For many reasons, I can't do this on our corporate blog platform. So, I have moved my blogging efforts to Church Giving Matters (the blog). If you are a subscriber, you will need to update your RSS feed in your feed reader or resubscribe via e-mail to continue to receive automatic updates.

You should know (if you haven't already clicked through the new blog)...I had hoped to have all the design work done on the new blog before this announcement, but I felt it was more important to get a stream of content flowing and work on the design second. So, it's like I've moved into a new house but still need to paint. Your patience in this department is much appreciated. (And I would welcome any feedback you might have.)

I appreciate your loyal readership and look forward to continuing our conversation about church funding on Church Giving Matters.

In the meantime, I'll still be making updates to Twitter and Delicious.

Maybe a tactic to incorporate into your funding strategy is how to give money away. Sounds strange, doesn't it? But as more and more churches are doing the same thing and seeing outstanding results, the cynics are silenced.

Read the story.

Every Thursday during the month of December, I'm going to pick three links I've cataloged in my Delicious account during the previous week. (This site houses 100's of links related to stewardship and giving - and the list grows almost daily - that can be easily searched and used for sermon preparation, committee prep, funding strategy, etc.)

Here are my top picks for the week:

1. Top 10 Ways to Screw up Your Year-End Fundraising Campaign

Thoughts: Churches are in the best position to secure funding from the people in the pew. Sadly, churches are often the WORST at doing it. While each of the 10 items listed doesn't have direct application to the life and practice of the church, pay special attention to numbers 2-5.

2. 5 Trends Affecting Your Ministry in 2010

Thoughts: Funding is directly tied to the people in our pews. We need to ensure those of us who are called to the pulpits of churches are also in touch with the shifts of the people in the pew. I teach that giving begins with the worldview of the giver. This article highlights important shifts that church leaders must be mindful of as they develop a ministry strategy.

3. Giving to Receive: What Legacy Will You Leave?

Thoughts: Don't be confused by the title. This article isn't about planned giving. What it's asking the reader to consider is what point is it to collect and not share. The writer argues that we need to think about how we can invest what we do have in others today. How we practice this in our own lives will determine the legacy we leave behind.

I hope this link collection is helpful to you in your ministry. Be sure to visit my delicious account regularly for updates or subscribe via RSS.

And always feel free to send links to anything you think is missing.

What I love about this story is that Blake broke all "the rules":
1. He isn't old enough.
2. He hasn't been pastor of the church long enough.
3. The economy isn't strong enough.
4. The church isn't big enough.

And I could go on an on...

Even though he could have held back, he chose to follow God's direction. His leadership and faith resulted in a growing spirit of generosity in his church. At the time of our conversation, he projected well over $100k increase in total giving for 2009.

Listen to the podcast to hear the whole story.

Looking for other podcasts about church funding? You can find more here.

-- Empty Tomb, The State of Church Giving through 2007

How much MINISTRY are we leaving on the table when we refuse to talk about stewardship and generosity?

STOP ASKING "What do we have to cut to survive?"

START ASKING "What does God want us to do next?"

If we believe...

...that the church is the only institution ordained by God on the day of Pentecost to carry forward the earthly ministry of Christ until His return...

...that the church should embody the hope the world needs to see in difficult times (anyone can be full of hope in good times)...

...that the God we serve today is the same God who provided bread and water for his people in the desert...used a small boy to slay a giant...allowed and old couple to become parents of "many nations"...and that God entered the world as a human, conceived by the Holy Spirit to come and set all people free from their sin forever...

THEN WHY...W-H-Y...

do we walk around as if we believe in a small God.

Sometimes (not always) I think church leaders...don't dream enough...profess in a BIG GOD and practice as if He is small...and far too often miss the opportunity to lead their congregations to a generous lifestyle in the name of...

efficiency...expense management...and practicing "as good as it gets" theology.

People want to be apart of organizations that represent something larger than themselves.
People want to fund causes that are larger than life and embody their core values.
People want to believe that the church is God's plan to build the Kingdom but are too often disappointed by small thinking.

Before the greatest leaders of our faith became GREAT LEADERS OF FAITH...they had to take a deep breath and make a critical decision to change the conversation from what they think they could accomplish to what they BELIEVED God could accomplish through them.

Every one of them took a second to pause (probably more than once) and yet they still chose to follow through.

Even Jesus paused in the Garden and asked if there was another way.

