives by: Gary Hoag

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34

“This confidence partly rests on trust in divine Providence for the provision of ordinary needs: in the language of reference groups established previously, to be a disciple is a matter of belonging to the group of those who know they have a Father in heaven, rather than to the “nations” who must pursue the means of material sustenance. But partly it rests on a different account of security itself, an account that claims that even when they are supplied, material provisions remain continually subject to threat and contingency — to the “moth and rust which corrupt and the thief who breaks in to steal.” Beyond the assurance that God will provide what God’s children need, there is the claim that what they need is not finally the things that all pursue, but God’s own reign, to which all these are added almost incidentally…

As serious and flat-footed as the imperative “Sell your possessions,” we have seen that it cannot consistently be taken as Luke’s “rule.” Instead, it is an invitation to enact and thus to witness to the truth of Luke’s proclamation that in Jesus the Dayspring from on high has visited and redeemed His people. By their extraordinary generosity to the poor (21:1-4) or by their voluntary poverty (12:33), by their refusal to call anything their own (Acts 4:32) or by their simple hospitality to the messengers of the kingdom, the disciples celebrate the liberty of the people of God, who live proleptically under God’s reign even as they look for the kingdom to come.

But if this did not and does not produce a rule for the Christian treatment of possessions, it does rule out certain things: there is no room in this view for business as usual. The ordinary functions of possessions — to ensure status and power and invulnerability over against others — are all excluded. Possessions become useful and acceptable within the Christian community exactly insofar as they become dispensable to their possessors, and thus available for dispersal as the the material needs of others or the spiritual needs of their erstwhile owners make it expedient.”

Sondra Ely Wheeler in Wealth as Peril and Obligation: the New Testament on Possessions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995) 71-72.

It is a privilege to serve as spiritual and strategic counsel to Christian Super of Australia, as their mission is to help people live with financial health and understanding. In a recent Skype with Tim Macready, one of their senior administrators, we were discussing solid scholarly books that present NT views on money and possessions and this was one of the books we mentioned, so I pulled it off the shelf and read the chapter on Luke 12:22-34. This chapter, by the way, is required reading for all students who take my course: Life in the Economy of God (syllabus available upon request).

It’s our nature to seek a rule for handling money so we can fulfill it and check off a box, though such a course is not found in the NT because it would lead to pride and other vices. Such a path also reveals that our lives remain under our own reign. Wheeler rightly emphasizes that disciples need not fear because they have a faithful Father whose call to obedience is about something bigger than money. God wants us to take hold of life under His reign. Those who do shift from ordinary to extraordinary in all facets of their existence, including their generosity. They also cease using money “to ensure status and power and invulnerability over against others” because they have found the only source of safety and security is divine Providence.

Providence is my word for 2017. Though we are only about 1/3 of the way into the year, in contemplating “Providence” I am realizing how little any of us have control over, how vulnerable we all really are, and how silly it is that so many people put their trust in money. Thankfully we have a God who cares for us, sustains us, and desires that we grasp life in the kingdom and play our role as conduits of material and spiritual blessings. That’s what I am learning.

What about you? What are you learning? Have you taken hold of life under God’s reign? Are the money and possessions you steward both dispensable and available for God’s work, for the needy, and for other kingdom purposes?

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

“We have a new King, and we are called to live into His new kingdom. Those who encounter the risen Christ are, like Paul, changed, and this in turn changes not only our inner life but how we address the world around us. Christians, justified and liberated by our risen Lord, are called to do unexpected deeds that challenge people and transform communities. And because of Christ’s resurrection, none of this work is in vain…

When Jesus refashions the world by His resurrection, He does so in a way that surprises, offends, and delights us. Jesus envisions a world flipped upside down, or better, right side up. The dead are made alive, the foolish are wise, the humble are exalted, the hungry are filled, and the poor are made rich. Jesus invites us to affirm the goodness of creation without denying the harsher realities of our sin-soaked world.”

Kelly Kapic in God So Loved, He Gave: Entering the Movement of Divine Generosity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 178-179.

