Generous Living

A Generous Life 

Of course we experience blessings in this life. This is a reflection of God’s amazing grace. But generosity today will also translate into eternal rewards. “Great is your reward in heaven,” Luke 6:23 says. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,” He says in Matthew 6:19-20. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Our message to major donors can be clear and compelling: Here and in eternity, God’s nature is to be a rewarder. He meets our needs in this life, He blesses the generous giver, and He promises eternal rewards. “Give, and it will be given to you,” Jesus famously declares in Luke 6:38. “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He’s not promising instant prosperity; God is committed to not letting us “run out” or go without as the result of giving. As we become givers, He ensures that we will have more coming in, more available to give.

* Like what you just read and want to learn more? Check out, More Than Money: The Truth About High-Capacity Givers.

Clear Communication with Donors / Partners

Rohit Bhargava has a new book out called Likeonomics: The unexpected truth behind earning trust, influencing behavior and inspiring action.

Here are his tips on telling the truth for good.

1. Tell the truth about yourself:  “Help connect donors and supporters with the REAL PEOPLE behind the work that the organization does.  Nonprofits typically think in terms of showing the real people who are helped, but not the people doing the helping.  The iPhone has two types of camera - the one that you point outwards and the one that you can point at yourself.  We need to get better at using the second one,” he says. 

2. Tell the truth about what you need: “Get better about sharing the truth behind what really matters and what really doesn’t,” he says.  “For example, the Salvation Army can do a great job of getting people to donate all kinds of clothes, but during the summer they generally have more need for summer clothes, and in the winter it’s the opposite.  Why not tell people that?  You won’t, of course, turn down any donations.  But just be making your real needs more obvious, you might encourage people to donate more.

Great advice.  Being truthful is hard.  Bhargava says the truth is so often ugly, inconvenient, hard to see and it makes you vulnerable.  But don’t be afraid of it.

Ministry and Marketing Alignment

Partnering Ministry and Marketing - being sure that communication is authentic, and ministry driven. As ministers, we need to keep our marketing efforts intimately intertwined with our ministry. They are not separate things. They must not be — because treating ministry and marketing as separate entities is laden with risk. In fact, as time goes by, if ministry and marketing are separate things, they actually become less and less like each other. By the time Jesus made that major scene at the temple, the “marketing guys” had lost sight of the ministry they had set out to enable. Now they were consumed with the enabling rather than the ministry itself. Jesus could see into their hearts, and what He saw was that they were no longer ministering, in their own way, alongside the priests; instead, they became exclusively “marketers” with only money on their minds. Our work with donors — communicating, inspiring, persuading, everything — needs to grow directly out of the ministry itself. Knights of the Middle Ages, during the Crusades, were sometimes baptized into Christianity — but they typically held their swords out of the baptismal waters. Why? It was a technicality. They intended to use their swords for destruction, and didn’t want to place them under God’s control. Today, our pocketbooks are our swords — and we hold them out of the baptismal waters as well. We want our money to be somehow beyond God’s control. Too often, perhaps, we think and talk about donors as if they own the money, when in fact we know that it’s God’s money. Furthermore, we are not calling the donor to an activity that will be harmful for him, but rather, in God’s economy, helpful — indeed, it can be transformational!

* Like what you just read and want to learn more? Check out, More Than Money: The Truth About High-Capacity Givers.

Little is MUCH when God is in it!

This week, I will revel in whatever role God assigns me to play.

The greatest impact you make may be the result of the smallest action you take. 

The New York City crime rate famously dropped by an astonishing two-thirds after Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his police commissioner implemented a neighborhood quality plan. They cover up the graffiti as quickly as it goes up, they fix windows as quickly as they break, they replace street lights as quickly as they go out. The theory is that when people see that people in power care about the smallest things, they will assume that they care about the big things. Part of the signal that criminals are looking for, without necessarily even realizing it, is the signal that says This is a place where the people in power aren’t paying much attention. I can commit my crime here and get away with it. Criminals have shied away from the areas where this theory has been implemented, and the crime rate has plummeted.

Little things make a big difference. A little effort brings about big results. A warm response to someone who comes to my door can end up shaping that person’s life for eternity. My willingness to invest a couple hours a week in some supposedly insignificant ministry effort can change forever the life of someone touched by that ministry. Dedicating myself to responding with Christlike compassion to someone (who just basically annoys the living daylights out of me) can give that person a taste of God’s love unlike anything they’ve ever experienced; and that experience can change not only them, but me, in a way I never imagined.

In Matthew 13:31,32, Jesus said, Don’t get hung up on big, high-profile ministries. God’s real work in the world is in the little things. Here’s how he put it:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”

It doesn’t take a huge effort. A small effort makes a big difference. The smallest gift, given in Christ’s name, makes a huge impact for the Kingdom. Not just in others. But in me.

If we can catch this vision for what Jesus wants to do in us, it will revolutionize our lives and ministries. If we can honestly say to God, “Hey, whether it’s big or small, glamorous or plain, I want to be involved however you want me involved — I am sold out to you” — our “misery index” will go way, way down. And our “joy index” will go up!

My Prayer for the Next Seven Days... God, I want to serve brilliantly wherever you put me. Help me not to judge the impact I would expect from my effort, but simply to give my all to the task you have placed before me to accomplish. Amen.



