Archives by: Gary Hoag

“Our God is a generous God. However, His kindness, generosity, and blessing do not exclude us from hard times, struggles, or injustices in this life. For many, faith is the coin you put into a ‘vending machine God,’ obligating Him to dispense your selection.

The hard truth is that the tendency toward suffering in this life is more normal for the Christian than the promise of perfect health and extraordinary wealth. There is a Proper Pursuit of Prosperity, but it bears little resemblance to the so-called ‘good news’ being hawked by many of today’s ‘purveyors of prosperity.’

In William Cripe Sr.’s inspirational and informative book, you will discover what the prosperity gospel is, what is wrong with it, and what is right with it. You will also find the answer to the question: Is there a legitimate expectation of prosperity this side of heaven?

There is a day of perfect prosperity promised to all who believe, but that day is not in this lifetime. We exist not for the pursuit of our own gratification but to do God’s bidding not the other way around. Dive into The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity and discover Cripe’s message of how God does not exist for us. We exist for Him.”

William Cripe, Sr., The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity (Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing, 2011), back cover.

I cited this book by my friend, Bill Cripe, today because I will be at his church, Faith EFC in Waterville, ME, this morning for meetings. I commend it to you for understanding this topic!

Later tonight, I have have the privilege of speaking at the celebration service for another Skowhegan Miracle Homeless Shelter at Trinity EFC in Skowhegan, ME. You read that right, another miracle! God has provided resources to acquire an adjacent property for pennies on the dollar so now they will have a shelter for women and children in addition to the shelter for homeless men. Check them out at www.shelterbyjesus.org and join me in giving thanks to God.

“Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition…It is opposed to an unsettled and unstable spirit by which the heart is distracted from the present duty that God requires in our several relationships, towards God, ourselves and others…Contentment is soul business…”

Jeremiah Burroughs, (1600-1646), Puritan Preacher, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (1648; Edinburgh, Banner of Truth, 1964) 2-4.

Today is “Colorado Gives Day!” That means that all giving made to organizations through their website will receive an added blessing as they will get a portion of gifts given to motivate others to generosity.

It’s also the Christmas season, when carols like “Good King Wenceslas” are sung. Read the words, for therein you will find a message about the King’s generosity to the poor that may also shape your giving.

Good King Wenceslas looked out

On the feast of Stephen

When the snow lay round about

Deep and crisp and even

Brightly shone the moon that night

Though the frost was cruel

When a poor man came in sight

Gath’ring winter fuel
.

“Hither, page, and stand by me

If thou know’st it, telling

Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger

Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Music from Finland (c. 1500s)
Modern lyrics, John Mason Neale (1853)

“When told there was only 25 cents in the China Inland Mission’s bank account, Hudson Taylor said, ‘Praise God, 25 cents plus all the promises of God!’”

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) British Christian missionary and founder of CIM, in Gregg Matte, Finding God’s Will: Seek Him, Know Him, Take the Next Step (Ventura: Regal, 2010) 252.

“How little is all we can do for so generous a God, Who died for us, Who created us, Who gives us being, that we should not think ourselves happy to be able to acquit ourselves of part of the debt we owe Him for having served us, without asking Him for fresh mercies and favours? I am loath to use this expression, yet so it is, for He did nothing else during the whole time He lived in this world but serve us.”

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Interior Castle, translated by the Benedictines of Stanbrook: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, excerpt from the Third mansion, chapter 1, section 14.

“We may have little, but we do a lot when we use it in service to others.”

Gary Lauenstein in The Redemptorists of the Denver Province blogpost for 4 December 2013.

“The Bible gives a two-sided portrayal of wealth: It is good, but it can seduce us to sin. The solution, according to New Testament scholar Craig L. Blomberg, is to freely share it. In Christians in an Age of Wealth: A Biblical Theology of Stewardship (Zondervan), Blomberg who teaches at Denver Seminary, argues that sacrificial giving is an essential part of good stewardship.”

Craig L. Blomberg in Christianity Today: Interview. December 2013 69.

I just got my copy of Craig’s new book mentioned above and would commend it to everyone!

“When we faithfully remember and recite God’s acts of love and care we corporately re-live the experiences that have shaped our histories and identities. By remembering gratefully–whether special moments or overall trajectories–we see more clearly the ways in which we’ve been blessed. In this sense, gratitude is often a backward-looking practice–but it also shapes the future in that it allows us to build on the past in hope and confidence.”

Christine Pohl, Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012) 43.

“Stewardship is not humanity’s way of raising money, but rather God’s way of raising people into the likeness of His Son.”

Doug Carter as cited on “The Stewardship Bookmark” developed by Chris McDaniel. Visit www.stewardshipbookmark.org to view it in PDF form and to order them for your congregation, small group or the constituents you serve.

On his site, McDaniel notes:

“Growing godly stewards is one of the most pressing issue facing the Church…The Stewardship Bookmark is designed to be a quick-reference tool that churches and ministries can give their constituents as a practical “takeaway”. Ideally, this new tool will compliment a stewardship series, class or workshop or can be given out in a regular mailing.”

I personally endorsed it and commend it to you!

Q. So you say the purpose of earning and saving is giving. To what or whom should we give?

A. First you should give to yourself–food, clothes, shelter–what moderate living requires. Second, you should give to your family and employees providing for their needs. Third, if there is still money left, you should give to the household of faith–other Christians. Fourth, you should give to all men in need.

Keith Drury’s paraphrased answers to contemporary questions from John Wesley’s sermons. Answer adapted from Sermon 50: The Use of Money.