Generosity Zingers!
If you’re a fan of
The Treasure Principle, by Randy Alcorn, then note his sterling endorsement of the new book,
Joy Giving:
“I love this book. It’s biblical, Christ-honoring, gospel-centered, and full of great transformational stories from around the globe.”About 10 years ago,
Wes Willmer fanned the flames of the generosity revolution (a good thing)—but, frankly (my opinion) it’s still a candle—not a conflagration.
Example: way too many year-end appeal letters from nonprofits focus on tax benefits, not Christ’s call to generosity. “Stewardship” sermons are preached when churches lack funds—rather than inspiring people towards biblical generosity as part of their year-round calling as disciples.
I’ve tried to be a faithful cheerleader for generosity (as my long-time readers know) with reviews of books by
Scott Rodin,
Chris McDaniel,
John Frank,
Mark Dillon, and others. So…do we really need another book on generosity?
Yes! Here are seven reasons you should order multiple copies of
Joy Giving: Practical Wisdom from the First Christians and the Global Church, by Cameron Doolittle.
PRACTICAL MODELS. Doolittle writes, “At our church, when our pastor, Jimmy, teaches about giving, he sometimes asks those who have a financial need to come forward for prayer. Then he asks those who have extra, and who feel led, to come forward and give them money.
It’s risky and a little wild, right there in front of everyone in the church. And it’s a lot like Acts 2:42-47. The family takes care of the family.” (Read pages 111-112 about the guy in the yellow shirt.
Wow.)
GLOBAL WISDOM. I’ve never (
never!) read a book that includes so many biblical insights from generous givers across the globe. You’ll appreciate the practical giving methodologies and styles of generosity (and the wisdom) from Sophie in Switzerland, Kim in Korea, and Vlad from Central Europe. These people have learned that “Giving is a response to beauty, not an act of duty.” Example:
“Christopher in South Africa helps some of the world’s wealthiest people with their giving. He says, ‘When they come to me, most of them haven’t addressed what does God really want? They still give based on guilt or based on whatever proposals happen to come in.’”Cameron adds, “Christopher’s friends in South Africa are giving as an act of duty, not as a response to God’s beauty. But Jesus says, ‘It is more blessed to give that to receive’ (Acts 20:35, NIV). More blessed means more happy, more whole, more joyful, more fun.
“Jesus appeals to joy, to delight! This is the language of beauty. This is the motive for our giving.”ZINGERS. When you hand-deliver this book to colleagues and your “major donors,” warn them—this is a dangerous, convicting book—with uncomfortable one-liners:
•
Find Expertise. “Johan in the Netherlands says,
‘You need to find expertise. Too many wealthy people think that because they were good at making money, they’re good at giving money.”•
Passion Projects vs. God Projects. “Many people who have much to give try to start their own institutes or develop a charity that meets their particular passion instead of turning to those who are already experienced in the field. Too often, they are surrounded by a group of acolytes whose paychecks depend on the wealthy person and who, therefore, are afraid to question their boss’ decisions.”
•
Fear of Bad Dreams. At a
Journey of Generosity event, a giver who had stopped giving after a ministry had misused his gift “…realized that his bitterness toward that experience robbed him of the joy of giving. He said,
‘We have a phrase here in Ethiopia: Fear of bad dreams should not stop you from sleeping.’”•
Destructive Diligence. On givers who create inappropriate obstacles before they give:
“It’s important to remember that there’s a fine line between due diligence and destructive diligence.”CONFESSIONS. Whew. Cameron Doolittle is one transparent guy! As the former CEO of a growing ministry, his focus on growth took him off mission. “When scale became my goal, I was tempted to subtly mask our Christian identity so that non-Christians would give to our work. But God’s presence in our ministry was our power source and our distinctiveness.”
He adds,
“In the New Testament, the goal of generosity is not achieving scale; it’s partnering together as givers and recipients in redemption.”BREAKFAST SKYPES. Cameron, father of four, practices what he preaches about relational generosity. He and his wife, Carolyn, frequently gather their family around a Skype call and enjoy screen-to-screen conversations with ministry leaders that the family supports in Vietnam, Cambodia, Peru, and other countries. “The world feels smaller, God feels bigger, and our passion to give grows.”
FRESH INSIGHTS. In his study of Matthew 6, he reflected on two phrases that changed his thinking. And with his wife’s discerning nudge, he determined that one giving request was about his own need—not the recipient’s needs. (So he declined.) He quotes Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury in the sixteenth century:
“What the heart loves,
the will chooses and the mind justifies.”
HOLY CLUB QUESTIONS. Never knew this! “Methodist Church founder John Wesley led a ‘Holy Club’ in the mid-eighteenth century. Among other pursuits, the group had a list of
22 accountability questions they asked one another. One of my favorites is
‘Do I pray about the money I spend?’” (
Yikes. You mean I should pray before I click on Amazon?!)
This book is a must-read. Buy several copies and pray how God would use you to fan the flames of the generosity movement, perhaps with the resources of
Generosity Path, where Cameron Doolittle serves.
To order from Amazon, click on the title for
Joy Giving: Practical Wisdom from the First Christians and the Global Church, by Cameron Doolittle.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) Cameron Doolittle says all of us fall into one of three categories: #1. Listening to God is new to me. #2. I listen to God, but not about money and giving. #3. I listen to God about money and giving. Where are you?
2) Joy Giving describes a church in Beijing that was blessed with resources—but seemed to have a blind eye to community needs. Keung, a giver in the church, noted “The church wasn’t a conduit for giving; it had become a reservoir.” Are we appropriately balancing cash reserves with the mission God has called us to?
Peter Drucker and Bob Buford
Bob Buford (1939 – 2018):
“What’s in the box?”
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets
Bob Buford impacted my life. When Bob and Fred Smith invited me in 1986 to a Leadership Network week-long gathering with Peter Drucker and 30 Christian leaders in the Colorado mountains—that experience literally changed my leadership life and my spiritual life. The Drucker Bucket is one small result.
Bob entered heaven’s gates on April 18, 2018—and he touched thousands. He blessed me in so many ways, including his generous foreword to Mastering the Management Buckets—focused, of course, on Peter Drucker’s influence. In addition to Halftime, my favorite Buford book is Drucker & Me: What a Texas Entrepreneur Learned from the Father of Modern Management.
I never tired of hearing Bob share his “box” story (see short video):
“As Bob has always done when facing tough business decisions, he began asking advice from close friends and advisors. Bob went to see Mike Kami, a strategic business consultant. Mike asked Bob one simple question, ‘What’s in the box?’ He explained that before he could help Bob set the course for the second half of his life, Mike needed to know what was absolutely the most important thing in Bob’s life. He asked Bob to draw a box on a piece of paper.
“’I’ve been listening to you for two hours, and I can’t help you unless you put one thing in the box. It is either money or Jesus Christ.’ One symbol, one passion—Bob had to choose. When Bob placed that little cross in the middle of the box, he felt he was saying to God, ‘I’m yours. From now on, nothing will be as important to me as You.’ That decision launched Bob into his parallel career.”
Bob, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” (Read a tribute here.)
NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.