It’s been a week since we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Our life in Him propels us to grasp life in His kingdom and to help others around us experience it too. Outside our townhouse, the blooming tree and the blue sky (pictured above) remind me of the life we have in Christ and how beautiful it is!

What about you? Are you encouraging people to grasp life in the kingdom where you are? Take some time in solitude today to give thanks to God again for the resurrection and for the life we have as a result. Ask God what “unexpected deeds” He might have in store for you. Resolve to give yourself to His work.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Mark 3:5

“Jesus’ anger is our medicine. It cures us of our shame. It remedies our wrong thinking by yanking us out of the clutch of mesmerizing lies that skew our thoughts. Jesus’ anger is a gift, not a punishment. It’s a flash flood warning, so to speak. It’s a loving, benevolent warning meant to steer us away from the “flood,” so we won’t drown. Just as floods rain down within seconds, destroying within minutes lovely buildings, fancy cars, and precious human lives, so sin sweeps people away sometimes quickly. Jesus doesn’t’ want you to be swept away by sin. He wants to save your from all sin, including the harsh sins of other people.

I thank Jesus for His anger; it assures us that God’s love isn’t angerless or toothless or indifferent to the evil that besieges us. “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11). God is angry about the sins that beat you down. God is angry about injustices you’ve suffered. God’s anger is your shield. God’s anger is your refuge. God’s anger is your pillow to rest upon. I believe God is displeased when any sins at all are committed against you, including when you sin against yourself.”

Sarah Sumner in Angry Like Jesus: Using His Example to Spark Your Moral Courage (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015) 34-35.

I was angry about something this week, so I decided to explore the idea of the anger of Jesus as presented in 15 different scenes in the Gospels. That was enlightening! No wonder the Apostle Paul urged us to “be angry” and yet coupled it with “yet do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). When Jesus was rightly angry, he was saying, unashamedly and with courage: “That’s not right!” or in biblical terms, “That’s not righteous!” No wonder Psalm 7:11 tells us that God has anger or indignation daily. He sees everything and is unafraid to say: “That’s not right!” The key for us is that we must be angry with compassion rather than condemnation so we maintain a posture of love toward people.

In recounting 15 scenes where Jesus exhibits anger, Sumner helped me realize how to direct my anger rightly. In that light, I celebrate her conclusion: “Jesus’ anger is a gift.” There is much that is not right in this world. We get to speak out with Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and countless others with courage about such matters, but we must be careful to do this in a manner that shows love and compassion rather than law and condemnation toward others. For further counsel on how to do this, consider Paul’s counsel on Christian living in Ephesians 4:17-32, and give thanks with me (and Sumner) that Jesus’ anger is a generous gift! Without it, we’d be nothing but frustrated. Because of it, we can trust that someday He will make everything right!

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

“Mentoring relationships take many forms. Perhaps one familiar to most people is when an older person (the mentor) guides, tutors, coaches, or otherwise influences a younger person (the protégé) in a profound, lasting way. This is the sort of relationship that Mentor had with Telemachus and that Paul had with Timothy…

However, the more one investigates the practice of mentoring in our society, the more one finds an interesting phenomenon: many of the characteristics that define mentor/protégé relationships are also taking place among people who are basically the same age — within five or six years of each other. At first one is tempted to describe these simply as friendships, but they are actually peers mentoring each other. Peer mentoring has enormous benefits, and I strongly encourage you to pursue these kinds of relationships.”

Howard Hendricks & William Hendricks in As Iron Sharpens Iron: Building Character in a Mentoring Relationship (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995) 32.

This was “seminary week” for the Hoags.

Jenni spent Monday through Wednesday with faculty, administrators, students, and other Hiller Fellows at Sioux Falls Seminary. Upon returning home, she shared how enriching the experience was with Ruth Haley Barton and others, and that it inspired her to further interaction with peers engaged in soul care and spiritual direction work.

