Revitalize Your Church

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, an acclaimed plastic surgeon once wrote a best selling book,  New Faces, New Futures,  describing the tremendous changes in individuals' lives after having plastic surgery.  He told many stories about "ugly ducklings" who were given a new life by receiving a new face. Unfortunately, after the publication, Dr. Maltz discovered he had made some serious errors.  A careful study of all his patients revealed that people were generally no more happy with life after a plastic surgery than before.  He found that a face lift did not automatically bring a better life. So, Dr. Maxwell Maltz quite the plastic surgery business and devoted the rest of his life to helping people find inner beauty.  He discovered that true happiness comes from the inside.  It isn't obtained with a new face. This is not a new concept.  The Bible has lots to say about inner joy and peace.  Building a better life is an inside job. Many peopl...

Joy is serious business! It is the natural state of the soul. Joylessness is like a toothache, which indicates an internal cavity -- or worse. When we realize the joy has evaporated -- it's time to do some inner heart examination. Where did it go? What toxins have entered my soul, resulting this negativism? What must I do to recapture the joy? Leaking seems to be a part of the human condition. We're all a bunch of "joy leakers!" One lady tearfully prayed, “Please fill me with joy again!" Her husband, overhearing her request, prayed, "Don't do it Lord! She leaks!" It might be a good idea to patch up the holes.  Perhaps we need a spiritual root canal. Holding a small perspective towards life will drain the joy right out of your heart. As the hero in Red Badge of Courage stated, "elfin thoughts made cowards of us all." Ancient desert fathers spoke of "logismoi", the dark thoughts -- the false thoughts and desires that lead us t...

Great post by the good bishop, Don Bastian, How to Raise Your Happiness Level

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls bloom. Marcel Proust (HT Reflections from the Southside, Dale Argot )

According to a new study reported in the British Medical Journal, Happiness is Contagious. "The more happy people you know, the more likely you are yourself to be happy."

Great article by Nancy Ortberg, The Gospel and the Happiness Paradox