What is a Gospel Patron

Welcome to Truth Talk Live! A daily program powered by the Truth Network, where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. So are you a taker and a hoarder, or are you a giver and a supporter and an investor?

Do you hold tightly those things which God has given you, or do you let things go and give things away and pour out the blessing from God to you, through you? What is a gospel patron? I'm looking at one right now, and I'm talking to a bunch of them out there, because I know we have generous listeners out there.

St. Nick, our awesome producer of Truth Talk Live, I'm Stu Epperson. With me, our hero is back from Uganda. You rode 318 miles plus on a bike. 520.

See, 30 miles on a bike would wear me out. It wasn't 318, it was 520 across Uganda. You poured out, took your family. It was not easy, it was dangerous. It was one of the hardest things I've done in my life, yes sir. Unbelievable. What was the biggest impact of all that for you? Oh my gosh.

I could start. When we got off the airplane, there were people there with cameras. So I'm thinking, what are these folks recording? And the gentleman that was greeting us said, hey, this is the press. So literally, the press met us in the airport, because they were like these crazy Americans that come in to ride on Ugandan roads, and they followed us the entire route.

They reported, and actually at the end of the ride, we were on the Ugandan ESPN. No kidding. That's like big time.

It was big time. Wow. This is John Davenport. And people are thinking, oh, this guy is a full-time pastor. His giant megachurch sent him over there.

Well, wrong. He's a business guy. He's an engineer.

Yes sir. Of course, the engineers are the guys that run the world. You know how to put things together. We love our engineers and radio. They keep us on the air, don't they Saint Nick? We may have to call before the hour is out if we go off the air.

But John Davenport, you're a career, you're a business guy. We're going to learn a lot more about you this hour. So excited about that.

I'm excited to be here. What God did in Uganda. I'm getting all kinds of updates from Sports Outreach. I just got an email from those guys. And of course, we had John beforehand, so now we're getting the aftermath. We're getting the report.

Well, John Davenport went really fast on a bicycle in Uganda. Tell everyone why you went again, John, because we showcased this a couple months ago. It was a powerful show we did here.

Absolutely. So we were trying to raise, and we are actually in the process of raising the $200,000 that we want to have to operate the Nyah Davenport Sports Outreach Medical Center, which is located in Uganda. So last year we opened the clinic, and this year we wanted to, basically it's like buying a house. So when you buy a house, you start filling out the rooms one at a time. You don't fill everything all at once. So this year was about filling out some more rooms.

Filling out rooms, getting it stocked with all the medical supplies. Exactly. You got the foundation in, and the desperate need. You know, one surgeon per one million people in Africa, and you saw the need, and God said, you said, I'm going to do something.

That's right. Wow. And you raised a bunch of money. We'll get the final tally on that, and we'll talk about how you are the star of a new movie coming out that my wife and I signed up to come watch, and we're going to invite some other friends. Awesome. What is a gospel patron?

How do you go from being a hoarder taker to a giver investor in the kingdom? More coming up. Don't touch that dial.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Wow. Riding his bike over 500 miles across Uganda.

Not an easy terrain, and literally wildlife everywhere. And then he's the star of a really cool movie coming out that I want everyone listening to my voice to watch that focuses on just generosity and giving, and we open the show with the question, are you a hoarder? Are you a taker?

Are you a giver and investor? And really, for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, there's only one answer to that question, and we often need little checkpoints. We need little reminders, and a big reminder is sitting with me right now, John Davenport, and we're going to bring in one of the heads of the whole ministry that's shooting this movie. Give us the final take on this bike, John Davenport, real quick, the bike ride, and you went a long way, you raised a lot of money, you're still in the process of it. We are.

Okay. And you asked me earlier, what is the biggest impact? What was the biggest impact? The last day, we had an outreach, and so we opened the clinic up, we brought some doctors in. We had 300 patients sitting out there at 9 o'clock in the morning. Some of them waited until 4 o'clock in the afternoon just to get checked in. So just seeing the need, and I was literally there with my son checking people in and weighing them in, so I got to see all these people coming in, and for us in America, we wouldn't wait more than two hours.

We would complain about two hours. These folks waited all day. There were people that needed all kinds of medical care that got that. And we had 18 people during that time come to Christ, because we had folks preaching to them while they were waiting.

