Andy Stanley - Fields Of Gold

Andy Stanley is one of the most gifted communicators that I have had the privilege of knowing in my years of ministry. In Fields of Gold, Andy has addressed head-on both the opportunity that we as believers have when it comes to giving as well as the irrational fears that deprive us of the full joy of an abundant life. I believe that Fields of Gold is one of those books that will be read and rereadit needs to be. I delight in endorsing and recommending this book to all believers.

RON BLUE

F OUNDER AND PRESIDENT

C HRISTIAN F INANCIAL P ROFESSIONALS N ETWORK

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The Bible has a great deal to say about handling money because God wanted to equip us to handle it wisely. In Fields of Gold, Andy Stanley convincingly captures why we should involve God in our finances. This book is a classic. Youll learn how fear about finances can be transformed to freedom and joy by generously giving.

HOWARD DAYTON

C OFOUNDER, C ROWN F INANCIAL M INISTRIES

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Fields of Gold is a wonderfully written perspective on giving that is simple yet very powerful. Andy Stanley sees biblical stewardship as being at the very heart of our relationship to God and our spiritual growth. Whenever people ask me to recommend a good book on the true biblical perspective on generosity, Fields of Gold is one of the first books I mention!

DAVID BRIGGS

S TEWARDSHIP PASTOR, W ILLOW C REEK C OMMUNITY C HURCH

InFields of Gold, Andy Stanley masterfully dismantles one of the biggest obstacles to joyful giving: fear. He weaves powerful stories with practical, biblically-based suggestions that teach us how to give joyfully as we partner with God to accomplish his eternal purposes.

DAVID WILLS

P RESIDENT, N ATIONAL C HRISTIAN F OUNDATION

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People want to be a part of something beyond their wildest imaginations; they just need help to conquer their fears and take meaningful steps of faith. Andy Stanley speaks with the heart of a pastor who is unwilling to allow people to settle for anything less than what God intended. Fields of Gold is rooted in biblical truths that will transform Christians from fearful consumers to generous givers.

BRYAN CLARK

S ENIOR PASTOR, L INCOLN B EREAN C HURCH

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Andy has taken the topic of stewardship out of the offering plate and placed it right where it belongs... in the heart. His words about generosity and giving have enlarged my view of God, loosened my grip on the things of this world, and helped me find life in giving my life away. In fact, we found his approach to the topic so fresh and compelling that we invited every person in our church to read Fields of Gold and then discuss it in their small groups. As a result, we, as a church, have been able to invest more money in Kingdom work around the world in the three months since than we did the entire year before.

LLOYD SHADRACH

T EACHING PASTOR, F ELLOWSHIP B IBLE C HURCH, B RENTWOOD, T ENNESSEE

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First printing of Living Books edition February 2006.

Fields of Gold

Copyright 2004 by Andy Stanley. All rights reserved.

Cover photo copyright by Royalty-free/Corbis. All rights reserved.

Designed by Luke Daab

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4143-1196-8

Build: 2015-08-05 11:18:27

To my mom, Anna Stanley, the most generous woman I know

INTRODUCTION

Giving 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 wasnt really earning the money anyway, I never felt any fear associated with giving. I certainly wasnt 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 didnt 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 wasnt 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 Hes 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, Ive discovered that Im not alone. For many believers, cheerful giving has become fearful giving. We are not opposed to supporting Gods kingdom with our resources. And were really not greedy. But we are concerned. Were concerned that if we dont 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 Gods kingdom is irrational. Its 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 its 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, its 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, were 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, well 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.