Buying Experiences, Not Possessions, Leads To Greater Happiness

Buying Experiences, Not Possessions, Leads To Greater Happiness

Lucky Penguin

What do you do when you're a penguin being chased by killer whales? If there's a boat of tourists nearby, you jump in the boat.

Why You Should Only Take a Carry-on Bag

Interview with Danny & Judy Armstrong

Danny and Judy Armstrong have a passion for missions! They served in SE Asia from 1986-2000 living in three countries and serving in multiple roles. Since 2000 they have lived in South Carolina and continue to mobilize and equip churches and individuals to reach the world. Danny and Judy became a part of ACMC in 2008.

How long have you been a missionary and where have you served?

We have been in missions since August 1986. We lived in Indonesia first then Malaysia then Singapore.

How do you describe your current position?

I am the Southeast Regional Director for ACMC. We are Mobilizers.

On a scale of 1-10, how would you measure the American church’s global missions efforts? Why?

As far as overall impact, I would rate the American church’s efforts high maybe 8 or so. This is because the US is still a major sender and supporter of global missions. I would qualify this by the observation that only a small percentage of US churches are effectively engaged in missions – maybe as small as 15%. Along with this is that only a small percentage of Christian giving is for missions and only a small number of the full time ministers are missionaries.

We agree that the gospel is the greatest spiritual need of the world. What is the greatest physical need?

Hunger is the greatest with at least 13,000 people, many of them children, dying every day because they don’t have food. Closely connected and a major need is clean water with 5800 persons dying daily.

If you could stand in an arena full of church leaders, what would you say to them about fulfilling the Great Commission?

Let’s not just say the words but let’s do it! We have the resources and the access to personnel to finish the task of Matt 24:14, IF we will make this the priority God intended. We cannot be faithful to the calling of God if we are not obedient to His Commission! Will we be faithful or unfaithful shepherds? Something along these lines….

If you had a platform to speak to all American church members, what would you say?

God so desires to use all of us in His Kingdom and for His Glory! He has given each of us a part in His eternal plan. We are to be about building the eternal, global Kingdom of God. That is to be what really consumes us, not chasing the American Dream or how much discomfort we can avoid as we “play” our way into eternity. God has placed His vision in us and let’s see that completely fulfilled. Yes!!

Are you excited or concerned about global outreach in the next decade?

I am excited about the next decade because I have a firm belief in the sovereignty of God. I believe He is doing so much in the world and drawing many to Himself. I am concerned about many churches and many of us as individuals whether we will choose to follow Him and be part of His plan or we will choose to follow the status quo and miss out.

Picking Dandelions Blog Tour

Sarah Cunningham's new book, Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life's Weeds, arrived in bookstores just a few weeks ago. I received my copy at about the same time and I have enjoyed reading her memoir about growing up as a PK (preacher's kid) in rural Michigan. Sarah is a young lady. When I think about memoirs I tend to think that it is someone's biography reflecting on all of the things the writer experienced during their long life. Picking Dandelions covers about the first third of Sarah's life. She's got at least a couple more memoirs to go.

Sarah is a wonderful writer who will take you on her journey from inner-city Pittsburgh to a one flashing traffic light town in Michigan to Ground Zero a few days after 9/11. Throughout her journey she learns that a Christ-following person is a changing person. And she's not afraid to tell you how she's changed. In Sarah's words, there's the "conversion within a conversion." The realization that walking on the heels of Jesus leads us through places where change is non-negotiable.

Sarah has also written Dear Church and was a contributor to unChristian. You can find out more about this amazing young author at www.SarahCunningham.org.

Advice to Public Pray-ers

My first speech was as a high school junior in a Public Speaking class. (Of course, this does not include Show & Tell and occasional book or oral reports given in elementary and junior high school.) I took PS again my sophomore year of college. I guess I've been teaching and doing presentations my entire adult life. I definitely have not mastered it. Not at all.

As a speaker, I tend to critique and evaluate other speakers too. It's kind of a curse because sometimes I don't listen to the message as much as I listen to the delivery of the message. I blame this on my Preaching classes in seminary. For two semesters, we sat in a little mini-chapel listening and critiquing each other's sermons. Those were long days. I still haven't been able to completely shake those memories.

One thing that I've often noted over the years is how we talk to God differently than we talk in normal conversation. We often describe prayer as simply "talking to God" yet when we do it, we begin to speak in an entirely different way. How you have conversations with God in private is between you two, but may I give some advice to those who often pray in public? This is certainly not an exhaustive list nor is it a criticism of how people pray. They are simply suggestions that will help you lead others in a time of corporate prayer.

- I know that the Aramaic word "Abba" is an intimate way of saying, "Father" or "Daddy" but when you open your prayer addressing God as "Daddy," you just freaked out half of the group. (If it's a youth group, make that 80%.)

- Just don't just say just 23 times per prayer. Just say just when it's necessary not just when you just can't just think of what just to say next.

- Ditto above advice for "God."

- Same goes for "Jesus."

- and "Lord"

- Please don't use multisyllabic theological terms that the common man does not know or use, e.g., propitiation, sanctification, sola scriptura, theophany, or infralapsarianism.