Then I flew to Dallas and am edified by the privilege of facilitating discussions with leaders of 14 seminaries at Dallas Theological Seminary (where the late Howard Hendricks taught for years). When peers come together, they are a gift to each other. They share everything from best practices to lessons learned (often the hard way).

Find peers with whom to collaborate in the kingdom. Share generously what you have learned as a gift to others, and in God’s economy you too will reap enormous benefits.

Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22:4

“Humility, like fame, rarely grows to full bloom overnight. Humble, generous giving of oneself to the work of God involves conscious choices and lots of practice. It requires building a solid bedrock of humility that can withstand the temptations of too much self-promotion…It is precisely a bedrock of humility that can keep our ego towers from tumbling when the heights we reach cause us to lose touch with our grounding…But reaching out and grasping humility in our faltering can be daunting. A humble yes in those moments has us reaching for help from God, loved ones, and anyone else who is nearby. True humility accepts help when it is offered and asks for help even when the world seems to believe we have it all together.”

Lisa M. Hendey in The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2014) 73.

Today I fly to Dallas to facilitate meetings at Dallas Theological Seminary with administrators of a peer group of seminaries to discuss findings from our annual advancement study that included 14 schools: Asbury, Ashland, Covenant, Dallas, Denver, Fuller, GCTS, Northeastern, Northern, Phoenix, Reformed, Sioux Falls, Western, and Westminster.

As Hendey notes, because “generous giving of oneself to the work of God involves conscious choices and lots of practice” we need each other on the journey. I love the humility and generosity that characterizes these men and women. They acknowledge that they don’t have it all figured out but freely share a wealth of wisdom with each other so that each school flourishes!

Father in heaven, as we generously give ourselves to your work, empowered by your Holy Spirit, we acknowledge our need for you and for each other. Help us make the right choices on the journey, lift us up when we stumble, and give us courage to ask for help and to aid others on the way. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus, for all we do belongs to our Risen Savior and is for His glory. Amen.

Taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift; for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. 2 Corinthians 8:20-21

Below are eight key findings from “The Generosity Project” by ECFA.

1. Honesty is the most important ministry quality. Being honest and using gifts for stated purposes are the most desirable qualities in a ministry for givers of all ages.

2. Givers are influenced by financial accountability. Overall, 92% of ministry givers consider financial accountability as having a positive influence on their support. Ninety-three percent of all givers agree that it’s extremely important for ministries to uphold specific standards of financial integrity.

3. Millennials feel hopeful about giving. Most givers across generations feel hopeful after giving to a ministry for the first time. Millennials are significantly more likely to experience this emotion and a range of other positive emotions — invested, satisfied, generous and confident — after giving vs. older generations. In fact, Millennials are twice as likely to feel generous as Boomers (age 56–76).

4. Millennials give in traditional ways. While millennials are more likely to give online or on social media than older generations, they are as likely as or more likely to support ministries using traditional channels just like prior generations. Their top ways to give are through monthly support, occasional giving, matching gifts, at small events, and through being challenged.

5. Millennials give because of who they are. Millennial generations are more inclined to give because of who they are, while older generations are more inclined to give because of which ministry asked them to give.

6. Millennials are inquisitive. Ninety percent of all ministry givers research an organization on its website before giving. However, Millennials are significantly more likely to do this, to look an organization up on a third-party site, and to ask others.

7. Givers are generous because they are blessed. Overall, givers are twice as likely to say they give because they’ve been blessed as to say they give because their gift makes a difference.

8. Givers expect ministries to show the love of Jesus. Seventy-one percent of all givers are more likely to consider giving to a ministry if it shows the love of Jesus. Millennials are 10 times more likely to support a ministry that shows the love of Jesus than any other guiding trait of ministry service.

The report is based on an online survey conducted for ECFA by Campbell Rinker and A Work in Progress. It reflects data gathered from 16,800 givers to 17 non-church Christian ministries. Of these respondents, 22 percent were millennials; givers born before 1982 comprised the remaining 78 percent of participants.

