1. Jesus Gives Purpose to Our Giving. “From the time we were very young,” says Rajiv, “the value of helping others was instilled into me from my family. I was raised as a Buddhist in Sri Lanka.” Rajiv continued, “My family there is very philanthropic. My great grandfather donated schools, built the biggest public maternity hospital and donated it to the government.” Rajiv shared that his mother was involved in the ‘Friend in Need Society,’ which began the Jaipur Foot Program to provide low-cost artificial limbs. Rajiv explains, “They needed […]
Category Archives: Church
1. Funerals Remind Us that It’s Not Ours. “I keep coming back to this: He owns everything,” says Francisco. “If I think that by any measure I own it, I am hallucinating. I live in a very violent country and I’m part of a pastoral team at our church. We go to funerals all the time. I can’t remember going to a funeral as a kid. The first one I think was being 12 or 14. I never went to funerals. Now we go all the time. And, really, you […]
1. Giving to God Is an Honor. “When I was about seven years old, I was lying in bed,” says Carl, “and I was thinking. I wasn’t in a Christian family, but I remember thinking ‘If I make a lot of money, I’d take a third, give a third to God, and a third to the poor.” Carl found God as a teenager and when he moved to Sydney as an adult, connected with Hillsong Church. His career took him from industrial chemistry into financial services and then into mortgage […]
Many Churches talk about Stewardship. Few really invest in it. what can your church learn from leading churches? Central Christian Church in Phoenix Arizona, loves stewardship so much that, 17 years ago, they hired Dave Briggs to lead their efforts as Stewardship Pastor. Dave has walked with thousands of givers across the church’s several campuses. Over this series of posts, Dave answers questions about what God has taught him about helping a church grow in stewardship and generosity. An Attitude of Generosity Dave has found that people often use the […]
Any time spent with close friends looking at Scripture together to learn about God’s heart for generosity is time well spent! Here are a few recommendations….
“Does giving begin after tithing ten percent to my local church? Or is that generosity as well?” – Ameke, Ethiopia
We received this question last month and asked our friend, Dr. Sung Wook Chung, to share his thoughts.
Danie Vermeulen from South Africa answers this question: “I got a text from my pastor asking for money for personal support of one of our church staff. Then an email went out to parents of children in our youth program asking them to contribute to get new carpet for the youth pastor—and the sale on carpet ends tomorrow. Am I wrong to be troubled by these requests?”
“The JOG is something I’d never forget in a hurry. It really touched my heart and left me asking the question. How can I encourage generosity in my church? Because I feel more people need to hear this and get affected as I was.” — Candace from Nigeria