- Long prayers aren't necessarily good prayers.

- Here's an oldie but goodie: Don't use King James English unless that is your normal way of speaking. If you come home in the evening and routinely ask your wife, "Whatest hast thou preparest for thine family to sup on?" you may use King James English. Otherwise, 21st century language should be used.

- It's unnecessary to ask God to guide you, direct you, and lead you. That's what he does. I learned this from a friend who attended a prayer retreat with renowned missionary to China Bertha Smith. He prayed this prayer and she interrupted him in the middle of it by saying, "You don't have to ask him to do that! That's what he does! You just have to listen and obey!" (But I still pray this one a lot.)

- Don't pass on church announcements via prayer. How many times has a pastor forgotten to announce an upcoming event earlier in the service only to "announce" it in the closing prayer? "Thank you, Heavenly Father, for visiting with us today and please help those who have visited our service this morning remember to complete a Visitor's Card and give it to an usher before they depart our sanctuary this morning so that we can have a record of their visit."

- Kidding aside, be real, genuine, and authentic. God honors that and people appreciate it too.

- Can you offer any more advice?

Why Sin is a Bad Idea

I keep a journal of thoughts and quotes usually triggered by something that I've read. I recently read and reviewed Dave Browning's book, Deliberate Simplicity. Dave wrote something about sin that I've never thought about before but it makes a lot of sense. I read it again today in my journal:

Sin is a waste of energy. Plain and simple. It's wasting your energy on things you can't have or can't control. And it's actually a double waste. After you waste your energy on things like lust and pride and anger, then you have to waste even more energy on things like guilt and shame and regret. Nothing is more de-energizing than sin. But by the same token, nothing is more re-energizing than obedience. It's pure energy. (p. 145)

When we are tempted to sin, maybe we need to consider what it will really deliver. Do I really want to spend my time and energy on something that I know God hates and that I will eventually regret? Sure it might be fun for awhile (See Hebrews 11:25) but ultimately it will destroy.

A few weeks ago, I asked a young lady how she was doing. "Not good," she shook her head.
"Oh? What's up?" I asked.
"I'm having an affair," she confessed.
"I didn't know you were married."
"Oh, I'm not married. He is," she told me. "I beginning to feel bad about it."
"It was fun for a little while wasn't it?" I said.
She looked at me funny. I don't think she'd ever heard a pastor say that sin was fun.
I continued, "The Bible says there is a measure of pleasure in sin but eventually it makes you miserable."
"Yeah," she agreed. "I'm miserable now. I need to break it off."

We continued to talk about her situation and how she should handle it. I prayed an honest prayer with her and moved on. My friend is an example of how the temporary pleasures of sin will eventually wear you out and disturb you to the point of misery.

Granted, sin is more than a waste of time and energy. It's disobedience to God. It breaks his heart. It builds a wall between us and God as well as his people. Sin is ugly and useless. It's never positive - always negative.

Thank God that Jesus has taken it and flung it as far as the east is to the west (Psalm 103:12). His grace covers our multitude of sins. Live with the pleasure of that victory in mind, not the momentary pleasures of sin. When we strive to focus each moment on being obedient and bringing glory to God in all we say and do, we don't have much time to think about sinning. When we don't waste time sinning, we have more time to shine the light of Jesus.

Interview with Yours Truly

Check out this interview at WorkingWritersandBloggers.com

Book Review: Crazy Love by Francis Chan

For at least a year I've heard lots of people talking about Francis Chan's great book, Crazy Love. It is a great book but it's not what I anticipated. A great non-fiction book for me is heavily underlined, quotable, and filled with prose that makes me think, "I've never thought about it that way."

Crazy Love was none of those things. It wasn't the earth-shattering book I expected. No underlines. No dog-eared pages. No "a-ha" moments.

Sounds like I didn't like it, huh? No, I did like it. In fact, I wish every Christ-follower would read it. Francis clearly and succinctly shared foundational things that every Christian needs to know and do. Jesus said simply, "If you love me, you'll obey me." Chan's book contends that true love for Jesus is displayed through obedience - sometimes in radical ways.

Too many American Christians are content to pray the sinner's prayer, get baptized, and show up for church a couple of times per month. That's not Christianity. It's lukewarmness. It's what Jesus said he would spew out of his mouth (see Revelation 3:15-18). Jesus said that others would recognize believers by their fruit. If you think the "fruit" of Christian living is listening to a few sermons a month, having a decent marriage, not cussing, and voting Republican, you've got it all wrong.

In Chan's words, "we live and plan like we don't believe God even exists. We try to set our lives up so everything will be fine even if God doesn't come through. But true faith means holding nothing back." Are you obedient in your daily journey with Christ? Are you totally devoted to Him with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Total devotion is not just for pastors and missionaries. It is for every one who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

I really encourage you to read Crazy Love. The more I think about it, the more I think I was wrong. It is earth-shattering. If every believer took Chan's words seriously (which, by the way, is that we should take GOD'S Word seriously), it would turn the world upside down.