This complete guide to giving and stewardship sheds new light on solid financial resources, one of the 12 keys to building an effective church. Here is a practical plan for the growth and development of giving and stewardship in your congregation, complete with action worksheets that advance the progress of the plan over four years.

The goal of this book, says author Charles Lane, is to perform a dramatic rescue of stewardship, freeing it from any connection whatsoever to "paying the bills." When the Bible talks about stewardship it almost always talks about the intimate connection between how a person handles financial matters and that person's relationship with God. Stewardship is an intensely spiritual matter that lies close to a disciple's relationship with Jesus.The book is designed especially for use in congregational planning and study. Congregational stewardship leaders will come back to three foundational verbs ? ask, thank, tell ? over and over as they help individuals experience the joy of giving generously. The author makes the convincing case that there is little in life today that can help a disciple grow in relationship with Jesus more than a solid intentional biblical stewardship.

An Ethiopian and an American discuss stewardship, an attitude and a practice taught in the Bible regarding all of one's possessions—time, money, and abilities. Does stewardship have a place in our world? If so, why? Stewardship is an attitude and practice taught in the Bible regarding all of one's possessions -- time, money, abilities. But does stewardship have a place in our world? If so, why? This book brings together two voices from two vastly different parts of the world to talk about the subject. Bedru Hussein is from Ethiopia; Lynn Miller from the United States. They are both Christian leaders, but their exposure to and experiences with stewardship couldn't be at greater extremes. Their cultures' standards of living, income levels, frameworks, and histories are wildly different. Naturally, their settings and circumstances affect what they think the Old and New Testaments say about this issue. This book is for those Christians who are hearing for the first time that their resources, whatever their size, do not ultimately belong to them. The book is for those Christians who have heard that theme too often, who are exhausted by hearing that they have too much. A group of stories concludes the book. They are life experiences from churches and individuals (from Belize, Indonesia, Paraguay, Ethiopia, and the U.S.) and show candidly how stewardship is practiced in these particular places today.

In Kingdom Stewardship, Dr. Tony Evans inspires you to broaden your perspective of Christian stewardship. In this encouraging and challenging book, you will learn that stewardship includes how you manage all that God has given you—your time, your talents, and your treasures—to advance God’s kingdom and bring Him glory. While many stewardship books focus on managing financial resources, Tony Evans says that your finances are one small part of a much bigger calling. He teaches that God owns all things, and you are the manager of His assets. When you bring your entire life into alignment under God, you will be blessed with purpose and the abundant life that comes from living by God’s eternal principles.

The Guide You Need to Read Theology Well. Too many Christians avoid reading theology for fear they won't understand it or out of a misconception that it's only meant for the academic elite. Similarly, students in introductory theology classes can feel overwhelmed by the concepts and terminology they encounter. Yet theology can be read with enjoyment and discernment. In How to Read Theology for All Its Worth, professor, author, and devoted reader Karin Stetina introduces students to the basic skills of intelligent reading, applied especially to theological works. Anyone who'd like to read theology well, whether a formal student or interested layperson, will benefit from the simple steps Stetina outlines. Steps include: Identifying genre Becoming acquainted with the author and the context out of which he or she wrote Determining a thesis and main arguments How to Read Theology for All Its Worth will equip readers not only to understand theology but also to insightfully engage authors' ideas. With the basic tools in hand, everyone can read with confidence and enjoy "conversations" with theological works.

Best-selling author Andrew Wommack shares his personal story of when he was young and strapped financially. God taught him how to have abundance in the area of finances. Andrew discusses the influence of money in our lives and how it is very real. He teaches that Jesus taught more about managing resources than He did on prayer or even faith. He exposes the manipulation that sometimes goes on with Christian ministers and how you can be immune from it. Andrew Wommack's message is clear that even though there are abuses in the body of Christ regarding money, that you can still benefit from the truths in God s Word about finances. He believes that by fixing your heart that you deal with the root cause of financial situations and then money will take care of itself. Once your heart is right, using wisdom in how you spend your money comes naturally.

Hearing a young attorney speak of the faith-based reasons for which he had just made a substantial monetary gift to a community youth center, Clif Christopher asked the speaker if he would consider making a similar contribution to the congregation of which he was an active member. "Lord no, they wouldn't know what to do with it" was the answer. That, in a nutshell, describes the problem churches are facing in their stewardship efforts, says Christopher. Unlike leading nonprofit agencies and institutions, we too often fail to convince potential givers that their gifts will have impact and significance. In this book, Christopher lays out the main reasons for this failure to capture the imagination of potential givers, including our frequent failure simply to ask. Written with the needs of pastors and stewardship teams in mind, Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate provides immediate, practical guidance to all who seek to help God’s people be better stewards of their resources.