The myth of the "ugly American" has become so pervasive that it has become a stereotype: loud, loutish, and selfish.

The truth is very different, at least when it comes to charitable giving. Americans are the most generous people on the planet, and they mostly don't toot their own horns about it.

Corporate giving to charity is as old as America itself. Benjamin Franklin was a great organizer of charities-including the nation's first volunteer fire department and the first charity hospital. Franklin, one of the richest and most prominent men in America, was also an expert at encouraging other business leaders to "dig deep."

Canadian Todd Bentley doesn't look much like a minister. The 32-year-old has body piercings and tattoos on his arms and neck, and he often dresses in black.

But a minister of the gospel he is, or claims to be-and those claims have become the real story of a series of meetings Bentley is holding in Lakeland, Fla.

Bentley's British Columbia-based Fresh Fire Ministries arrived in Lakeland on April 2 for five days of revival meetings at a local church. These services would be broadcast on God TV, a satellite network with a worldwide viewership.

Birmingham and Memphis have it. Pittsburgh and San Antonio don't. Or, at least, they don't have as much.

"It" is generosity. A new study, sponsored by the Albuquerque-based Tijeras Foundation (TF), attempts to establish a benchmark for generosity and to identify factors that make some communities more generous than others-with the hope of transforming less generous communities into more generous ones.

On May 2, a group of 20 conservative and Christian activists sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee expressing concern over Sen. Charles Grassley's investigation of six televangelists. The letter says Grassley ignored normal processes and targeted organizations that "share the same branch of evangelicalism and . . . promote socially conservative public policy positions."

What do Christian families with big money-$50 million, $100 million, or more-do when they want to give it away?

Wherever it goes, Portland, Ore.-based Medical Teams International (MTI) declares, "Hope is on the way."

In the United States, MTI is known for its fleet of Winnebagos-10 in all-that have been converted to mobile dental clinics. Around the world, the group is known for often being first on the scene at disasters and conflicts. Currently, MTI is working in Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda, and 30 other countries. And everywhere, MTI says its mission is the same: "Demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty around the world."