<p>At last! An insightful book about cultivating generosity from a generous lay leader and donor, and not from a professional fundraiser or clergy leader. Rem Stokes alone knows more about the psychology of donors-and has demonstrated that insight over more years-than a whole busload of ministers and consultants put together. If you want to understand how to change the culture of your congregation or group in the direction of abundance, not scarcity, this is your guidebook. -Rev. John Buehrens, former president of the Unitarian Universalist Association Money pervades all aspects of our lives, but we dare not discuss it for fear of touching the proverbial third rail. The discomfort we experience may be that it reveals more than we want it to. All individuals fear rejection and want acceptance. And money becomes the agent of compensation, the hopium of the masses. But it is a false hope. Money is extrinsic and can only buy external things. Money simply cannot buy the things most worth having. Wherever there is pain or embarrassment, there is essential learning to be done. I believe churches should address the stranglehold that money has on our attitudes. Churches cannot be truly relevant to their members' real-life issues without addressing the money dimension that underlies their attitudes and behaviors. You cannot compartmentalize a person into secular and spiritual categories without damaging his wholeness. This book addresses that issue head on. Churches need programs that let money permeate the environment in a wholesome and constructive way. Those programs should help overcome the reluctance to discuss money and cultivate a culture of generosity. This book provides a set of exercises and a rationale for churches to achieve these goals, moving members from self-interest to self-esteem.</p>

Cultivating Generosity: Giving What's Right, Not What's Left

Religion & Spirituality

Stokes, Rem

Worship & Devotion

LifeRichPublishing

Clashes of faith and religion are common. With more people receiving higher education and medical science making enormous advancements in understanding the brain, the case for reason is gaining strength. Stokes takes the reader on a provocative, personal journey. Starting with history, he explores how the theology of the Christian Church was hammered out in acrimony, and finally enforced by the powers of the state and the terrors of the Inquisition. For the author, this is no basis for cosmic truth. In 1620, a new methodology was introduced for pursuing truth. It challenged the older "top-down" pronouncements with a new "bottoms up" approach using experimentation. If you still want miracles, look no further than the human body. DNA, our internal chemistry set, performs all the functions that were shrouded in mystery and attributed to religion. We eat hamburgers and our miraculous body chemistry converts them into consciousness, feelings, thinking and memories. DNA encodes the information to create, sustain, and repair life. Its three goals of surviving, reproducing and adapting need our participation to survive and reproduce. So it generates good feelings for things that enhance life and bad feelings for things that don't. It provides an internal moral code to do no harm and provides mirror neurons to feel the pain of others. It is the only thing that approaches immortality, moving from generation to generation for millions of years and taking a bit of our legacy with it. Didn't Jesus say: "The Kingdom of God is within you"

From God to DNA: A Provocative Journey

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stokes, Rem. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Stokes, Rem

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stokes, Rem. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Cultivating Generosity: Giving What's Right, Not What's Left

From God to DNA: A Provocative Journey