missional | Craig T. Owens

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An Obvious Investment

October 12, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

It’s one of the most obvious investment considerations of all time: Where am I going to get the best return on my investment?

Let’s take a little quiz on your investing savvy. If I gave you some money to invest, and you had to invest it all in just one of these two companies, which would you choose:

Company A which has only had one profitable year in the past decade.
Company B which has been profitable for nine of the past 10 years.

There’s really not much to consider here, is there? Even the most novice of investors is going to pick Company B.

Project A18 In our World Changers group, we have been heartstorming about our role in missions. We’re getting ready to launch Project A1:8. Jesus told His followers to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. In other words, to use the Holy Spirit’s power to make wise investments in people. One of the wisest investments we can make is where the return on investment potential is the highest… sort of like investing in Company B.

How about this profit potential: 90% of people who accept Jesus as their personal Savior do so before the age of 18. Investing in young people is like investing in Company B that was profitable in nine of the previous 10 years. So that’s what we’ve chosen as our Jerusalem.

It was awesome to see our group of World Changers come alive as one idea after another began to bounce around the room about making the investment into kids.

I’m excited to see the return on investment God will give us!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of Acts, Holy Spirit, investment, missional, missionary, profit, Project A1:8, return on investment, ROI. 3 Comments »

Your Mission Field

September 1, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Be honest: when you think of “mission field” what are the first images that come to your mind? Africa? India? Primitive living conditions? Non-English speaking people? I think that’s what most people think of. To tell the truth, that’s what I used to envision.

But notice what Jesus said to His followers just before He ascended into heaven:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The first mission field Jesus directed His followers to was Jerusalem. This was their “home town.” Maybe not the city they grew up in, but it was where Jesus conducted much of His public ministry; a place that His followers were intimately familiar with; the city where they currently lived.

They knew the language.
They knew the customs.
They knew the layout of the city.
They knew the elected officials.
They knew the religious officials.
They knew the local merchants.
They knew where the synagogues and schools were.
They knew this town.

Jesus didn’t call them first to someplace totally outside of their comfort zone. He called them to begin in their immediate surroundings.

Ponder this: you live in your “Jerusalem” and Jesus has called you to look at your city as your mission field. Your job … your school … your neighborhood … your barbershop … your local restaurants … these are all your mission field.

Don’t misunderstand: Missions is a worldwide endeavor, but don’t miss the point that your hometown is just as much a mission field as the other side of the globe is.

Strive to always be missionary-minded. Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you, and then go be an effective missionary in your Jerusalem first, and then allow God to expand your missions involvement to the ends of the earth.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of Acts, Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, missional, missionary, missions. 2 Comments »

My Big Three

February 2, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

three1 Busy. Commute. Busy. Lesson prep. Busy. Kids’ schedules. Very busy. Meetings. Extremely busy. Household chores. Hectic busy. Hospital visits. Running-to-catch-myself busy.

In my busyness, something gets squeezed out of my life very easily. I don’t intend for this to happen, in fact it’s the last thing that should ever get squeezed out, but it does. I can tell when it does. Not right away, but soon it catches up with me and I’m running on vapors. I know that when I take the time to put it back into my life, the busyness doesn’t seem so busy anymore.

What is this power source? Consider the life of Jesus.

No one had more to accomplish in such a short period of time than Jesus. He only had three years to find, equip and launch the men who would take His message to all the world. No small task, and not a minute to lose. Yet instead of seeing Jesus run at the frantic pace I so easily slip into, I see these incredible pauses.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. (Mark 1:35)

How long did He pray? The Bible doesn’t say, but I suspect He was in prayer with His Heavenly Father until His conversation was concluded. It may have been a while, or it may have been somewhat shorter.

Then all throughout the day, Jesus was never rushed or pushed or running helter-skelter, but He seemed to move at just the right speed. This is because Jesus was taking His cues from His Father all day long:

For I did not speak of My own accord, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me what to say and how to say it. I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told Me to say. (John 12:49-50)

Sometimes when there were big decisions or momentous occasions facing Him, Jesus would spend an extended time in prayer. For example:

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated apostles. (Luke 6:12-13)

I’m trying to make Jesus’ big three my big three:

An untimed conversation with God every morning.
All-day sensitivity to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Periodic prayer retreats before making big decisions.

This is taking all of the discipline I can muster, but I must make this my top priority!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: busyness, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, missional, prayer, priority, solitude. 3 Comments »

All Means, Um, All

November 20, 2008 — Craig T. Owens

We started a new Sunday evening series called “All.” At least that’s the abbreviated title—the full title is “all the church taking all the gospel to all the world all the time by all the means necessary.”

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-19). I am more and more amazed and disappointed in how this gets watered down…

“All the church can’t mean me because I’m nothing special.”
“All the gospel only means the part about ‘getting saved,’ right?”
“All the world is only for people who are called to be missionaries.”
“All the time is just for special ‘evangelical outreaches.’”
“All the means is just whatever happens in a typical church service.”

I checked Webster’s Dictionary and all means “wholly, entirely, completely.” I even checked my Greek Bible dictionary and discovered that all means, um, “all.” I think the problem comes from another word in that verse: therefore. If I don’t believe that I belong to Christ, then I’m not operating in all of His authority. If I’m not operating in His authority, I will more than likely find all the excuses I can to avoid being a part of the all Jesus intended.