What is Your Stewardship Plan for 2006?

The holidays are always a time for reflection. It is a time to review the year that is gone. And look forward to the year ahead. I have been amazed throughout my life at the power of:

1. Writing goals on paper/computer.
2. Developing a system for measuring these goals regularly.
3. Praying and focusing on these goals.

It's an overused expression- goals are like magnets, they pull you in their direction. But that truth has been demonstrated in my life many times. So my question is: what are your goals for improving your stewardship of God's provision in 2006?

• What are your goals for making better use of money? How can you improve in becoming more frugal towards self and more generous to others?
• What are your goals for using your abilities to glorify God? Have you written a business plan that is centered first and foremost on being obedient to Christ?
• What are your plans for redeeming your time for eternal purposes? Are you spending time in study, prayer and ministry to others or just wasting life by consuming countless hours of entertainment?
• What are your goals for improving your health? Do you practice moderation in diet? Do you schedule exercise as one of the most important activities of the week? Do you get proper rest? Do you manage stress well?

I will share a goal that I have for 2006 in each of these areas. I do this in hopes that it will inspire a few people to do the same.

Money- I have set a goal of giving 10% of my income of a certain dollar figure to ministries that further the gospel of Christ. I hope to give 100% of income in excess of that dollar figure that I have determined will be required to meet my families basic needs, a few wants and an adequate level of savings.

Abilities- I have set a goal of organizing events every quarter to promote the four areas of whole-life stewardship- money, abilities, time and health. I hope to have speaking engagements on radio and in person to promote biblical stewardship principles that I have outlined in my book- Stewardship Mandate.

Time- My goal for 2006 is to spend from 5am-8am every morning studying the Bible, in prayer and reading. I hope to devote one hour per day to each of these activities.

Health- My goal for 2006 is to be below 12% body fat, drink at least 100 ounces of water per day, limit soda intake to less than 20 ounces per day, exercise four times per week and sleep at least six hours per night.

My central focus in doing all of this is not to feel good about myself or to practice a form of legalism that has no beneficial effect on my soul. My main objective is that Christ may increase in my life and that I might decrease- John 3:30. Our lives become more joyful and meaningful as our God-centeredness increases.

Wishing you a God-centered 2006,

Ashley Hodge

Reading Through the Gospels

I want to share a set of books that I have received great encouragement, understanding and counsel from. I attempt to study through the Bible every two years. But there are certain books of the Bible that I will always gravitate to. For most Christians, the Gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are read more than others.

I stumbled across a group of commentaries on those four books by JC Ryle that I highly recommend. The set is called Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. You can usually find the set for around $55. Ryle lived and breathed the Word of God. One of his biographers claimed that he read the Bible through over sixty times in his life. This kind of saturation in truth can only help but give you some important things to say.

JC Ryle wrote this commentary set with the purpose of leaving his family a personal guide to studying through the first 4 books of the New Testament. I will be forever grateful that he did this and that somebody decided to publish it for widespread use. I prize many books in my library for the wisdom that I have learned from them. But none as much as these four books that I picked up in a Half-Price bookstore. I paid $40 for the set. If I knew the treasure that they contained, I would have paid 100 times that amount.

If you are struggling in your study of the Bible or even if you have never read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I encourage you to use JC Ryle's commentaries as a guide through those books. Ryle is practical, concise and wise. I am convinced that you will find many pearls that will help you understand Christ in a fuller way. I also urge you to read Holiness by JC Ryle. No other book has had a greater impact on me than Holiness. Mark Twain often said, "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."

For Christ's Glory,

Ashley Hodge

God's Faithfulness Through Prayer

My wife- Amy- had a spinal cord tumor removed last week. I had sent out a cry for prayer to over 300 people that I know. I had asked for three specific requests:

1. That the doctors/nurses were able to remove the tumor without any complications.
2. That she recover from the surgery quickly with no paralysis, blood clots or damage to other areas of her body.
3. That the tumor is not cancerous.

Although we are waiting for official word and confirmation on #2 and #3, all indications are that these prayers were answered by God in a positive way. We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and prayers that we received from people. Clients, friends, family and neighbors reached out to us with care for our toddler, meals for over a month and continual prayer.

