Archives by: Gary Hoag

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next…It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become some ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in” : aim at earth and you will get neither.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) in Mere Christianity III. 10:118.

“It is not the rich man only who is under the dominion of things; they too are slaves who, having no money, are unhappy for the lack of it.”

George MacDonald (1824-1905) in George MacDonald by C.S. Lewis (New York: HarperOne, 2001) 38.

“The man who has tasted the things of heaven easily thinks nothing of what is below, but he who has no taste of heaven finds pleasure in possessions.”

St. John Climacus (c. 525-606) in the Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 17.

“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.”

Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, (354-430) as quoted in Randy Alcorn, Managing God’s Money (Carol Stream: Tyndale, 2011) 72.

“God gives so we can become joyful givers and not just self-absorbed receivers…

Here is roughly how sin works in relation to God the giver. All things are from God and through God, and yet we want to be independent of God, standing on our own two feet, claiming God’s gifts as our own achievement…

Most of us, especially the believers among us, won’t deny God’s existence in order to secure our independence. Instead, we think we can have it both ways. We believe that we can stand on our own two feet, independent of God, and still affirm that God is the creator of everything…

When we assert our independence, when we ascribe to ourselves what comes from God, we wrong God…

We might not feel particularly grateful for what we have because we think that, rather than receiving it, we earned it. And we want to disposed of our hard-earned goods the way we please; they become not so much gifts given to us to enjoy and pass on, but rather exclusive possessions.

Assertion of independence, pride of achievement, sense of entitlement, an absolute right to dispose with our goods—these are the ways in which we live in contradiction to who we actually are in relation to God…

To live in sync with who we truly are means to recognize that we are dependent on God for our very breath and are graced with many good things; it means to be grateful to the giver and attentive to the purpose for which the gifts are given.”

Miroslav Volf in Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) 28, 35-36.

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Timothy 6:8

“These words are a timely reminder of the weakness of a consumer society which is based on the assumption that possessions are a symbol of status. The credit boom would take a considerable bashing if this teaching were taken seriously. The fact is contentment does not come from owning whatever we want, for there is no end to what we want. A Christian approach to life can never make a central feature of the acquisition of material things.”

Donald Guthrie in The Pastoral Epistles (Downers’ Grove: IVP) 125.

Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me…whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Matthew 25:40, 45

“One’s attitude toward the poor reveals one’s heart attitude toward Christ…No heart that loves Christ can be cold to the vulnerable and the needy…Anyone who has been touched by the grace of God will be vigorous in helping the poor.”

Tim Keller in Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just (New York: Dutton, 2010) 53-54.

If I sing but don’t have love
I waste my breath with every song
I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise
If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don’t have love
I leave a bitter taste with every word I say

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You’re made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

If I give
To a needy soul but don’t have love then who is poor?
It seems all the poverty is found in me

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You’re made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
Oh, let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

When it’s all said and done
When we sing our final song
Only love remains
Only love remains

Let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You’re made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

For King & Country: The Proof of Your Love
YouTube Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr9YVD05x8M&feature=related

After all the songs are sung
And our prayers for Kingdom come
Did we bring honor to the words we sing?

Does our worship have hands?
Does it have feet?
Does it stand up in the face of injustice?
Does our worship bow down?
Does it run deep?

Is it more than a song
That fades with our voices?
Does it fade with our voices?

Lord, it’s you we long to please
Make our lives a melody
That we proclaim
When we live in Jesus name

So if we raise our hands high
Let us also reach them out
And if we lift our voices up
Let it be the sound of love

Let our worship have hands
Let it have feet
Let it stand tall in the face of injustice
Let our worship bow down
Let it run deep

And be more than a song
That fades with our voices
It’s more than a song
That fades with our voices
It won’t fade with our voices
(Let it be the sound of love)

Fade With Our Voices Jason Gray
Album: Everything Sad is Coming Untrue

Today’s meditation is posted in honor of special friends, Bill and Laurie Bolthouse, for their willingness to stand in the face of the injustice of human trafficking. We stand with them. Tonight at the Breckenridge Film Festival, Sammy and I are attending a special viewing of the motion picture they produced in present-day Southeast Asia, Trade of Innocents, a story of struggle and hope in the dangerous world of human trafficking. Thanks for the way your worship has hands and feet, Bill and Laurie!

“God is not as concerned with the portion of money I give away in his name as he is with what we do with the portion that I keep for myself.”

Ralph Wetherington, pastor of West Congregational Church in Peabody, MA, in Becoming a Healthy Church: 10 Traits of a Vital Ministry by Stephen A. Macchia (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999) 207-208.