Donors who Disappoint

Psalm 5:1-4

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.

I don't like to wait, especially when I and the school need financial gifts to come in to meet a project need.

This is the end of the year. We sent out the year-end appeal and we have received a good response, but not a great response (at least in terms that I measure).

Several people have told me that they are going to contribute, but the gift has not come in. Should I write? Should I call with one of those "gentle reminders"?

And, I am a little frustrated, too. You see, there are people who can give, but don't. There are people who can give more than they do, but won't.

This frustation can create a tension between me and the donors;; one that is not healthy for long-term relationships.

Then, thankfully, the Lord (gently) reminds me of some very important truths:

1. I am not the fund raiser - He is. I am the "catcher" and "acknowledger" of the good gifts.
2. I did not always "get it" in terms of giving; this took many years of maturing. And, I still don't get it as I should. Growing in grace is a process.
3. He has always provided what we needed and when we needed it; why should I presume that we know the Lord's schedule, which is always perfect?
4. That I need to walk fully in the faith that I proclaim - that is to trust in Him and be gracious with everyone. He has been patient with me for these years; I need to be patient with my brothers and sisters as well.

So, on this steamy day near the end of the fiscal year, be still and know who is God.

Permission to be a biblical fundraiser

I had the privilege this week of speaking at the annual convention of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools ( www.accs.org ) . My topic: Stewardship: God's Way to Raise Resources.

This topic has been the source of content for this blog over the past year and I had the joy of challenging my peers to think and act in accordance with the Scriptures as they think about raising resources for their school.

God was gracious in giving me the ability to communicate clearly and with passion. Afterwards, I received many nice comments, but there were two that I share now:

1. "It just makes sense that God, who is sovereign over everything, would have principles by which we raise funds; and, that they would be different than the non-Christian world follows (who is mostly concerned with "what works").
2. A second person told me "You gave me permission to be particularly Christian in my approach to raising funds.

What a joy to help people catch God's vision for how we live!

The Generous Giver

Charles Stanley has recently released a marvelous post which is copied below:

June 7

A Cheerful Giver

2 Corinthians 9:6-12

God loves a cheerful giver because He Himself is one. He wants the bounty that He pours out on His children to overflow toward others. Sadly, many people treat their wealth more like a personal reservoir than a divine channel. The reservoir mentality treats wealth as a means to provide solely for one's own family, goals, and desires; money for God's work is given reluctantly.

The stingy person figures that as long as he offers something, it shouldn't matter that he'd rather not.

However, attitude is vital. To God, the state of a believer's heart is more important than his or her actions (Hos. 6:6). Lukewarm giving is a signal that we aren't fully engaged in seeing the Lord's work done. We'd rather ensure our own security. What surprises the tightfisted believer is that God does not fill a reservoir.

Even people who appear affluent never feel that they have enough. True contentment comes with accepting that our wealth—however limited—belongs to the Lord and is sufficient for our needs. As soon as we understand that, our reservoir bursts its banks to become part of God's divine channel. As He pours in, we cheerfully pour out with full confidence that He will provide for both our needs and our gifts.

The Lord's ultimate plan does not include making all of His children prosperous. His purpose is to make every one of us generous with all that we have—wealth, compassion, knowledge, etc. Cheerful giving is courageous giving because we have to trust that the Lord will provide.

Raising up Giftedness

Ephesians 4:11-13

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

This fourth chapter of Ephesians speaks to the unity of the body, which implies the body of the church. Therefore, it may be a stretch to equate the local Christian school to the church, but there is the a parallel that relates to gifting.

In the Christian school, as in the church, there are many sources of gifts. There are those who organize events, write newsletters, maintain the the web site, take pictures, work alongside teachers, coach, accompany the choir, and so on.

Each year, God gives us new families who bring with them talent and gifts that are useful to the school. The application of these gifts is a blessing to the school and a blessing to the one who is getting to apply their talent to the Kingdom work of the school.

What is our job as "development" or "stewardship" officers? It is to uncover these gifts and to encourage their use for the school of even another ministry where they can be useful.

First, we may have to ask ourselves if we have the "gift" of identifying gifts. This talent, I believe, is an acquired skill that comes from investing time in and attention to people so that we can hear their heart and to nurture them. In that sense, stewardship has a pastoral component.

This week I have the privilege of speaking to administrators at the ACCS (association of Classical and Christian Schools) conference in North Carolina. One of my tasks will be to challenge (provoke?) my peers to dig deeper and to see our work as larger than simply raising monetary resources.

After all, we are not in these jobs only because of the cash we bring, are we?