Blogs and Articles
To encourage worshipful, generous-hearted living
For the most recent blog or to see articles by dates, look down the list on the right.
The title of Lynn A. Miller’s little book speaks volumes: The Power of Enough: Finding Contentment by Putting Stuff In Its Place. Miller’s bottom line is this: “Contentment comes from putting stuff in the role that God gave it, and not letting it mean something God doesn’t intend it to mean.” In other words, “stuff…
Read MoreUbuntu: Cooperative Community A devotional writer from South Africa said there’s a Zulu word Ubuntu, which means “I am because we are.” He explained it by saying, “I am enabled and empowered, made fully human, because I am part of a family, a tribe, and a community.”1 He was reflecting on the disciples’ cooperative business…
Read MoreHaving explored the Bible’s connections between “heart” and “soul” in Growing Generous Souls, I was drawn to a book called Caring from the Heart: The Convergence of Caring and Spirituality, edited by M. Simone Roach. At first blush, this book and the Bible seem like an odd connection, but not really. It is written by…
Read MorePrayerfulness is what counts in life, not individual prayers, says Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast. In Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer, he says prayer is an attitude of the heart that can transform everything we do. We can’t be saying prayers all the time, of course, but we ought to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17),…
Read More“Being is not rewarded in our society today. Doing is what counts,” says author Adele Ahlberg Calhoun.1 Just about all of us experience this pressure daily: the hurry; the worry; and the need to be productive, however it’s defined. So how can we enter into the triune life (as Calhoun puts it), enter into the…
Read MoreWho knew there was a place called The Center for World Thanksgiving? Not I! But it exists, in Dallas, Texas. Back in 1964, four Dallas businessmen started talking together about how the Ancient World had squares and community gathering places where people could look beyond themselves, devoting themselves to spirit and worship. They decided they’d…
Read MoreAttributed to St. Ignatius Lord, teach me to be generous, To serve you as you deserve, To give and not to count the cost, To fight and not to heed the wounds, To toil and not to seek for rest, To labour and not to look for any reward, Save that of knowing that…
Read MoreWhat core stewardship practices can become part of the DNA of our congregations? As we come to see stewardship as a whole-life endeavor, we need to develop a stewardship strategy, including measures of success, with a clear connection to all that we do as a church. Remember that stewardship is whatever we do with all…
Read MoreWhat core actions can a congregation encourage to become generous as a faith community? Stewardship teacher Michael Reeves put together an eye-opening list that can serve as our guide and goal. These “attributes of a biblically generous church” point to how faithful stewardship and generous-hearted living can be seen as whole-life issues, part of that…
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