It is a reminder to me to be specific in prayer and to keep a log of what we ask God for. God is pleased to reveal His glory to us and through us. Specific, persistent prayer is one of the means that He enjoys lavishing His people with His abundant grace.

What you measure tends to improve! This fact has been impressed on my mind the past two weeks with my efforts to improve my diet and exercise plan. I dropped 7 lbs and 1 1/2 inches from my waist in two weeks by setting goals and executing a plan with focus. The same is true in prayer.

Do you keep a list of people that you are praying for? Conversions to Christ? Neighbors? Children? Healing? Ministries to expand influence and effectiveness? Marriages? Financial needs? Stewardship goals? God will honor prayer that is centered on promoting His glory and is also persistent- Luke 11:5-13.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Breaking Addictions to Food & Comfort

I just finished reading a book by Derek Prince called Shaping History Through Prayer & Fasting. It was thought-provoking and convicting. Prince chronicles some proclamations given by past US Presidents- Lincoln, Washington, Adams and Madison. Each of these men at times called for unity in fasting and prayer as a nation to repent of sin and return in humility to God. I found the book interesting in how it tied the blessings that our country currently enjoys to the prayers/devotion that men and women throughout US history have displayed towards God.

Another short book which you can read on http://stewardshipmandate.com tackles the secrets to living a long, healthy life. It is called The Art of Living Long by Luigi Cornaro. It was written in the 16th century when the average life expectancy was around 50 years for males. Luigi came close to death in his mid 30s. He radically changed his lifestyle after this experience and began to practice moderation in eating and drinking. In this book, Cornaro chronicles how his blood became purified through these disciplines. He lived past 100 years- a tremendous feat for that day and age.

These writings and many others have impressed on me the need to get serious and focused about combatting gluttony. This has always been a struggle for me. I hide it well through regular exercise. I have tried- unsuccessfully- many times to sustain some short fasting periods- usually no more than a day or even a six-eight hour period. I have at times consumed sixty ounces or more of diet coke per day. If there is a bag of tortilla chips or a carton of ice cream in the house, I usually try to finish the whole thing in one sitting. My rationale is that this type of food is bad and that I need to get rid of it. But it would be a sin to just throw it a way- I say that tongue in cheek.

So I am undergoing an experiment to attempt to bring my eating and drinking habits under God's control. I am currently 6'3" 207lbs. I think my natural, healthy weight should be around 190lbs. I read that in order to lose fat, you need to consume less than 10 times your body weight in calories each day. I also read that you should consume 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water each day.

My goals are to: consume less than 2000 calories daily, drink over 100 ounces of water daily and drink less than 24oz of soda daily. The foods that I am focusing on are lean proteins- cold water fish, lamb, turkey, eggs, soy, nuts, chicken, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I am trying to minimize sugar, salt, soda and processed foods. I am going to attempt this experiment at least during the month of December- it will be kind of like the opposite of Super Size Me. I will continue my normal exercise routine- which is 4 times per week- weights, cardio and basketball.

I expect to report some great results in the way that I feel and fat loss. I have found this truth to be foundational over and over- what we measure tends to improve. More importantly, I hope that through these disciplines, I will be able to see changes to my prayer life and intimacy with God. We live in a culture that celebrates gluttony in all of its forms. I pray and encourage us all to be models of sobriety and discipline in these issues. The secret to life is to love God and enjoy Him forever. But also to be on a path of increasing frugality towards self so that we might be more generous to others.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Suffering mixed with blessings

This has been a difficult year in a lot of ways for my wife-Amy- and me. Amy was diagnosed with a serious neurological condition that has greatly affected her walking and general day-to-day mobility. She was also diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor which needs to be surgically removed. Doctors tell us that these two conditions are unrelated. The odds of her getting both are at 1 in 2.5 billion- almost statistically impossible. At 36 years of age, my wife never expected to go through the trials with her health that she is experiencing.

We have been reminded that this world is under the curse of sin and that we will experience suffering in this life. Yet in spite of these trials, we have so much to be thankful for. We have a healthy 20-month old son that has been a blessing to us beyond words. We have tremendous friends and family that have bent over backwards to love, pray for, cook for and help us with our son's care. I am thankful for a good business and clients that I enjoy serving. Life is a mixture of blessings and suffering.

