Archives by: Gary Hoag

You know that our Lord Jesus Christ was kind enough to give up all his riches and become poor, so that you could become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 CEV

“I left the comfort of My heavenly home to be born in a dirty stable. I gave up all of My heavenly riches and became poor so that you could become rich. When you trust Me as your Savior, I give you the best riches of all–better than all the gold in the world! I give you life that will go on forever and ever.”

Sarah Young shares the perspective of our Lord Jesus Christ toward each of us in Jesus Calling: Bible Storybook (Nashville: Tommy Nelson, 2012) 151.

We have great news to report from the garbage dump in Guatemala City. As God’s Treasures, the destitute poor, have been learning that they possess the greatest riches of all in Christ Jesus, or in a word “life”, they are finding joy in the realization that they actually have something of great value to share.

Over 1,000 out of about 6,000 children that live in the shantytowns have found hope in God and are in Bible club discipleship groups. It’s exciting! Just like in the days of the early church, revival is spreading rapidly among the 11,000 Treasures.

“To be able to tell you of the love story of God’s mercy for the poorest of the poor, it is a grace of God…I am glad to say that with my whole heart I offer you to share in these works of love.”

Mother Teresa in speech to the “Thirtieth National Convention of the National Council of Catholic Women” in Las Vegas in 1960 as recounted in Come Be My Light ed. Brian Kolodiejchuk (New York: Doubleday, 2007) 204.

There are few things more rewarding for my whole family–Jenni, Sammy, Sophie and me–than to see with our own eyes God’s mercy to the poorest of poor (the Treasures) at Potter’s house in the garbage dump of Guatemala City. It is truly a grace of God. With the same heart as Mother Teresa, we invite you to share in these works of love.

As we leave for Guatemala today for a week of service, one way you can “share in these works of love” is by sending a tax-deductible gift that will bless the Treasures. To make a gift, simply visit their website and click on the donate page, and in the special instructions section, mark “Hoag Family Trip” and they will share a report of our ministry and service.

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

“Every person must be helped out of his need. For whoever starves and suffers want of the most necessary things of daily life endures great pain…Whoever knows of the need of such a person and does not help them out commits a great sin.”

Shepherd of Hermas (c. 140-155) in Similitudes 10:4-2-4. This early church pastor of Hermas describes the posture Christians must have toward those who are suffering. For us, we think of the destitute in the garbage dump of Guatemala City as well as the struggling or sick person in modern America.

Take some time to pray and ask God to help you identify a person or group of people that you will help “out of their need” from what you have. Don’t do this alone. Do it with a spouse or friend, or as a family or group of families. Why? We must not love with words but with actions.

If you want to partner with us to bless a poor family in the garbage dump of Guatemala City, a “prayer walk” bag of supplies that includes rice and other necessities costs $22 or Sammy and Sophie will build bunk beds from a kit with a $200 price tag.

To make your gift, simply visit their website and click on the donate page, and in the special instructions section, mark “Hoag Family Trip” and they will be sure your tax-deductible gift covers the supplies related to our visit. Thank you.

It’s Memorial Day in the USA. Today I am urging everyone I know to “Remember the Poor” like James, Peter, and John urged Paul and Barnabas in Galatians 2:9-10.

James, Peter, and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. Galatians 2:9-10

“Not infrequently, scholars see Paul’s mention of the poor in Gal 2:10 as peripheral and secondary to the main theological considerations outlined by Paul in 2:1-9…that passage is best read as indicating that remembrance of the poor is something that would (continue to) characterize the emergent Christian movement in mission both to the circumcised and to the uncircumcised. Assuming that such remembrance would inevitably characterize the Jewish mission [of Paul and Barnabas], the Jerusalem apostles [James, Peter, and John] were nonetheless concerned that Jewish traditions about caring for the poor could be lost in Paul’s mission to the pagan world.”

Bruce Longenecker in “The Poor of Galatians 2:10: The Interpretive Paradigm of the First Centuries” in Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception ed. Bruce Longenecker and Kelly Liebengood (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009) 205, 220.