That is something. You had folks come to Christ, you're full-blown sharing the gospel, riding your bike, you're like a pedaling evangelist. Pedaling medical relief, pedaling the good news of Jesus Christ all over that country, and people just joined us. We're not talking to a full-blown, full-time evangelist, but he is. Through his business, God's used you to touch a lot of people, and that's kind of the focus of this movie. And how you were the first kid in your family to get a college degree, and how God uses all your stuff in your business, even an engineer of all things. John Reinhardt— Actually, a high school.

High school, look at that! John Reinhardt, what do you do with guys like John Davenport, man? How can we slow this guy down, man? He's just one big gospel machine, man. What do we do about this guy? We don't need to slow him down, we need to put a trumpet to this man's influence so we can get it out to more and more people. People need to hear this story.

We tend to think that you have to be a pastor or a missionary in order to serve God's kingdom, but here's a guy running a civil engineering business, making a difference all over the world. That's why we wanted to make this film, so that we can share this story with so many more people. Well, see, I've known John, we've known each other many decades.

We probably have enough stuff on each other to fill a lot of your time and make a lot of people mad or crazy. But when I saw—when Tim Tucker gave me the Gospel Patrons hardback book, and I read it, and I'm like, wow, where has this book been all my life? I was out in California. Tim, my son-in-law, went and worked at his phone service company, and really, really cool situation. But John Reinhardt, that introduced me to Gospel Patrons, and I found out you guys were part of John Davenport's telling his story.

That's just remarkable. Tell everyone who Gospel Patrons—who are you guys, John? Give everyone a little background, will you? Yeah, Gospel Patrons is a nonprofit ministry, and we really were formed out of a book that I wrote called Gospel Patrons, People Whose Generosity Changed the World. And I was captured as a young business guy by stories of other business leaders and professional people making an incredible difference in the Kingdom of God. So this book goes out into the world.

I thought it was a one-time assignment, you know, and move on with my life and do something else. And yet, there was resonance with it, and people all over the world started to get it in their hands and share, like, wow, this is so inspiring, this gave purpose to my work, this gave purpose to my success, this helped me to know what to do with my resources, this is inspiring for just my life. And we went, man, maybe there's more to it than a book, and so began to build a ministry around it in order to carry stories to business and professional people that they're not second-class in God's Kingdom, that God's designed, gifted, and called them to make a difference in this world. But just as they are, not trying to be somebody else like their dad who is a pastor, or their uncle who is a preacher, or something like that, but God's gifted and designed each one of us uniquely to play a part. So, GospelPatrons.org is where you find all of our resources, but it's just an encouragement and a boost to business and professional people all over the world.

Yeah, I love it. And how did you come across John Davenport? We've got two Johns on this show with me. How did you come across John, and what about his story just really stood out to make you guys want to make this movie? Yeah, we had originally seen a little two-minute video which was highlighting, I think, the 20th anniversary of his company and how he was really, like you've said, a businessman, but he was also on fire for the Lord, and his business was a vehicle that God gave him to impact the world. And hearing that, my teammate and I went, man, he sounds like a Gospel Patron to me. We've got to get to know this guy. And the more I heard John's story, it just felt like it kept unfolding layer upon layer.

And there's something in this brand new film called The Supply Line, literally for everybody. John started from the most humble of beginnings. I think he shared, you know, he was the first one in his family to graduate high school, but then he goes on to graduate college, get a master's degree, become an entrepreneur, start a business, travel the world, and really make a difference for the kingdom. And we just thought, this is one of those kinds of stories that just needs, more people need to hear this.

This is really, really powerful. So meanwhile, John and his wife, as we've been able to travel to Uganda with them and North Carolina and Colorado, have just again and again reinforced that they're the real deal, that they're not actors. This isn't a performance, but they've been living faithfully to obey the Lord for 20 years or more, but the last 20 years is what we capture in this film.

They're the real deal. They are a man and woman of character, have an incredible marriage, have walked through unbelievable trials, and walked through those with faith and with endurance and having given up on each other and having given up on the Lord. We just, we wanted more people to hear their story.

That's so cool. And John, so you didn't even know about this ministry of gospel patrons when you are a gospel patron, and somehow they connected. What was it like for you when you discover what God's using John Reinhardt in this ministry to do? Yeah, so my wife knew about it.