1 Corinthians 1:27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Our Fight Against Sin

 I found these six ways of minimizing sin to be very instructive regarding gospel-centered sanctification/mortification of sin. Take a moment and examine your fight against sin, the ways you are prone to minimize sin, and develop an intentional strategy to renounce them.  Remember, resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Be authentic with others, making the Arena section of your life the large and dominant section.

 

Defending

I find it difficult to receive feedback about weaknesses or sin. When confronted, my tendency is to explain things away, talk about my successes, or to justify my decisions. As a result, I rarely have conversations about difficult things in my life.

Pretending

I strive to keep up appearances, maintain a respectable image. My behavior, to some degree, is driven by what I think others think of me. I also do not like to think reflectively about my life. As a result, not very many people know the real me (I may not even know the real me).

Hiding

I tend to conceal as much as I can about my life, especially the “bad stuff”. This is different than pretending in that pretending is about impressing. Hiding is more about shame. I don’t think people will accept the real me.

Blaming

I am quick to blame others for sin or circumstances. I have a difficult time “owning” my contributions to sin or conflict. There is an element of pride that assumes it’s not my fault AND/OR an element of fear of rejection if it is my fault.

Minimizing

I tend to downplay sin or circumstances in my life, as if they are “normal” or “not that bad. As a result, things often don’t get the attention they deserve, and have a way of mounting up to the point of being overwhelming.

Exaggerating

I tend to think (and talk) more highly of myself than I ought to. I make things (good and bad) out to be much bigger than they are (usually to get attention). As a result, things often get more attention than they deserve, and have a way of making me stressed or anxious.

Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence

Download a PDF

Great resource from www.minnesotanonprofits.org.  The Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence are based on the fundamental values of quality, responsibility and accountability. The ten characteristic accountability principles distinguish the nonprofit sector from government and the business sector. The 133 management practices provide specific guidelines for individual organizations to evaluate and improve their operations, governance, human resources, advocacy, financial management and fundraising.

Read the all the Principles and Practices by downloading the PDF.

Role in Society

Nonprofits are obligated to understand their role as entities that engage and inspire individuals and communities for public benefit, and to conduct their activities with transparency, integrity and accountability.

Governance

A nonprofit’s board of directors is responsible for defining the organization’s mission and for providing overall leadership and strategic direction to the organization.

Planning

Nonprofits have a duty to engage in sound planning, define a clear vision for the future, and specify strategies, goals and objectives for plan implementation.

Transparency and Accountability

Nonprofits should regularly and openly convey information to the public about their mission, activities, accomplishments and decision-making processes. Information from a nonprofit organization should be easily accessible to the public and should create external visibility, public understanding and trust in the organization.

Fundraising

Nonprofits should adopt clear policies for fundraising activities to ensure responsible use of funds and open, transparent communication with contributors and other constituents.

Financial Management

Nonprofits must comply with all legal financial requirements and should adhere to sound accounting principles that produce reliable financial information, ensure fiscal responsibility and build public trust.

Human Resources

Nonprofit organizations should place a high priority on exercising fair and equitable practices that attract and retain qualified volunteers and employees. Nonprofits have an obligation to adhere to all applicable employment laws and to provide a safe and productive work environment.

Civic Engagement and Public Policy

To the extent possible, nonprofit organizations should engage constituents in public policy and advocacy activities as a means to fulfilling their missions and promoting community interests.

Strategic Alliances

Nonprofits should initiate and promote cooperation and coordination between a variety of entities to avoid unnecessary duplication of services and to maximize the resources available to the communities they serve.

Evaluation

Nonprofits should regularly measure their performance against a clear set of goals and objectives. They should share this information with their constituents and the public and use it to continually improve the quality of their processes, programs and activities.

Leadership

The Leadership Challenge

Too often people confuse a strong-willed personality as an effective leader, leadership is not being strong-willed, rather having a strong sense of purpose that is centered upon God. The church of our Lord needs leaders, not petty instigators. There are too many churches that substitute a petty person for a godly person and see no distinction, because the people who put them in power do not know the difference.

Characteristics of an effective pastor and church leader:

 

Vision

A vision will have your primary call from Scripture, to hear and obey His Word!

Knowledge

Knowledge is being assured that what Christ did is relevant and impacting, and is a reality that must be accepted and committed to.

Love their Call

Love their Call is Passion, it means there is nothing better you would rather do than...

Energizer

Energizer is the importance of influence, and being attractive with Christ who gets excited and is joyful for Him!

Learning

Learning is to learn and grow from the experience the Lord gives us so we are an example for His work!

Maturity

Maturity is to know that our need is to be in Christ, and not to be to ourselves!

Perseverance

Perseverance is to continue in our state of grace so we live it out in our lives and walk with Christ to the end for our eternal reward!

Courage

Courage is the willingness to take a risk and go beyond ourselves, our experience and knowledge and into what is best for the body of Christ!

Faith

No Fear of Failure is the ability to take a risk and keep the focus and attention on our call and obedience!

Followers

Followers is knowing that you cannot lead where you have not been, unless the leader is a good follower of the Lord they cannot lead others effectively!

Listening

Listening knows to be an effectual leader, you must know how to listen, all its takes is the will to turn it on and let it work.