Fields of Gold
By Andy Stanley
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
Andy Stanley
Andy Stanley, like his father, Charles Stanley, carries on a tradition of excellence in ministry. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and the founding pastor of North Point Community Church, Andy serves as keynote speaker for the Big Stuf Student Camps in Panama City, Florida, each summer. Stuart Hall serves as the director of training for XP3 Students and also leads DASH INC, an organization he founded in 2000 to develop spiritually influential students that engage culture. He has co-authored three books: The Seven Checkpoints: Seven Principles Every Teenager Needs to Know, MAX Q: Developing Students of Influence with Andy Stanley, and the leadership edition of Wired: For a Life of Worship with Louie Giglio. In his spare time, he serves as a community varsity girls basketball coach for the two-time defending state champion Buford Lady Wolves. summer.
Read more from Andy Stanley
Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets: 5 Questions to Help You Determine Your Next Move Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Parenting: Getting It Right Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCourageous Faith: My Story From a Life of Obedience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parenting Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video: Getting It Right Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grace of God: The Gift We Don't Deserve. The Love WE Can't Believe. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Rich: It's Not What You Have. It's What You Do With What You Have. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who Needs Christmas Bible Study Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIrresistible Bible Study Guide: Reclaiming the New That Jesus Unleashed for the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCommunity Bible Study Conversation Guide: Starting Well in Your Small Group Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets Bible Study Guide: 5 Questions to Help You Determine Your Next Move Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seven Checkpoints for Student Leaders: Seven Principles Every Teenager Needs to Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guardrails Bible Study Guide, Updated Edition: Avoiding Regret in Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Fields of Gold
Related ebooks
Free and Clear: God's Roadmap to Debt-Free Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Cups: God's Timeless Promises for a Life of Fulfillment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Law of Rewards: Giving What You Can’t Keep to Gain What You Can’t Lose Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Divine Mentor: Growing Your Faith as You Sit at the Feet of the Savior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What If . . . God Has Other Plans?: Finding Hope When Life Throws You the Unexpected Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5True Courage: Emboldened by God in a Disheartening World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus: Pure and Simple Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Rich: It's Not What You Have. It's What You Do With What You Have. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Seven Checkpoints for Student Leaders: Seven Principles Every Teenager Needs to Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Money, Possessions, and Eternity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Enough?: 3 Keys to Financial Contentment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Going Deep and Wide: A Companion Guide for Churches and Leaders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grace of God: The Gift We Don't Deserve. The Love WE Can't Believe. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unleash!: Breaking Free from Normalcy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGiving It All Away…and Getting It All Back Again: The Way of Living Generously Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guardrails Bible Study Guide, Updated Edition: Avoiding Regret in Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYour Money God's Way: Overcoming the 7 Money Myths that Keep Christians Broke Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Courageous Faith: My Story From a Life of Obedience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Money Map: A Proven 7-Step Guide to True Financial Freedom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Faith and Finances: A Stewardship Curriculum for Schools and Churches Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Giving and Tithing: Includes Serving and Stewardship Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Twisting the Truth Bible Study Participant's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDivine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making Vision Stick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taking Responsibility for Your Life Bible Study Participant's Guide: Because Nobody Else Will Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Managing God's Money: A Biblical Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why in the World Bible Study Participant's Guide: The Reason God Became One of Us Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reflections on the Psalms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind Workbook: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Fields of Gold
11 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent book. We rationally allocate capital to create shareholder valueand we do it capital to create shareholders valueand we do it truthfully.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A must-read book for the true meaning of a cheerful giver. So inspiring!
Book preview
Fields of Gold - Andy Stanley
INTRODUCTION
designdingbatGiving was simple when I was a child. From an early age, I was taught to take one dime out of every dollar I received and put it in the offering plate. I never knew anything else. I was raised to believe that giving was just one of the things you did with money. It was effortless. And since I wasn’t really earning the money anyway, I never felt any fear associated with giving. I certainly wasn’t concerned that giving away money might be a threat to my quality of life. I always had plenty to eat and nice clothes to wear.
But over the years, as my income increased, I began to notice a slight hesitancy in my giving. I was still giving a dime out of every dollar. But now it was adding up to hundreds or thousands of dollars at a time. And somehow that felt different. Whenever I wrote one of those seemingly large checks, concerns such as these would run through my mind: What if I need the money for something else? Am I saving enough? What if I have an unexpected expense? Is anybody else giving this much?
