Podcast Episode 42: How Financial Freedom Empowers Ministry
Dec 18, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen is joined by Gunnar Johnson, former Stewardship Pastor, author, and President of Learn Generosity. During their conversation, they discuss the power of freedom affecting church ministry.
Best Quotes
“The ideal position for someone is out of debt, living with margin, having a good savings, but also holding possessions lightly and being willing to do what the Lord asks them to do.”
“Financial freedom has given me a lot of empowerment to chase after whatever the Lord has told me to do.”
“I’ve watched people be tangled up in financial bondage and not able to do what God puts on their heart.”
“The person who dies with the most stuff doesn’t win, they just accumulated the most junk.”
“There is so much more of an adventure in Christ waiting for them if they just created some margin.”
“You can’t be a generous giver if you walk in unforgiveness.”
“If you have a congregation that is personally starting to walk in generosity, they are going to attract more people to the congregation.”
Before founding Generosity and Stewardship Strategies and co-founding Financial Freedom International, Gunnar Johnson was a local church Pastor and business owner. He had the privilege of serving as an Executive Stewardship Pastor at Gateway Church in Southlake Texas for 11 years. Prior to Gateway Church, Gunnar served for 2 years as a Stewardship Minister at the The Hills Church in North Richland Hills, Texas. Prior to 13 years of vocational ministry he owned a Drywall business in Florida, and a Chem-Dry carpet cleaning company in Texas while serving on staff with Howard Dayton and Larry Burkett at Crown Financial Ministry.
Gunnar has a passion for teaching Biblical Generosity and Financial Stewardship to individuals, churches, non-profits and businesses. He loves watching how they grow through the power of God’s Word.
You can learn more about Gunnar’s ministry here: www.learngenerosity.com.
Podcast Episode 41: Helping Your Staff Grow in Giving
Dec 11, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen and George Thompson, Stewardship Pastor at Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, CA, are joined by Leo Sabo, President of the Christian Stewardship Network. During their conversation, they discuss being a passionate leader in the stewardship area and how to have the whole team succeed.
Best Quotes
“If you know anyone in stewardship, you realize that they did not take the traditional route to ministry.”
“The beauty of being connected with other people that are solving these same problems is that you can learn from somebody who has already solved the problem.”
“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, just preach what the Word already says.”
“Unfortunately, many pastors don’t have their finances in order either, so it’s hard to speak on it when you yourself don’t have that foundation.”
“Knowing what God says and applying it to your life in today’s culture isn’t easy.”
“Preaching has to come down to motivating people to change the way they are using their money.”
“As you take baby steps forward, invite them to take steps forward as well.”
Leo loves to see people experience their own financial awakening. He’s spent the last 17 years working with couples, individuals and church leaders; helping them understand and manage finances conforming to Biblical principles. His life mission is, “Helping people become financially free, thereby enabling them to pursue their true life’s purpose.”
He’s served as a Stewardship Pastor at Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas for 11 years, where he enjoyed building volunteer teams, teaching, coaching, and developing curriculum. In his current role as president of CSN, he gets to share the incredible impact financial stewardship and generosity can have in the Church.
Leo and his wife Natalie have been married 30 years. They have two daughters, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren, and they’re all amazing!
Podcast Episode 40: How Pastors Can Unlock the Genius of Generosity
Dec 04, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen is joined by Chip Ingram, pastor, author, speaker, and leader of the Living on the Edge movement. During their conversation, they discuss personal growth in generosity,
Best Quotes
“Whenever you see a need that you think I would want to fill, then I want you to write them a check.”
“Generous people are happy. Generous people are fulfilled. Generosity breeds deep connections and relationships.”
“To be a pastor that genuinely cares and speaks the truth is a gift that you give a businessperson.”
“You can’t get comfortable talking about money until you come to grips with your own life here.”
“You can’t speak with confidence unless you’re modeling what you are going to say to other people.”
“If you never teach on money, why are you shocked that you don’t have the resources?”
“People aren’t motivated to be generous because they think that they already are.”
“God really wanted to grow my generosity, and it’s way beyond money.”
“God doesn’t measure generosity by how much you give. God measures generosity by how much you sacrifice.”
Chip Ingram’s passion is helping Christians really live like Christians. As a pastor, author, and teacher for more than three decades, Chip has helped believers around the world move from spiritual spectators to healthy, authentic disciples of Jesus by living out God’s truth in their lives and relationships in transformational ways.
