Gregory Baumer on Red Letter Disciple Podcast

074: Gregory Baumer on How God Taught Him Generosity at Harvard, Plus the One Question Every Disciple Should Ask about Money

While taking a course at Harvard Divinity School, Greg Baumer’s world was turned upside-down. He discovered that when it comes to money, God wants something for us, not from us. Since that time, Greg has become convinced that God offers a unique joy to those who choose to live generously. As he explored the words of Jesus around generosity, he believes every disciple of Jesus should ask the question, “How much do I need to keep?”

     

Today’s episode is brought to you by Dwelling 1:14. Led by Pastor Greg Finke, Dwelling 1:14 is a discipleship organization that comes alongside pastors and leaders to help them intentionally disciple their people. Greg has worked with hundreds of churches and tens of thousands of people. He has developed a year-long training process that helps your church produce greater disciples in their everyday lives. He’s an experienced practitioner and mentor, and he’s ready to help your church. You can contact him and learn more about this year-long process here. 

Additionally, on May 16th, from Noon-1PM Central, I’ll be hosting Greg Finke for a church leaders webinar called Creating a Discipleship Plan for Your Church that Transforms Lives. You can register for free by clicking here or the image below.

Red Letter Leaders Monthly Webinar - Walking with Jesus Creating a Discipleship Plan for Your Church that Transforms Lives

Resources mentioned in the episode: 

Generous Giving 

True Riches by Gregory Baumer and John Cortines

God and Money by Gregory Baumer and John Cortines

The Bible Project Story: God and Money

FREE Red Letter Spiritual Gift Quiz: spiritualgifts.me

Key insights from the episode: 

Key insights from the episode: 

The point is, do I believe all I have belongs to God? – Greg Baumer

In a culture where our most pervasive sin is materialism, we’ve lowered the bar on what good stewardship looks like. – Greg Baumer

The question every disciple of Jesus should ask: “How much of God’s money do I need to keep for myself? – Greg Baumer

The best teaching on generosity is not on what we should do but rather on what [God] has done. – Greg Baumer

Almost all of Jesus’s teachings on money are warnings. – Greg Baumer

Most elder board members at church are wealthy people. – Greg Baumer

It’s critical that we, as Christ’s followers, understand why God asks us to give. If we don’t know why, the tactics don’t matter.  – Greg Baumer

The three most frequent causes Jesus said to give money to are 1) to the poor, 2) to spread the gospel, and 3) to build the local church. – Greg Baumer

Greg Baumer’s Challenge: Give generously according to the cause God has uniquely designed for you. 

Are you following Jesus? 

Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.

In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.

You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.

Watch the entire season for free: 

We’ll be uploading every episode of The Red Letter Disciple on our YouTube Channel. If you aren’t subscribed already, you can do so here.

 

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