Messiah Lutheran Church, Knoxville TN

Beginning this August, I’d like you to join me in an exciting opportunity in spiritual formation and growth in discipleship. I am inviting you to join me as together we read the book Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life by the Reverend Dr. Mark Allan Powell.

Dr. Powell, Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH, has written a delightful little book, which debunks and then redefines our notion of stewardship. (Wait! Don’t stop reading just because I used the “S” word.) As Powell helps us to see, stewardship is not a bad word. In fact, as he says, biblical stewardship provides “a vision that turns out to be filled with good news for followers of Jesus Christ.” Did you hear that, stewardship is actually good news.

I’d like very much for all of us to read and discuss this biblical vision for stewardship. Thus, beginning in mid-August, Messiah will have copies of Dr. Powell’s book available for purchase, hopefully, at a cost of around $12/book. My hope is that you will read the book as part of a small group of fellow Messiah members with whom you can discuss Powell’s hypotheses. Your Messiah staff and council will be reading and discussing it. Hopefully, so too will our Via de Cristo reunion groups, Book Club, various committees, Theology Pub, and others. Won’t you join us by purchasing a book, reading along, and finding a group to join for discussion?

I have no doubt that if you do, you will find your efforts very rewarding. As theologian Dr. Douglas John Hall says of Giving to God,

“This is a wonderfully readable book on a subject that ought to have priority in the thinking of not only Christians but all human beings on our much threatened planet. Mark Powell’s prose is full of fascinating anecdotes and allusions, making it immediately accessible to the reader. But, it is also based on a biblically and theologically informed wisdom that speaks to the most pressing challenges of church and society in our time.”   

I look forward to reading along with you and hearing your impressions of Powell’s “biblically and theologically informed wisdom.”