How To Quantify Your Happiness

How To Quantify Your Happiness: Mutiny on the Bountiful

Speaker

Dwight K. Nelson

Dwight Nelson served as lead pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University from 1983 to 2023. During his time at Pioneer he spoke on the “New Perceptions” telecast, taught at the theological seminary and has written books, including The Chosen. He and his wife, Karen, are blessed with two married children and 2 granddaughters.

Offering

In the year 1789, the crew of the HMS Bounty decided they'd rather go it alone and promptly placed their captain on a lifeboat in the south Pacific and waved goodbye. Could it be that some of us living here in the blessed and bountiful USA are perhaps not so different than that mutinous crew?
Saturday, June 21, 2014

More In This Series

06/28/2014
What do you get for the God who has everything? Especially if He already gave everything He had for you? Jesus gave us the answer in John 15:13 "Greater love has no man than this; to lay down one's life for one's friends."
05/10/2014
Contrary to what we've been taught, the latest research states that "Money Can Buy Happiness". Discover the surprising secret to a life of happiness and financial stability right now.
05/17/2014
In his famous poem Henry Wadsworth Longfellow embedded the key to happiness and a life of meaning. What secret lies within the Churchyard of Cambridge?

“How to Quantify Your Happiness: Mutiny on the Bountiful”

www.pmchurch.tv

  • □  “Mutiny on the Bounty”—The Tale
  • □  “Mutiny on the Bountiful—The Truth
    • Luke 12:16—“The of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.”

       Psalm 24:1—“The is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the , and all who live in it.”

      •   Psalm 50:12—“The is Mine, and that is in it.”
      •   “He’s Got the Whole in His Hands.”
      •   “ gave a certain rich man an abundant harvest.”
      •   David Redding: “You and I are rich beyond the wildest dreams of most [people] on

        earth—rich in groceries with freezers full of fresh vegetables right out of the garden in January, rich in health with magic immunity, miracle medicines and fabulous hospitals filled with Florence Nightingales for T.L.C. We are rich in hundreds of gasoline horses faster and far more comfortable than any camel—rich in houses with huge staffs of mechanical servants to do the laundry and the dishes and furnish whatever weather we wish inside. This parable begins with a little bit of our own autobiography. ‘The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully.’” (The Parables He Told 127)

    • Luke 12:16-19— times through the first person pronoun this rich man takes all the credit.

       It is no more a sin to be , than it is a virtue to be .

      •   Jesus neither condemned , nor did He commend .
      •   Deuteronomy 8:10-14—“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your

        God for the good land He has given you. Otherwise your heart will become

        and you will the LORD your God who redeemed you.”

    • Luke 12:20, 21

       David Redding: “This parable is very sad, but sad to shock us into happiness—to make us stop and take stock as the shadows lengthen over our lives. I think it is agreed that Americans are not so bad. But the question this story raises is not are we good or evil, but are we squandering eternity for a pocketful of pleasure.” (130-131).

      •   Christ’s Object Lessons: “To live for self is to perish. Covetousness, the desire of benefit for self’s sake, cuts the soul off from life. It is the spirit of Satan to get, to draw to self. It is the spirit of Christ to , to self for the good of others.” (259)
      •   isthemostpowerfulantidotethereisforselfishness/covetousness.
      •   Ellen White: “Continual starves covetousness to death.” (3T 548)
      •   So if you want to be “rich toward God,” if you want to be like God, .
    • The 90 Day Tithe Challenge/The 90 Day 2nd Tithe Challenge
    • 2 Corinthians 8:9—“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was

      , yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become .”
       “Be rich toward Me, even as I have been rich toward you.”
       “The Mutiny on the Bounty” and the Pitcairn

      Jesus: “Be rich toward God” 

Offering for April 26, 2025

Michigan Advance Partners

Author Melvin Santos Speaking: When I was little boy, I was asked to help collect the offerings with the adult deacons and deaconesses. I wondered how we would get the money to God. My young innocent mind was trying to process this dilemma. Is there a special place we deposit the money and God sends His angels to pick it up later? Then I learned that the church represents the body of Christ on earth. So, when we give to the church, we really give it to God by faith.

God doesn’t need our money to do His work on earth. He owns the universe and galaxies. But He allows us to partner with Him so He can bless us, make us the funnel to bless others, and grow His kingdom. God’s systematic giving plan enables us to develop His character. Our great opportunity is to join heavenly agencies in the great plan of redemption.

“We cannot enrich Him with our gifts. Says the Psalmist: ‘All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.’ Yet God permits us to show our appreciation of His mercies by self-sacrificing efforts to extend the same to others. This is the only way in which it’s possible for us to manifest our gratitude and love to God. He has provided no other.” (Counsels on Stewardship, p.18).

Today, let’s be the blessing that blesses others. North American Division Stewardship Ministries 

North American Division Stewardship Ministries

Music Camp at Pioneer!

The Institute of Young Musicians for Christ is excited to be having a music camp at Pioneer Memorial Church! At our music camps young people ages 6-17 are offered an immersive, week-long musical experience. Our quality musical training—combined with fun, friends, and faith-building encounters— provides a truly incredible opportunity. The camp offers tracks for children 6-12 with or without musical experience and a track for teenagers with significant musical experience. To learn more and register, visit iymcsda.org/michigan. We hope to see you there!

Lamson Hall Upgrades with Maranatha

From May 11–June 8, 2025, Maranatha Volunteers International will be working at Andrews University to update the Lamson Hall residential rooms and suite bathrooms. Please consider volunteering and letting your family and friends know of this opportunity. All individuals (including local) should sign up at the Maranatha website: https://maranatha.org/volunteer-opportunities/.