BUT after the question was asked...the decision made...there was no backing down. All the world (and our faith) depended upon it.

The same is still true for Church leaders and all Christians TODAY!

We must change our posture and practice the Gospel we profess. Otherwise we will forfeit our opportunity to share the Good News we have received with a world yet to believe.

Change the conversation. Ask God what's next for your church? Then believe that what God has called you to do, He has already provided everything you'll need to bring that vision into reality.

The CATCH is we must cultivate the gifts of time, talent, and treasure of the people he has given us to accomplish HIS vision.

(Did you really think He was going to give it to you on a sliver platter?)

Read Matthew 9:36-38. Only think about it through the lens of stewardship.

Church leaders...MUST...inspire every community member to change the conversation in their own lives and acknowledge all we have been given, are, and will ever be as God's assets entrusted to us to invest and build the Kingdom.

Only then...can we change the "meta-conversation" and bring into reality the vision He has given to His church.

The CHOICE to operate in survival mode is a decision to G-I-V-E U-P.

Bottom line...survival mode is NOT an option.

What are you doing to change the conversation, inspire generosity among those entrusted to you, and direct all available divine assets toward Kingdom investments?

The fact of the matter is...the person in the pew is the one God has endowed with the resources to fund His church. And that person takes his or her role seriously. They are looking for the best place to "invest" those resources.

Sometimes it's in stuff that is self-serving.
Sometimes it's in other like-minded organizations that look and feel like things the church should be doing.
Sometimes...but not always...(and maybe less and less these days)...it's in their local church.

WHY?

Americans don't have a money problem. At least not compared to...well...um...the REST of the world.

So where does that money go?

Most of the time?....Somewhere else!

It goes to hospital and educational systems. It goes to civic organizations and political campaigns. It even goes to para-church organizations.

BUT far too often (YES...FAR TOO OFTEN) it never makes it's way into the offering plates (or whatever collection device of choice) of the church.

I think it stems from one reality. We aren't treating the people in the pew like the INVESTORS they are.

They...just like we do in our personal investing...want to see a ROI. Maybe that looks different than a quarterly 401(k) report. SO WHAT?

The church leader still has to PROVE an ROI. Why? Because if we don't, we RISK LOSING the dollars God intended for the church due to our own effort and not God's intention.

What are you doing today to offer a "Kingdom investment plan" that returns eternal dividends?

If you don't...well...let's face it...someone else already is.

Personally...we have bank statements...investment returns...utility bills based on cost per use...etc.

Corporately...we have P&Ls...D&Bs...trends...etc.

Why do we STOP MEASURING when we come to church. I'm not talking about "pastoral" perception that begins with..."we think" or "it seemed."

We should expect more from ourselves. We should demand MORE accountability.

The pastor is in a unique spot. He is trained to parse the Hebrew and Green language of Scripture and to preach. BUT (and this is a big one) he is held accountable for...

dollars in the plate...

and people in the pew.

Don't believe me. Does the finance committee get blamed when giving is down? Does the assimilation commitee get blamed when the attrition rate exceeds the rate of acquisition?

NO. T-H-E-Y don't. The pastor DOES.

If you're held accountable, then you are responsible. Thus, this "numbers stuff" is not SOMEONE ELSE'S problem...it's yours! (And if you don't take ownership, it will own you!)

When was the last time you reviewed the giving habits of your membership? (Not to see if there is enough money to pay the bills and last until next Sunday. BETTER! Am I (as pastor...spiritual leader...the primary one responsible to facilitate spiritual formation in the lives of my congregants) ensuring I'm cultivating a generous people - in time, talent, and treasure.

That's measurable. And...news flash...generosity is a matter of the heart, not the pocketbook. BUT the pocketbook is the best tool we have to measure the behavior of the people who profess "saved by grace."

Maybe...just maybe...if you're people aren't generous...or aren't becoming generous...you should revisit the whole "salvation as free gift from God" conversation and use that as an introduction to generosity.

C-H-E-C-K Y-O-U-R N-U-M-B-E-R-S. NOW.

It will tell you more than you ever imagined. Even about stuff that is...well...hard to measure.

This is KINGDOM business.

"Money has demonically usurped the role in modern society which the Holy Spirit is to have in the Church" - Thomas Merton

Wow! Wonder how that happened?

When the church is silent on the subject of money and funding, the Christian has no alternative lens to compare what others are saying.

