AUTHOR: Mac Pier
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2017, (208 pages).
The author has seen the Manhattan evangelical population grow 500% in his thirty years living in New York City. From this home base, he shares his travels to other parts of the world and the stories he has encountered about the transforming power of generous giving. In Dallas, Ray and Denise Nixon started a "Serve West Dallas" movement after personally visiting the poorest communities in Dallas instead of the conventional conference-center outing. One amazing result was the reduction of crime rates by 49% and improved city infrastructure maintenance costs. In London, UK, Ram and Sunita Gidoomal was deeply impacted by the movie Slumdog Millionaire and felt a heart for the slums in India. They started social entrepreneurial projects like the "Christmas Cracker" movement to assist young people to help themselves make a fair living. Ram even ran for mayor of London with values consistent with biblical principles. Though he didn't win, his party platform influenced the other candidates to incorporate part of their manifesto into their policies. In Eastern Europe, Adam Walach started a company called Walmark that provided employment opportunities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Knowing the rich spiritual history of Europe, he is now a part of the European Great Commission Collaboration (EGCC) to evangelize Europe. In Singapore, Keith Chua was transformed in prayer and had since put equal emphases on both business as well as philanthropic activities. He tells of the story of Garden Hotel from 1980 to 2009 which became a spiritual meeting place for many church leaders in the country. In South Korea, korean pastors work with business leaders to engage in global missions. In South Africa, Graham Power stopped chasing success as his life goal and pledged to clean up corruption everywhere he goes. He started the "Unashamedly Ethical" movement which had over 5000 companies who joined the pledge. In Jamaica, Robert Levy shared about how his changed life in Christ helped him to lead his company from profit-accumulation to stewardship of God's resources. Through refocus and re-strategizing based on biblical principles, he helped his company, Jamaica Boilers recover from $20 million in debt to attain $20 million in cash without debt. In Dubai, a Swiss businessman named Chris Renfer worked and served among royalty and at the same time blessing the "Praise Camp" movement back in Switzerland that now serves 7500 students and young people. In Hong Kong, Yuk Lynn Woo and Roy Chen started the Seeds Foundation as a way to inspire people and to give back to the community. There are many other stories that showcase the way ordinary individuals have taken a step of faith to use whatever little they have and watch God multiply them. The offering of themselves and their resources helped to create a disruptive transformation in the lives of people and the communities they serve in.
In each of the 31 chapters, there is a deliberate reading of Isaiah to see the principles of serving and giving written by the prophet and how it still plays out in the modern world. There are points to consider that could be used for group discussion. There is a closing prayer to commit the thoughts and readings to God. The author recommends reading one chapter a day, but I feel that readers ought to read as much as they could as the stories are pretty engaging. One could go through a chapter a day for an entire month but each story could easily occupy a few days of thoughts, especially when it comes to cities mentioned that are closer to our homes or hearts.
My Thoughts
What's so disruptive about this book? Let me offer three thoughts about it. First, there is a change agent in most of these stories, namely the author himself, Mac Pier. Whether it is through a seminar or a conference movement, or some chance meeting over a meal, Pier's passion for sharing the love of Christ energizes many of them. Through the influence of the New York City Leadership Center and the Movement Day conferences, Pier has come across individuals who had been blessed by Pier's ministries and putting the ideas and challenges into practice. With his platform through the movement conferences, people who come are practically hungry to apply what they learn. Pier simply helps them clarify their paths forward and in the process, they are able to share the positive results. I am sure there are many other untold stories but for various reasons were left out in this book.
Second, the generosity stems from being blessed themselves first. This is a common principle of what grace actually means in Christianity. We love because God first loved us. We serve because God first served us. We give because God first gave us His Son. One good deed leads to another, so goes the popular belief. For Christians, God's greatest act of love and sacrifice at the cross is the spark that got the fire of love going. The stories are interconnected either through a movement or through the personal influence of the author. As people were blessed by the ministry of Pier, they then went ahead to bless others. It reminds me that things often do not begin in a vacuum. We all have needs, and for all the altruism and the good intentions of making the initiative to do good, for all practical purposes, we all need some spark of love to get our creative juices of generosity going. It is good to take a step of faith to start a positive movement of blessing. It is even better to let our blessedness spur us on to love and good works as mentioned in Hebrews 10:24-25. Incidentally, Hebrews 10 highlights the motivation of all good works: The Sacrifice of Christ.
Third, spiritual vitality comes out of giving rather than receiving. We have already been given a great talent, some spiritual gifts, or a special opportunity to use what we have so that God could bring about what we do not yet have, to bless others. The fallacy is to think that we could only work with what we have, forgetting that it is God who can do anything. Even though we never know what our limited resources could do, the flip-side is also true, that we never know what God could do. He could choose to multiply the little we have to bless many. Much is given, much is expected. It is more blessed to give than to receive. This book is a testimony of this.
One of the biggest concerns is the lack of spiritual vitality in the West. Worse, people are getting used to the negative climate of an anti-Christian establishment. Believers have also gotten used to being bullied into silence or submission. What we need is to restore the faith and hope among believers near and far, so that they could start a movement of change and be trumpets of hope for the world. Start with faith. Continue with perseverance and hope that it is God who would provide the increase. If you ever wanted to get a spiritual boost, try exercising some generosity. If you are looking for evidence about why it works, try reading this book. For within the pages, there are powerful stories of people around the globe who have not only gave sacrificially of their time, resources, and efforts, their actions have changed lives, both others and theirs.
Mac Pier is the founder and CEO of the New York City Leadership Center and was key in founding the Movement Day conference. He is a popular speaker, motivator, and author. He has lived in New York City since 1984.
Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Books and Graf-Martin Communications without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
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