Archives by: Gary Hoag

“This call – to “purity of heart,” simplicity of life, and single-minded focus on God and God’s Kingdom – is much needed today. We are overwhelmed and inundated with too much of everything: too many possessions, too much food, too much stimulation, too many activities, too much work, too much information, too many choices. As a consequence, most of us live scattered, hectic lives, racing from one task to another, juggling too many commitments, always living on the surface and never really knowing ourselves, or others. Nor have we the time and space to truly know God.

The simplicity we need has both an inward dimension and an outward expression. Inwardly it seeks an integration of the self that is rooted in our identity as beloved children of God. When we know ourselves to be children of God above all else, we find the freedom to let go of the need to compete for status, success and popularity. We can let go of jealousy, envy and pride. Our hearts are fixed on one thing – knowing and loving and serving God. Everything else then assumes its rightful place and order in our lives.

As our hearts become pure, others will notice changes in the way we speak, the way we dress, the way we work, the way we conduct ourselves. We will grow in appreciation for ordinary things, and will be content with less. Our hearts will fill with gratitude for the beauty and wonder of creation, for the gift of life, and for the loving kindness of God. We will grow in concern for the world and its peoples, and for our environment. We will be increasingly skeptical of our consumerist culture, and will grow in compassion for the poor. Our lives will become simpler, more generous, more authentic.”

David Vryhof, Selah Faculty, in “The Gift of Simplicity: To Will One Thing” in SILENCIO, a resource of Leadership Transformations, January 2015, twenty-fifth edition.

Father in heaven, purify our hearts. We will one thing this new year – to seek you first (cf. Matthew 6:33). For your namesake lead and guide us on this inward and outward journey wherever it leads us. Amen.

Two days ago I posted an excerpt of the ECC 2012 statement. Here’s part of their 2013 resolution.

“God calls us to live as generous stewards in response to God’s abundance and sustenance. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection free us to see wealth and possessions differently, to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33). The Holy Spirit reminds us that our identity is secure because of our relationship with God in Christ, not from what we own and control (Romans 8:16).

God calls the church to be the primary formational community that shapes disciples for lives of stewardship and generosity. Whether we have much or little, we are all called to put our hope and trust in God, be content and thankful, and to give abundantly and cheerfully (Luke 12:16-21; 16:10-13; Philippians 4:11-13; 2 Corinthians 9:7).”

2013 Stewardship and Generosity in the Church. This resolution was adopted by the delegates to the 128th Covenant Annual Meeting, June 2013.

Father in heaven, form us into a community of disciples that generously shows your love to the world each and every day of 2015. Do this by the power of the Holy Spirit for your glory we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“The generosity challenge: Spend the start of the New Year in prayer. Ask God to show you how you can show His love in your community, with the aim of creating lasting transformation not only in your life, but in the lives of those around you.”

Darrell Tunningley in blogpost entitled “The Generosity of our Resolutions” posted on 1 January 2012.

I like this generosity challenge because it’s simply a resolution to pray and follow God’s leading to show His love to the those around us. I’m thinking about this while fly fishing again today on the San Juan River with Sammy.

One thing I love about fly fishing is the solitude it affords for prayers like this one. If you have always wanted to learn about fly fishing and need a guide to teach you, my son is the licensed outfitter for you: www.sammysflyshop.com

If you are the kind of person who likes New Year’s Resolutions, here’s one for you to consider…

“While we serve a God of abundance, we live in a world of great hunger, poverty, and injustice. Therefore Christ has called us to be stewards of God’s abundance, so that all of humanity may experience life in its fullness (John 10:10). The Stewardship and Generosity Resolution invites Christ followers to live as generous stewards of God’s material and spiritual gifts and calls the church to be a formational, witnessing community that counter-culturally embraces stewardship and generosity. God calls all of us to put our hope and trust in God, to be content and thankful, and to give sacrificially, generously, and cheerfully (Luke 12:16-21; 16:9-13; Phil. 4:11-13). By answering this call, we will reflect God’s abundant provision and make it a reality for a world in need.”

Evangelical Covenant Church, “Stewardship and Generosity Resolution” 2012.

I am thankful for the gift of time off this week with my son, Sammy. We are enjoying the beauty of God’s creation, and fly fishing together on the San Juan River in Navajo Dam, NM. We are also praising God for the privilege of doing this with two of our closest fly fishing buddies (and brothers in Christ), Clay and Charlie Jones.

“Goodness is love in action, love with its hand at the plow, love with the burden on its back; it is love carrying medicine to the sick, and food to the famished; it is love reading the Bible to the blind, and explaining the Gospel to the felon in his cell; it is love at the Sunday-class, or in the Ragged School; it is love at the hovel-door, or sailing far away in the missionary ship; but whatever task it undertakes, it is still the same–love following His footsteps, “who went about continually doing good” [Acts 10:38].”

James Hamilton (1814-1867) Scottish minister, in Day’s Collacon compiled and arranged by Edward Parsons Day (New York: IPPO, 1884) 336.

Back in the 1800’s a “Ragged School” was a school for destitute poor children. “Goodness” also known as “generosity” is love in action, and love is the commandment of Jesus that encompasses all others (cf. John 13:34-35). Let us follow in His footsteps empowered by the Holy Spirit.

