Happiness According to Jesus by Bobby Schuller
Published by Worthy Publishing on June 9th 2015
Genres: Christian Life, Personal Growth, Religion
Pages: 256
Host of one of the largest inspirational television broadcasts in America, Bobby Schuller reaches millions of viewers each week with his national TV show, The Hour of Power, along with more than 300,000 active email subscribers. He is a new generation communicator who speaks with enormous depth from family and personal trials. Too easily we skate blindly past the greatest treasures in the world. Bobby Schuller has seen enough in his 33 years to face that truth. With the collapse of the Crystal Cathedral and health issues related to his only son, this young dynamic pastor was driven back to the very first message from Jesus himself-a message too easily passed off as platitudes-the Sermon on the Mount. In Happiness According to Jesus, Bobby reveals ten contemporary truths that are available only to the attentive heart. Truths that will change your world in an instant. Are you listening?
Hour of Power Host Pastor Bobby Schuller Shares How You Can Experience Real Happiness In His Latest Book, "Happiness According to Jesus". Bobby Schuller is the son of renowned pastor Robert A. Schuller, and the grandson of internationally known minister Robert H. Schuller. Robert H. Schuller was the founder of the Crystal Cathedral and the "Hour of Power."
Following in his grandfather's footsteps, he is now the lead pastor for the "Hour of Power," a well-known weekly-televised church service to millions around the world. The "Hour of Power" has been running since 1970. He is also the pastor of Shepherd's Grove church. Shepherd's Grove is formerly known as the Crystal Cathedral, which changed its name after moving to its new campus (formerly the location of St. Callistus' Catholic Church) on July 7, 2013. Bobby is also the pastor of Tree of Life Community in Garden Grove, CA.
It's really crazy but for the last month or so, it seems that time after time I hear about the book of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount. I know God has a lesson He definitely wants me to hear so when I started reading this book, I was grateful for the opportunity provided to me as a First Look Blogger for Worthy Publishing.
In this book, Happiness According to Jesus: What it Means to be Blessed, Bobby Schuller shares his favorite part of the scripture - Chapters 5 through 7 of the book of Matthew. Mr. Schuller takes us to the mountainside where we hear the Sermon on the Mount like we've never heard it before. Schuller applies the teachings of Jesus' most famous sermon to our current lives, and shows us how to live life better than we could have ever imagined. The book shares how Mr. Schuller believes that as Christians, we can lead a blessed, happy life, even though we have earthly suffering.
Schuller says, "The Sermon on the Mount is an invitation to a life that's better than anything we can put together on our own. It's an invitation to give up being an angry person and to become a person of peace. It's an invitation to stop wearing masks. It's an invitation to stop lying and no longer be burdened by constantly trying to remember things and patching up things with people when they lose trust in you. It's an invitation to live the kind of life where you can smile because it's not your job to judge people; it's not your job to tell it like it is. It's a life in which you don't have to worry. It's a life in which money doesn't matter as much as you think it does. The kind of life Jesus invites us to in the Sermon on the Mount is eternal life. It is a great gift, yet so many people are offended when they read these words."
Mr. Schuller believes that if Christians were to take the words of the Sermon on the Mount more seriously, then the world would have a more positive view of Christians today. Happiness According to Jesus discusses several topics from the famous scripture. While I have heard and about the Sermon on the Mount so many times in the past, but I have to say that this book really gave me a better understanding of what Jesus wants me to understand. This book provides the reader with tools on how to live life, how to deal with others and how to pray more effectively.
Schuller touches on several topics learned from the Sermon on the Mount. He talks about "vainglory" which is better defined as doing good things because we want others to recognize our accomplishments. Schuller tells the readers that Jesus says that we should do what is right because we love what is right, instead of doing it to be admired. He talks about loving your enemies, and this was a lesson I was happy to read: Loving your enemies does not mean to have positive feelings about them. Schuller says that when we love our enemies, we have a radical loving response to them. He gives a couple of examples such as getting bad service at a restaurant and leaving a big tip, or spreading good words about someone who gossips about you. He says being a Christian means to be different and respond differently than others would. Schuller advises not to store up treasures here on Earth, that spiritual wealth isn't made of physical treasures gathered here on earth. We can have spiritual treasures now - including virtue, prudence, justice, love and mercy. We also gain spiritual wealth when we are active in our calling and lining up with the mission of God. Once we gain spiritual treasures, we live with joy, meaning, and true happiness.
Schuller closes the book with this: "Every day is an opportunity to do what Jesus taught. It's never easy but always fulfilling. Jesus has a way of living. He wants us to be the light of the world. He wants us to relent from our anger. He wants us to put our family first. He wants us to stop lying. He wants us to love our enemies. He wants us to care for those who speak badly about us. He wants to care for the needy, those who are hungry, those who are thirsty. He wants us to care about justice and not to do it for our own glory, but to do it for others. He wants us to be praying people, who pray simply, and pray because we know that God is listening. He wants us to be fasting people. He wants us to be people who stop worrying, who don't think with concern about tomorrow or regret yesterday, but live today in the easy rhythms of grace. He wants us not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth where moths and rust destroy, but to store up real heavenly treasure that we can access today, that never goes away. He wants us to stop judging people, to stop shoving religion down people's throats. He wants us to know that if we need something, we can ask him. Jesus is going to come. He's going to deliver. We know that we serve a good God. There is a way of living and a way of doing, and we're going to do it." Can you say WOW?
This is a "must read" for everyone I know! I believe this great book would really help its readers come to know more about the Lord's love and kindness in their lives, and it might also build up their knowledge of what it means to truly be a disciple of Christ! I know I'll be coming back to this book in the future to help remind me in my journey to live a happy life with Jesus.
I was provided with a review copy of this book as a First Look Blogger for Worthy Publishing in exchange for my honest review and unbiased opinion.
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