Archives For Giving

Investing In God’s Kingdom Like It’s Yours

April 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

Do you invest in God’s Kingdom like you invest in yours? Really the ideal mindset is a one kingdom mindset, where you understand everything comes from God and is God’s. But this little test might help us see if we have that singular mindset or if we really do have two kingdom’s – ours and God’s.

Many pastors and Christians have a good understanding of finances, savings, and planning for retirement.  Rightfully so, we are getting and giving a lot of good financial advice, and many of us have growing 401k or 403b accounts.  And here’s the typical approach we take with these accounts:

1.  Our investment is consistent – we invest every time we get paid.

2. Our investment is first – it normally comes directly and immediately out of the check.

3.  It is measured – we have chosen a percentage in advance that is based on a strategy.

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Planning a Capital Campaign

April 4, 2011 — 2 Comments

I love strategic thinking.  In fact, when you combine that with my competitiveness then you have a dangerous mix for a “Settlers of Catan” game.  Last week, David Messner and myself took the time to map out a campaign that is launching this fall. It was so much fun to see the ideas all charted out and arranged.  (This go around we decided to go old school with paper and markers instead of using mind mapping software)

One of my favorite parts of working with churches is taking the big picture and breaking it down smaller action steps.  This morning I was meeting with Kregg Hood, Senior Vice President of Stewardship and Loans here at AG Financial, and we were noting how there are easily over 100 action steps leading up to the launch of a campaign.  And that doesn’t even include the follow-up phase.  Sometimes a vision can be overwhelming, but when you get it all on paper then people can begin to see how, with God’s help, this might actually happen.    So what are some things to consider when planning a capital campaign?  Here are some things I would suggest:

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Pastor – What are you sowing?

March 30, 2011 — Leave a comment


I think most pastors have seen the law of sowing and reaping at work in the lives of people who make up their church.  Most pastors probably have memorized

2 Corinthians 9:6
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

And

Galatians 6:7-9

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

But I wonder if sometimes there’s a disconnect in our preaching of these verses and what our organizations and we personally actually practice. Consider this, if we feel that our churches are not as generous as what we observe in scripture, could it be because as pastors we are not being as generous as we ought with the seed we are sowing.

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Seven Deadly Sins of Christian Fund Raising

March 1, 2011 — Leave a comment

Scott Rodin, author of “The Sower,” has a great list of what NOT to do when it comes to fund raising. In his list of the Seven Deadly Sins of Christian Fund Raising, #4 really stood out to me – The Unwillingness to Invest the Time. I think this is a major trap for pastors when it comes to building a culture of generosity. But look why Scott says leaders must be willing to invest the time:

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