Happy Church
Pursuing Radical Joy as the People of God
by Tim McConnell
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Pub Date Feb 15 2016 | Archive Date Mar 23 2016
InterVarsity Press | IVP Books
Description
Most Christians resist the idea that we are to pursue happiness. We are more comfortable with the idea of finding joy or being blessed. But seeking happiness seems too superficial or too flighty for people of faith.
In Happy Church, Tim McConnell offers a radical call for Christians to reclaim happiness. Happiness flows from the joy of the Lord and being glad in Christ. When the church expresses happiness, we are making a countercultural choice that the world cannot help but notice. "It's time to bring the happy back," he says. "It's time to get serious about happiness."
This is a book to read with your small group or congregation, with discussion questions to help you become happy together. You'll discover that God's call to the church is to radiate happiness—because we live in a world that desperately needs it.
Advance Praise
—John Ortberg, senior pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, author of Soul Keeping and The Life You've Always Wanted
"Tim McConnell's Happy Church is a breath of fresh air. Here we have a wonderful, clear, grounded antidote for Eeyore Christians everywhere. Happy Church is a book the church needs in a serious way."
—Don Everts, author of Go and Do
"Happy Church is a welcome reminder that the Christian journey is indeed a blessed life, and that the desire for happiness is not to be avoided. Tim McConnell reminds us in thoroughly readable and wonderfully funny prose that the happy life is about wanting to be used for God's glory. This book is the ideal companion for anyone who wishes to bring the happiness of full surrender in Christ to their own life and their faith community."
—D. Michael Lindsay, president, Gordon College
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9780830844562 |
| PRICE | $16.00 (USD) |
Average rating from 1 member
Featured Reviews
Paul M, Reviewer
Anyone remember David Meece's song "Rattle Me, Shake Me"? The singer keeps getting in trouble because he seems way too happy--he must be up to something! He says "the only reason I'm happy is because I got Jesus inside!" That was one of my faves growing up, and it came to mind while reading pastor Tim McConnell's Happy Church: Pursuing Radical Joy as the People of God.
God wants us to be happy! He wants his church to be a happy place! "He's not just omniscient and omnipresent and omnipotent, he's omnicelebrant!" What a great word to add to our list of characteristics of God. McConnell complains that for too many of us, we settle for "joy" as if that is a separate category from "happy." In fact, the words happiness, joyful, and blessed can be used interchangeably.
We come to believe that pursuing happiness is wrong because we often pursue the wrong things in hopes of achieving happiness. As Christians, we know, and if we don't know we are learning, that true happiness comes from being used by God for his glory, through pursuing him in his word and in prayer, through corporate worship, through obeying him and sacrificially living on mission for him.
And here's the kicker: don't go looking for a happy church! "Rather than looking for a happy church, be ready to cultivate a happy church right where you are." Every church is equipped to be happy, and every Christian has the new life that leads to happiness. "We don't need to go far to find the happy church, we need to unleash the one we already know." When we gather for worship, prayer, service, and, of course, pot luck dinners, we are reflecting the hope we have of heaven and the celebration to come.
"Happy church, God intends to see you dance. The blood has been spilled, the covenant has been ratified, the party will happen, and the Father's feast will not be frustrated. It is coming! Every party we hold is a rehearsal. The true party is on the way."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
