For nearly a year, donations had been declining at a church in Colorado Springs. Brian Kluth, pastor and author, mailed out copies of his 40-Day Journey to a More Generous Life Bible devotional to every family in the congregation. In the months following, the giving went up 41 percent; and months later the church’s giving has remained higher than it’s ever been.
A chaplain at the Air Force Academy got the devotional and gave out copies to the people attending his church services, and giving went up 35 percent. All of this happened without ever mentioning the church budget.
“For years, churches have taught people to give to the budget,” says Kluth. “This Bible devotional brings the focus back to teaching people to give to God. When a church makes giving to God its focus, church budgets automatically begin to go up. It changes the whole emphasis from meeting the budget to meeting God. Instead of just trying to get financial transactions it encourages spiritual transformation in people’s financial lives. Budgets don’t inspire people to give, but the Bible does.”
The 92-page, full-color booklet identifies 40 biblical financial teachings and 400 Bible verses. The daily Scripture readings help ignite people’s faith in God to provide, inspires them to become more generous, and increases their giving to their churches and the ministries that are important to them.
There are now more than 400,000 copies in print of the 40-Day Generous Life devotional book. It has been used by more than 1,000 churches from more than 100 denominations to help instruct people about what the Bible says regarding money and giving. Churches of all sizes are using this devotional–small rural churches, urban churches, suburban churches, and more than 25 megachurches with thousands of people attending. One pastor who used this book in the midst of his church’s building fund campaign said, “We raised 50 percent more than we were expecting because of the use of this 40-day devotional.”
The booklet also is inspiring greater generosity around the world. There are translations underway in more than 40 foreign languages for free worldwide distribution. In Mongolia, an 1,100-person church saw its giving increase nearly 60 percent. In Australia, a denomination is sharing this book with all of its churches. There are documented cases of church giving going up 54 percent, 116 percent and one case of a 600 percent increase in giving commitments.
Because of the success the 40-Day devotional is experiencing with churches, Kluth developed free 60-second radio spots and a 40-day online version for Christian radio stations to use. The Give with Joy radio stories are now being played on stations across the country at no cost to the stations.
Kenny Robinson from WMSJ-FM said, “We are a listener-supported station and have been using these radio spots and devotionals to help teach our listeners the principles of giving. I must say the response has been incredible. We’ve seen God move among His people throughout our listening audience.”
Beyond the devotional book, companion resources are also available. Videos for church services, small-group videos, Sunday School material, banners, posters and sermon helps are also available.
Kluth says, “God always uses scarcity to bring clarity. We’re in a time when we need to give people God’s answers from the Bible about how to manage their finances and giving. When we do this, giving will go up even in a down economy.”
