Archives by: Gary Hoag

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Romans 14:12

“Accountability as a virtue. It focuses on the way in which relationships of accountability can serve to uphold persons rather than threatening to tear them down. In accountability relationships a person serves to bring about the fulfillment of the other by helping them to become all that they should be. The more the person of faith embodies the virtue of accountability to God, the more that individual recognizes the need for and relies on divine assistance.”

Andrew Torrance in Accountability as a Virtue in Studies in Christian Ethics Volume 34, Issue 3, August 2021, Pages 307-315.

Today is a big day in Albania. Pray for us.

GTP will facilitate meetings in Tirana with 60 pastors, ministry administrators, accountants, attorneys, and other professions to activate a task force to start a peer accountability group (like ECFA in USA) for Albania.

It’s a big deal hosted in collaboration with the Evangelical Alliance of Albania.

Notice, in the words of Torrence, that accountability aims to uphold not tear people down. It helps them fulfill their calling. And it reminds them of their dependence on God.

This is what we want for Albania, for churches and ministries to follow standards together with peer accountability.

And it’s cool to do it near Durrës, the ancient city with 2,500 years of history in the region of Illyricum, where the Apostle Paul ministered, likely en route to Rome. In the chapter after our Scripture penned above, he wrote.

“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” Romans 15:18-19

So, the Apostle Paila likely walked and ministered in this ancient amphitheater pictured above. You can see the Adriatic Sea in the distance on which he sailed. It was cool to walk there briefly yesterday afternoon.

Thanks for your prayers for our team: Ruthie Cristobal (GTP VP of Partnership and Communications), Zenet Maramara (GTP Board Chair), Kehinde Ojo (GTP Board Member), Bezily Varghese (GTP Volunteer), and me.

May God help us activate peer accountability to unleash abundant generosity for His glory.

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Acts 9:13-16

“I am a little pencil in God’s hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more.”

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living.

I can’t believe I have not posted this famous quote before. It’s priceless.

As the conference wraps up today, I’m excited that our group will visit an historical site in Durrës, Albania, where many believe the Apostle Paul ministered. More on that tomorrow, including, hopefully, a new header photo.

But already, I am preparing my mind to shift to thinking about the event to launch a task force to form a peer accountability group for Albania tomorrow. Why am I doing this work? Why do you pursue the things God directs you to pursue?

We are little pencils. He’s writing a story through us like He did through Paul. And we must not question God, like Ananias did, but realize that God can use any person as a pencil. And like Paul or Anjezë, we may suffer when God sharpens us.

As I wrap up this Lausanne Ministry Fundraising Network conference today with my colleagues from all over the world, it seems to me with our ethnic diversity, we are like a box of colored pencils.

May each of us (and everyone reading this) allow God to write with us, to sharpen us, and to use us as He wills with surrender, so that what appears is a beautiful and colorful story of God’s redemption, generosity, and love. Amen.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:3-5

“Love is a one way street. It always moves away from self in the direction of the other. Love is the ultimate gift of our selves to others. When we stop giving we stop loving, when we stop loving we stop growing, and unless we grow we will never attain personal fulfillment; we will never open out to receive the life of God. It is through love we encounter God.”

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in Where There Is Love, There Is God Her Path to Closer Union with God and Greater Love for Others (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2012) 26.

I had never thought of love as a one way street, but it fits. It makes sense. And there are a lot of places like Albania where the streets are narrow and one way streets cannot go both ways.

And notice the role of giving on this one way street. It’s the catalyst. When we stop giving, we stop loving and we stop growing. Think about it. Generous people are full of love and vibrant growth.

What about you? I am giving, loving, and growing this week with a group of colleagues that are serving around the world. By spending time together and encouraging each other, we are growing together.

Is there someone to whom you can give, love, and grow with today? Might this be the pathway for you to receive the life of God, for through loving, we really do encounter God.

Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:47

“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa (1910-1997).

I really loved this short statement from Mother Teresa about numbers. “Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”

I have learned over the years to serve the “receptive” and let God take care of the numbers. Serving the receptive happens one at a time.

Then, the Lord is the One who sorts the numbers, who added to the numbers of the early church and to the work of Mother Teresa and to GTP.

Seriously, click here to see the GTP at 5 infographic. See the meaning of big numbers like 6,986 or 105,932. Because of His love and faithfulness, I resolve to keep trusting Him for provision to do it.

Is God stretching you? Is He leading you to serve a receptive person close by? Is He calling you to trust Him for the provision to do it?

I find that when I look at the numbers He put up in the book of Acts and that He puts up today, it reminds me He can do more than I could ever ask or imagine.

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:16-18

“I have a primary responsibility to myself; to make myself into the best person I can possibly be. Then and only then, will I have something worthwhile to share. I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.”

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa (1910-1997).

When you read this I will have arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, and connected to Tirana, Albania. There I will attend a conference and then do GTP program work to activate another working group to form a peer accountability group like ECFA in USA.

Though my schedule seems crazy sometimes, like yours I am sure, I find that the personal discipline of spending time with Jesus (regardless of where I am) helps me be the best person I can be and also fills my cup with God’s love so I can love others well.

