Autumn Joy toddled across the room and stood at the edge of my laptop-centered view. I was in task mode, typing away in my living room recliner. With Shirley Temple curls bouncing around her face, my eighteen-month-old daughter looked up at me. I looked at her. Then she handed me a Plastic Donut from her kitchen play set.

So I put the Donut up to my mouth and said with great animation, “Yuuum, ... read full post

If the only money subject you preach on is the tithe, you are robing your church of spiritual truth and growth. In fact, if you look at the teachings of Jesus, He taught extensively about money while only mentioning the tithe in passing. As Jesus taught, He was concerned about the spiritual implications of money far more than He was the religious rules of giving.

Unfortunately, many pastors and teachers ... read full post

If God does not own your wallet, He does not have your heart. Jesus made that statement abundantly clear when He said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

So, what does that mean for pastors and church leaders? First of all, it means that the way money is discussed in your church is vital to the spiritual health of your people. Second, it means that as a pastor, you will ... read full post

On December 5, 1828 “Old Hickory” became the President of the United States.* This old dude was like the John Wayne of his day. Reportedly, he wasn’t afraid to fight in duels and even fatally wounded some of his opponents. In spite of that (or maybe because of that) he was elected as our 7th president.

That same year, a small group of believers formed a new church just outside of ... read full post

One of the key concepts we teach at GenerousChurch was first stated by Andy Stanley as a challenge to church leaders way back in 2004 at a conference at North Point. Andy asked this question:

“When it comes to your people’s finances do they know what you want FOR them or do they just know what you want FROM them?”

That’s a powerful question for those of us in church leadership ... read full post

“Nearly 95% of the average church’s ministries are for its members alone.”

In 2006, Thom Rainer published that statistic to show us that our churches are not really engaging our communities. In other words, we are basically throwing parties for ourselves. We are working so hard to engage the people in our congregations that we have forgotten about the neighborhoods surrounding our churches. ... read full post

Recently, GenerousChurch spent some time with Chip Ingram discussing the way that generosity is connected to relationships. Here are three and a half questions from that interview:

Q1: Chip, you recently released a new book called The Genius of Generosity. From the beginning of the book, you tell the story of your relationship with John Saville and indicate that generosity is what created this unique ... read full post  |  1 comments

Churches cannot wait on financial windfalls to become generous. Do you regularly find a $100 bill in your coat pocket or in a pair of jeans that you haven’t worn for a few weeks? Does the bank ever make an error in your favor? Have you ever received an inheritance from a long-lost relative or discovered a money tree in your backyard? Ok, so that’s a little ridiculous. (But, if you have, I want to ... read full post

What do Bill Gates and Rick Warren have in common? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but these guys actually have a lot in common. They are both founders of large organizations; they live on the West Coast; they both appeared on a single episode of Meet the Press (in November, 2009), they both have bad hair days; they care about the plight of Africa; they are admired by leaders in all spectrums of business ... read full post

“The Great Recovery is a grassroots movement spread by people who are tired of looking to Washington for answers. The truth is that the government can’t fix this economy. It’ll be restored one ... read full post  |  1 comments