Church leaders talk about financial matters all the time, and it is not uncommon for these conversations to be focused primarily on the progress toward your giving goals. For an effective financial stewardship strategy that starts at the top, expand your financial discussions to include the topics that affect your givers.

Imagine you begin to exhibit health concerns. You present various symptoms that give rise to concern. One response you could make would be to consult the information superhighway, which will give a broad range of possible illnesses from one end of the spectrum to the other. Another response would be to consult a physician.

Whenever I read the Scriptures, especially when it involves a story, I try to imagine it as if I am physically standing there watching the events unfolding. This helps me not to interpret the text the same way every time and usually causes me to ask questions I wouldn't ask through casual reading. This happened recently while reading Jesus' feeding of the five thousand, and, as it often happens when meditating on God's word, I saw something new.

In recent years generosity and generosity ministry has gained popularity in the Church and non-profit organizations. Many church leaders have begun to use generosity in place of stewardship. This may seem like a better way to communicate the same thing for some, but do generosity and stewardship mean the same thing?