Archives by: Gary Hoag

    “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
   “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
   “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
   “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
   “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46

“Overeating and overconsumption, gross inequity in the control of wealth, and a desire to maintain one’s own style of living irrespective of world famine clearly constitutes sin in the biblical perspective.”

Walter Harrelson, professor of Old Testament at Vanderbilt University in “Famine in the Perspective of Biblical Judgments and Promises,” in Lifeboat Ethics: The Moral Dilemmas of World Hunger, ed. George Lucas and Thomas Ogletree (New York: Harper & Row, 1976) 93.

…through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed… Genesis 22:18a

“God’s blessing is not for personal aggrandizement, but to benefit and bless all the peoples of the earth. To understand the distinction makes all the difference in the world. The theology of wealth say, “I give so that I can get.” Christian simplicity says, “I get so that I can give.” The difference is profound.”

Richard Foster in Freedom of Simplicity (New York: HarperCollins, 1981) 189.

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9

“In essence Jesus explains, “You need to learn how to use your worldly possessions in such a way that when you enter heaven people will welcome you because of your resourcefulness.” In short: You have limited time on this earth and limited opportunity with your possessions–use them wisely! God is instructing us to leverage our possessions so that when we enter our eternal home, we’ll meet people who will say, “You don’t know me, but do you remember when you gave to that Christian college? Do you remember when you gave to that church or Bible society? Do you remember when you provided that spare room in your house? Do you remember? (Well, barely, you think.) Well, know that I am in heaven because of the way you used your possessions on earth to further God’s kingdom.”

Wesley K. Willmer in God and Your Stuff (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002) 15.

“Paul thinks everything we have is the result of God’s grace, that the material and the spiritual are tied together, and that our responsibility is to see that God’s grace is such that our duty is to pass the grace — we get in order to give. God rescues us and we respond materially, and others provide materially and we respond spiritually. It’s tied together. The fundamental principle of Paul’s theology of money is reciprocity. God gives to us so we can become grace to others. Paul doesn’t teach the tithe or charity. He teaches grace and grace is more radical and more revolutionary than the tithe and charity. I would say Paul was “post-tithing.” Tithing is pre-gospel.”

Scot McKnight in Jesus Creed blogpost on 9 January 2012. To read the entire post, visit: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2012/01/09/paul-was-post-tithing/

Give away your life; you’ll find your life given back, but not merely given back–given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Luke 6:38

“The spiritual practice of generosity, which comes from simplicity of heart, moves us from mere legalisms, compassionless mechanisms or stingy mathematical formulas of tithing to an ever simpler life for the sake of others.”

Todd Hunter in Giving Church Another Chance (Downers Grove: IVP, 2010) 134.

“So what is my work here? To love people well and meet their needs as God provides. That does not mean I’m waiting on money from the States or anywhere else to do that. I am learning more and more each day to wait on God, to listen to his Spirit speak to me through His word and the nudging of my spirit…Some could look at my life and say it has not amounted to much, and they may be right. Let my life count for nothing and let Christ be glorified through the ordinary, mundane things He invites me to walk through in Him.”

Cathleen Tripp, missionary testimony in January 2012 edition of “The Sands are Alive” newsletter, 3.

“God died for you and for me and for that leper and for that person dying of hunger and for that person on the street … It’s not enough to say you love God. You also have to say you love your neighbor. Love, to be true, has to hurt. This requires people giving until it hurts. Otherwise it is not true love … Be the good news to your home people first. Find out about your next door neighbor.”

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in “Mother Teresa of Calcutta” in Charlotte Observer. June 14, 1995.

“As Christians we are not only to know the right world view…but consciously to act upon that world view so as to influence society in all its parts and facets across the whole spectrum of life, as much as we can to the extent of our individual and collective ability.”

Francis Shaeffer in How Should We Then Live? (Wheaton: Crossway, 2005) 256

“Remember this–you can’t serve God and money, but you can serve God with money.”

Selwyn Hughes (1928-2006) as quoted by Todd Hunter in Giving Church Another Chance (Downers Grove: IVP, 2010) 125

“He gives and hoards not, and is free from care, passing ever on to some new work.”

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) describes the simplicity and generosity of the character Aulë in The Silmarillion.