Power Dynamics & Generosity
If we want to give wisely we must learn about power dynamics. One of the tenets of my understanding of generosity is we must go beyond merely writing checks. We need to build a relationship…
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Dynamite Generosity
Is there such a thing as too much generosity? In an age when books like Toxic Charity and When Helping Hurts ask questions about the impact of our charitable endeavors, a lot of folks have taken a step back…
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Wealth, Temptation, and Job
This story of Job has always fascinated and often confused me. It’s fascinating because it’s impressively rich in wisdom about why God allows evil in the world. It’s confusing because the logic in the dialogue…
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John the Baptist on Instagram?
A recent email from a marketing guru hit my inbox just about the time I was reading Luke 3:7-14. I was struck by the contradiction – the marketing guy was basically encouraging me to be…
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Defining a More Generous Church
What is the church? It’s a question we need to be asking more urgently than ever. And I fear that good people are too narrowly defining church. We need a more generous definition. I know…
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Pouring Gas on the Fire
A few days ago I was talking with a friend who runs a large family foundation. They support a lot of causes but I was curious what motivated them to give to one organization over…
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The Context of Dirt
To understand generosity is to understand thankfulness. I’ll explain with a story about dirt. What we now call Silicon Valley was once vast fruit orchards. I remember growing up in San Jose and walking through…
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Giving Without Understanding
This story begins with a generous act of giving time, treasure, and talent. A friend, I will call him Larry, and several people from his church went to Mexico to build houses in a blighted…