Podcast Episode 39: Legacy Tools Every Pastor Needs to Know
Nov 27, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen is
joined by Bill High, CEO of The Signatry, a Global Christian Foundation, and
the author of several books including Giving It All Away
with David Green, CEO of Hobby Lobby. During their conversation, they discuss
the financial vehicles and professionals that pastors need to know in leading a
legacy ministry.
Best Quotes
“Systematic giving is the first step to generosity.”
“The Donor Advised Fund is one of the simplest tools for
being able to get people to give systematically.”
“From the donor-advised fund I can direct my money to go where I want it to go to a legitimate charitable cause that is vetted by your organization.”
“When you give to multiple charitable causes throughout the
year, one of the immediate benefits is you only have to worry about getting one
charitable giving statement at the end of the year.”
“You’re prepared in advance to be generous to the next
cause.”
“The offering plate is facilitating prepared giving in a
split second on a given day. The Donor Advised Fund is preparing somebody to be
prepared 24/7 for the moment when they can contribute.”
“A Donor Advised Fund is a great place to start a
conversation with your family about the things that you care about in regard to
generosity.”
“I would encourage every pastor to have an estate plan and a financial plan and provide those services to your staff.”
Bill High practiced law for 12 years before becoming the CEO of The Signatry. As CEO, he has spent over 18 years helping families live simply and give generously. He specializes in coaching families, individual givers, and financial advisers regarding biblical generosity and family legacy. He and his wife Brooke have four children and two grandchildren.
You can learn more about Bill’s ministry here: www.billhigh.com.
Podcast Episode 38: Multiplying Your Capital Campaign Fruit
Nov 20, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen is
joined by Willy Rice, Lead Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater,
Florida. During their conversation, they discuss how to turn your capital
campaign into a fruitful experience outside the dollar amount.
Best Quotes
“When you go into a campaign and you have a lot of things
happening, you realize the campaign can’t be about just one thing.”
“As we approach campaigns, we didn’t want it to be about a
single building. We needed a vision that was bigger than that.”
“If we were going to have a Kingdom impact, we needed to
turn a decade of addition into a decade of multiplication.”
“Sometimes you have to name a dream and then back up from
there to figure out how you are going to do it.”
“Whatever God gives us, we are going to celebrate and move
forward!”
“This campaign changed our culture.”
“You can’t plant churches ultimately if you aren’t raising
leaders.”
“The crisis in North America is a crisis of discipleship.”
“The best initiatives change the culture of your church.
They give you something bigger and larger to run after.”
“Part of spiritual leadership is challenging people.”
William (Willy) Rice is the pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida. In 2004 he returned to the Tampa Bay area where he was born and raised to lead the church he considered his home church. Willy spent his High School years at Calvary, responded to God’s call to ministry there, and met and married his wife Cheryl at Calvary.
Since that time the church has completed a complete relocation from its historic campus in downtown Clearwater to a new campus in east Clearwater. The church has experienced renewed health and significant growth in every area. Calvary averages more than 3500 people attending multiple services on three campuses. Calvary is annually recognized as one of the leader’s in missions giving and baptisms in the state of Florida. Outreach magazine has twice listed Calvary as one of the 100 fastest growing churches in America.
Dr. Rice has been active in denominational leadership roles. He served as President of the Florida Baptist Convention from 2006-2008 and he served as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference in 2015. He has also served as Chairman of the SBC Committee on Committees (2010), Chairman of the SBC Committee on Nominations (2016), President of the Florida Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference (2004) along with other local, state, and national positions. He is the author of two books Discover Dynamic Life and Before You Go: What Every Parent Needs to Say and Every Kid Needs to Hear.
Before coming to Calvary Dr. Rice pastored the Hillcrest Baptist Church in Pensacola for seven years. During that time the church experienced great growth and more than doubled in size. The church built a new 2000 seat worship center in 2002.
Prior to pastoring Hillcrest Dr. Rice had pastored the Gladeview Baptist Church in Anniston, Alabama (1992-1997), the Cypress Lake Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida (1987-1992) and the Bethel Baptist Church in Dora, Alabama (1984-1987).
Dr. Rice is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama with a B.A. degree (1985) and the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree (1990) and a Doctor of Ministry degree (1996).
