The Barnabas Group
/I Peter 4:10 says, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 
According to the dictionary on my MacBook, steward means a person employed to manage another's property, especially a large house or estate. And even the original Greek word used in the Bible, oikonomos, has the same connotation of one who manages someone else’s estate or affairs.
A friend of mine is a wealth manager – he manages or stewards his clients’ monies and does it based on their preferences. If my friend were to say to one of his clients, “I know you wanted to invest that money in Coca-Cola but I decided to spend it on my son’s college tuition. I hope you don’t mind – you have plenty," he would be fired and I am sure that some ethics committee somewhere would be calling.
The management of one’s estate goes beyond just finances but includes hiring and firing staff, building and remodeling facilities, land usage, etc. This is true for believers as well. Often we think of just our tithe or financial gifts when discussing stewardship. But it goes so much further than that to include our time, talent as well as touch (or sphere of influence.) As believers, we have an obligation to the Owner of the estate to manage His affairs well.
The Barnabas Group, where I am blessed to be the managing partner, is all about helping people be good stewards of the estate that they have been given. Our mission is to leverage the time, talent, touch and treasure of marketplace and other Kingdom leaders to help ministries transform lives worldwide. We are all about connecting leaders and changing lives.
We have an abundance mentality and desire to see the release of generosity in our communities with the utilization of everyone’s unique gift of time, talent, touch and treasure to God’s service. We do this through quarterly breakfasts in which three to four pre-vetted ministries are able to present their organization as well as their needs to our membership. When their mission connects with someone’s passion, then we have been successful.
How are you doing on your stewardship? Does The Barnabas Group sound like something you would be interested in being a part of? I would love to have you at our next breakfast.