I did not. She had heard John Reinhardt speak at Kingdom Advisors, and so I was the last person to find out about it of the family, but I was blown away when I saw the book. Of course, I've read it. I think I've read both books now.

And just a powerful ministry. I'm still pinching myself that I would have been considered to be one of the folks in their story. That is so cool. So, John Reinhardt, you've been to Winston-Salem. You've been in our hometown, the world headquarters of Truth Network.

We're going to have to have him in the studio next time he comes to town, John Davenport. I'll be in town in ten days for the world premiere of this film. I can't wait. Okay, talk about that, because it's in the Millennial Center, Millennium Center, right?

Yes. And it's going to fill up quick. I have RSVP'd. A lot of our New Cane Society guys are coming, guys from multiple states are coming to see this film, but talk about that event and how big that is. Yeah, John, why don't you talk about the Winston-Salem piece, and I'll riff from there off of what we're doing more online for everyone. Yeah, so originally this was going to be released online exclusively. I talked to John Reinhardt about doing something in the hometown. We've done several early releases in other cities.

We wanted to do something for our community, people that actually knew who I was the whole time. So, yeah, we'll be in the Millennium Center. We'll have dessert. I think it's at seven o'clock. Okay. Saturday the 26th of October. That's right, and the registration is free as well, so we're not charging anybody.

In fact, we'd love to have as many people in the community as possible. And just come out, enjoy, celebrate God's story. It's not mine. He wrote the story. I just happened to be the actor that happened to get to play the part. That's so cool.

We've got to take a break. When we come back, John Reinhardt's going to tell us how we're going to watch this digitally. There's links. There's connections. How you too can become a Gospel patron. You may be like John Davenport was a little while ago, where you already are one. You just didn't maybe hear that label.

We'll talk more about what that means biblically on Truth Talk Live, and this whole thing will become downloadable as a podcast in about two hours from now, so stay tuned to that. More coming up. Hang on. You're listening to The Truth Network and truthnetwork.com What's going through you? I want you to be the supply line.

Am I ever going to retire? I don't see that. I'm clear and understand now that I'm created for a kingdom purpose, and so I'm going to live that out. Wow, how cool is that? I tell you, it's crazy when you look at a movie and it's someone you've known, you've grown up with, who's been a great Christian radio friend and partner for years. Him and his wife have always just been a bundle of encouragement to me and so many people, but to see this movie and to see a lot of great theatrical production went into this, and you folks are going to be able to watch this. You're going to use October the 26th, and it's in your hometown, John Davenport, Winston-Salem.

So that nonsense about no prophet has honor in his own country, that's out the window, right? Oh, yes. We're going to be there cheering you on. I appreciate that. But there's a bigger thing going on here, John.

Tell about it. We've got John Rydard in here who's going to talk a little bit more about this whole project. John Davenport, what is your ultimate heart for all this? At some point, you had to say yes to these people to bring their camera and their crew here, and you had to say yes to being a part of this wonderful ministry outreach.

And now, you and your wife are speaking all over the country to groups because people have seen you on this video, and so you've got to remember the little people, by the way, as you enter this life of fame. But what is your ultimate heart with all this, John? Yeah, I want to see God glorified.

I want to see him use every aspect of my life. That's what he wants, and I'm in agreement with that at this point in my life, that everything that I do would be used for the kingdom. And a lot of things we do seem to be mundane, and all those little aspects of the film, the story that you'll see, they all felt mundane at the time.

They didn't feel like they all kind of came together into some story until you watch it, and then you're like, wow, God was at work at all of that. And so for me, that was an inspiration that going forward, I want my life to be lived out in such a way that when whatever I do, whether it's riding a bike, which I do for fun, but also now part of the ministry, to a lot of other things I do, that those things are kingdom-minded and have a kingdom purpose, because at the end of the day, that's really the only thing that matters. And John Reinhard, you started this ministry, Gospel Patrons, in a world where even the church today, the most generous people in the world should be believers, yet less than 10% of born-again believers are giving 10%. We tend to be miserly, we tend to be parsimonious, we're not sharing all that God has given to us. And so this message, John Reinhard, is so important.

I mean, tell us a little bit about your passion from even the 10,000-foot view, looking at our world and how much needs there are. Well, it really starts with our view of God. I mean, it sounds like I'm a theologian to say that, but do we believe God is generous to us, or do we think God is miserly? I think the original lie of Satan to Eve was God's miserly, he's holding out on you.

