Revolution in Generosity
Wes Willmer-
"Transforming stewards to be rich toward God."
That, in a nutshell, is the aim of this incredible resource. Blending solid theological perspective with practical action steps from 23 gifted contributors, Revolution in Generosity offers biblical guidelines for churches and ministries who want to see hearts changed and funds raised based on biblical principles.
Strengths:
One of the most striking features of this book is that it gathers perspectives from more than twenty thought leaders in the stewardship arena. Veteran stewardship champion Wes Willmer is the editor, with contributions from David Black (Eastern University); Rebekah Basinger (Growing Givers' Hearts); Craig L. Blomberg (Denver Seminary); Ron Blue (Kingdom Advisors); Joyce Brooks (Biola University); Shelley Cochrane (TEAM); Howard Dayton (Crown Financial Ministries); Richard Edic (Vision Resourcing); John Frank (The Frank Group); Todd Harper (Generous Giving); Rich Haynie (OC International); Daryl Heald (Generous Giving); Gary Hoag (Denver Seminary); Brian Kluth (MaximumGenerosity); Lauren Libby (The Navigators); Adam Morris (Biola University); Paul Nelson (ECFA); Walter Russell (Biola University); Scott Rodin (Christian Leadership Alliance); Dick Towner (Willow Creek Good Sense Ministry); Mark Vincent (Design for Ministry)
The book begins by exploring the scriptural basis of stewardship. From that foundation, the reader can read the book in its entirety or delve into specific areas of interest. Those specific areas of interest could be broadly grouped into three main areas: 1) the role of the church in communicating biblical stewardship 2) the role of ministry organizations that raise funds for kingdom purposes and 3) the role of Christians as stewards of the gifts God has entrusted to them.
One of the objectives of this resource is to challenge the reader's thinking in a number of ways, such as the relationship between stewardship and philanthropy, where the reader is in their journey to generosity, the implications of pastors as "reluctant stewards," an encouragement to consider the needs of those whose needs are greater than our own, the destructive results of manipulation-based fundraising, and more.
Revolution in Generosity moves the reader from a transactional approach of giving "to get" to a transformational approach to giving, with an emphasis on the Lord's work in the heart of the giver. Consequently, Revolution in Generosity is a call to focus on the spiritual lives of ministry partners to develop stewardship of all of God's resources.
The corresponding Revolution in Generosity web site (www.revolutioningenerosity.com) offers a wealth of stewardship resources for further study. The resources were all personally selected by the contributing authors to help readers better understand this important topic.
Revolution in Generosity would be useful to a variety of readers - including pastors, denominational leaders, church and ministry boards, development officers, donors, and lay people who simply want to grow in this area.
Things to be aware of:
The strength of Revolution in Generosity - it's very thorough approach to biblical stewardship - may also be a potential hesitation for some readers. With 424 pages, this comprehensive treatment is not an easy read for the casual reader, but will certainly be a welcome resource for church and ministry leaders as well as lay leaders who are interested in an in-depth exploration of what may be the very best collection of biblical stewardship perspectives available today.
Available at: www.christianbooks.com