I just completed Jonathan Haidt’s book Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. I found myself agreeing with a lot of what Haidt says in the book. Haidt regularly draws insights about happiness from the Bible and other world religions, even though he self-identifies as agnostic. The strength of Haidt’s book comes from the breadth of his research, spanning studies in neurobiology to sociology. Haidt does best when he’s describing cognitive distortions or citing research that correlates mental well-being with a certain behavior or perspective. I consistently find that many of the books about cognitive therapy suggest remedies that overlap with biblical wisdom.
Read MoreI invited guest contributor, Nick Hetrick, to share some thoughts from a two-part talk entitled “Taking Your Thoughts Captive,“ which he and Chris Risley gave at our annual conference Xenos Summer Institute. Nick completed his PhD in English at The Ohio State University and serves as a counselor and Bible teacher in our church. In his essay, he tackles the confusing topic of the divided self. On the one hand, we have strong impulses and feelings. On the other, God calls on us to exercise self-control and to take our thoughts “captive to the obedience of Christ.“ Nick’s article explores this tension. Stay posted for the second installment from Chris Risley, which I will publish in the next couple weeks.
Read MoreI’ve asked a few of my friends to contribute content to my website. This week, I’m featuring an article by Josh Benadum. Josh Benadum is a teaching pastor and elder in our church. He is an incredibly sharp thinker, speaker and leader. In this article, he explains how our character can hinder further development in our spiritual leadership.
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