If you really want a good life, you have to go after it yourself and leave God behind. And I think a lot of times Christians still get wrapped up in that lie, thinking, God really doesn't want my best, he's a killjoy, he doesn't want me to have the abundant life that I really want. But I think when we really look at the pages of the New Testament, we find a God who's more generous than any filmmaker or any storyteller or any author could ever invent. He gave his one and only son, and as a result, Christians, like you said, should be the most generous people on the planet.

If Christians are not giving, the question is, have we really encountered the God of the Bible? Because he gave everything. If you think about it, he could have made a whole other world if that was the price of sin, he could have made more silver and gold, but he only had one son. He couldn't make another son. This is part of the eternal Godhead.

Jesus had never been born, before he was born, he'd always existed, eternally existed. So God can't make another son, and yet that one thing, even that he didn't keep from us in order to reconcile us to himself, I mean, that's the God of the Bible. So the more we grasp who God is and what he's done for us, we just naturally become like the God we worship. We become more generous as we see and kind of really savor what he's done for us. And I just want that for our generation, because it's a life of freedom, it's a life of adventure, it's a life of incredible fruitfulness. And it keeps us from worrying, actually, and being anxious about money when we see God's a God of abundance, he's a generous father, he loves us as his own children, wants to care for us. He doesn't need all of our luxuries, this is not prosperity theology, but he does care for our needs, and he promises to meet those. And so the more we lean in to seek first his kingdom with our lives, whether you're in business, ministry, you're a mother, you're a father, you're a stay-at-home mom, whatever it is, we have a part to play in what God's doing in our generation, and I want to help people find their purpose and rise up into that. Wow, that's the voice of John Reinhardt, head of a ministry called Gospel Patrons, the author of a book by the same title, Gospel Patrons.

This book, by the way, will wreck your world, it's wrecked mine, I have it, I keep it in my closet, I refer to it frequently. I want to get into that a little bit on that with you, John, but first let me go to John Davenport, and I want to ask you, what clicked John Davenport in your life? Here you are, a born-again Christian, married to a Christian lady, what was it that stirred your heart to be more generous? To fund more ministries, to be a giver, to be an investor in the kingdom as opposed to a taker and a hoarder?

So Stu, I don't want to spoil too much of the film itself. My wife and I have been givers since the beginning. However, when the light came on in terms of the role for the business and me and the kingdom was when I did my first missions trip to Haiti. And so the story goes that I helped you actually help get that radio station on the air, you. You and I at the luncheon there at San Pan on Peter's Creek Parkway, it was me, you, and it might have been Tabor.

That's going back. We put money together. You're part of this. You're part of the foundation. We put the money together. They invited me to go to Haiti.

I just remember the fried rice, but now I'm glad you're bringing this other stuff up. You didn't go with us. I did. And when I got on that rooftop, God met me there and said, listen, I'm going to put you in a position where you can, because I saw the poverty, right? And you know, you get this Western guilt. Well, I remember you coming back talking about that trip too. And, you know, God was like, don't, I don't want you to feel good. You know, I have you in a place where you can meet their needs.

And so from the early onset of the business, it was, you know, this business is not just about you having extra houses and cars and all that. No, you are the supply line for these folks like Pastor Enya, who I talked to actually this weekend. We're building a church there in Likias, despite all the craziness that's going on over there. We're going to help build the fourth church for his ministry in Likias. Unbelievable.

That relationship I've had for 20 plus years. Yeah. And it's interesting, you know, John, I mean, this is a high rated show. John Davenport, John Reinhardt with Gospel Patrons, you know, you guys are bringing the heat today and you're blessing a whole lot of people. But it's not like John Davenport's going to be, you know, an international, you know, film superstar, you know, from this little, this movie.

This movie's going to make a lot of impact. But it's interesting that I think about your book, John Reinhardt, Gospel Patrons, and we've all heard of George Whitefield and John Wesley, William Tyndale. But you write a book about people we've never heard of say their names, and they're already gone to heaven. But so many of us came to faith in Christ from the evangelist that they, that sweet lady, she pulled one of those giants into her home in her living room and said, What do you need? I want the gospel to go out.

