"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." -- Luke 18:22

What did Jesus really mean when He spoke these words to the rich, young ruler? And I wonder what this guy was thinking... "seriously dude, go sell all this fine stuff?" How do we apply this story to our own lives? Does Jesus intend this to be a command for all his followers? Are we all called to go and sell everything we have and give to the poor?

There are a number of places in the new testament where we see followers of Jesus who own personal property... Mary, Martha and Lazarus owned a home, some of the disciples had fishing boats and when Zacchaeus jumped out of the tree, just before he wrote the song about the wee little man, he announced "Lord, here and now I give HALF (not all) of my possessions to the poor." So no... the command given to the rich, young ruler doesn't appear to be a universal command for all of Christ's followers. The question is, what does that command mean for you?

One of the first things Shelly and I did when we began this journey was to spend some serious prayer time with the Lord on this topic. We put everything on the table -- our home, our cars (you see how that one turned out), our investments, the money for our children's school and all our possessions. The Lord responded by opening our eyes to a few initial changes we could make. As we continue to pray and seek His will on this, He shows us more and more. We realize that the more we let go of, the more money we're able to free up, the more possessions we're able to sell, the more we can give away -- and that is really the whole point of this blog.

Here's one example... we've realized that we need to have a serious yard sale. The proceeds will go to one of the ministries we've been supporting. This is a very literal way to sell possessions and give to the poor. We have tons of unnecessary stuff just sitting around our house and in our garage -- some of it quite valuable that would likely do well at a yard sale. One item we are completely overrun with is children's clothing. "Wait!" you say! Can't you just donate the clothing to Goodwill or a family in need? Well yes, and we do that sometimes and certainly if we're aware of a specific need through a charity we support. But listen to what Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, says about this type of donation...

"While providing things like these in urgent situations is sometimes necessary, it neither addresses the underlying stubbornness of poverty, nor is it sustainable, it just creates a dependency. Frankly, giving things to the poor does much more to make the giver feel good than it does to fundamentally address and improve the condition of those in need."

Shelly and I are inclined to agree. Yes it's much easier to get rid of a stack of clothing by just dropping it off at Goodwill -- but we could probably do a lot more good by taking the time to sort, clean, price and sell the clothing and then give the money away.

So that's one example but admittedly, even if it does take a lot of time and effort, it's not much of a sacrifice to hold a yard sale and get rid of a bunch of junk you don't want anyways. What about the other side of that coin -- selling the possessions that you really DO want and then giving that money to the poor?

For the most part, as we have looked around our house we have determined that it would be more trouble than it's worth for the majority of our stuff. Should we sell the green couch that appears to have been slept on by a pack of dogs we let in from the rain? Probably not going to bring in the kind of coin that will make a difference. And then what do you do with the spot where the couch used to be? That's right Americans, fill that void with something better.

Here's a better example... jewelry, especially Tiffany Jewelry. My wife loves her jewelry. Not that she has all that much, but what she does have she loves. Although, in reality, she has a couple of items she wears regularly and the remainder is laid to rest in a box on the dresser. But it's nice to know it's there. The real question is, back to our first post, is it a Necessity or a Luxury? Is it something we as a family need or that by selling it, could bring in enough money to provide for a family that is truly in need.

For you ladies out there reading this and thinking, "I can't believe this man is making his wife sell her jewelry." That one was her idea.

I have had the privilege of visiting Romania a couple of times in the past few years with our church. We have taken a group of high school students for 9-10 days at a time and partnered with a wonderful group called Pathway to Joy in order to help build churches in Gypsy villages and care for abandoned babies in the children's hospital. My role for the past couple of years has been to coordinate taking groups of students to the hospital to care for the babies. These babies range in age from 6 months to 5 years. After 5 years, they are forced to leave the hospital for the comfortable abode of the state-run orphanage which houses them until they are 22. Yes, you read that correctly. There in the orphanage are children as young as 4 or 5 all the way up to 22. After 22, they are expected to head out on their own...

Back to the hospital. So we take a group of teens to the hospital in the mornings and they break up in to groups that disperse to the various wards in order to hold, feed and rock infants that otherwise only get very brief outings from the confines of their cribs. These children are the very definition of Failure To Thrive. There is very little crying as you walk down the halls because the babies have learned that there is little use is trying. No one is coming.

It is always amazing to watch the teens bond with the children and sit, literally for hours on end, in an incredibly hot (it's a cultural thing) hospital room holding these children because they know it may be a very long time before anyone else comes along to pay the babies any attention.

The most difficult part for me was the second year I returned to the hospital. I was excited as we entered the hospital to see some improvements and upgrades that had been done. They were installing new windows in place of, well, mostly just panes of glass assuming they weren't missing altogether. And they had a new floor cleaning machine, like what you see being pushed around at Home Depot. All that changed when I arrived on the 9th floor where the children with special needs were housed. I was anxious to see new faces and my heart literally sank when I walked into the room and there, in those dirty, rusty cribs, lay many of the very same babies we had held the year before.

An entire year had gone by. I had gone out to dinner with my family, we had played in the driveway, gone to the pool in the summer, been to the beach, walked around the block a hundred times. But these babies were still lying in their cribs, just as they were when I had left the year before. Many had been there long before that.