I cannot imagine living in a world that was all suffering and no blessings. That kind of world would be literally hell. The Bible communicates that this is the fate of all who reject God in the flesh- Christ. They will live in a world for all eternity that is completely removed from the presence of God. My heart breaks for anyone on this path. I hope that they turn to Christ in faith and repentance before it is too late.

On the flip side, I enjoy imagining a place that is all blessings and no suffering. This is described in the Bible as Heaven- the renovated earth. This is a place where there is no curse, no sin, no evil, no suffering, no hatred, no wars, no crime, no perversion, no injustice, etc... Most importantly, it will contain the continual presence of God- revealed in the Father, Son and Spirit. I long for the day when our bodies and minds will not break down and will be redeemed along with all creation.

Until that day, I am content not to seek heaven on earth, but instead seek heaven in Heaven. God graciously mixes His blessings in a world that is groaning under the curse of sin- Romans 8:18-25.

For God's Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Napa Valley trip

My wife and I just returned from a five day trip to Napa, California. We attended the wedding of a family friend and were able to soak in some of the culture of this beautiful region. We stayed at a charming bed and breakfast in Napa which we would highly recommend if you are ever in the area- http://candlelightinn.com

I want to relay two extremely strange events that happened to us on this trip that were reminders of God's providence over all things. On the plane ride to California, I finished the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

It was a beautiful clear day. I was so engrossed in the book that I rarely took time to look out the window. I finished a sentence in Alcorn's book on page 251 that read, "We will find rock formations more spectacular than Yosemite's (in the New Earth/Heaven)." Not even thirty seconds after I read that sentence, the pilot of the plane tells the passengers over the intercom to look out your window for a "spectacular view of Yosemite national park." I found that event more than coincendental.

The beauty of Northern California is a reminder to me that God has a restored paradise in store for His people that will baffle our minds. Imagine a world that is released from the curse of sin! We were created for another world. As C.S. Lewis stated we are able to enjoy some nice inns on this pilgrimage from time to time, but we are travelers heading for a better home.

The second strange event surrounded the Candlelight Inn where we stayed. My wife- Amy- used a magnifying mirror to put on make-up. She decided to leave this mirror and make-up bag near the South facing window of our room. After breakfast, we left the inn to visit some wineries and enjoy the countryside. Normally, we would stay gone until late afternoon. But this particular day, we returned early to our room- around 2pm.

We walked in the door to our room and immediately smelled smoke. I glanced over to the window and discovered Amy's make-up bag on fire. The magnifying mirror had concentrated the light of the sun on this bag and the bag was in flames. There was a stack of books right next to the bag which would have provided nice kindling for the fire had we not entered the room when we did. Thank God we were able to put out this fire easily and avert disaster.

These two events are reminders to me that life is not an accident. If only we could see the hand of God more clearly in sustaining us and protecting us from disasters. If we open our eyes, our hearts will be more prone to worship God with gratefulness.

In Christ,

Ashley Hodge

Rewards for stewards

This past weekend, I finished the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. I don't remember reading these books as kids. But after reading them, I realized that the books are really intended for adults to bring out child-like enthusiasm for Heaven. I predict that there will be widespread interest in these books and ideas with the upcoming release of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe as a full-length movie.

God created in each of us a void that can only be filled by Him. He created us to be stewards over all creation and to walk with Him in faith- Genesis 1:28. Something has gone terribly wrong with this world. Winter has fallen over creation. Sin has marred nature, our work, our minds and our hearts. We live in a world that only provides glimpses of Heaven.

Stewardship is the call of every Christian because this is God's original mandate to Adam & Eve. We are called to glorify Him with MATH- money, abilities, time and health. This earth is training for eternity. Imagine exploring the potential for which we were created in a world where sin is absent and God is present.

I love the city in which I live- Dallas. I see two cities within the one. I see a city where crime, poverty, corruption and perversion exists and it makes my heart long for a world where this doesn't exist. But I also see so much potential for this city because many of the people have hearts for God and others. I see churches doing God's work, honest businesses, joyful families, open hearts and homes. It makes me long for a day when this will be the norm not the exception.