Interestingly, half of these findings (#3-#6) help us understand our times and generational giving trends (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:32), while the other half of the findings (#1-#2 and #7-#8) stand out as timeless truths.

The timeless truths reflect the values and practices of the Apostle Paul with regard to the collection for the starving Christians in Jerusalem. Those who have been blessed materially should give generously to show the love of Jesus and it must be administered with accountability and honesty (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 and 2 Corinthians 8-9).

I encourage pastors and ministry administrators to read this helpful research, but don’t stop there. All Christ-centered churches and ministries should pursue ECFA accreditation. To be “accredited” means that pastors and ministry administrators demonstrate alignment with Seven Standards for Responsible Stewardship and voluntarily submit to annual review to ensure ongoing compliance.

In this light ECFA accreditation mirrors the efforts of Paul to champion accountability and honesty with love and generosity. Click to download the Executive Summary and make sure your church and the ministries you serve affix the ECFA seal on their efforts like Paul stamped a seal on his!

But now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. Romans 15:25-29

After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. Acts 1:3-4

“The importance of this command comports with Luke’s approach elsewhere. Just as Jesus did not begin his public ministry before receiving the Spirit around age thirty (Luke 3:22-23; 4:1; Acts 10:38), the disciples were not to attempt their mission in their own strength; to do so, in fact, would be disobedience. Jesus praised Mary and made her a model of discipleship for waiting at Jesus’ feet instead of engaging in direct activity (in contrast to Martha, Luke 10:38-41); likewise, it is only after prayer and fasting that the Spirit sends out Barnabas and Saul for the work to which they were already called (Acts 13:2). The disciples could not generate the Spirit or spiritual experience; “waiting” for the promised entailed faithful dependence on God.”

Craig Keener in Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012) 676.

Waiting is not easy. Especially after the excitement of Easter.

Luke records this as one of the first commands of Jesus after the resurrection: “wait for the gift.” Keener rightly notes that failure to wait is disobedience. We don’t serve a deficient Savior who needs us to do things for Him. He instructs us to wait for the gift. What a generous Savior we serve who desires to empower our obedience! I am convinced we flop when we try to engage in mission on our own strength.

What’s this look like practically as we think about our own generous engagement in God’s mission? In plain terms, we must retrain ourselves to wait, to listen, and to trust. My wife, Jenni, is exploring that more deeply today as a matter of fact.

As a spiritual director, Jenni was invited to serve as a Hiller Fellow at the Hiller Lectureship at Sioux Falls Seminary with Ruth Haley Barton, so she is in South Dakota today. The theme of the event is based on a book by Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. If you want counsel as you wait for the gift, reading that book might be a good place to start.

Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again. Job 34:32

“If I put my own happiness before the well-being of the work entrusted to me; if, though I have this ministry and have received much mercy, I faint, then I know nothing of Calvary love…

If I am inconsiderate about the comfort of others, or their feelings, or even of their little weaknesses; if I am careless about their little hurts and miss opportunities to smooth their way; if I make the sweet running of household wheels more difficult to accomplish, then I know nothing of Calvary love…

If there be any reserve in my giving to Him who so loved that He gave His dearest for me; if there be a secret “but” in my prayer, “anything but that, Lord,” then I know nothing of Calvary love…

If I become entangled in any “inordinate affection”; if things or places or people hold me back from obedience to my Lord, then I know nothing of Calvary love…

If I want to be known as the doer of something that has proved the right thing, or as the one who suggested that it should be done, then I know nothing of Calvary love…

If I ask to be delivered from trial rather than for deliverance out of it, to the praise of His glory; if I forget that the way of the Cross leads to the Cross and not to a bank of flowers; if I regulate my life on these lines, or even unconsciously my thinking, so that I am surprised when the way is rough, and think it strange, though the word is, “Think it not strange,” “Count it all joy,” then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If the ultimate, the hardest, cannot be asked of me; if my fellows hesitate to ask it and turn to someone else, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the Cross, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) in “If” (Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1999).