(Yes, the church is responsible to talk about money. Period. There is nothing to argue about.)

Start TALKING. Get LOUD.

If we remain silent, the end result is this:

Money God intended to fund the work of the Kingdom...

will find its way to other organizations...doing good things...lead by good people.

BUT it won't go to fund the work of the Church. Don't believe me? Just ask a few people you know if they split their tithe between the church and other organizations.

You'll be surprised at their response. And they see nothing wrong with it.

Why? (Really, why should we be surprised?) Because we've been SILENT.

H-E-L-L-O. Problem. Major Problem.

What will you say...this weekend...at your next gathering...to break the silence about money, stewardship, and generosity?

Here is the problem with survival mode. In the NPO world (that includes churches) we place a high degree of value on efficiency which means we do as much as we can on as little as possible.

There is NOTHING inherently wrong with that. It's always important to ensure our expenses are in line with our revenue.

What IS inherently built into that mode is a LACK OF investing. Investing involes risk. Risk sometimes leads to REWARD...

and sometimes it leads to the "F" word...F-A-I-L-U-R-E.

For-profit companies believe in RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT. They know that have to build in a system of failing if they are ever going to SUCCEED.

When churches decide to slip into survival mode...they STOP innovating...being creative...looking for new opportunities...new ventures. And they simply exist.

Wonder why you're having trouble finding leaders who are passionate about what your church is doing? (Are you passionate about what your church is doing?)

Maybe you've flipped the switch (even unintentionally) to survival mode.

Let me give you a hint: TURN IT OFF. Right now...And after you've turned it off...

BREAK IT OFF so you never have that option again.

There is nothing that will kill a church's ability to fund its ministry than operating in survival mode.

Rule #1...(It doesn't really matter what Rule number it is.)...People don't want to fund an organization that is only interested in self-preservation.

Better...people WON'T fund self-preservation.

small....

instead of T-H-I-N-K-I-N-G B-I-G!

We say we are people of THE WORD. Our Bible is full of the impossible:

Abraham and Sarah are too old to have a son.
David is too small to fight Goliath. (Later, he's too young and ordinary to be King.)
Paul is an unlikely champion of the faith.

(There's more. I promise. Read it for yourself.)

Yet these stories fade when we are asked to believe the impossible. When we are asked to believe that God can fully fund (and over fund) our ministry budgets WITHOUT REGARDS for the American or World economy.

So what do we do? We SEAL OUR FATE by professing a big God and live as if He is small. We...

Worry. Fret. Pace. Sweat. Wonder. (All over the WRONG STUFF!!)

Where will the money come from? And when that happens we take our focus off of vision...direction...purpose...context...(the core necessities of funding)

AND we allow ourselves to be trapped by what we can see. We fight over how we will split the dollar instead of believing that God has intended MORE for us.

We can only DO MORE MINISTRY when we practice our profession in a BIG GOD.

NEWS FLASH...NOT EVERY CHURCH IS STRUGGLING.

Some churches are posting ridiculous gains in overall giving...and investing in more ministry than they ever have. I heard from one pastor recently who is nearly $100k over in receipts to date!

Get beyond small thinking. And you'll find a VERY B-I-G G-O-D who is able to help YOU...

DO MORE MINISTRY!

Elijah Offering Video from Elevation Church on Vimeo.

Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry - Part ONE
Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry - Part TWO
Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry - Part THREE
Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry - Part FOUR
Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry - Part FIVE
Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Start A Debt Ministry - Part BONUS

If you're church is looking for an organization that can help you become strategic in helping your church establish a debt ministry, you need to call Joe...TODAY! You should also consider reading his book I Was Broke. Now I'm Not. and using his small group resource in your church.

Helping the people in your pews (and the people in your community) deal with debt and free them to do as Joe says "more than they ever though possible" opens the door and builds bridges to those looking for answer but would never consider the church as a subject matter expert.

Since the Bible spends so much time talk about money (more than salvation), we ought to talk more about it more than we do in our faith communities. (Some churches are silent on the subject!) Start a debt ministry, and I promise the results will blow your mind. I did it in a small church I pastored part-time recently. It expanded our ministry reach beyond our wildest imaginations, and it provided a place of service for a few people who didn't "fit" in the traditional Sunday School teacher role.

Again, thanks to Joe for helping us lay the groundwork on the Do More Ministry blog!