Dr. Rodgers has written this book, as the title says, for pastors. They are the key to teaching on stewardship and need to take the lead in this very important area of spiritual growth and discipleship.

In part one of the book he exposes what he calls the ministerial myths about money and the truth that answers each myth. Myth 1: A truly godly pastor will never talk about money. Myth 2: I can build a great ministry without raising money. Myth 3: It is not my responsibility to raise the money for my church. Myth 4: If I just pray and preach on giving, people will give as they should. Myth 5: If I ask for a giving commitment, it will hurt the church because many people will be offended and will leave.

He follows up with eight reasons why people don’t give and the answers the Bible gives to correct their thinking.

1. Christians don’t give because they lack pastoral leadership.

2. Christians don’t give because they have spiritual problems.

3. Christians don’t give because they have financial problems.

4. Christians don’t give because they have limited vision.

5. Christians don’t give because they have limited relationships.

6. Christians don’t give because they don’t know they can.

7. Christians don’t give because they really do not know how to give.

8. Christians don’t give because they don’t plan to give.

Part two of the book is a very practical step-by-step of how to deal with the issues of money and the principles that the Bible teaches about stewardship. He lays the plan out in a ten-step process. The strength of this section is step one about mastering the biblical principles of stewardship.

Part three of the book is how to apply the previous ten-step program to your church. His premise is if you preach it people will give.

There are several appendices—one, a sermon on getting out of debt, and another on the authors experience in his former church where he used the dynamic giving system to increase giving by as much as 32%.

He also gives a good bibliography on stewardship at the end of the book. There are good ideas and food for thought as pastors consider what they should be doing in the area of stewardship.

Richard Aeschliman - Resources Coordinator