The call to “remember the poor” is not a suggestion for Christians. Such behavior should characterize our lives as Christians. Basically the Jewish leaders were saying to their brothers engaged in Gentile mission, “Go for it! All we ask is that caring for the poor is part of the DNA of all you do. Christ-followers care about the poor because God cares.”

Practically speaking, my family has determined that one way we will “remember the poor” is through our regular service in Guatemala. This week we will return to Potter’s House to serve the Treasures there, that is, the poor who scavenge for existence from the garbage dump. This will be the fifth trip there for my wife, Jenni, and the third one for our son, Sammy (18), our daughter, Sophie (17), and me.

Our trip has these objectives: assisting with curriculum development, doing service projects, and training leaders.

Jenni will work with PH leaders on the curriculum for VBS for November 2014 among other projects. Sammy and Sophie will be teaching English to Treasures in the school program and building bunk beds. Gary has been asked to deliver seminars for Guatemalan ministry leaders as well as PH staff members on the book he recently co-authored, The Choice: The Christ-Centered Pursuit of Kingdom Outcomes. As a family we will do prayer walks through the shantytowns delivering supplies to those who may be experiencing a current need.

While we have cashed in frequent flyer miles for our trip and plan to stay with Edgar and Gladys Güitz, the founders of Potter’s House, they estimate $952 in expenses for supplies related to our visit. One friend has covered the $52 so we only have $900 in remaining need.

If you would like to “remember the poor” by making a gift to Potter’s House to equip us to serve the Treasures, simply visit their website and click on the donate page, and in the special instructions section, mark “Hoag Family Trip” and they will be sure your tax-deductible gift covers the supplies related to our visit.

Whether or not you send support for us to serve the Treasures with Potter’s House, please “remember the poor” because Christ-followers must reflect God’s heart of love and care for everyone in word and deed.

“Give to every one who asks you, and don’t ask for it back. The Father wants his blessings shared. Happy is the giver who lives according to this rule.”

Didache, a.k.a. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles trans. and ed. by Tony Jones, 1.5.1.

The Didache is one of the earliest Christian documents, dated to the second half of the first century. It’s a must read as it reflects both the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus and represents the corpus the first disciples used to make disciples.

“Nay, may I not do what I want with my own money? But here lies the ground of your mistake. It’s not your own, and cannot be, unless your are the Lord of heaven and earth.”

This profound quote by John Wesley is recounted in an amazing three minute video “John Wesley Lived a Generous Life” produced by Generous Giving and shared with me by Jim Rathbun, a dear friend who serves as director of generous living with the Wesleyan Church.

I am so thankful for my friends at Generous Giving who capture and retell stories like this one to inspire people to greater levels of generosity. In Wesley’s case, I love how the story paints him as an ordinary child and a brilliant young scholar that grew to become a selfless person whose Christian generosity changed the world for Jesus Christ.

I must pause to honor another such young Christ-follower today: Samuel David Hoag. Sammy has been named the valedictorian for the graduating class of Front Range Christian School and in a few hours will deliver a message. I have no idea what he will share but I know this: He exhibits the humble resolve of Wesley, and he is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

I don’t want you to read this as an order. It is only my suggestion, prompted by what I have seen in others of eagerness to help, and here is a way to prove the reality of your love. 2 Corinthians 8:8 J.B. Phillips

“It is clear that Paul is not ordering the Corinthians to send money to those who are suffering want, but encouraging them to do so, demonstrating that they have the right attitude toward God and other people. In return for that they will undoubtedly receive a reward.”

Ambrosiaster sometime between 366-384 in Commentaries on Romans and 1 & 2 Corinthians trans and ed. Gerald Bray (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2009) 237.

I am sharing a devotional from 2 Corinthians 8-9 this morning at my meetings in the Washington D.C. area and so I read Ambrosiaster for edification. I love how he basically says that generous sharing with those who are suffering is what God’s people do! It is the proof of our love.

As others look at your life and mine, what does our generosity prove?

“I will take Paul for my comrade, and like him will discourse and say, “Let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper.” Now observe also how he avoids being burdensome. He said not, “so much,” or “so much,” but “as he may prosper,” whether much or little. Neither said he, “what any one may have gained,” but, “as he may prosper” signifying that the supply is of God.

John Chrysostom (347-407) in Homily on First Corinthians 43.4.