“If there is nothing so glorious as doing good, if there is nothing that makes us so like God, then nothing can be so glorious in the use of our money as to use it in works of goodness.”

William Law (1686-1761) English cleric, in Day’s Collacon compiled and arranged by Edward Parsons Day (New York: IPPO, 1884) 336.

Give generously today. Don’t just do this because it’s near the end of the calendar year for tax purposes. Use money to do good each and every day because there’s no better way to use it (cf. Galatians 6:9-10).

“Self-preservation and financial security are the main standards by which ungenerous Americans assess their lives. This approach thus stokes an anxiety that at worst is soothed by apathy and a withdrawal from concerns beyond one’s own individual concerns, and at best results in some intermittent caring, volunteering, and financial generosity. This framework also encourages a hoarding mentality…

Attaining the sort of happiness found in material well-being and security, which the majority of ungenerous Americans pursue without regard for others, comes at a great personal cost. The battle is won, but the war is lost. The means people use to achieve this version of happiness leads to a self-defeated end. And that frustrated end obscures the deeper, richer, more complex kinds of happiness humans want, sending them on misguided searches for more of what already does not satisfy.”

Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson in “Giving Makes Us Happy. So Why Do So Few Do It?” posted by Science of Generosity on 3 November 2014.

In biblical terms, Smith and Davidson have revealed that the ungenerous are seeking to gain the whole world, and in so doing, they are losing their souls (cf. Mark 8:36). Why are so many choosing this self-destructive path? Why do all of us at times choose the way of the ungenerous and wander on misguided searches for more of what already does not satisfy?

The answer is simple really. We believe and act on lies. In this case we believe the lies that we need to accumulate in order to attain happiness and to secure our future rather than the truth that God invites us to entrust ourselves to His care, which often flows from family members and fellow believers, and that happiness is found in those relationships and not possessions.

What it all boils down to is that we do not experience life as God intended it, because of our own unbelief. The good news for today, and in 2015 and beyond is that Jesus helps those who believe and yet wrestle with unbelief (cf. Mark 9:24). Since that includes all of us at times, let’s resolve together to believe and ask Jesus to help us with our unbelief. In so doing, we will avoid our own destruction and show people the way to life.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… Galatians 5:22-23

“Paul’s “fruit” is singular…The Spirit creates unity characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Paul would insist that the greatest of these is love, and so all of these other fruits are love’s various facets and expressions, or what God produces in human lives and how God’s Spirit equips us to live in the world.

I love this text because it pushes spirituality out of the narrow confines of personal practices and qualities into the Spirit’s realm of community building. God gives the growth, Paul would say, and so this text also reminds us that the spiritual life is not our achievement, nor matter how perfect our practices.

Like the bread and the fruit of the vine, the fruit of the Spirit is the gift of God for the people of God. Like the bread and the fruit of the vine, the fruit of the Spirit is a sign of the real presence and power of Christ.”

Deborah A. Block, in “Table Grace” in A Spiritual Life: Perspectives from Poets, Prophets, and Preachers, edited by Allan Hugh Cole Jr. (Louisville: WJKP, 2011) 217.

Generosity is the result of God’s work in our lives. It’s a reflection of God’s love through us. If we think our lives are not characterized by generosity, rather than resolving to go do good works, we must submit to the work of the Christ of Christmas in our lives so that His love is made known through us to the world.

“Giving a good gift is much more than handing over a nice or useful object; it’s about communicating a message, a message that often can’t be put into words…The ideal gift, I always feel, should be perfect for the one who is to receive it and also reveal something of the one who gives it. In this way, giving can be an incredibly special and personal act of love…”

Christina Rees in Feast + Fast: Food for Advent and Christmas (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2012) 86.

We pray you have a blessed Christmas with family and friends. We are chilling together as a family in Colorado. We also hope you are able to get alone with God today to thank Him for the indescribable gift of Jesus (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:15).

God’s gift of His one and only Son is “the ideal gift” for all mankind. In that sense, the Christ of Christmas reveals the unfathomable love of the Father for the whole world (cf. John 3:16). Thank you, Father in heaven, for the gift of Jesus!

“When the Christians gathered to form a new community following the day of Pentecost, Luke tells us that “they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46). As the need arose, they shared even their possessions with each other…

The spirit of generosity was evident first of all in their “one heart and soul.” While some did own property, they did not “claim” private ownership…The common life that they shared conditioned their right to keep what was their own while others went hungry. The spirit of generosity is a shared life…”

Ray S. Anderson in Living the Spiritually Balanced Life: Acquiring the Virtues You Admire in Others (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2001) 65.

Why don’t Christ followers “claim” private ownership? God owns everything (cf. Psalm 24:1)! He entrusts us, as stewards, with private property, but never do we own anything. We are partakers of Christ’s life, which far exceeds the value of any other earthly possession. This truth “conditions” us. It reshapes our thinking and our living regarding people and possessions.

On the eve of the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us humble ourselves in solitude and ask the Father to “condition” our hearts to produce the fruit of generosity (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). This is not about going out and buying more presents. I am inviting you to join me in asking the Father to make us His gifts to the world.