This Facebook group is dedicated to the promotion of God-inspired generosity. As C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) said “Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already”.
We will provide inspirational stewardship thinking and ideas as well as seek inspiring stories of God’s generosity and blessings.
About The Giving Equation
Sydney business consultant Dr Ken Long’s first book The Giving Equation, a mind-shifting perspective on why we should give, was released by Signs Publishing, Australia in June 2020.
Many people are reluctant to give because, when they do, they are left with less to live on. It can feel like a threat to their independence and standard of living. Economic security is a cause for concern—especially now, with so many people working reduced hours or being out of work. But this is where Dr Long’s giving equation recalculates things. He shows that giving has significant benefits and that we actually have more to gain if we give than we have by holding on to our money.
The Giving Equation presents two ways of thinking about money: the Me-economy and the G-economy. The Me-economy mindset is about holding on to money to protect our lifestyle and achieve financial security and independence—
it’s the natural human way of thinking. On the other hand, people with a G-economy mindset find freedom in trusting God to provide and experience the abundant life He promises to those who give. More than that, they develop a benevolent, generous character that reflects the character of the ultimate Giver of all.
In G-economy thinking, we recognise that God is the owner and we are stewards or managers of what God has entrusted to us. As manager under God, we can enjoy the freedom of dependence.We have the assurance that all our daily needs will be supplied.Freedom of dependence! It doesn’t make sense does it? We usually think of freedom as related to independence – but really that’s not the way it is in the G-economy.
As well as providing food for personal thought, The Giving Equation is also a practical resource for learning with others. “It contains five Bible case studies which draw out principles of giving. These are summarised and presented in study guide form at the back of the book, and can be used for small groups, Sabbath School classes or family worship,” Dr Long says. Resources like this are in demand at the moment, with many people gathering in small groups in homes rather than in larger congregations for worship.
About The Author – Ken Long
Dr Ken Long is a business consultant working in a Government program where he provides advice to help businesses improve their competitiveness and profitability. He has broad industry experience having commenced his business career as a lawyer before holding senior management positions in the de-regulating electricity and gas markets and IT commercialisation.Ken has also been involved as a senior consultant in developing leadership and management skills with a particular emphasis on business acumen. His business skills include: business strategy development, business development, sales and marketing management.
Ken has degrees in Law and Accounting as well as a Master of Business Administration (marketing) and Doctor of Business Administration (organisational innovation).
Ken is a stewardship champion and has been passionate about stewardship all his life. He has been frustrated by the general failure of churches, ministry and laity to comprehend the God-given benefits of giving and the focus, almost exclusively, on giving from the church organization’s perspective. This push stewardship approach ignores the compelling giver oriented way in which Jesus presented stewardship.
Ken’s approach recognises that sustained changes in stewardship behaviour can be achieved by focusing on promoting the benefits of stewardship to the giver.
Ken Long – Giving Equation Introduction.
