Stewardship article

Stewardship Services is an organisation that has been established to assist Christian believers and the church as a whole in the matter of giving and financial administration. On their website, they say:

We see Stewardship as more than a service. It is a value - a lifestyle choice that recognises God's ownership of all that we have.

Our approach is twofold:

• Facilitating effective giving - serving over 20,000 donors, we distribute more than £30 million of giving into God's world every year.
• Promoting biblical principles and practice - of joyful giving, planned stewardship, and generosity.

Derek Bigg was invited by them to contribute an article for their website, "Christian Stewardship: A Biblical Perspective". The article explores some of the ideas covered in "In Pursuit of the Truth", relating to our use of money.

As we now consider what the way of grace means for us today, we must first of all accept that the New Testament contains no direct teaching on regular, long-term giving. We only have the apostle Paul’s instructions in his letters to Corinth regarding a special collection. As with so many practical issues, we must look for the basic principles underlying the specific teaching given in the 1st century. We then have to apply them to our own 21st century situation. In 2 Corinthians 8-9 we find five principles of major significance. Here they are:
• Adopt the right attitude.
• Let your heart be the arbiter.
• Give in proportion to blessing received.
• Aim for Christian equality.
• Follow the example of Christ.

Book launch in Spain

The trip to Spain went well. Derek writes:

Our time in Spain for the launch of the Spanish edition of my book (En Busca de la Verdad) was very profitable. Francisco, representing the publishers, gave an excellent introduction and he felt that my own contribution was just right. A good number of books were sold not only on that occasion but also after the four Sunday services in the churches where I was preaching.

The publishers run a scheme whereby each member pays an annual subscription and receives in return a certain quantity of books each year at a greatly reduced price. My book is included in this year's plan. When you add the number of subscribers to the number of books sold before and during our visit, it comes to a total of around 600 (nearly two thirds of the initial print run). We're grateful to God for this token of his blessing.