Archives by: Gary Hoag

Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way.

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do;
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879) English poet and hymn writer, penned this hymn in 1876. She was known for having memorized the Psalms, Isaiah and most of the New Testament. No wonder she found perfect peace and rest in Jesus. May we all today and every day!

“I who write this have greatly loved the total devotion of which the Lord spoke when he once said to the rich young man: “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” I have so loved it myself not by my own strength but by his assisting grace. The apostles were the first to follow in the practice of this complete self-giving. One who gives up both what one owns and what one desires to own gives up the whole world.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Letter 157 to Hilarius.

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:42

“Let us look at it in its naked simplicity—this great principle of life. “Give!” That is a Christian word. That is not a word of this world. The world never spoke that. Jesus uttered it. The world inscribes upon its banners, “Get.” That is the ambition of all great cities. The struggle in a city is tremendous, and all things conspire to develop in us the acquisitive powers of our nature.

Does a man want bread, he must struggle for it; does he want money, he must wrestle for it; fame, he must work for it. What is a city but a few hundred thousand human beings huddled together in a few square acres of land, every one of them striving to get!

Give! That is the attitude for every soul to take. That is the disposition for every soul to cultivate…Let every man say, “I will make it a principle of my life to give, and nothing shall set limits to my giving but the golden law of love.”

Charles Edward Jefferson (1860-1935) New York City Minister, excerpt from the sermon: “The Principle of Giving” based on the text: Matthew 5:42. Reproduced in Doctrine and Deeds (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, 1901) 186, 190.

“In this Paul seems to have been consistent: He did not ask for money from a community in which he was actively working to establish a church. The basic reason he gives for this is his concern about hindering the forward movement of the Gospel, whether by giving offense or by burdening fledgling churches. Once a church was established, however, he asked them to finance his travel to the next town. Clearly a concern for the Gospel is paramount for Paul’s expectations here.”

Jouette Bassler in God & Mammon: Asking for Money in the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1991) 85.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

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“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship (New York: SCM Press, 1959) 11

“There is nothing remarkable in cherishing merely our own people with due attentions of love, but that one might become perfect who should do something more than heathen men or publicans, one who overcoming evil with good and practicing merciful kindness like that of God, should love his enemies as well…Thus the good was done to all men, not merely to the household of faith.”

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:27-36

Pontianus (fourth century) biographer writing about how Cyprian of Carthage shepherded his flock according to the way of Jesus, as recounted by Rodney Stark in The Rise of Christianity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997) 87.

“They are to be doers of good works, exercising a general supervision day and night, neither scorning the poor nor respecting the person of the rich; they must ascertain who are in distress and not exclude them from a share in church funds, compelling also the well-to-do to put money aside for good works.”

Adolf Harnack (1851-1930) a German theologian, quoted the duties of deacons as outlined in the Apostolic Constitutions (c. 375-380) to show that they were set apart for the support of the sick, infirm, poor, and disabled (1908:1:161). Cf. Rodney Stark in The Rise of Christianity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007) 87.

“I think that when the poor happened to be neglected and overlooked by the priests, the impious Galileans observed this and devoted themselves to benevolence…The impious Galileans support not only their poor but ours as well.”

Roman Emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus (c. 331-363) is known as Julian the Apostate for his rejection of Christianity. This excerpt from letter to a priest, as recounted by Rodney Stark in The Rise of Christianity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997) 84.

“From the start it has been your custom to treat all Christians with unfailing kindness, and to send contributions to many churches in every city, sometimes alleviating the distress of those in need, sometimes providing for your brothers in the mines.”

Dionysius of Corinth (c. 170) excerpt from letter to the Church in Rome as quoted by Eusebius in Ecclesiastical History, 4.23.6 (1965)