Archives by: Gary Hoag

“What really starts fighting is possessions. People get into fights by preferring things to people. This is well developed in Christian theology, and therefore for us [who live together in community], the importance of detachment from things, the importance of poverty, is that we are supposed to be free from things that we might prefer people. You can extend that to any limits you like–wherever things have become more important than people, we are in trouble. This is crux of the whole matter [to why we live in community].”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) a Trappist Monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, as recounted in Why We Live in Community by Eberhard Arnold (Robertsbridge, UK: Plough, 1995) 39-40.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38

“In our Gospel Jesus tells us forcibly what it means to be a believer in him, a true disciple. We are called to walk in his footsteps. We cannot live just for ourselves, just for worldly gain. Following Jesus means saying “no” to our worldly passions and saying “yes” to his call to give to others without counting the cost as he gave to us. We must remember that God’s call is always empowering. He cannot call us without giving us all we need to follow that call. Do I truly surrender my life to Jesus so he can use me as his disciple?”

Bill Adams in The Redemptorists of the Denver Province blogpost for 17 February 2012.

“Nothing is more generally known than our duties which belong to Christianity; and yet, how amazing is it, nothing is less practiced?”

George Whitefield (1714-1770) in the opening line to his sermon entitled, Christ the Only Rest for the Weary and Heavy Laden on Matthew 11:28

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

“Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.” He also said, “Contentment makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) as quoted by Rich Brott and Frank Damazio in Biblical Principles for Becoming Debt Free: Rescue Your Life & Liberate Your Future (Portland, OR: City Christian Publishing, 2005) 131.

Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:23-24

“The fullness of life, which is found only in community, comes at the cost of complete sacrifice.”

Basil Pennington in the introduction to Why We Live in Community by Eberhard Arnold (Robertsbridge, UK: Plough, 1995) x.

Come to me, all you labor and are heavy laded, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Christ our partner
you invite us to bear your yoke,
so that sharing in your work,
we may find our real selves
in relationship with you
and with those
we would bring to your friendship.

Myra Birdsall, Christian Aid in Bread of Tomorrow: Praying with the World’s Poor (London: SPCK, 1992) 69.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other…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? 1 John 3:14, 17

“Spiritual awakening is…accompanied by the blossoming of a generous heart…There is something fundamentally wrong with claiming to love God without a passion to love people–some close at hand in your daily life and some a world away.”

Wess Stafford, president and CEO of Compassion International in Just A Minute: In the Heart of a Child, One Moment Can Last Forever (Colorado Springs: Compassion International, 2012) 128.

God of the poor,
we long to meet you
yet almost miss you;
we strive to help you
Yet only discover our need.
Interrupt our comfort
touch our possessiveness
with your poverty
and surprise our guilt
with the grace of your welcome
in Jesus Christ, Amen.

Meditate on Matthew 25:31-46

This is a prayer and passage I have chosen to help my family spiritually prepare to serve the poor of the Guatemala City dump as God’s Treasures with Potter’s House from 28 February – 8 March.

Janet Morley, from God With Us (Christian Aid, 1989) in Bread of Tomorrow: Praying with the World’s Poor (London: SPCK, 1992) 38.

“We want our children to recognize God as the Provider of everything we need and as the generous giver of all that we enjoy in this life.”

Katherine Koonce in Parenting the Way God Parents: Refusing to Recycle your Parents’ Mistakes (Sisters: Multnomah, 2006) 77.

“I would see that at least one testimony is presented to the congregation each week. The best place for this is worship and the backup would be in the newsletter. This testimony need not be longer than two to three minutes, but it needs to be first person and to be as real as possible.”

J. Clif Christopher in Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate: A New Vision for Financial Stewardship (Nashville: Abingdon, 2008) 86.

For more ideas like this, visit: http://www.excel-ministries.com/blog