I can't even remember her name. But I get chills thinking about that story in your book, Gospel Patrons. Yes. Yeah, George Whitefield was the primary evangelist behind the Great Awakening in the 18th century. We've all heard of the Great Awakening from history class. But, you know, he was the main preacher, and the second main preacher was a guy named John Wesley. But who we haven't heard of is this wealthy aristocratic widow in her late 30s who gets saved late in life and asks God the question, What am I supposed to do? What's my part to play in this whole movement of what God's doing in my world and in my generation? And God burdens her heart.

Her name's Lady Huntington, Selina the Countess of Huntington. Books have been written about her life. But she comes alongside these two key preachers of the Great Awakening and essentially says, I'll free you up to go preach to the masses, and then when you're in town, come preach at my private chapel on my private estate outside of London. And we'll reach the wealthy and influential together, and then you can go out and reach the masses. You know, they were preaching outside during those times and reaching tens of thousands of people. And yet she's funding them, behind the scenes, partnering with them, opening doors for them.

They could have never opened for themselves. She goes on to do many, many other things that are outlined in the book. But it's these kind of behind-the-scenes heroes who, they're not the one on the stage with the microphone. They're not the one preaching a sermon, crossing a culture, learning a language. But they have a key role to play, and that's what the key discovery of Gospel Patrons was for me. The great movements of God in history have these pioneering spiritual leaders, like a Billy Graham, leading the charge.

And yet those people were never lone rangers. Even recently, I just discovered a Gospel Patron story. I haven't had the chance to write it yet, but behind Billy Graham's most impactful work. There's this conference in 1974 called Luzon Congress on World Evangelization, and Billy Graham felt responsible for raising three-fourths of the budget for it.

And in his own autobiography, he says that he thought of canceling it because the weight was too heavy to bear. And his wife, Ruth Bell Graham, steps in and says, don't cancel this. Even if we have to go into debt, we have to do a Congress like this.

We'll never have this chance in our lives again to gather 2,400 leaders from 150 countries to stir up the global church on world evangelism. And recently, God blessed me to help me find the main Gospel Patron who made that Congress happen so that Billy Graham didn't have to go into debt. But he came alongside him, funded him, wrote letters to his friends, so they rallied finances for this Congress. And here's the funny thing, that man's name is not mentioned in Billy Graham's autobiography at all.

It's because he's this behind-the-scenes generosity leader, running his business, playing his part, it's been incredible. Oh, that's something. We've got more stories, we've got more on how you can get this movie and see it and be blessed. Share it with your church, your pastor, and the book Gospel Patrons. More on Truth Talk Live in our final segment. More powerful testimonies of what true, real-life Gospel Patrons are when we come back on Truth Talk Live.

Hang on. Truth Talk Live! You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. You know, I'm sitting here thinking about this whole notion of Gospel Patron, and the term may be new to you, but the idea goes all the way back to the very beginning. Per what John Reinhart said, who's the founder of Gospel Patrons, the president, God is a generous God. And we are here living because of God's amazing giving. Giving us life, giving us breath. And I'm sitting here thinking, this mic wouldn't be open and John Davenport wouldn't be sitting in front of me if it weren't for generous people that support Christian Radio. I had lunch with a guy today that is supporting more ministry, he doesn't want his name ever mentioned. But we're on the air today because of Friends.

I mean, it's all forms and flavors. I mean, it's business owners that have just been generous. It's pastors, it's people that have given their time. And John Davenport, who would you say has impacted you most in the generosity?

You say, wow, that person has just modeled this for me to really point you in that direction in your own life. I would say my father. I watched him, but he was generous financially, but he was generous with his time. I remember every Sunday afternoon, we would go to a nursing home and we would go visit some Friends of his. One of the gentlemen had had both legs amputated, diabetes.

Wife had had a stroke. And we would just go and he would just minister to them. And spend all afternoon making sure they had everything they needed and that they were cared for and be an advocate for them. And he did that until the Lord took both of them home. And it made an impression on me because I saw that life was bigger than just doing your own thing. Because he could have done all kinds of activities and played, but on Sunday afternoon, that's what we did. And he took me with him.

Wow, that's so cool. And look at today, all the people you've impacted across the globe, like in Uganda and in Haiti, and in Winston-Salem, and the amazing ministry you've done here. John Reinhardt, these Gospel patrons, they are oftentimes unheralded on earth. They oftentimes don't want— I mean, I guarantee you, John Davenport didn't seek you out and say, hey, make a movie about my generosity. There's a humble spirit.

