Think God doesn’t want you to be happy? Think again.

Happiness by Randy Alcorn

About this book: (from the publisher) Christians are supposed to be happy. In fact, we are supposed to radiate joy, peace, and contentment that is so unmistakable and so attractive that others are naturally drawn to us because they want what we have. And yet, in today’s culture, the vast majority of Christians are perceived as angry, judgmental people who don’t seem to derive any joy from life whatsoever. So why aren’t we happy?

Unfortunately, many Christians are taught early on that God doesn’t want us to be happy (he wants us to be holy). In fact, many Christians are laboring under the false notion that God himself is not happy. But nothing could be further from the truth! God does want us to be happy. The Bible is filled with verses that prove that ours is a happy, joy-filled God who not only loves celebrations but also desperately wants his children to be happy. Why else would He go to the lengths He did to ensure our eternal happiness in His presence? We know that we will experience unimaginable joy and happiness in Heaven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also experience joy and happiness here on earth.

In Happiness, noted theologian Randy Alcorn dispels centuries of misconceptions about happiness and provides indisputable proof that God not only wants us to be happy, He commands it. The most definitive study on the subject of happiness to date, this book is a paradigm-shifting wake-up call for the church and Christians everywhere.

About the author: (from the publisher) Randy Alcorn is an author and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM), a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching principles of God’s Word and assisting the church in ministering to unreached, unfed, unborn, uneducated, unreconciled, and unsupported people around the world. His ministry focus is communicating the strategic importance of using our earthly time, money, possessions, and opportunities to invest in need-meeting ministries that count for eternity. He accomplishes this by analyzing, teaching, and applying biblical truth.

Before starting EPM in 1990, Randy served as a pastor for fourteen years. He has a bachelor of theology and master of arts in biblical studies from Multnomah University and an honorary doctorate from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and has taught on the adjunct faculties of both. A New York Timesbestselling author, Randy has written more than forty books, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, and the award-winning novel Safely Home. His books have sold more than nine million copies and have been translated into more than sixty languages.

Randy has written for many magazines, including EPM’s Eternal Perspectives. He is active on Facebook and Twitter, and has been a guest on more than seven hundred radio, television, and online programs. He resides in Gresham, Oregon, with his wife, Nanci. They have two married daughters and are the proud grandparents of five grandsons. Randy enjoys time spent with his family, biking, playing tennis, researching, and reading.

Genre: Non-fiction/Religion/Christian Living

Why I said yes to this book: My husband and I have been talking a lot about happiness lately. Earlier this year, he gave me another book on this topic (The Happy Christian, see below), and we’ve been intrigued by Dennis Prager’s teaching on happiness as a moral obligation. Reading this book extended my learning on the subject.

What difference did it make? It reformed my thinking about this very most basic of human pursuits. It helped me to better understand my Creator as well as myself, and it challenged, encouraged, and equipped me to become a more supernaturally happy person.

Reminds me of: The Happy Christian: Ten Ways to be a Joyful Believer in a Gloomy World by David Murray

First impressions: It made me,  yes, happy every morning as I sat down with my coffee, Bible, and this hefty tome weighting my lap. Though the size of it at first seemed rather indigestible, taken bite by bite, it became a soul-nurturing “meal” I anticipated each new day. Oh, and the cover? You may not know this about me, but pink makes me happy, and the trees in blossom evoke a hope for new beginnings.

[Tweet “Dare to be happy! #Happiness by @RandyAlcorn @TyndaleHouse”]

My musings: When the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) for Happiness arrived in my mailbox, I remarked to the publicist who sent it: “Wow, it’s…big.” Yes, she said, it’s the result of years of research by the author, and she imagined it would be one of those books that remained on readers’ shelves for years to refer to again and again.

Now, having read it, I say to that: yes and amen.

Friends, this is one for your forever shelf, and it’s worth the investment as well as whatever space it consumes on your bookshelf. This book changed not only the way I think, but the way I live. How many books can claim that distinction?

In his introduction, Alcorn states the happiness problem, as well as his goal: “My hope is that this book will bring balance to your worldview and your walk with Christ by correcting–through Scripture and Christian history–widespread and deep-seated misconceptions about happiness.”

What startled me was to learn how for years I’ve been given wrong information–misguided at best, downright false at worst. Perhaps you’ve been told similar stuff: that the Bible says that God cares more about my holiness than about my happiness. That the Bible says nothing about being happy–joyful, yes, but not happy. That there’s a distinction between joy (which is holy) and happiness (which is not).

Not true. And in a two-pronged approach–referencing the vast and layered teaching of great biblical scholars and fathers of the faith, as well as the Bible’s original-language roots (Hebrew and Greek)–Alcorn spends 500+ pages defending that position.

It turns out that the misconception of happiness is a fairly modern problem–about 100 years old. Which means that whatever teaching you and I have likely received on the subject is not what our great-greats understood to be true. The Puritans, for instance, were HUGE believers in the rightness of happiness. Their documents are filled with their pursuit of it, the pure delight they found in being happy. Who knew?

How did this misunderstanding occur? Well, Alcorn outlines that trajectory in detail, but more importantly, he helps to correct it.

Don’t left this book’s heft scare you. Alcorn’s style is both highly personal and accessible. What accounts for its size? The razor-thin slices by which Alcorn examines every little nuance of both Scripture and the topic. It’s well structured, well indexed, and easily understood. Promise.

On a final note, I have to remark on the fact that this big, fat book has disproportionately brief title–with no subtitle at all. As if only one word is needed to convey its big import. Which, in and of itself, speaks to me of the very contemporary relevance of Happiness.

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

After words: What makes you happy? I’d love to hear from you today.