Some years ago I was called to the little town of Virden, Illinois,
to raise money for a church building. They had to move to a
new location in order to expand and needed $50,000 to get started.
The future growth of their church depended on the success of
this venture.
On Sunday morning I spoke to the congregation
about giving and had just started to take commitments when a
young man stood up and asked to speak.
He said, “My wife and I have been
up most of the night praying, and God has definitely spoken
to us about what we should do.”
“We just sold our house,”
he continued, “and had $10,000 equity. We planned to buy
another home and use the extra money as a down payment. God
spoke to both of us and said, "You can do better by giving
the $10,000 to the church and renting for awhile."
The young man’s offer was shocking,
to say the least, but God had obviously dealt with this couple.
I would never have suggested to anyone that they make such a
bold offer. In fact, his decision appeared to be a very unwise
thing to do.
I also knew, however, that making a
substantial gift of at least 10 percent of the total amount
needed and doing it openly often insures the success of a fundraising
venture. Who was I to argue with God’s methods?
"Remember: Giving is Learned"
Some months later I met the pastor
of the Virden church at a national meeting and asked him, “What
happened to that young deacon and his wife who gave their down
payment on a house to the building program?”
Smiling, he answered, “Brother
Clark, you’d never guess what happened. About a month after
they had given their money to the church, another local couple
had to vacate their house in order to relocate to take a better
job. They had no time to put their house on the market, so they
offered it to our deacon and his wife if they would just take
over the mortgage payments with no money down.”
“That’s wonderful,”
I replied, relieved to know God had blessed them.
“But there’s more,”
the pastor continued. “The house was new, and the mortgage
was less than our couple had planned to pay for an older home.
They have moved in and are very happy.”
This couple did what looked like a
foolish thing, but look at the end result! Blessing above anything
they could ask or think! They have a better home than they could
have bought and Virden has a new church.
The Happy, Cheerful Giver
Anyone who raises money must be a “giver”
himself. He must also be convinced that it doesn’t ever
hurt anyone C including himself C to obey God in giving if he
is sure of God’s leading.
Once that truth is settled in the leader’s
heart and mind, he will not have to bluster and threaten or
tell people how much they should give. He will not have to “oversell.”
The leader can relax and let God and the people work it out.
The fund-raiser’s main job is
to get God and the people together working on the problem.
I have learned a lot from 2 Corinthians
9. In this chapter, the apostle Paul is raising money for the
famine sufferers in Judea, and all the churches under his care
are being asked to make a special fund drive for this cause.
In verse 7, Paul says, “Every
man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give;
not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
Let’s look at four parts of this verse:
1. “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so
let him give.” Let God deal with each man as
to what amount he is to give.
2. “Not grudgingly.” This would suggest that the person
has been crowded into giving and that his heart is not in it.
3. “Or of necessity.” This, again indicates that the
person is being pushed because of the urgency of the need.
4. “God loveth a cheerful giver.” The word used here,
“cheerful,” is translated from the word hileros, which
really means hilarious or - as I like to think of it - happy,
enthusiastic, and spontaneous.
How can you be cheerful and give away your hard- earned money
at the same time? This is a good question.
The answer is in verse 6. “But
this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly;
and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”
Here Paul likens giving to God (or
to the poor in this case) as sowing. We all know that the reaping
is far greater than the sowing. Jesus spoke of the sower whose
seed brought forth, some 100 and some 60 and some 30 fold. (See
Matthew 13:23.)
This is about what a farmer would expect
to reap - about 30 times more than the original amount of seed,
or it could be 60 times what he sowed, or even 100 times as
much when the crop is harvested. Paul says we will reap according
to how much we sow.
"Anyone who raises money must be a giver himself"
The entire chapter of 2 Corinthians
9 is filled with promises to the “giver.” There is
not one threat. There is not one line to make people feel guilty.
All I see here are promises of blessing.
Those who give can feel happy because
God’s work is being done. At the same time, we can be assured
that God will reward us for what we do for Him and His cause.
Those in need also will rejoice because God’s people have
been generous in helping them. Paul compliments the people;
he doesn’t rail at them.
The apostle Paul teaches us several important principles in
these verses:
1. Giving is learned.
2. People can only give happily according to their faith.
3. Good things happen to those who obey God in their giving.
4. Many times the givers become the key to victory in a situation,
especially if they give openly.
