Pastoral Note 1.31.2016
Harvard Business School and Generosity
I want to share with you a truly encouraging and exciting story of a CoaH couple. A few years ago a young married couple showed up at one of City on a Hill’s worship gatherings with their cute little son. John and Megan Cortines had moved to Boston for him to get his MBA at Harvard Business School. They had big dreams about their future and incredible post-graduation opportunities were already opening up for John.
As Christians, John and Megan sought out a gospel-believing church to be home during their time in Boston and settled in at CoaH, including my community group. Little did they know that while they were at Harvard and plugged into CoaH, God would change the direction of their lives in a dramatic way.
As John advanced in his program, he, and another student named Greg, began to do research on generosity among the rich. Their study of Scripture and modern examples of generous Christians led them to see giving as a matter of stewardship or honoring God with what he has given. Along with Jesus’ other teachings on money, the story of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21 had a particular impact on them both and what had started as a project became a personal pursuit.
As the project’s exposure became more widespread John and Greg were invited to present their findings at a major Christian conference on generosity. After the conference John was offered a job working for a Christian organization called Generous Giving (generousgiving.org) and what had started as a project turned into a book. John and Megan felt God leading so they took the position at roughly one-third salary of what he had been offered to work for a company after graduation.
On February 8, God and Money: How We Discovered True Riches at Harvard Business School will be released on Amazon and other book sellers. It has already received some strong reviews on Amazon and has been ranked as #1 in Christian Stewardship even though it hasn’t even been released yet. Right in line with the authors’ desire to be good stewards, below the book graphic and title appears these words: 100% of the royalties goes toward Christian ministries focused on spreading the Gospel and providing for those in need.
This story has been such an encouragement to me as one of the pastors of CoaH. I hope you will consider purchasing the book next week, listen to John’s message at CoaH (6.14.2015) on our website, and keep an eye out on CoaH’s Facebook page for a conference video of John and Greg’s story being shared.
Praying we will grow as a community of radically generous followers of Christ,
Pastor Bland