And if you had, we would have said no. I'll share real quick that, you know, this book that I wrote that kind of kickstarted this whole last 14 years of ministry for us two business people, the book called Gospel Patrons, wouldn't have happened if it weren't for a Gospel patron in my life who stepped up at a really vulnerable point where I'm seeking to write a book, taking a big risk and a big step of faith. And he and his wife felt very called by the Lord to humbly stand behind us, completely fund my time, my effort and energy to write this book for three years. It was the largest gift they had ever made to date. It was the largest step of faith they'd ever made.

And we look back and go, yeah, now what would have not happened had they not stepped forward in faith? God's not glorified by any superhero lone rangers, but he's glorified by a body working together, each contributing what they have. And that little boy bringing his five loaves and two fish, Jesus is like, great, I can work with that. Or the widow who brings her two copper coins, yes, that is more in Jesus's economy because it's not the size of the gift, it's the size of the faith with which you give. And so, yeah, we love talking about generosity because it's how the kingdom of God moves and it's the heartbeat of who God is.

Wow. You know, it's so encouraging. Let me ask you this, John Reinhardt, how do we get past people rolling their eyes when they hear the preacher is going to preach a sermon on money again? How do we get past people being so miserly and so withholding and it's like, you know, missionaries shouldn't be begging for money, like we're talking about reaching the world for Christ! We should be flooding their coffers with support.

Talk to me about John Reinhardt. I mean, I know you all are part of the solution, that's why you're on, but help us with the elephant in the room right now of all the giving, the lack of giving right now. Yeah, well I think it starts with acknowledging that oftentimes money is difficult to talk about because it's so close to our hearts. Sometimes we don't want people to talk about it because we actually love it and trust it and we don't want to change. And other times we're resistant to people talking about it because it's been spoken about badly, whether that's promising, if you give you'll get, if you give God will automatically make you healthy, wealthy and wise.

And other times it's not talking about it at all, it's talking about it in a way that's sort of hidden or just nervous or anxious. I mean, Jesus talked about wealth almost more than anything else. 23% of the time he was talking about money. He was talking about stewardship and possession, not because Jesus wants or even needs our money. He has all riches, all authority, he can do whatever he wants. He wants to invite us and involve us in what he's doing in the world. And so I think we've got to get out of this scarcity mentality, like, oh, God needs my money, so I better sort of pay him off like a little tip at a restaurant or a tax to the government. He's inviting us into his story.

He doesn't need anything from us. If we don't give, he'll find other people who will say yes to him. It's a little bit like Jonah. Did God need Jonah to save the Ninevites?

He could have written it in the sky, he could have called another prophet, he could have done whatever he wanted. But God had to align Jonah's heart with his heart so that he could have the greatest, be a part of the greatest revival in the Old Testament. I think giving is a lot like that, where we shouldn't be afraid to talk about it.

We should talk about it well, we should talk about it biblically, but it's really about the adventure of joining God and what he's up to, and I don't want to miss out on that. We see in the Bible the rich young ruler did. Can you imagine? He gets personally invited by Jesus, follow me, sell your possessions, give to the needy, you'll have treasure in heaven, come follow me.

And he says no. Imagine the miracles that he missed out on seeing Jesus do. Maybe he missed hearing the Sermon on the Mount, maybe he got to miss hearing the stories of the Mount of Transfiguration, or watching Jesus rise from death.

Because he was hanging on a little too tightly to his money. I don't think any of us want that story for ourselves, and the way out is to take steps of faith with giving. What I can promise you is that if you take a step of faith, God will meet you there, and then you'll take another step of faith and it will lead to another step of faith, and ten years down the road you'll be somewhere you never thought you could be or even would be had you not taken that first small step of faith. But if you don't take a step of faith with giving and money and surrendering your resources to God, I can promise you in ten years you'll be right where you are. I don't think any of us want to just stay where we are, we want to make progress, we want to grow, we want to step forward into walking with God, and giving is a huge, huge part of that. Jesus did say where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So the more you put your treasure where God's heart is, the more God will put his heart in where your heart ought to be. And so I just love us seeing worship, seeing giving as part of our worship, it's part of our sacrifice, it's part of us loving God and using what we've given to join him in his kingdom.

