Murray begins his book by demonstrating the intrinsic relationship between faith and life. He states, “A positive faith produces a positive life; a negative faith, a negative life…We are what we think and believe.” Murray goes on to state that his purpose in the book is his readers to come away with a “positive faith and life.” At the center of Murray’s proposition is the “cross of Christ,” which he states, “graphically demonstrates how God can transform the most unimaginable negative into an almost inconceivable positive.” But do not confuse this book with the positive-thinking, self-help works of some popular writers on the market! Murray’s work is deeply rooted in God’s Word. He describes “Christian Happiness” as “a God-centered, God-glorifying, and God-given sense of God’s love that is produced by a right relationship to God in Christ and that produces loving serve to God and others.” This is not your typical book on happiness, and that is its greatest strength. Murray has grounded happiness in the unchangeable truth of God’s Word and called us to dwell on it. In the ten chapters that follow the introduction, Murray addresses matters ranging from the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the beautiful embrace of diversity with a wide ranger of topics in between (see the Table of Contents for more). He ends the book by calculating the net gain of a positive faith through a change in perspective. Murray does not gloss over the difficult areas of life. He addresses sin, suffering, and trauma from a biblical perspective. He recognizes that easy answers are not answers at all. Murray’s work is to be commended and read widely! I look forward to purchasing copies for many and reading the book again for personal reflection.

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