Articles for tag: Generosity

November 24, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Why Weren”t They More Thankful? (Part 2)

By Mark A. Taylor As we bustle through Thanksgiving with our eyes on Christmas, many of us Americans are counting the cost of our Christmas gift-giving. “Please bring a $25 item for the gift exchange.” “How much does your brother spend on us for Christmas?” “What will we give Sue and Bill? I can”t remember what they gave us last year.” The thread through most of this is a concern to “stay even,” a compulsion coming largely from pride (we don”t want to be seen as cheap) and selfishness (we have our own expenses, after all; we can”t let this

October 13, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Calculating the Right Answer

By Mark A. Taylor “You don”t own your possessions. Your possessions own you.” Not true for you, you say? Well, try this experiment. Think about your time: For one month keep a running diary of every minute you spend fueling your car, washing your car, or taking your car to the garage. Then add time spent cleaning the house, performing maintenance at the house, decorating, replacing broken appliances, or doing yard work To this log, add any time you”ve spent purchasing, repairing, or maintaining other favorite possessions: electronics, computers, smartphones, and the like. And then add time spent shopping for

August 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Lesson for August 30, 2015: A Plea to Return to God (Malachi 3:1-12; Matthew 7:12)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the August 23 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  During the past three months we have seen how various Old Testament prophets took God”s demand for justice to the people. We have considered Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. Though their careers spanned several hundred years, they preached a single message: the nation”s relationship to God called for faith and obedience. When the prophet Malachi came on the

July 27, 2015

Christian Standard

Jon Weatherly’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Jon Weatherly, professor of New Testament and dean of the School of Bible and Theology, Johnson University, Knoxville, Tennessee. ________ When I enrolled as a student at Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University, Roy H. Mays III, then a young staff member, became a vital mentor to me, and he remained so long after I graduated. Roy lived with an exceptional generosity of mind and heart.

December 30, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

New Steps and a New Gift

By Mark A. Taylor Every year at Christmastime I look for a way to give something to someone who can”t or won”t give me anything in return. Usually this means an extra offering to a favorite mission, a check written to a local shelter, or gifts purchased for our church”s project to “provide Christmas” for needy children. I do this because it”s always seemed to me that exchanged gifts are trades, not really gifts. They”re fun, and they can be a good part of office or family celebrations. But true generosity doesn”t happen with rules about dollar limits or gift

August 25, 2014

Christian Standard

Lesson for August 31, 2014: Generosity in the Midst of Poverty (2 Corinthians 8, 9)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the August 24 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  Despite the problems noted in 1 Corinthians (such as division, pride, and immorality), the church had many good qualities. Generous giving, however, was an area in which they needed to improve. In today”s text Paul used various appeals to encourage them to grow in generosity.   An Example 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 Paul introduced a new subject in this letter by saying,

June 29, 2014

Christian Standard

A Call to Sacrifice

By Jennifer Johnson The 25 Group is only a few months old, but its goal is ambitious: to leverage the wealth of American Christians to fund kingdom work around the world. “It”s crowdsourcing generosity,” says executive director Titus Benton, who also serves as student pastor at Current: A Christian Church in Katy, Texas. “Most people can”t give $20,000 and single-handedly fund an entire project, but a bunch of people each giving $25 a month can make a huge difference.” The challenge to give $25 ties in nicely with the nonprofit”s name, a reference to Matthew 25; the six needs mentioned

February 11, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Living with Open Hands

By Mark A. Taylor The topic was consumerism, and I was ready with my questions for the three CHRISTIAN STANDARD writers who formed the panel at our Beyond the Standard BlogTalkRadio program last month. But soon they took the conversation much deeper than my concerns about defining wealth and deciding how much of our money we should give away. “Consumerism is a byproduct of bad thinking,” said E.G. “Jay” Link, head of Stewardship Ministries based in Mooresville, Indiana. “You can”t resolve the big issues of life simply by resolving to spend less. The basic issue is: I own nothing.” Link

January 4, 2014

Christian Standard

Living on Less

By E.G. “Jay” Link What does God want us to do with all he”s given us, especially when that is so much more than we need? Deciding on the answer to that question requires some changes in how we view and how we use what we have. Recently I received an e-mail with the subject line, “You can live on less when you have more to live for.” This profound and thought-provoking statement so struck me that I literally stopped my expeditious handling of all my e-mails and just pondered it. This is not a statement about an involuntary “belt-tightening”;

January 3, 2014

Christian Standard

Less Is More: A Suburban Mom Resists Consumer Culture to Increase Her Generosity

By Janet McMahon “I”ve been thinking we should give away our Yukon.” My husband spoke these words early on a Saturday morning. My heart sank and soared at the same time. We had been driving that GMC Yukon for the last eight years. I loved that Yukon, but the truth is, we no longer needed a vehicle that big. With two of our three kids grown and mostly out of the house, we rarely needed a vehicle that could transport all five of us at the same time. Sell it, yes, but give it away, now that was an idea