Wow, so cool. John Davenport, what would you say to people out there? Just kind of baby-step us in it.

You know, we can guilt and shame all day long, you know, and all that, and maybe we need a little bit of conviction, maybe we need a little challenge, but what would you say, just on a positive side, to encourage your fellow believers in Christ listening to be more generous in maybe some things from your own life? What I would say to encourage you is it's freedom. It's not bondage, it's freedom. It is freedom to live by the river. I talk about the river in the film, you go see it, you'll know what I'm talking about. There's a river that's flowing, that's the grace of God, that is always there, as long as we trust him, it's always there.

Our mindset is we need to have a lake, we need to build our own reserves. Problem is, we're trusting in ourselves. With a river, you always have to hope, pray, and depend on the fact the river will be there, and that is freedom, because now you're not responsible for taking care of yourself, God is.

So, then when something comes up, you can say, okay, well, Lord, this is your problem, this isn't my problem, I can trust you for it, you're going to take care of it, and that's freedom. And where most people live, as it relates to money and health and all those other things, is they feel like I've got to be the one. And when you feel like you've got to be the one, it doesn't make any difference how much money you have. There's never enough, because you don't have enough money to take care of every scenario that might come up. And I've lived long enough to know that you can have a bank full of money and still not be able to fix your problems. Money won't buy you sleep. Money will not heal your wife.

Money will not help your child get unaddicted from drugs. But the grace of God. So good, John, that's why we're making a movie to share this man's story, everyone. So much wisdom and truth coming out of John Davenport, I love it. And the next thing he's going to say, don't say this because it's too convicting, don't measure the fact that we'll all start giving more when there's more money coming in. We don't want to say that to you, John Reinhardt. We don't want to walk into that landmine, do we? Oh man, if we believe that, we'll never give.

It'll never happen, yeah. You know what, I was just with a group of people raising money for a great commission kind of cause two weeks ago. I saw 33 teenagers commit $14,400 to the great commission two weeks ago.

I was thrilled. I mean, I'm like, these kids don't even have that much money. How are they giving this much? But they were so inspired to go, hey, I don't want to wait to get involved in what God's doing. And that's what Jesus says, if you're faithful with little, you'll be faithful with much. But if you're not faithful with little, don't count on being faithful when you have much, because that's just not the way it works.

Here's the point, and I don't want to put any conviction, because this is the freedom. Look at your bank account as a donor-directed fund owned by God that you happen to be the one that gets to write the checks out of, because that's the way that God would want you to do that. Because what we do here is the enemy says, well, you know what, God's going to tell you to give everything away, and then therefore you can't trust him. That's not how he works. God knows what you like.

God knows how to give good gifts. He knows that you need money. He knows that you want stuff.

Take your wants to him. And this isn't about being a prosperity gospel, because you're not going to get everything you want, because most of the time our hearts aren't correct. That's what James talks about.

We ask for the wrong reasons. But the truth of the matter is the freedom of saying, okay, Lord, this is yours. Do what needs to be done.

He can trust that he's going to make sure that we have what we need. Okay, folks, you've got to dial into this book, Gospel Patrons. You've got to watch the movie. John Reinhart, head of Gospel Patrons, you're the author of that book. You're the producer of this movie featuring our good friend John Davenport, his wife, his family, and his generosity.

It's a powerful movie. Tell everyone how they can watch it digitally when it releases to the world on October 26th, and how they can come in person to the Millennium Center in Winston-Salem. It's worth a trip, folks. Come visit Winston-Salem. Visit Old Salem. Grab some coffee. See the city.

Talk to us, John, real quick. Yeah, there is a few seats left in Winston-Salem. If you want to make the trek, if you want to watch online, we're doing a live stream of what's happening in Winston-Salem, so you can stay at home and watch it. We've got people already signing up from all over the country—Mexico, Australia, Hawaii. People are engaged with wanting to watch this film.

We're so excited. It's going to be live streamed. Probably the easiest way, unless you're driving, is to text the letters GP, for Gospel Patrons, to 44144. Okay.

That's GP to 44144. We'll send you the link to register right away. I love it. And the website. We have a website. Go to your phone. GospelPatrons.org. GospelPatrons.org. Awesome. Another program powered by the Truth Network.