Gary Thomas - Pure Pleasure: Why Do Christians Feel So Bad about Feeling Good?

Praise for

PURE PLEASURE

Gary Thomas writes for all of us who sometimes feel guilty about the good things God does for us. In Pure Pleasure, Gary helps us understand that the abundant life Jesus promises in John 10:10 is a better life than we could ever have imagined. And here is the good news: It is not life after death, but life after birth!

DR. DAVID JEREMIAH, senior pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church, El Cajon, California

If Gary Thomas writes a book, you need to read it. Its as simple as that. He has amazing insights into spiritual truths and is able to make those truths graspable for all audiences. In Pure Pleasure, Gary reminds us it is okay for Christians to feel good even have fun! A refreshing message at the right time for contemporary believers. You are going to enjoy this book.

DR. ED YOUNG, senior pastor, Second Baptist Church, Houston, Texas

A theology of pleasure! What a great idea! And what a pleasure to read. With all the verve and intelligence weve come to associate with his entire body of work, Gary Thomas has taken to heart Jeremy Taylors warning that God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy. We all need this book both the pleasure challenged and the pleasure prone, those who get it wrong and those who dont get it at all. Joy is, after all, as C. S. Lewis put it, the serious business of heaven.

BEN PATTERSON, campus pastor, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California

Garys book is unlike anything I have ever read. He has stumbled on a hidden treasure of truth that will no doubt set many Christians free to experience Gods richest blessings. Like Sacred Marriage, Pure Pleasure is a groundbreaking book that I would recommend to any Christian who desires to know more fully the heart of God.

DR. JULI SLATTERY, family psychologist, Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, Colorado

As Gary Thomas so aptly demonstrates, pure pleasure is not a biblical oxymoron but rather a key characteristic of the God-honoring, soul-satisfying life. Warning of the dangers of both fleshly indulgence and an equally fleshly asceticism, Thomas guides our pursuit of holy delight by showing us how to embrace it in its fullness and maintain its connection to the pleasures in which God himself delights.

RANDAL ROBERTS, president and professor of spiritual formation, Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon

Pure Pleasure will help you embrace and experience God, fullness of joy in his presence, and eternal pleasures at his right hand. I highly recommend it as essential reading for building a life of true pleasure and joy from a biblical perspective.

SIANG-YANG TAN, PhD, professor of psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California

This attention-keeping book will challenge, liberate, and inspire readers to worship God for every way he intended his children to celebrate his gifts of marriage, sex, family, money, time, laughter, joy, and exercise. Gary does a fantastic job of biblically balancing warnings against unhealthy pleasures with practical solutions for retaining the healthy ones.

MILES MCPHERSON, senior pastor, Rock Church, San Diego, California

Books by Gary Thomas

Authentic Faith

Cherish

Devotions for a Sacred Marriage

Devotions for Sacred Parenting

Every Body Matters

The Glorious Pursuit

Holy Available

(Previously titled The Beautiful Fight)

Loving Him Well

(Previously titled Sacred Influence)

Pure Pleasure

Sacred Marriage

Sacred Parenting

Sacred Pathways

Seeking the Face of God

When to Walk Away

ZONDERVAN

Pure Pleasure

Copyright 2009 by Gary Thomas

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ISBN 978-0-310-77336-8 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-56371-6 (ebook)

Epub Edition January 2021 9780310563716

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thomas, Gary (Gary Lee)

Pure pleasure : why do Christians feel so bad about feeling good? / Gary Thomas.

p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-310-29080-3 (softcover)

1. Pleasure Religious aspects Christianity. I. Title.

BV4597.59T462009

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version). Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright 1952 [2nd edition 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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To my parents, E.J. and Geneva Thomas

I was blessed to be raised by a mother

unusually sensitive to the Spirits leading

and by a father who, well, put it this way:

If I ever attain half the character he has, my children will,

in the words of Scripture, arise and call me blessed.

I have received more honors and accolades

in this world than I deserve,

but none as rich as being known as your son.

The way to be truly happy is to be truly human, and the way to be truly human is to be truly godly.