I live in a neighborhood that is slowly transitioning from an older 1950's ranch style neighborhood to a place where young couples are buying homes and renovating the older styles. I love to see revitalization, restoration and renovation. It reminds me of the work that God is doing in the hearts of believers and also what He has revealed about His plan for all of creation.

God promises that a day is coming when the earth will be renovated- II Peter 3:13. Peter implores us that since we are waiting for these things, what type of people should we be? We ought to live holy and godly lives. He tells us this in verses 11, 14, 17 and 18 of the 3rd chapter of II Peter.

Friends we are called to be stewards of this life. We need to be diligent, watchful, prayerful, striving, warring against sin, the ways of this world and our Enemy. The time of rest, relaxation and peace is to come. This is our time to sacrifice and deny self for the sake of leading others to Christ. Seek Heaven in Heaven and not on earth. Be good stewards over the MATH that God has given you. Read Luke 12 and meditate on verses 41-48. All of these resources come with responsibility. We are to maximize all things for His glory.

In Christ,

Ashley Hodge

Prayer

The stewardship of prayer is a vital topic to the life of a Christian. Personally, it is a topic that I write about out of weakness and not strength. God has wired me to enjoy reading, study and research. But prayer has always been a labor for me. Hopefully, through the power of God's spirit this will change over time.

I am preparing a sermon to deliver at Graystone Church in Georgia on Luke 15:8-10. It is the story of a woman who loses a coin and searches diligently until the coin is found. The story paints a picture of how the church needs to be committed to the ongoing pursuit of praying for lost souls. We need to persistently seek others until they are found by Christ. God can do amazing things through His means of grace- preaching of the gospel, works of service, giving and prayer to name a few.

James 5:16 tells us that "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." We are commanded to "pray continually" in I Thessolonians 5:17. If you struggle in praying for others like I do, I have some suggestions for how to structure your prayer life. This structure has helped me focus on the critical discipline of daily prayer:

1. Pray as the first business of every day. I concentrate on listing four things that I am thankful for that come from God. Cultivating a spirit of gratitude each morning for me is a critical exercise. I then list four sins that I am actively going to war against during the day and ask for God's power to help me in the battle to suppress all sin. I also concentrate on four specific prayer needs for the day. I keep this prayer journal in a computer file and every Thanksgiving, I review the year's worth of gratitude entries. I review on January 1st the year's worth of daily prayer requests and record God's faithful answers for the year. Seeing God work through the prayers of such a weak person as myself is inspiration to persevere in daily prayer.
2. I have a system to pray for specific people during the week. The system that I use is to pray for: family on Sunday; out of state friends on Monday; Texas friendships on Tuesday; suppliers/vendors to my business and home on Wednesdays; clients on Thursdays; ministries around DFW on Friday; souls of those I am concerned about on Saturdays. This system helps me remember to pray consistently for others at least on a weekly basis. I supplement this by keeping a one page prayer list. On this list, I pray for conversions, neighbors, children of friends/neighbors/clients/family, healing, marriages, ministries, financial needs and also those who have expressed the desire to be accountable for stewardship goals.
3. I keep a journal where I write prayers to my son on a weekly basis. I did this on a daily basis during the first year of his life, but plan on doing it on a weekly basis from here on out. This reminds me weekly to pray for specific areas of character development in the life of my son. It reminds me of the stewardship of his soul that has been entrusted to me.

If you have other ideas that are helpful to you in staying focused on prayer throughout the day, I would love to hear them. I also attempt to make my time in the car by myself to be prayer and Scripture memorization time. Quiet moments around the house are rare and this allows me to re-focus my thoughts on God. The struggle of every day is to abide in Christ and not to be distracted by the cares and snares of this life in the flesh. I relate to the hymn writer's words, "prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love."

For God's glory,

Ashley Hodge

Little sponges

I have a 1 1/2 years old son. I am reminded daily of how more is caught than taught. I office out of home and every morning after spending a little time with my boy, I go into my office, shut the door and start my work day.

