Podcast episode
Episode 379 – Gospel Patrons: The Secret Behind Every Great Movement of God | John Rinehart
A couple commits $5 million to fund the Jesus Film. The very next year, they go bankrupt. When asked if they regretted it, they said it was the best investment they ever made—because 45 years later, 650 million people have said “I’ll follow Jesus” after watching that film. That’s what Kingdom generosity looks like.
EPISODE NOTES
A couple commits $5 million to fund the Jesus Film. The very next year, they go bankrupt. When asked if they regretted it, they said it was the best investment they ever made—because 45 years later, 650 million people have said “I’ll follow Jesus” after watching that film. That’s what Kingdom generosity looks like.
John Rinehart, author and founder of Gospel Patrons, joins Justin Forman to uncover the hidden thread of generosity running through every great move of God in history. From the cloth merchant who secretly funded William Tyndale’s illegal Bible translation, to the aristocratic woman who bankrolled Whitefield and Wesley, to the businessman who turned John Newton’s hymns into Amazing Grace—the pattern is unmistakable: behind every great ministry, there’s a gospel patron.
John shares his own journey from a 25-year-old businessman asking “what’s all this for?” to taking a 132-day trip around the world to discover his calling. Together, he and Justin explore the three enemies of Christian generosity, expose the lies the world tells about wealth, and reveal why focused, intentional giving—not scattered, reactive giving—is the quickest path to joy there is.
Chapters:
00:00 Opening story: The Jesus Film and Bunker & Caroline Hunt
01:12 Welcome to the FDE Podcast: Generosity and the roots of the movement
02:07 Where we are now: The third generation of the generosity movement
03:58 Naming the villains: The world, the flesh, and the devil
06:49 Unmasking the lie: The world’s definition of wealth vs. Jesus’s
08:49 Serving one and a half masters: The danger of splitting allegiance
09:28 The early church in Acts 2 and Acts 4: Radical generosity as normal Christianity
10:43 Is Jesus our true treasure? What our bank accounts reveal
11:30 The detox move: Extreme measures and naming greed as greed
12:48 The rich young ruler: What if he had said yes?
13:55 Giving as losing vs. giving as winning: Impossible to lose
15:23 Gospel patron stories: Tyndale’s cloth merchant, Amazing Grace, the Jesus Film
18:23 Seeds vs. silos: Scattering vs. storing
19:27 Jesus himself was funded by gospel patrons (Luke 8)
21:45 Business leaders and ministry leaders: Equal partners by God’s design
22:35 John’s journey: From second-class Christian to gospel patron
23:46 Warning: Ananias and Sapphira—guarding your heart in giving
27:27 John’s personal story: How generosity found him at 25
28:42 Seminary, 132 days around the world, and meeting a gospel patron in Sydney
30:35 The data: Science confirms what Jesus said 2,000 years ago
31:52 The nameless boy with loaves and fish: Being part of the wave God builds
32:37 You can fund Vietnam and still live in Dallas: The reach of generosity
34:09 Focused vs. scattered giving: Finding your fight
35:05 The three marks of a gospel patron: Financially invested, personally involved
37:41 It’s not a check—it’s a team: The joy of going deep
38:07 Call to action: Find your story, find your squad, get in the fight
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