The Joy Project

by Tony Reinke

Publisher:

Desiring God

, 2015

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We think of our chase for joy as a fundamental right -- and it's no surprise. By nature we are pleasure-seekers, and we are also chronically unsuccessful at finding the type of joy that will endure for more than a passing moment. But what if long-lasting joy isn't found at all? What if the deepest and most durable happiness breaks into our lives, overcomes our boredom, and ultimately finds us? What if true joy is out of our reach, but reaches for us?

Contents

Top Highlights

“Sin is not merely wrong doing; sin is essentially wrong adoring. Sin is the fastening of our hearts on any good, treasure, or security in life that replaces the good, treasure, and security of God.” (source)

“John Piper sums up the tragedy like this: ‘Total depravity is not just badness, but blindness to beauty and deadness to joy.’ Our root problem is not that we break commandments; our problem is that we ignore God. Ignoring the beauty of God is the essence of total depravity.” (source)

“Puritan Richard Baxter can say: ‘The chief part of man’s corruption consists in a wrong chief good, a wrong treasure, a wrong security.’” (source)

“Misplaced affection is the root problem behind all conflict. Preoccupied with the streams, we are blind to the fountain of joy. We will not seek the presence of God. Blind to God’s beauty and to his pleasures, we seek to satisfy ourselves with pleasures of the flesh that are too trivial to sustain hungry souls. Feasting only upon creation as the source of joy, our hearts have withered and died. Born with an appetite for the everlasting, we are starved for sustaining joy.” (source)

“What we see around us is what we hunt, and what we hunt fuels the lust for what we long to see. A new technology only breeds new desires for even newer technology. This futile cycle is never broken, because our eyes are never satisfied (Prov. 27:20).” (source)

Product Details

• Title : The Joy Project
• Author: Reinke, Tony
• Publisher: Desiring God
• Publication Date: 2015
• ISBN: 9780991277650

About Tony Reinke

Tony Reinke is a nonprofit journalist and serves as senior teacher and host of the Ask Pastor John podcast for desiringGod.org. He is the author of Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books; 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You; and God, Technology, and the Christian Life.