Today, my wife and I chuckled as we watched Hudson- my son- go into my office, shut the door and plop himself in my office chair computer mouse in hand. He did this four times.

People watch our lives. Stewardship matters. There is something within every soul that is curious about the Christian life. Men and women may never seek it without the Spirit of God to draw them to Him. But they still have admiration for the ones that are willing to leave it all for the sake of Christ.

Fortunately, we have a model to follow- Christ. I Peter 2:21 tells us that Christ suffered for us to leave us an example that we may follow in His steps. Ephesians 5:1-2, "Be imitators of God as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us..."

Money, ability, time and health- MATH if you like acronyms- are entrusted to Christians so that we might reflect the grace and holiness of our King. Life is very short. A few more funerals, weddings, seasons, elections and our time will be gone on the earth as we know it. But the Christian has a great promise to look forward to: paradise lost will be paradise renovated.

There is a day coming when we will enjoy pristine beaches with no trash, lewd behavior, high prices and hurricanes. There will be mountains without pollution and the effects of sin. We will witness and participate in athletic contests where people play to their potential. Learning will be unhindered by all the distractions that we currently deal with. Neighborhoods will be renovated without the fear of crime and decay. Sin will be abolished. Christ will be present. Do you long for that day?

Then make the most of this one brief life by becoming serious about stewardship. God has entrusted us with much and therefore much will be required- Luke 12:48. I encourage us all to constantly think about and improve on how we are modeling Christ to those around us.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Redeeming Time

Ephesians 5:16 implores us to "look carefully how you walk, making the best use of time for the days are evil." One practical way that I have attempted to redeem the time for God is to use car trips that I make alone as times of prayer and Scripture memory. There are times when this is difficult to do. At the end of a day, all I want to do is listen to music or talk radio. But there are other times when my mind is alert and active. This is a prime opportunity to pray for others, rehearse/memorize passages of Scripture and meditate on the Lord.

The memorization of Scripture has many benefits that are sometimes not obvious at first. One example: I have memorized the 12th chapter of Hebrews. The first verse in that chapter says, "Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us and let us run the race with perseverance." As I was memorizing this chapter for the first time, I was also reading a book by Randy Alcorn called Heaven.

In that book, Alcorn proposes the theory that believers are surrounded daily not only by the presence of God and angels but also by believers who have died in Christ and are now with Him in the intermediate Heaven praying for us and rooting us on to run the race with perseverance. There are passages of Scripture that support Alcorn's theory which I won't go into here- Revelation mainly.

Even though God's presence should be motivation enough, there is something about the thought of a godly grandparent, Christian leader or friend watching us from Heaven that provides extra incentive to avoid sin. At times of temptation, I am often reminded by this verse that I memorized, "Therefore since you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1.

As believers in Christ, we are called to holiness and we are also called to redeem the time. Use your alone time as an opportunity to live out that calling.

For the glory of God,

Ashley Hodge

Complaining

I have been writing to my 18-month old son-Hudson- on a regular basis since he was born. In a desire to leave a legacy of faith, I have attempted to give practical advice and to write out the things that I am praying for him about. One topic, I return to over and over again is my desire for him to not be a complainer.

Philippians 2:14 tells us to do all things without grumbling or complaining. Perhaps I think about this a lot because I struggle daily with a tendency to complain. Maybe it is on my mind because I look around and see the vast majority of the world constantly complaining. The Christian community would attract many people and win more friends if we would just obey this one verse- do all things without grumbling or complaining.

To develop the heart of a steward, we must daily submit ourselves to the will of Christ. A huge part of this submission is to eliminate complaining from our lives. Hebrews 12:3-4 encourages us with these words: "Consider Him who has endured from sinners such hostility against Himself that you do not grow weary or fainthearted. For in your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

Lord, I pray that You will daily teach me not to complain. I pray that You will teach others who know You not to complain. Encourage us daily to submit ourselves to You and to focus on the things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy- Philippians 4:8.

Ashley Hodge

Forced monthly savings

Proverbs 13:11, "Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it."

I have been a financial advisor for over twelve years and I have noticed a common theme among clients who have accumulated wealth over time. That theme is monthly savings. This savings might be in the form of employer sponsored retirement plans or just individual savings. There is something powerful about the habit of forced monthly savings.

