Celebration of Generosity Conference

Speaker: Louie Giglio

Message: "Indescribable"

Do you know how big your neighborhood really is? Louie Giglio points out that the Milky Way Galaxy (your "neighborhood" in the expansive universe) is so vast that, if you were to start counting the stars and counted them one by one, day and night, it would take you a mere 2,500 years to count them all.

Where are you in God's immense universe? As Giglio describes in vivid and nearly incomprehensible terms, you are only a tiny, tiny speck living on a larger speck known as earth. In Psalms 8:3-5, David wrote, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor." Despite your miniscule size in the vastness of God's creation, by His grace, you are part of an astronomical story.

Speaker: Louie Giglio

Message: "Brace Yourself"

A God who did not need to give anything, instead, gave it all ...

As 2 Corinthians 5:13 (NIV) explains, "If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God." The cross stands as the symbol and reminder of Jesus the King who, with His death, bought the lives of all who believe. Louie Gigilio explains that the cross scrambles today's mentality of merely "tipping God," replacing it with the understanding that everything you own, including your life, already belongs to Him.

Gigilio invites you to hug the cross, bracing yourself because the capacity it unleashes can outstrip everything ever seen in terms of generosity. Lock your arms around the cross and prepare to be out of your mind for the sake of God.

Speaker: Joni Eareckson Tada

Message: "Be Generous With Your Heart"

When a diving accident left Joni Earckson Tada paralyzed, she had every reason to question God's plan for her life. But as she soon discovered, the weaker she was and the harder she leaned on God, the stronger she found Him to be. As she explains, "I never would have known (God's strength) had You not given me suffering."

Today an accomplished painter, musician, and motivational speaker, Tada's concerns about suffering are not focused on herself, but on the heartbreak and horrors of other struggling with disabilities. Estimates indicate that 97 percent of disabled children in developing nations are imprisoned in institutions, starved to death, or locked in cupboards. Jesus said, "But this is your hour–when darkness reigns." (Luke 22:52-54). God bids you to be His agent, to be generous with your time, money, talents, and most of all, with your heart because right now, people are suffering and darkness does still reign.

Speaker: Leighton Cusack

Message: "The Ten Second Decision to Change Your Life"

Following the 10 Second Rule, young giver Leighton Cusack boldly did "the next thing Jesus wanted him to do". Developing his high school senior project on the topic of generosity, Leighton gave twenty dollar bills to fellow students, with only the stipulation that the money be used for acts of generosity. As he saw his efforts multiplied, twenty dollars at a time, Leighton began to understand that no gift is too small and no act of obedience too insignificant for God to use it in life transformational ways.

Speaker: Al and Kathy Caperna

Message: "Listening to God"

Trying to be faithful in tithing and to do the "right thing," Al and Kathy Caperna initially did not recognize that they might be missing some of the spirit and heart behind Christ-like generosity. But as they came to see giving as a partnership with God, generosity began to free them. They started to realize great joy from abandoning themselves and their goals and living instead, in accordance with God's far greater vision for their lives.

With a desire to do their giving while still living, Al and Kathy say they do not see themselves as generous people, but as Christians, still on the journey.

Listen to their story as they move from the place where God reminds them that all things built by man will fail, into a personal and professional life in which the joy of generosity transforms them and their family with great spiritual blessing.

Speaker: Janice Worth

Message: "Your Divine Invitation"

When God seemed silent in the face of her prayers, Janice Worth began to question her Christianity; she knew God in her head, but was she experiencing Him in her heart, she wondered? Struggling, Worth attended a Generous Giving conference where she felt God leading her to give money away with abandon. Moving far outside her comfort zone with her generosity, Worth began to see God restoring her business. Listen as this dynamic businesswoman explains how God opened the floodgates of heaven to cause both her faith and her finances to flow.

Speaker: Todd and Jana Williams

Message: "Restoration Through Giving"

Sometimes you don't realize that Christ is all that you need until He is all that you have. From painful histories that included drug use, immorality, and emptiness, Todd and Jana have built a marriage and a strong Christian commitment shaped and served by their recognition that God's love heals. As Todd explains, "I don't want to hold on to something so tightly that God has to pry it from my fingers." And with this in mind, and the clear understanding that God owns it all, Todd and Jana embarked on a journey of generosity that has lead them to provide over 10,000 "Containers of Hope," to Liberian orphans on an adventure that this Christian couple realizes, has only just begun.