5. Example is a tremendous force in anything we do for God.
The “giver” is doing God’s work, and God is rewarding
him for it. Over the years, I have seen God do miracles for
those who are happy givers.
The Spirit Of Giving
Some years ago, I was invited to be
the morning and night speaker at a pastors’ conference
in West Texas. A prominent pastor of a Texas church was one
of the day speakers, and he mentioned to me that he and his
wife were getting ready to return to the mission field.
“We have announced our decision
but have not resigned our pastorate as yet,” he told me.
“In the months to come, we will be raising our support
to go overseas as missionaries.”
I held that thought in the back of
my mind.
That same day, the district youth leader
asked me to go to lunch with him. “The youth department
has gone into the red about $30,000,” he said. “I
wondered if you could give me some ideas to bring it in line.”
I didn’t seem to be able to give
him much help but told him I would think about it.
That night at the pastors’ conference,
I felt strongly led to speak on the topic of giving. As I was
speaking, I felt a spirit of giving sweep over the audience.
I knew the people were ready to give, but I was at a loss as
to what to do.
The district superintendent had not
given me any permission to take an offering. If I did take an
offering, I felt there were two needs to consider: the couple
going to the mission field and the need in the youth department.
While still in the pulpit I prayed
silently and could not get an answer as to just what to do at
the close of my message, so I finished and sat down.
"God’s people are used to give guidance"
The district superintendent started
singing a chorus. About halfway through the song, a young man
started walking down the aisle and up to the platform. He whispered
something to the superintendent and then went to the pulpit.
As the young man started to speak,
he was overcome with emotion and began to weep. When he could
finally talk, he told of his deep burden for the youth department
and the financial need.
Then he said, “God has burdened
me to give $1,000 toward this need.”
Immediately, a beautiful spirit of
worship and a broken spirit swept the audience. Other people
began to stand up and make commitments to the youth department.
This kept up for perhaps 20 minutes. When they were through,
the pastors had committed approximately $30,000.
Nobody asked for money, but somebody
had been praying C and God supplied the need. God didn’t
need my help, so He just didn’t tell me anything. Thank
God I didn’t try to do something myself. I obeyed God by
speaking on giving, and God took care of the rest.
There is more to this story, however.
When Opportunity Knocks
While I was working on this book, I
got a telephone call.
The voice at the other end of the line
said, “This is John Murdock, the young man who went to
the platform the night you preached on giving at the pastors’
conference in West Texas. I started the giving that netted $30,000
for the youth department.”
“Yes,” I replied. “I
remember you well. You were voted in as district youth leader
the next year when the other man resigned the office.”
“That’s right,” he said.
“The Lord changed my life when I stepped out in faith to
give. That was the greatest night of my life.”
John then asked if he could come up
and talk with me, which he did about a week later.
“Our daughter attends Southwestern
College in Texas,” he explained, “and they need a
new building very badly. I am interested in helping them raise
the money to build the building.”
"Obedience can overcome even our doubts"
I made a few suggestions and sent some
material home with him outlining the best ways to raise that
kind of money.
Months passed, and I hadn’t heard
from him.
In October 1994, about the same time
I was thinking of contacting John to find out what had happened,
he called me. I could tell from his voice he was on “cloud
nine” as he explained what had happened.
“At first I talked to the college
committee and suggested we begin by raising $100,000 from the
alumni,” he told me. “But no one gave me the go-ahead
to do anything about it, so for a while all I could do was wait.”
“One man was sold on my ideas,”
John continued, and he was in charge of one of the fundraising
meetings for the new building. During the meeting, he asked
me to come up to the platform and pray. He told me, “If
you want to say something, feel free to do so.” I knew
that was my opportunity.
John told the people that the college
had asked the alumni to raise the first $100,000. He said, “My
wife and I have prayed about it and feel that God is leading
us to pledge $5,000 toward construction of the new building.
Now I’m going to pray and ask God to let you know if you
are to have a part in giving toward this $100,000, and if so,
how much.”
"The fund-raiser’s main job is to get God and people
together working on the problem"
John said when he prayed, he felt the
Spirit of God move over the congregation. People began to raise
their hands and tell how much they would give.
“I remembered you had told me
to keep track of how much was given,” John explained, “so
I asked someone to add up the pledges as they came in.”
When this process seemed to be taking
a long time, John asked the congregation if they wanted to stop,
and everyone shouted, “No! No! Don’t stop!”