In my own experience, I have set a goal of paying off my home mortgage early. Originally, my plan was to reduce my mortgage in larger chunks as I had the savings available to do so. After following this plan for over a year, I quickly came to the conclusion that I never had the "excess" funds.

For me, it took setting a goal to pay off a significant part of my mortgage debt within three years. And then factoring in how much extra I would need to pay monthly to reach my three year goal. It is amazing how much more effective forced monthly payments are for retiring debt and saving for short-term and long-term goals.

Keep in mind these principles:

1. Give to God first
2. Pay yourself second- forced monthly savings.
3. Pay cash for everything that you can- homes and businesses may be an exception.
4. Aggressively retire debt, save or give with excess monthly income.

Ashley Hodge

Salvation process

I have changed my views in recent years on how someone comes to know Christ. I grew up in a Southern Baptist church where there was a common belief that "being saved" meant repenting of sin and walking an aisle at a church service to receive Christ publicly. The newly "saved" person would then go through the process of water baptism in front of the church to signify their commitment to Christ.

There are probably many people who experienced genuine conversion to Christ that went through these rituals. But I was always troubled by the number of people that walked an aisle or said a prayer and never experienced any change in the way they lived. Were the Scriptures inaccurate? Paul taught, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The most troubling part of this for me is that as I reflect on my own life, I walked an aisle to receive Christ at 7 years old and was baptized twice if I remember right. Once soon after I was "saved" and then later as a teenager. I don't remember having a lot of interest in the things of faith until my freshman year of college. It was at this point that I found myself longing to know more about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Bible. But there were many sins that I rationalized and continued to embrace wholeheartedly. I had no sense of true surrender to the commands of Christ to turn from sin and follow Him.

Of course, I don't believe a Christian is ever free from sin in this life. But I have become convinced that one of the marks of true conversion is a hatred of sin and an inward warfare to love truth, purity and holiness because it is only through holiness that anyone sees the Lord- Hebrews 12:14. JC Ryle and Jonathan Edwards both had a big impact on my understanding of the salvation process.

In Religious Affections, Edwards describes the conversion/salvation process as occuring in three steps:

1. Enlightenment- God starts to draw the thoughts of men/women towards Him. We start to become aware of spiritual things.
2. Awakening- at this point, we develop a conviction that we are sinners and need a Savior- Christ. Many modern churches teach that this is the point of salvation. A person confesses their need for Christ and then makes a public commitment to Him.
3. Conversion- Edwards taught- rightfully so in my view- that a person is not saved until they surrender their hearts completely to Christ. This means a lifelong effort to make progress in becoming more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled- Galatians 5:22-23. It means to love God and His revelation. And to hate sin and all of its destructiveness that it causes this world.

JC Ryle taught a similar understanding of salvation. Ryle explains in Holiness that we must be born again- regenerated- by God the Father. We must have our sins forgiven by Christ- justified. And we must strive for holiness- sanctification- through the power of the Holy Spirit. In my own experience, this actual conversion process where I desired to follow Christ and actively declare war on my greed, gluttony, pride, sexual lust and apathy to name a few did not occur until well after I had made a public profession to accept Christ.

Once again, I want to emphasize that no works could ever earn salvation. Salvation is an unmerited gift that I owe only to the radical grace of God. I also continue to sin, but I now am engaged in a warfare against sin and was not before conversion. Would I have gone to heaven if I died before surrendering my life to Christ in my early 30s? I believe most churches today would have thought so. I attended Bible studies, gave money to the church and even showed some signs of commitment. But ultimately my life was a contradiction to the gospel and I was a miserable reflection of Christ for many of those years. According to the word of God, I was still in a lost state. Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven.." Matthew 7:21.

If you are confused about whether you have become converted, I urge you to read Holiness by JC Ryle and Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. They will lay a clear, scriptural path on what the Bible teaches about salvation.

For the Glory of Christ,

Ashley Hodge

Need for grace and peace in stewardship struggle

Nothing in life worthwhile comes easy. Human experience points to this fact every day. Whether it is getting in shape, building a business, obtaining a college degree or daily working on a difficult relationship, hard word is a necessary component. My prayer to God every day is to hold me close and don't allow me to stray from Him.