I am just outside of Washington D.C. and will share devotionals today and tomorrow linked to the Jerusalem collection at meetings between ECFA leaders and Korean church leaders. The purpose of my visit is to discuss the history and standards of the ECFA in America and to discern prayerfully how to best encourage the formation of such an entity in Korea. God help us!

For inspiration I read John Chrysostom’s commentary on 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 this morning. Though some 300 years separated Paul and John Chrysostom, they are “comrades” calling everyone to give to the poor as God supplies. Alms are not optional and they must be carefully administrated. Also, such giving does not to flow from “our gain” but instead from “God’s supply.” There is a difference!

Gain is something many in modernity see as “good” thinking that “God wants me to make lots of money so I can bless the poor.” In Scripture, Paul told Titus that God’s leaders must not desire gain (cf. Titus 1:7). So how should we understand these terms and what are the implications for our lives? Gain is the opposite of prosperity. Gain is what I try amass as if God depends on me. Prosperity results from obedience and represents the fruitfulness that flows from faithfulness. It is what God supplies to me.

So Paul…and later John Chrysostom…and today I am reminding my “comrades” around the world that each of us gets to participate in God’s work as God prospers us, and whatever we do, we must not go after gain because we’ll expend our energies going after the wrong goal. So what should we do? Let us work not for gain but to bring glory to God, and as we prosper, let’s be known for our sharing that is carefully administrated.

Are you prospering now? If so, share something today with someone you know who is in need.

“Now we make an offering to Him, not as though He stood in need of it, but rendering thanks for His gift, and thus sanctifying what has been created. For even as God does not need our possessions, so do we need to offer something to God…

For God, who stands in need of nothing, takes our good works to Himself for this purpose, that He may grant us a recompense of His own good things, as our Lord says: Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you. For I was an hungry, and you gave Me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and you took Me in: naked, and you clothed Me; sick, and you visited Me; in prison, and you came to Me. Matthew 25:34.

As, therefore, He does not stand in need of these [services], yet does desire that we should render them for our own benefit, lest we be unfruitful; so did the Word give to the people that very precept as to the making of oblations, although He stood in no need of them, that they might learn to serve God…”

Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202) in Against Heresies 4.18.6.

Many heresies emerged in the second century. Some doubted the deity of Christ, so related to giving, generosity was imperative to make up for any insufficiencies in Jesus. Not! Others argued that such offerings and service won the favor of God; consequently, good works were performed with the belief that they helped the doer earn their eternal salvation. Wrong again!

Irenaeus, a student of Polycarp who in turn was a disciple of John, wrote his multi-volume work Against Heresies to refute such notions in his day, and I guess you could say I post meditations with the same aim today. So in the spirit of John, Polycarp, and Irenaeus…remember…

God does not need our offerings, but we need to give them. When we make gifts to the poor, God sees them as given to Him. Let us sanctify or set ourselves and our resources apart unto Him in our hearts and model the way for others. Lastly, let us combine generous giving with sacrificial service, again, not because God depends it but so that we might grow and be fruitful.

“The good servant receives the bread of his labour with confidence; the lazy and slothful cannot look his employer in the face. It is requisite, therefore, that we be prompt in the practice of well-doing; for of Him are all things. And thus He forewarns us: “Behold, the Lord [cometh], and His reward is before His face, to render to every man according to his work” [Rev. 22:12].

He exhorts us, therefore, with our whole heart to attend to this, that we be not lazy or slothful in any good work…For [the Scripture] saith, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which He hath prepared for them that wait for Him.”

Clement, Bishop of Rome (c. 100) in 1 Clement 34. Clement ministered until he was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. Despite persecution under the Roman Emperor Trajan, the early church continued to grow.

Why should Christians not grow weary in well-doing? Clement basically offers two answers to his persecuted peers. First, be zealous to do good works because you will have to give an account. Second, the reward for your obedience will be unfathomable.

To read about a church that recently shut its doors one Sunday and deployed everyone in service, click here to learn more. Special thanks to my brother in law, Jim Pickrell, for this illustration. Imagine if his church and ours did this all 52 weeks of the year. We might take over the world like the Christians did in Clement’s day.