When the total got to $77,000, John
started counting down, telling the people, “Now we only
have $23,000 to go.”
Then when they got up past $90,000,
a man came to the platform with a check for $10,000. At that
point John told the people, “We have to stop, folks. We
have over $100,000!”
John told me, “Everyone involved
is excited and believing we can raise the total amount needed
for the new building for the college!”
What were the key factors that led
to John’s fundraising success?
First, John prayed about what he himself
was to give until he got an answer from God.
Second, John was bold about publicly
acknowledging his pledge when the opportunity presented
itself.
Third, John counted the money as it
came in.
Fourth, he never urged people to give;
he simply invited them to join him in giving.
Obedience Wins A Victory
Several years ago, our good friend,
Dr. Richard Dobbins, a clinical psychologist living in Akron,
Ohio, asked Estella and me to have lunch with him when he was
here in Springfield.
Dr. Dobbins mentioned that his national
ministry, Emerge, was having their annual dinner meeting in
November in conjunction with their yearly board meeting.
“This has always been a time to
raise money for our work,” he explained to us. “I’m
especially excited about this year’s banquet since a businessman
in the east has promised to give $250,000 if we can raise $500,000
that night.”
“That’s wonderful!”
I exclaimed, wondering why he was telling me this.
Since I had previously worked for him
as a consultant for almost two years, I could tell Dr. Dobbins
had something more on his mind.
“Would you be willing to come
and raise the money in that meeting?” He asked. “If
we can make our goal, it would be possible for us to build a
headquarters building, which we desperately need.”
I thought for a moment, knowing that
Estella and I had pledged all we should for that year. I felt
we couldn’t give a substantial amount. “We can’t
give very much ourselves,” I told Dr. Dobbins, “perhaps
a token gift of $1,000.”
“That’s fine,” he replied.
“No,” I said, “I think
that whoever raises that money should be someone who can give
a very substantial amount.”
“I really want you to be the one
to raise the money for us,” he urged, asking us to do it
anyway.
I couldn’t turn down a man like
Dr. Dobbins. He was doing too great a work, and besides we loved
him like family.
“I will do my best,” I said.
Then I asked, “How many people
will be there?”
About 150.”
My faith level suddenly dropped. I
knew I didn’t have the faith to believe that we could raise
$500,000 with so few in attendance.
The day of the banquet, I arrived in
Akron and checked into my motel room early. As I was kneeling
by the bedside praying, I told God, “I don’t have
the faith for $500,000, and Estella and I have pledged all that
is prudent for us this year. But if You let me know that we
should give more anyway, Lord, You know I will do it.”
The Lord made it very clear to me that
we should pledge $10,000. I agreed to do it, but my faith for
the $500,000 was still lacking.
"Sometimes you have to let God take up the offering"
After dinner that night, I stepped
to the podium andlooked
out at the 150 people attending the banquet. I simply told them
about the tremendous need for the building and how much depended
on our raising $500,000.
We then passed out pledge cards.
I told the audience about my experience
in the motel room that afternoon. “The Lord has told me
to give $10,000,” I said. Then I prayed that God would
lead the people as to what they should give.
“Just write your name and the
amount on the pledge card, and the ushers will bring them up,”
I instructed, trying to sound encouraging.
As the cards were brought up, I read
the amounts while an accountant added them on his calculator.
When I asked for the first subtotal, it was $212,000.
Well, I thought, that’s probably
all we’ll get. But the ushers kept bringing up more and
more pledge cards. The next subtotal was $316,000. This has
to be close to the end, I thought. But the cards kept coming.
The next subtotal was $416,000. It was not until then that I
felt a tiny spark of faith. “Maybe we can reach the $500,000
goal,” I said to myself. I didn’t ask for another
subtotal until all the cards were
collected.
It was $575,000. But that was not the end. Late pledges brought
the total to $700,000! Later, I was able to evaluate why this
fundraising event was so successful:
1. Dale Berkey, Dr. Dobbins’ consultant, had done a great
job planning before the meeting ever took place.
2. Dr. Dobbins and his staff had led in the giving and others
had made advance commitments.
3. My obeying God could have been another key to the success;
I don’t know. I’m sure it didn’t hinder.
Today, Emerge Ministries has a beautiful headquarters building,
and the pledge Estella and I made was paid very easily. In fact,
I feel that we prospered because of our giving.