The life of stewardship doesn't happen overnight. It is a long, tedious process. The apostle Paul starts most of his letters in the New Testament with the greeting- grace and peace to you. This is not some salutation with little deeper meaning like- hello. Our most desperate needs are for grace and peace.

We need grace because we have sinned greatly against God. I had a week where I experienced a lot of deep regret over my past. Specifically for a time in my life from 20- 30 years old where I confessed Christ with my mouth but denied Him with my actions. I hurt a lot of people with my selfish, sinful ways. I desperately need the grace of God given through the life, death and resurrection of Christ. I know that I will never receive God's approval for living a good, decent life. My only appeal to Him is based on the righteousness of Christ and what He has done for me.

Paul- a murderer of Christians before conversion- understood this need for daily grace. Philippians 3:13-14, "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." What is our most desperate need? Grace- the unmerited favor/love of God displayed in Christ.

We also need peace. Inwardly each of us has a conscience. God has implanted this in our souls. Eclessiastes 3:11 tells us that God has put eternity in our hearts. When we live in a way that is contrary to the ways of God, we will never experience inner peace. Peace is only possible when we submit ourselves daily to Christ and strive for holiness- Hebrews 12:14.

All of us love to be on our own gods by nature. We are naturally selfish and rebellious. We need the peace of God to restore us to our rightful design as reflectors of God's glory. I need to be reminded daily that my opinions are not always right. I am filled with anxiety, anger and self-righteousness on a daily basis. I need the peace of God.

Ephesians 2 is a beautiful description of our need for grace and peace. Let me highly recommend a series of books if you are interested in studying what many theology scholars believe is the best summary of sound Christian doctrine in the New Testament- Ephesians. I have been using Martyn Lloyd Jones set called the Exposition of Ephesians. It is a verse by verse explanation of Ephesians. This eight book set can currently be purchased at christianbook.com for around $50.

Grace and Peace,

Ashley Hodge

Reflections on West Point

I traveled to New York City with some friends from Baylor to hang out in New York and attend the Baylor versus Army football game this past weekend. I was impressed with what I witnessed at West Point- one of the most scenic campuses in America. I came away from the trip reflecting on submission.

Most people hate to submit to anything- authority, spouses and each other. We are born rebels and most die rebels. Rebellion is glorified in our culture. I want to differentiate between submission and conformity. Conformity to peer pressure and the crowed is usually motivated by fear. What would happen if I am different? Would I still be liked if others view me as odd? These are questions that go through the head of someone deciding to conform or not. Romans 12:2 teaches, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect."

Submission is usually voluntary. Submitting is powerful and humble. It is preferring others over self. Ephesians 5:21, "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." I have been fortunate to take Greek and Hebrew classes from Elliott Greene- a humble, godly man. He emphasizes continually that we need to love the word submit. Submitting to God is the highest of all actions. What does this have to do with West Point?

It was refreshing to be at a place where submission is practiced daily. I am sure some of those cadets are anxious for the day when they will be giving orders instead of taking them. But as I overheard them talking to fans at the game, it always "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am". Their respect for God, country and others was evident.

Football games give them one of a few opportunities to cut loose during the week. But it is controlled fun. I was encouraged by what I saw at West Point. As future leaders of our country, it is refreshing to see submission applied in the tradition of past West Point graduates Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and more recently Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf.

At the root of stewardship is a burning desire to submit to God and to allow Him to use us for whatever purposes He may have. Teddy Roosevelt called submission the Micah Mandate. Micah 6:8, "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

Ashley Hodge

Christian unity

This is off the topic of stewardship, but is fresh on my mind. I have spent some time recently in the book of Ephesians. God seems to be showing me through His Word, classes that I have taken at Westminster Theological Seminary and experience with others the importance of Christian unity. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:3, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

Don't misunderstand me. I believe there are some issues worth fighting for. Christians throughout history have called these items dogma. These are areas that the Scriptures speak loud and clear on. Such as:

1. God is the Creator of all things.
2. All of creation is affected by the curse of sin and is in need of redemption.
3. Jesus Christ is God's plan for the redemption of creation from the beginning.
4. Christ will return to this earth to redeem mankind and all creation and establish His kingdom.