Amy Carmichael served as a missionary at an orphanage for 55 years in India. During her time of service, a worker came to her about another colleague who apparently was “missing the way of love.” That led to a sleepless night and list of thoughts about how certain behaviors reveal that we miss the whole point of the generous love extended to us at Calvary.

Today’s post contains a few of Carmichael’s “if”-related thoughts. To read more, click the “If” link above to read the entire list. I have included ones that relate broadly to the theme of generosity. The best part about life in light of Calvary is that the love demonstrated to us on the cross changes everything, and we never stop learning the implications of it.

Father in heaven, so that our lives extend your generous grace, mercy, and love to the world in the days after Easter, teach us what we cannot see. Show us by your Holy Spirit what we do not know. Remove the reserve in our giving so that our sacrifice and service follow your self-less example and so that others will discover Calvary love. Make it so, we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. Mark 16:2-6

“The God of the resurrection provides resurrection people with an abundance of all they need to live resurrection lives and to be agents of God’s resurrection mission in the world. We have no need for family hold-back for fear of scarcity. The resurrection of our Lord is the paradigm of the way God works. Resurrection means fullness and abundance of life — all of life…

We are invited to learn gratitude. I am convinced that resurrection gratitude is a key component to maturity in the spiritual life. Once we begin to develop an awareness of the resurrection generosity of God, once we begin to trust and test the reality of the Paschal Mystery, the more we will understand that God daily gives us a multitude of reasons to be grateful people.

Learning to be grateful is not optional. It is part of the process of becoming mature people of the resurrection. Gratitude is the gasoline that powers our journey with and to the Risen One. Gratitude, however, does not come easily or naturally…We all have to work at gratitude to the God of the resurrection…It is a habit of the heart that we need to cultivate.”

C. Franklin Brookhart in Living the Resurrection: Reflections After Easter (Denver: Morehouse, 2012) 24-25, 27-28.

This question struck me this Easter from Mark’s Gospel account: “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” Then I began thinking about it this way. Who can remove the rocks in our lives that hinder our resurrection journey? Only God can. Only when we realize this and live in light of it with a profound sense of resurrection gratitude will our lives press on to maturity and exhibit resurrection generosity.

Those that don’t live life in light of the resurrection are slaves to fear. They hold back what they have because scarcity dominates their thoughts and actions. Will this Easter, for you, mark a time to chart a new course? Is it time to press on to maturity and “trust and test” the implications of the resurrection? But how exactly do we cultivate this habit of resurrection gratitude in our hearts? Brookhart offers a helpful idea.

“I have found that using prayer beads has been enormously helpful in my becoming a more grateful person. I begin by going around the circle of beads, using each bead to name someone or something, large or small, for which I am grateful. I am grateful, for instance, for my wife, but also for the comfortable chair in which I sit…Part of my discipline includes reserving a special bead to prompt an intentional prayer of gratitude for the resurrection of Christ.”

Cultivate resurrection gratitude to live out resurrection generosity because Christ is risen and we have been raised with him! Happy Easter everyone.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:8-14

“Forgiveness of sins is what the gospel is all about. Forgiveness of sins is what Christ’s death upon the cross is all about. The purpose of Lent is to arouse. To arouse the sense of sin. To arouse a sense of guilt for sin. To arouse the humble contrition for the guilt of sin that makes forgiveness possible. To arouse the sense of gratitude for the forgiveness of sins. To arouse or to motivate the works of love and the work for justice that one does out of gratitude for the forgiveness of one’s sins.”

Edna Hong in “A Look Inside” in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (Walden: Plough, 2003) 24.

Christ accomplished something for us on the cross we could not sort ourselves: forgiveness of sins. We have been rescued and redeemed from darkness and brought into the light. As the Apostle Paul puts it, now “the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth” which is the generous way of life God designed for each of us.

As Hong puts it, this season of Lent has had the purpose of arousing us, motivating us, waking us up from “sleeping” to taking hold of life following God’s plan for us. Will our lives be characterized by works of love and justice filled with gratitude? Take five minutes today to ask God what needs to change for you after Easter. How will you rise?