How much can you get for a "like new", 2001 Audi A6 Quattro? How about a dairy cow, some shares of a deep freshwater well, and a variety of necessities for a bunch of orphans? Oh, and one shiny scooter. It's true, the car had fairly low miles but went a very long way.

Some have asked for specifics regarding where we have directed some of the proceeds from the sale of the old Audi. Here's the list so far:

• World Vision
• Amazima Ministries International
• Cradle of Love
• Takes a Whole Village
• TwistNScoot

As you can see from the photo, we went through with it. Last night in the pouring rain I took my car back to the Carmax Buying Center and they gladly cut me a check. Shelly and the kids picked me up and we looked at each other when I got in the front seat of her car and said "What have we just done?".

For those of you reading this that only have one car, or no car, I'm sure you just said a little "hmmmpf" under your breath. But bear with us, we're learning. I have had two cars ever since I was born, and to now only have one is a very strange feeling.

Another strange feeling is being dropped of at the scooter store with no real options other than a) buying a scooter and driving it home or b) walking. As you may have surmised, I chose the former. I pulled out of the parking lot onto a rather busy street and had this poor little Taiwanese beast of a machine at full throttle and still had a line of cars behind me contemplating just running me over in order to get on with their day sooner.

The kids are beside themselves. We had several 'Motorcycle Riding' sessions this afternoon (that is what they are calling it, a motorcycle) and I'm sure the neighbors are regretting our choice now as much as anyone, even if we are not. The biggest surprise was when Shelly came out and said, "OK, I want to drive it." She put on my helmet and jacket and took off down the street. Will wonders never cease? No, they won't evidently, because we all survived the day. Even with cars passing me in my own lane, we made it through day one of our Crazy Adventure.

The best part is that we now have more than half of the money made from selling my car and are eager to give it away. We have our eye on a couple of places right now and will be sure to update you here when we decide.

Sorry for the lame movie reference. For the record, I have never seen it. But for this post, it seemed appropriate... possibly.

I will take your questions is reverse order. Crazy is a reference to Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. A good friend gave me this book last year for Christmas and I have read it twice now. Basically, Chan is calling Christians to look at their lives and how they live them in comparison to the immense sacrifice by God in giving the life of his Son. Christians should look and act differently than those who do not claim to know God. If we look, act and talk the same as everyone else, there is a problem.



He believed that with increasing income,
And he lived this out in his own life. It is said that at the end of his life he was living on what would today equate to about $28,000 per year, but was earning the equivalent of $160,000 per year. He gave the rest away - something like 82% of his income. That is what I call crazy.

Our guiding principle is fairly simple. Matthew 6:19-21 says "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Especially that last part. We want the heart of our family to be focused on things that will last forever.

The primary reason we are writing this thing is to talk about what we, as a family, are doing with our personal finances in order to give more away to those the Bible says over and over again are near and dear to the heart of God. Namely, the poor and needy, widows and orphans. We aren't millionaires, so by American standards some would say we are not 'wealthy'. However, by the world's standard, we are Very Rich. Considering some 80% of the world lives on $1 per day, we're doing pretty well. Still think you're not rich beyond your wildest dreams? I have heard that if you have reliable transportation, clothes and some food and water each day, you're doing better than 85% of the rest of the world.

What our family has been recently convicted of is that while we are giving at least 10% of our gross income as a tithe to our church, and a little more than that to other charitable causes, we still are spending a lot of money on luxuries for ourselves. What do I mean by 'luxuries'? Well, that is the point of this blog, but we have been going through our finances and started trying to look at things differently. Necessity versus Luxury is our new mantra. Do we really need that new lawnmower with the 40HP motor and fully enclosed, air-conditioned cab, or can we do with the 12-year old push model that has served us well for the past, well, 12 years? That's not really something we were considering, but you get the gist.

Recently we have been listening to a series of sermons by David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brookhills in Birmingham, AL. The series was first preached in late 2008, and available online Here if you have some time - it is well worth it. During the course of the sermons, David highlights over and over again the fact that thirty thousand children will die each and every day due to hunger and preventable disease. Not every year or month or week - every single day. That's a child every three seconds. Can we, the crazy Owens family, stop the death of thirty thousand children today by rearranging our finances? Doubtful. Seriously doubtful if we don't try. Impossible if we do nothing. Perhaps we could help just one.

So here we go. We are currently looking over our finances and budget to identify things that are potential candidates for the scrap heap. We'll share those things here - both large and small - in hopes that it will be of some use to you as well as us.

What we want

This blog will hopefully serve many purposes. First, we hope that by keeping track of how we, The Owens Family, modify our lives and how we spend money, it will be an encouragement to others. Also, since we are selfish people and prone to compromise even our own plans for personal comfort, we hope this will serve as a means of keeping us accountable. We also want feedback. So if you have some thoughts about what we are doing or how we are doing it, speak up. If you have any personal experiences that you would like to share with us, bring it on.

What we don't want

We don't want this blog to be a place where it looks like we are saying "Hey look at us. We're sacrificing stuff and therefore we are cool and we want you to look at us and wish you were us." If that's how it is coming across, please let us know and we'll try to keep our egos in check.