"When God asks you to do something, it is never hard to
do.
He
always provides a way and leaves more than He takes"
Give Until It Hurts?
One day while I was waiting to address
a district council meeting, I was sitting in an adjoining room
as the vespers service was coming to a close.
The young man who was speaking raised
his voice and said with considerable authority, “If you
haven’t given till it hurts, you haven’t given!”
I am sure that the young man was sincere,
but I am afraid he was quoting some preacher who was mistaken.
This statement has caused a lot of people to feel guilty because
their giving did not hurt them in any way, and they have been
told that it should hurt them to give.
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus says,
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give
into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete [or
measure out] withal it shall be measured unto you again”
(6:38).
This is in the present continuous tense.
As long as I keep giving, this is going to keep happening. It
shall be given back to me, good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and running over C and with whatever measure I use
in my giving, this same measure shall be used to give back to
me. When that happens, it will be “good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running over,” and the bigger
the measure I use to give, the bigger the measure used for my
returns.
"You can’t get hurt obeying God"
This being the case, how could it ever
hurt me to obey God in my giving?
Some people will say immediately, “Yes,
but it depends on your motive.”
Jesus just said, “Give, and it
shall be given unto you.” He gave no other conditions to
this promise. I think I can safely believe what Jesus said is
true.
If God has helped me to build a prosperous
business so that I can give regularly to His work, is it reasonable
to believe that He would ask me to give so much that it would
cripple the very business He had helped me to build? Then I
would not be able to give at all.
To whom was Jesus speaking when He
said, “Give, and it shall be given unto you”?
Before him was a multitude of the sick,
lame, halt, and blind. In fact, the Bible says, “The common
people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37).
When John the Baptist got discouraged
in prison, he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are
you the one that was to come, or do we look for another?”
Jesus’ answer was not a yes or
no. Instead, He said, “Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to
them” (Matthew 11:4,5).
I think we could assume that most of
this multitude were poor people. If giving would simply make
people poorer and if it was not true that giving would come
back to us “good measure, pressed down, and shaken together,
and running over,” to speak such a thing to all these poor
people would have been cruel to say the least.
Jesus came to help people. To a multitude
of poor people, He said, “Give, and it shall be given unto
you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running
over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure
that ye mete withal [or, in every circumstance] it shall be
measured to you again.”
I believe Jesus was saying, “You
start giving, and you’ll find it coming back to you even
in greater measure than you gave.”
God’s Surprise
While I was president of the Bible College
in Minneapolis, Richard Dortch, who was the Illinois district
superintendent at the time, asked me to serve as interim minister
at the Stone Church in Chicago. The congregation had no pastor
at the time, so for nine weeks I flew down on weekends to preach.
The church had just finished a new building
but had not started to make monthly payments on the construction
loan since the closing had not yet taken place. At over $12,000
a month, the congregation was not financially prepared to make
that kind of payment. The church board asked me to raise the
money since I had done a lot of this kind of work anyway.
On commitment Sunday, I spoke on giving and
then prayed that God would let people know what they should
pledge on the building.
The pledge was to be paid over one year’s
time. Cards were passed out, and I asked them to write their
name and the amount they felt God would have them give.
After the ushers collected the cards and brought them up to
me, I read the amounts aloud while a deacon added the amounts.
Although I seldom take note of the name on a card, I did notice
Phil and Vicki Epperson’s names on a pledge card for $10,000.
At the time, Phil was the visitation
pastor and had been in that position with the church for two
years. He had four children and received a yearly salary of
$21,500. I knew very well that Phil and Vicki could not afford
to give $10,000, but I knew also that Phil and Vicki had a close
relationship with the Lord.
They wouldn’t put $10,000 on a
pledge card unless God had definitely led them to do it, I told
myself. After a successful fund drive to meet the monthly building
loan payments, it came time for the church leaders to begin
looking for a new pastor. As we considered the kind of man the
church needed, the board decided it had to be someone with years
of experience, successful, and seasoned - everything a large
church like that would want in a pastor.
To my surprise, after meeting and hearing
the first candidate preach, the congregation didn’t vote
him in as the new pastor.
Then, I began to hear people saying,
“Why can’t Phil be our pastor?” Or, “What’s
the matter with having Phil and Vicki as pastors?”
"Good things happen to people who obey God in their giving"
Phil and Vicki were as surprised as
anyone about this
sudden
interest in them. They certainly weren’t expecting to assume
such a responsible position.