This comes into view as our primary responsibility, especially if we want to exhibit generosity, as it marks the pathway to dispensing abundance. Many people don’t like the “love until it hurts” idea. Such people forget the cross altogether.

Embrace it. Step out of your comfort zone. Love until it hurts. Sacrifice yourself and your resources. You won’t find yourself empty, but rather enriched for greater generosity. And you also find that God replaces the hurt with more love.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

“I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?”

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa (1910-1997).

Mark and Maleka are our neighbors on the right. They just had a baby boy. And Michael and Claire on the left. He’s a United Airlines pilot so we talk about flying a lot.

Knowing the name of your neighbor is the first step to loving them. Learn your neighbor’s names today if you don’t already know them. You’ve got to start somewhere.

And say a prayer for me as I fly to Frankfurt, Germany, and connect to Tirana, Albania today.

I will attend a conference and then have GTP program work to grow accountability and generosity in Albania. I’ll share more as the week unfolds.

You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. 1 Corinthians 3:23

“I am Albanian by birth. Now I am a citizen of India. I am also a Catholic nun. In my work, I belong to the whole world. But in my heart, I belong to Christ.”

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa (1910-1997).

I am home for 48 hours and celebrating my granddaughter’s second birthday today. Off to Albania tomorrow. So I thought I’d study Albanian saints. And a simple search revealed that Mother Teresa was Albanian.

I loved the last part of her statement: “In my work, I belong to the whole world. But in my heart, I belong to Christ.” I want to echo that. Care to join me?

Only when we live in light of the reality that we “belong” to Christ can we have significant impact like Mother Teresa. We cease living for ourselves and instead we live, give, serve, and love for God.

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:5

“The wider our contemplation of creation, the grander is our conception of God.”

Cyril (born Constantine) the Apostle to the Slavs (826–869).

Jenni and I fly from Vienna to Frankfurt to Denver today. We are thankful. God granted us fruitful ministry in Ukraine, Czechia, and Slovakia.

And over the course of 2+ weeks I have served with my dear friend and brother, Milan Hluchý. His expertise centers in the ecologization of agriculture and I work in the ecologization of ministry.

In plain terms, we understand God’s ordered design and help nurture that environment to foster fruitfulness.

He does it in vineyards and with crops and I do it with churches and ministries. We learned a lot from each other. But the biggest lesson for me linked to the “contemplation of creation” as Cyril put it.

The more we study the creation the more we understand the Creator.

And generosity comes into view because His care for creation is unfathomable. When we match it, we contribute to flourishing and fruitfulness. Is it time for you to get outside for some contemplation of creation?

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

“Death was given by God as a gift to those who had sinned for this purpose: that evil might not remain immortal.”

Methodius (c. 815-885) Apostle to the Slavs, as cited by Ilaria Ramelli in A Larger Hope? (2019) 70.

As I wrap up work in the Slavic world, I wanted to get a last word from Methodius, Apostle to the Slavs.

It offered me word of an unexpected gift having witnessed some of the horrors of war and the darkness of sin and brokenness in recent days. I had never thought of death as a gift that does away with sin.

And I saw this redemptive idea in the meetings in Mikulov, Czechia, taking place in the shadow of Holy Hill (pictured above).

When we put to death our sloppy stewardship, bad management, and disengaged governance, we write a new story and experience new life in church and ministry settings.

On the final day, it has been encouraging to watch the national workers engage in the discussion.

They are identifying the issues in their context that need to die as a first step toward fostering life in the churches and ministries of post-Christian Europe. I think today marks a new future for them.

A working group has formed to establish a peer accountability group for Czechia and Slovakia. Praise the LORD.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1

“Hear my prayer and protect your faithful people, for you have established me as their unsuitable and unworthy servant. “Make your people known for the unity and profession of their faith. Inspire the hearts of your people with your word and your teaching. You called us to preach the gospel of your Christ and to encourage them to lives and works pleasing to you. “I now return to you, your people, your gift to me. Direct them with your powerful right hand, and protect them under the shadow of your wings. May all praise and glorify your name, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Cyril (born Constantine) the Apostle to the Slavs (826–869) in an old Slavonic biography of Saint Cyril.

The GTP meetings are going well in Mikulov, Czech Republic. I turned to Cyril as I have served in Slavic settings for a few weeks and I wanted to see what they might contribute to my current experience.

This prayer not only seemed fitting, it matched my experience to the letter.

I pray for the unity and protection of these people. I want them inspired by the Word of God. I have asked God for this Czechia and Slovakia region, not for my sake, but to return them to God as a gift.

And it’s happening. Keep praying for the birthing of a working group to form a peer accountability group here.

Our setting stands in the shadow of holy hill, on which, Jenni and I walked the Stations of the Cross yesterday with Steve Kerr (GTP Regional Facilitator for South Pacific) and his wife, Kate, before our event started.

May God unite and direct this group with His powerful right hand for His glory.

And join me in giving thanks for one more thing. GTP turns 5 today. Reply for a copy of the “GTP at 5” infographic that celebrates the fruits of five years of service.