December 8, 2013

Christian Standard

The Ironic Opportunity of Christmas

By Ethan Magness For centuries, church leaders have been creatively using the cultural opportunities available to them to proclaim the gospel and the reign of the kingdom of God. Most of our current Christmas traditions developed in this way. Cultural practices (many pagan in origin) were adapted and redeveloped in the context of celebration of Christ”s birth. In fact, although the precise history is murky, it is likely the date of the celebration itself was chosen to co-opt the ancient celebration of the sun that occurred at the winter solstice. These opportunities to redeem the culture around us and focus

July 3, 2013

Christian Standard

40 Under 40: Jeremy Brown

JEREMY BROWN Lead pastor, Journey Church, Medina, Tennessee You need spend only a little time with Jeremy to see he is an influencer. He has charisma and witty charm that makes him an easy guy to be around. But he stands out as a leader because of his generosity and vision. Many leaders in their later years begin to mentor others and look to leave a legacy; Jeremy is doing that naturally in his 30s. He is very generous with his time, willing to coach peers and the next round of church planters. Jeremy leaves a footprint of encouragement with

March 1, 2013

Christian Standard

Overwhelm Them with Honor, Appreciation, and Love

By R. Paige Mathews You”re kidding me! This can”t be true! I couldn”t believe who was requesting help. Just a few years ago he was a highly visible church leader; in fact, his signature might be on my ordination certificate! His story: In 1956 we began serving as missionaries on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. We had three children but one infant son passed away while there. My wife also died in the Philippines after receiving an injection that was mistakenly 20 times stronger than prescribed. I returned to the United States with my two small children. After

January 15, 2013

Christian Standard

Developing the Youngest Disciples

By Teresa Welch Discipleship””following after Christ””is an expectation for every believer. But sometimes we forget that discipleship can””and often should””begin during childhood. I recently enjoyed spending time with “my kids,” who were part of the children”s ministry I led prior to joining the faculty at Emmanuel Christian Seminary. As with all of my former kids, I was curious to find out about their lives, as I felt responsibility for their continued spiritual formation. During my visit with them, it became apparent what I see in their lives now is directly connected to the time I was with them and their

September 11, 2012

Christian Standard

Giving It Away

By Darrel Rowland Mounting a successful fund-raising drive is challenging enough for any church, especially in these difficult economic times. But two churches not only carried out smashing one-day giving campaigns earlier this year, they turned around and gave it away””all $176,000 of it. In fact, most of the money went to places not even associated with the church. Leaders of both churches say your congregation should try it, too. Launched in 2005, Forefront Church in Manhattan began an annual giving event called Celebration Generosity in 2009. That first year, members chipped in about $27,000 for various social service organizations

September 10, 2012

Christian Standard

Generous Churches

By Kent E. Fillinger “Generosity needs to be a thread woven through the fabric of the entire congregation,” said Leadership Network development director Chris Willard, “because generosity is a cultural issue.” Here”s how four churches are creating a culture of generosity among their members.  In their new book, Contagious Generosity: Creating a Culture of Giving in Your Church, Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard define generosity as “a lifestyle in which we share all that we have, are and ever will become as a demonstration of God”s love and a response to God”s grace.” Willard is the director of generosity initiatives

September 8, 2012

Christian Standard

Giving Up!

By Alan Ahlgrim Picture this: Your church launches a new campus with a state-of-the-art, 70,000-square-foot building on 30 acres””just before the economy implodes in the greatest recession most of us have experienced. Meanwhile you are fighting for the church”s life in a lawsuit that costs you $2 million to win. This creates a loss of momentum that results in staff reductions and the departure of many members to another congregation nearby. What do you do in such a situation? Alan Ahlgrim, pastor of Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Colorado, faced all those challenges and more. As he shares in this

July 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Barnabas Day

By Tyler Edwards It”s no secret in the world of restaurant employees that Sunday morning is the worst shift. The problem is not missing church, it”s serving the people who went to church. Sunday morning consistently boasts the rudest, most demanding, least patient, and cheapest people.1 I once heard a waiter say, “When I work Sundays and I see a group bow their heads to pray, I know I can kiss my tip good-bye.” Having been a server for five years, I can say these critics have a point. I”m embarrassed that we, “the church crowd,” have earned this reputation.

December 26, 2011

Christian Standard

The Bible vs. Culture: What Shapes Our Christianity?

By Karen Rees I almost got into an argument at a Christmas party. The party was an activity of a local Evangelical women”s Bible study. The group includes women from a number of different, mostly Asian, countries. On this particular occasion we had a visiting woman speaker fresh from the United States. She had a good talk, but her Scripture application was from an American worldview. I was the only other American there. In the discussion time, I said that different cultures emphasize the verses that best match their cultural values. As an example, I mentioned that, with regard to

September 12, 2011

Christian Standard

Lesson for Sept. 18, 2011: Teaching Values (Proverbs 10:1″“15:33)

This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for September 18) is written by Bruce Stoker, education minister with Memorial Church of Christ in Livonia, Michigan. ____________ Teaching Values (Proverbs 10:1–15:33) By Bruce Stoker As a Boy Scout, I learned orienteering skills for traveling through the wilderness safely and efficiently using a map and compass. We practiced our skills during many meetings and throughout our hometown, and eventually we decided we could handle a cross-country backpacking trip. So we plotted our destination, grabbed a topographical map and our compasses, and headed out for a weekend of hiking without trails.

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