Friday, April 15, 2011

Fundraising for Christian Ministry




On the train down from the Central Coast I read a very short book called "If God will provide, why do we have to ask for money?" by Rick Dunham. It was a simple read and I have written some notes about it below.

You can find more info at Rick Dunham's website here.

_______________________


What hits you first is the way fundraising is placed in the spiritual battle between God and Satan. Dunham’s states that Satan achieves two key goals by limiting fundraising. Firstly, there aren’t the resources for the advancement of the gospel in the world and secondly, and more predominantly, God’s people have been shown to not have wholehearted devotion to God. It is very helpful since it rightly shows the powerful spiritual forces and significance of the work.

However, there seems to be an underlying assumption that all ministry is being done by professionals. The following two lines are actually not necessarily true:

“The first implication is quite obvious: if a ministry is limited in funding, it…by definition…is limited in its impact. Clearly, the ability of a ministry to fulfil God’s call is in direct proportion to its ability to fund its work” p30

This is only the case if ministries are being conducted solely by professionals. Let me ask you a question. What is better, the money for an additional staff member, or 50 people sacrificing a day a week to serve fulltime in some voluntary capacity? A budget my actually decrease but the ministry impact increase!

That being said, I would actually contend that the loss in impact is actually even greater when the funds were going to be directed at particular roles. This is because frequently the money being spent in ministry organisations is not on doing ministry as such, but on multiplying the ministry of others. The 50 people who gave up a day a week did so because of the staff member who encouraged and developed this culture! So the loss in impact is even greater than Dunham suggests if the money is being spent on ministries whose aim is to multiply the ministry of others.

The most helpful point made throughout the book is its emphasis on the heart of the giver. “What God wants is the one thing you own and have complete control over. Your heart.” (p33). What is absent from his presentation is actually naming the issue he is speaking about: idolatry. Without realising it, much of what Dunham is discussing is idolatry and encouraging complete devotion to God in the face of other gods. There is no reference to Colossians 3:5 and the connection Paul makes between greed and idolatry, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” By not naming the real issue the discussion looses impact it might have otherwise had.

A second conviction is the need for leaders to engage in fundraising and realise that raising money is not about them but about advancing God’s work in the world. This is probably best argued in the discussion on 1 Timothy 6 but the use of Exodus 35:4-5 to establish ‘a precedent that is timeless’ fails to recognise how Old Testament narrative functions for Christians today. Dunham’s actual link to the Christian occurs on page 76 where he argues that ‘properly motivated giving came from the willing heart of God’s people.’ It is since this is a matter of the heart, a spiritual matter, that fundraising is an important task for the Christian leader.

I’m happy to deal with some pragmatics and the final chapter should not have been ‘Final Thoughts’ but be a chapter in its own right containing more material from the author’s experience. Even the discussion about the rate of communication with donors was helpful!

It was refreshing was to have the book say nothing about tithing, even though there might be the need to kill some sacred cows in this area. What was most notably was the absence of a multitude of anecdotes and a real engagement with the scriptures. It is well worth the read for all Christians who are concerned to serve God wholeheartedly.

Enlarge your hearts to God and give to his work!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Law keeping?

Jesus was pretty scathing of people of who honoured God only through outward observance (Matt 6, Mark 7:6-8). I wonder what he would think of this.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Atheists face death



Jim Crace is an author who presented at the recent Adelaide Writers' Week. His thoughts of death from an atheists' point of view end up slipping into a sentimental pantheism (at around 13:30). The reality is that atheism affirms the meaningless of life. The search for solace in the face of death is just a recognition that atheism does not deliver at the point of humanity's greatest need.

Only Christ overcomes death and gives us hope. The Easter story is hardly wishful thinking but the reality that death does not have the final say but that God will raise the dead.

UPDATE: I have updated this post with a link to the full presentation from ABC and not just the highlights.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Seats in churches (cathedrals mainly)

From Blogger Pictures


When I was last in England I visited a number of cathedrals which used the Howe 40/4 chair. These included Christopher Wren's St Paul's Cathedral in London and Salisbury Cathedral (pictured above). I'm also aware that Southwark Cathedral and Ely Cathedral also use these chairs. While in Oxford I really liked the welcoming entrance placed on St Aldate's church and their flexible interior (pictured below). The design of the Howe 40/4 chair is from the early 1960s and a real classic and very beautiful chair. Check out their website here.

From Blogger Pictures

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Ideas for the Parents' Room

We're thinking of setting up the Parents' Room better. The idea is to move it from under the tower to the vestry. Any good ideas for the room?

Posted by ShoZu

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Lion enclosure at Taronga


(NIV) Revelation 5:5
Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

I think the symbolism of Jesus as a lion predates Medieval Europeans!

Posted by ShoZu

Some thoughts on sticking at church

Mark Dever shares about sticking at your church...

Phillip Jensen asks Mark Dever - When is it ever right to leave a church? from Audio Advice on Vimeo.