Willy is married to Cheryl (Baker). She is a graduate of Samford University and they have three children and four grandchildren.
Podcast Episode 37: Topics to Teach Beyond Stewardship 101
Nov 13, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen and
co-host George Thompson, Pastor of Stewardship at Faithful Central Bible Church
in Inglewood, are joined by Dave Briggs, Stewardship Pastor at Central
Christian Church, in Phoenix, AZ. During their conversation, they discuss going
beyond the basics of stewardship training.
Best Quotes
“God impressed on me very early on in the process that the
Bible is filled with all kinds of very specific teaching on stewardship and
yet, for the most part, most churches have not taken advantage of that.”
“Always start with what God wants us to know in His Word
about how to relate to money, how to manage money, and how money can be a
positive in your spiritual life and not a negative.”
“I do believe we have a responsibility to make sure that we
clearly define what stewardship is and what it isn’t.”
“It isn’t that God needs our money, or even that churches
need our money, but we need to develop a biblically-centered view of what it’s
like to live as a steward.”
“From a biblical standpoint, your relationship to money will
always impact your relationship to God.”
“We are constantly looking for and creating new classes
around specific felt needs.”
“There is so much emotion associated with money that that
emotion often keeps people from engaging because they are scared or
embarrassed.”
“Our biggest issue is overcoming the emotion about money
that keeps people from engaging in the first place.”
“Generous people will give, but you can give without being generous.”
Dave Briggs spent the first 27 years of his career working for General Electric as a Financial Manager. In his early twenties, he became passionate about learning and teaching what the Bible says about money.
In 2002, Dave left the business world and joined the staff of Willow Creek Community Church, near Chicago, to lead their Financial Stewardship Ministry. During that time he developed various seminars and classes to equip God’s people in biblical principles of handling money.
In 2009, Dave joined the staff at Central Christian Church of Arizona to develop a full-time stewardship ministry and in 2010, he published a financial parenting seminar in DVD form called “Raising Financially Freed-up Kids.”
Dave currently serves on the board of the Christian Stewardship Network and is past Chairman of the Board of Financial Planning Ministry. Dave regularly speaks at churches and conferences around the country.
Dave is married to Debbie and they live in the greater Phoenix area. They have two grown sons, who are both currently serving in full-time ministry. Dave is passionate about spreading God’s message of biblical stewardship and never tires of seeing how gaining a biblical perspective on stewardship changes lives.
Podcast Episode 36: Generosity Passages You Can Preach
Nov 06, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen is joined by Gunnar Johnson, founder of Learn Generosity. During their conversation, they discuss turning generosity passages of the Bible into teaching opportunities.
Best Quotes
“Pastors, get your pen and paper ready. We might just give
you your sermon for this Sunday today.”
“Anytime you are going to change the culture you have to
preach on this stuff.”
“There is a lot of great material in the Bible to preach on
generosity.”
“All generosity that is devoid of manipulation comes from a
heart that wants to give.”
“Our job in helping someone grow generosity is to help them
have a heart that listens better to God.”
“God will tell us to give more than our pastor will ever
ask.”
“Cultivating that heart that’s listening to what God is
telling us to do will go far beyond guilting someone into tithing.”
“How do you try to lead a church in extravagant generosity
when none of you give?”
“The enemy’s tactic with giving is to tell us either you don’t give enough or don’t give at all.”
Before founding Generosity and Stewardship Strategies and co-founding Financial Freedom International, Gunnar Johnson was a local church Pastor and business owner. He had the privilege of serving as an Executive Stewardship Pastor at Gateway Church in Southlake Texas for 11 years. Prior to Gateway Church, Gunnar served for 2 years as a Stewardship Minister at The Hills Church in North Richland Hills, Texas. Prior to 13 years of vocational ministry, he owned a Drywall business in Florida, and a Chem-Dry carpet cleaning company in Texas while serving on staff with Howard Dayton and Larry Burkett at Crown Financial Ministry.
Gunnar has a passion for teaching Biblical Generosity and Financial Stewardship to individuals, churches, non-profits, and businesses. He loves watching how they grow through the power of God’s Word.
Podcast Episode 35: How Your Data Can Drive Increased Engagement
Oct 30, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen is
joined by Bill Newman, president of Servant PC. During their conversation, they
discuss how to turn your data into a successful engagement strategy.