I thought Phil was too young. “He’s
only been in the ministry two years and hasn’t preached
very much,” I remarked.
They said, “Yes, but through his
counseling he has brought 200 people into the church who have
become members in the last two years.”
I told the church board, “We should
vote on Phil before putting up any more names. I don’t
think the people will vote anyone else in until they vote on
Phil Epperson.”
A business meeting was promptly announced
to vote on Phil as pastor. When the time came, it was almost
unanimous. There may have been one “no” vote. I don’t
remember for sure.
Phil and Vicki have been pastoring
the Stone Church in Chicago since the mid 1970’s. Things
are going great, and God has used them in a wonderful way.
Their starting salary as pastor was
double what they were getting when they made the $10,000 pledge.
You see, they knew God, and God knew they would be able to pay
the $10,000.
"You just can’t get hurt obeying God"
Asking The Right Question
Young couples, both beaming, used to
come into my office at the college; he wanting to tell me how
they met, she wanting to show me the diamond. I have always
enjoyed talking to people who are in love, probably because
I’m still in love myself.
Somewhere in the conversation, I usually
asked when the happy event would take place. The answer so many
times was one year, two years, three years.
When I asked why they were waiting
so long, the answer usually was, “We can’t afford
it any sooner.” I’ve always thought that two could
live cheaper than one, especially if they both work.Then, too,
I thought of a little rhyme I heard somewhere:
The bride bent with years leaned over her cane,
Her
steps now feeble need guiding.
While
down the church aisle with a wan toothless smile,
The
groom in a wheel chair gliding.
Now
who is this elderly couple thus wed?
You’ll
find when you’ve closely explored it.
That
this is that rare, conservative pair,
Who
waited till they could afford it.
“What can I afford?” Is not the right question to
ask.
I have talked with millionaires who
said they couldn’t afford to give C and they really believed
it. The right question to ask when any legitimate need is presented
is: “What does God want to channel through me?”
Asking the right questions always helps
me to give happily and enthusiastically.
Sometimes, we raise money for special
projects at church and call it “Miracle Sunday.”
But what size is a miracle? If our
giving is a miracle, it could just as easily be a big miracle
as a little one as far as God is concerned.
If God lays it on your heart to make
a commitment for more money than you have or than you could
get;and if you are very sure that it is God speaking to you,
then you can safely make the commitment, knowing God will supply
the money to pay it.
There is a secret, however, to this
kind of giving.
After Estella and I make a pledge,
we begin to pay on it as soon as God starts supplying the money
to us. As a result, we have never had trouble paying a pledge.
That is my advice to all givers: Pay
your pledge immediately. Don’t wait to get it all; start
sowing as soon as God supplies seed. Get it into God’s
hand as soon as possible. Why? Because the sooner God gets it,
the sooner the harvest will begin.
"God does something very special for the happy giver"
When I was working with Capital Ministries,
we were raising money for a church building in Denver,Colorado.
During the fundraising, an elderly widow pledged $5,000.
The pastor told her no one expected
her to do this and that it was too large a pledge for someone
of her limited means.
She said with a smile, “Look,
I know my limitations, but I also know God. The Lord impressed
me definitely to pledge this amount, and I know that He will
provide the money for me to pay it.”
I have learned that people can only
give happily according to their faith. And this dear widow was
happy, knowing she was obeying God.
Two weeks later this lady received
a telephone call from a man who was a total stranger to her.
He said, “We are a new company just moving into Denver.
We like your telephone number and are prepared to pay you $3,000
for it.”
She had never heard of anything like
this, so she called the telephone company. They told her that
this was a common practice.
This dear lady knew God’s voice,
and I’m sure He met the rest of her need.
Her one act of obedience had a great
effect on the entire congregation in that capital fund campaign.
In fact, she was probably the key to success in raising the
money for a new building.
You see, God has a thousand ways to
meet your needs and mine, so there is no good reason not to
trust Him when you know you are obeying His voice.
God always does something special for
the happy giver. So what do we have to lose?
"People can only give happily according to their faith"
God
has gifted E. M. Clark in the area of fund-raising. Out of the
wealth of his experience, he shares challenging insights that
will be helpful to all who read this book.
Former Assemblies
of God General Superintendent
Click
Here To Read On...
Click Here to download Dr. Clark’s book on Church Fundraising