My struggle didn’t stop me from giving a set percentage, but it sure took some of the joy out of it. As I began to evaluate my hesitancy, I concluded that my problem wasn’t greed. It was fear. I was slowly turning into a fearful giver. Bottom line—I was losing confidence in my long-held belief that God was who He said He is and that He would do what He’s promised to do. Under the growing pressure to make ends meet each month, I was slowly becoming irrational in my thinking about God, His faithfulness, and my role as a steward of His resources.
Since that time, I’ve discovered that I’m not alone. For many believers, cheerful giving has become fearful giving. We are not opposed to supporting God’s kingdom with our resources. And we’re really not greedy. But we are concerned. We’re concerned that if we don’t look after our own needs first, they might not get looked after at all.
Yet the testimony of Scripture, together with the experiences of millions of believers, sends a resounding response to our concerns. Any fear associated with giving to God’s kingdom is irrational. It’s on a par with a farmer who, out of fear of losing his seed, refuses to plant his fields. As absurd as that may sound, many of us are guilty of hoarding the financial seed that God intends to be sown for the harvest that is to come. And it’s all because of fear.
The principle of sowing and reaping applies to our finances. Those who sow generously can expect to reap generously and receive a bountiful return. Allowing our concerns about the future to limit our giving makes no sense at all. And yet, for many of us there is a lingering fear, a fear that has the potential to rob us of our joy. But worse than that, it’s a fear that could cause us to handle our finances in a way that locks us in and locks God out.
In the pages that follow, we’re going to unpack this irrational fear of giving. We will study the words of Jesus and we will peer into the lives of several of His modern-day followers. As we do, we’ll discover that generous giving is actually an invitation for our heavenly Father to get involved in our finances. With His involvement comes a promise that should mitigate our fear of giving once and for all. He promises to resupply generous sowers with enough seed to continue sowing generously throughout their lifetimes.
The result?
Fields of gold—in this life, as well as in the life to come.
CHAPTER 1
DUST IN THE WIND
introdingbatThe western sky was growing dark. In a few moments, the entire Oklahoma panhandle would be engulfed in the swirling blackness. Jeremiah Clary began the familiar task of rolling up wet rags and stuffing them in the cracks around the door to keep the dust out. This particular afternoon, the churning winds were carrying tons of airborne topsoil in his direction. Even the slightest opening around a window would result in a solid layer of dirt on every surface in the house.
The Clary family had been lured to the Southern Plains by the promise of bountiful crops and endless, fertile fields of wheat. And for a while, that’s exactly what they found. But throughout the 1920s, thousands of ambitious immigrants plowed up vast portions of virgin grasslands to plant their fortunes. The Great Depression drove even more settlers westward, and they quickly exploited the organic gold mine of America’s heartland. Then in 1931, the rains stopped. More than 100 million acres of hopes and dreams stood drying in the baking sun. But that was just a prelude to the real devastation. With nothing to hold the topsoil, the once benign winds of the western plains scooped up the loose earth one grain at a time and turned it into a giant sandblaster.
To make matters worse, the relentless sun radiated the exposed soil, turning the entire region into a vast clay oven that whipped the windstorms into an even greater fury. This unusual combination of earth, wind, and fire bore a resemblance to an apocalyptic wrath. Clouds of dirt rose miles into the sky, leveling everything in sight. Although it had taken a thousand years for an inch of rich topsoil to accumulate, it was blown away in a matter of minutes. In the wake of such a storm, fields of shoulder-high wheat were stripped bare. Tons of soil accumulated in drifts against fence lines, buildings, and dying livestock.
The drought would endure for a decade. As much as eight tons of soil per acre were lost every year. And all along, farmers like Jeremiah Clary kept thinking that surely the rains would return soon.
In a circular area touching five states, more than 850 million tons of land were lost. A reporter passing through the region described it as a giant dust bowl.
The name stuck.
Jeremiah lit an oil lamp as the whole Clary house vibrated under the onslaught of the black blizzard. Somewhere in the stratosphere above him was thirty-four dollars worth of Turkey Red, a special blend of seed he had sown the week before. It was headed in the direction of Missouri now.
Every time he sowed his fields, Jeremiah spent a