Best Quotes
“Why track any of this information at all if you aren’t
going to use it to grow the ministry?”
“There is no point in collecting data just to have it sit in
a system somewhere.”
“We want to put all of that at the pastor’s and ministry
leaders’ fingertips so they can access and use that data to make good
decisions.”
“Analytical data about our donors is going to tell us things
like how engaged people are in our ministry and where our ministry is heading.”
“If someone is a first-time give the system can be setup so
that it automates a thank you letter going to them.”
“You can have different members on your team have different
levels of access to the granular contribution information.”
“We want a cheerful giver and sometimes just encouraging
them goes a long way.”
“It’s more than just software, we really are trying to grow your ministry.”
Bill Newman is the President of Servant PC Resources, maker of Servant Keeper one of the most popular church software systems on the market. Bill has over 25 years of experience in local church ministry in everything from full-time pastoral ministry to volunteering in the nursery, so he has a pretty good idea of what churches do. His passion is to help more churches reach more people with the Gospel.
Podcast Episode 34: Is It Stewardship or Generosity?
Oct 23, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen and George Thompson, Stewardship Pastor at Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, CA, are joined by Steve Carter, Stewardship Pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. During their conversation, they discuss if the ministry should be called stewardship or a generosity ministry.
As a listener to The Generosity Podcast we invite you to use the discount code, Lifeway for the 2020 CSN Forum. This code can be entered on the registration page and it will take an additional $25 off for any ticket purchase.
Best Quotes
“Most people in the church associated the word stewardship
with church fundraising campaigns.”
“We all know stewardship is essential to the life of a Christ-follower.”
“When people understand true biblical stewardship, it
changes everything.”
“We chose the generous living brand for our stewardship ministry
because it would cast the vision for what a life of faithful stewardship would
look like.”
“If I had to do it all again, I would have delegated more
and used other people’s material a lot more.”
“Allow your passion for stewardship and generosity to help
get your team fired up for it as much as you are.”
“Look at what the mission is of the church and how stewardship can help.”
Steve leads the Stewardship Ministry of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. His passion is helping people take the next step on their stewardship journey. The mission of the ministry team he leads is to encourage and equip people to implement Biblical principles for managing their time, talent and treasure. He wants to see people live the generous life, to which God has called us.
Before stepping into the role of Stewardship Pastor, Steve served as an Elder of Southeast Christian. During those 12 years, he oversaw several ministries and led multiple building projects including the launch of 2 new campuses. In 2015, Steve left a 24-year career in the safety and fire protection industries to pursue God’s calling to full-time vocational ministry.
Steve and his wife, Shelley, have been married for 25 years and have two sons, ages 19 and 14.
Generosity Podcast Episode 33: How Social Media, Crowdfunding, and Events are Impacting Giving
Oct 16, 2019
Show notes
In this episode of the Generosity Podcast, Todd McMichen is
joined by Ray Gary, CEO of iDonate. During their conversation, they discuss the
expectations of a giver, particularly in the next generation, with a focus on
crowdfunding, social media, and events integration.
Best Quotes
“Whether we like it or not, we have short attention spans
and we process a lot of information.”
“Every time you make a supporter take an extra step, you are
creating friction in the process.”
“One of the first things you can do is put a big give button
at the top of your website.”
“Take the friction away and make it simple for somebody to
give.”
“At the end of the day, the message still matters. Make sure
the message is clear and concise and the reader understands what the impact is
of what they are giving to.”
“The money can still go to your budget, but let the person
see the face of what they’re giving so that it inspires their heart to give
versus just writing a blank check to an operating budget which does nothing for
them from a heart standpoint.”
“Turn your spreadsheet of a budget into a descriptive word
and a picture.”
“Think about how you can put together some events for passionate causes your church is about, because the next generation wants to gather together and see the difference you are making in a certain area.”
Ray is the CEO of iDonate, a company that provides nonprofits with technology solutions to do more good in the world. Ray’s experience in launching, building and helping businesses succeed spans nearly three decades, including various leadership positions in technology companies. Previously, he served as President of the Venture Capital group of Koch Industries, one of the nation’s largest private companies, where he oversaw numerous technology investments. Ray currently serves as a Board member of the Highland Park chapter of KLIFE – a faith-based ministry for students and also sits on the Board of the greater Baton Rouge/LSU area Young Life ministry.
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