The Scriptures declare that Christ is our only hope of glory- Colossians 1:27. I can never deviate from this and must put my stake in the ground and fight for these truths. But there are a host of other issues that Christians have been fighting each other on for years. These issues fall under the categories of doctrine and opinion.

Doctrine includes some important areas- predestination versus free will; infant baptism versus believer's baptism; theories on the end times- dispensationalism, premillenialism, amillenialism and postmillenialism- to name a few. But the Scriptures are not 100% clear on any of these debates. We see these things through a glass darkly but one day they will fully known- I Corinthians 13:12.

Opinion includes areas that the Scriptures are silent about- whether to use guitars in worship; dress formal or casual for church; whether sermons should be expository or topical. All of us who claim the name of Christ should be careful over what we make a big deal over. We need to be constantly reminded of Paul word's, "Make every effort to maintain unity through the bond of peace."

A wise person once said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." The gospel needs to be preached and lived to a cynical world. I urge us all to not allow pride or the divisive schemes of our spiritual enemies to distract us from this focus.

Ashley Hodge

Hurricane Katrina

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I did something I normally don't do. I watched and listened to a lot of news. My heart breaks for the families of this natural disaster. I felt disgust that some evil men and women used the hurricane to commit acts of lawlessness.

As I listened to comments about why God allowed this hurricane to happen- which varied based on religious, political and moral hot buttons. Some reasoned that God allowed Katrina because the United States was not serious about global warming. Others thought God's hand of judgment was on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast for the proliferation of immorality abundant in the Big Easy.

I was reminded of an excellent article that appeared in World Magazine right after the deadly tsunami hit the Far East. The article was written by John Piper and can be accessed here: http://www.worldmag.com/johnpiper/piper.cfm?id=17445

Piper reminds us not to ask the why of God's judgments. But instead what do we do now? Jesus taught us in Luke 13:1-5 that disasters are to lead us not to I told you so. But rather to repentance.

Luke 13:1-5: 1Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Repentance for sin is our daily need. We need the mercy of God to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Tragedy and prosperity should both drive us to our knees in expectation that God is merciful and holy. All tragedy is just a glimpse of God's wrath that is coming on all sin. Prosperity is just a glimpse of God's goodness to those who love Christ with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength.

Christians should also be driven to help the families of hurricane Katrina through prayer, care and share. The needs for these families will be enormous. Some words of caution are in order though. Not every charity will steward the assets in the same way. Christians need to be wise in how they give. http://ministrywatch.com has a list of charities that are reputable and effective with distributing funds to the needy.

For example, it was well documented after 9-11 that the Salvation Army was more effective in distributing assets to the needs than the Red Cross: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001506

I am challenged by this tragedy as I was by 9-11 and the Tsunami to be even more vigilant about excelling at areas of life stewardship. There may come a time when each of us is called to help a friend, family member or stranger. Those who are debt-free, live low maintenance life styles and have savings are in the best position to help.

May God bless this country,

Ashley Hodge

Crown Financial Ministries

One of the best studies on stewardship is the small group study from Crown Financial Minstries. Crown is active in many local churches around the world. The aim of the organization is to train and equip Christians to become better stewards of the resources that God entrusts to us.

I was introduced to Crown by a client and friend- Mark Barfield. After taking the class, I quickly realized that although I had years of training in financial planning matters, I was poorly equipped in stewardship matters from a biblical perspective. Since taking that class years ago, I have led Crown small group studies throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area and have learned a great deal through constant exposure to this excellent material.

The ten week small group study focuses on what the Bible teaches about money and possessions. I have witnessed many great life changes among the students that I have been fortunate to lead through this study. I have seen marriages strengthened, debt drastically reduced and/or eliminated, generous givers raised up and many other changes towards excelling at whole life stewardship goals- better use of time, finances, health and abilities.

If you have not been through a Crown study and would like to learn more about it or where you can connect to a local church that offers this program, you can visit http://crown.org or email me at ashleyhodge@yahoo.com

Ashley Hodge