Speaker: Dan Allender

Message: "Debt Worth Seeking"

Receiving causes hearts to grow in gratitude, but with gratitude come "debt"–debt to those who have touched your life. And with indebtedness, there is a call for payment ... paying it forward as well as returning the gift to those who have touched you deeply. Dan Allender explains two very important points: (1) Without gratitude, your generosity will not grow to the degree that God intends it to, and (2) Do you have a heart to receive and are you willing, in receiving, to allow God to take you further into realms of danger? Whether have little or much to give, there is passion, play, adventure and glory to be known in this process of giving your life away.

Speaker: Barry Black

Message: "Are You Giving Your Best for Jesus?"

Chaplain of the US Senate, Barry Black, challenges listeners to consider whether they are truly giving their very best to the Savior who has given everything for them. Beginning with Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who bathed the feet of Jesus with precious ointment and dried his feet with her hair (John 12:1), Chaplain Black tells the stories of people who have given sacrificially and with great joy. His powerful words provide a provocative stimulus for self-reflection on whether your giving is good, better, or self-sacrificially, your very best.

Speaker: Ron Blue

Message: "Living Without Fear"

In a trailer, a mere 28 feet long and 8 feet wide, Ron and Judy Blue began their marriage, their family, their careers, and an amazing spiritual journey. Today Ron Blue has five children, eleven grandchildren, a nationally known financial management company based on Christian principles, and a powerful message to deliver that couldn't be more timely.

"Everybody is impacted today," Blue explains, "... the reason I'm so excited is because ... (the current financial challenge in the U.S.) is our greatest opportunity to show the world that it doesn't make any difference. We know who is in control and we know how the story ends ... We have a story to tell and if I had a message to deliver, it is ‘Do Not Fear'; God is in control and we now have an opportunity to witness to the faith."

The more you have, the greater the fear of loss. Hear the challenge that Ron Blue takes to lawmakers, businesses, church leaders, and lay people as he calls on Christians today to carry out God's work, living without fear.

Speaker: Scotty Smith with Steven Curtis Chapman

Message: "God's Tear-Wiping Hand"

God's children are carriers of His story but sometimes, like Cinderella with amnesia, it is too easy to forget the story and to write Christ into your life only in bits and pieces. As Scotty Smith explains, "There's only one grand story that the Bible is telling." Live the story wholly, as it is meant to be lived. When you do, you will find God's hand always in your life and his finger ever ready to wipe away your tears. Scotty Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman invite you to live in intimate contact with God's ‘tear-wiping hand,' following your passion as you become part of an incredible story in which Jesus restores brokenness and makes all things new.

Speaker: John Montgomery

Message: "Walking Past Jesus on the Street"

As John Montgomery began to experience true miracles happening around him, he stopped being surprised and simply began to relish the realization that he has a personal relationship with the God who turns death into life, takes travesty and creates joy, and touches hearts individually. But in a moment of epiphany, Montgomery recognized that for all the strength and intimacy of his relationship with God, he was living a life so tightly scheduled that if Jesus had shown up that day, Montgomery would have "walked right past Him on the street".

Is your life so busy you could fail to recognize the presence of your Lord? Discover how John Montgomery's journey has changed since he began to pray, "Lord reveal to me what you are doing around me, this day."

Speaker: Kevin and Nicole Youngblood

Message: "God Always Shows Up"

For Kevin and Nicole Youngblood, giving never feels like just another item to check off a "to-do" list. As they listen to God and trust Him both to show up and to provide when He prompts their hearts to give, they recognize that their obedience has put them in a position to make a meaningful difference in the Kingdom. Their experience is exciting and their enthusiasm infectious as they share how their adventure in generosity is changing their lives (and the world around them) forever.

Speaker: David McKinnon

Message: "The Stranger You Meet on a Boat"

David McKinnon built a business icon when he founded the Molly Maid corporation, but nothing could have prepared him for the rollercoaster ride his life would take when he sold the company for multi-millions in a business deal that failed before he ever saw a penny. Clearly, God's plan for McKinnon's life was only beginning, but what happened next with a stranger he met on a boat can only be explained by the faith that it takes to ‘step out of the boat' and just start walking.

Speaker: Alan Barnhart

Message: "Where is Your Finish Line?"

Armed with the conviction that it is more fun to be a giver than a consumer, Alan Barnhart established a financial finish line in his personal life, not seeking to be rich, but to avoid being rich. In a message that may cause you to rethink everything you know about business, discover how this generous giver gave 99 percent of his company away, while still holding on to control so that the company could be used as a tool of the Kingdom for years to come.