Happy Lies Book
In this groundbreaking book, popular apologist Melissa Dougherty helps us understand how our society got to be so toxically subjective, why endless positivity is inherently destructive, and how we can live with faithful truth and genuine love in these self-obsessed times.
Melissa Dougherty skillfully diagnoses the issue and provides the cure: the authentic and life-giving truth of the Christian worldview. - Wesley Huff
Have you ever wondered how we ended up in a world where personal feelings could become the authority for reality? Or why so many of us are on a relentless pursuit for happiness yet somehow feel more exhausted and sadder than ever? You're not alone.
Melissa deftly traces the roots of today's social chaos back to a little-known (but very influential) 1800s philosophy known as New Thought. A former follower of its teachings, Melissa provides clarity and compassion mixed with a dash of loving snark as she exposes New Thought's deceptions and its many concerning tendrils within the church and our "self-help" culture.
You'll be shocked, grieved, and encouraged as you learn:
- How you can experience true freedom, hope, and peace instead of the world's counterfeits
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- How an anti-God ideology so easily hijacked Christian-sounding ideas
- Why thinking positively is entirely different from the unbiblical and burdensome "positive thought" movement
- Why fake "authenticity" short-circuits real redemption
- How understanding the New Thought mindset can help us share our faith more effectively
Uncover a dangerous ideology that nearly everyone has met, yet few of us can name, in order to better understand our culture and joyfully live faithful to the gospel that is so much better than our world's Happy Lies.
- Published:
- January 28, 2025
- Book share status:
- In registry
- ISBN:
- 0310368863
- Publisher:
- Zondervan
- Narrated by:
- Melissa Dougherty
- Duration:
- 8:20:00 (HH:MM:SS)
Melissa Dougherty (Author)
About
Melissa Dougherty is a Christian Artist and Apologist best known for her YouTube channel as an ex new ager.
Melissa has two Associates degrees, one in Early Childhood Multicultural Education, the other in Liberal Arts, and a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies from Southern Evangelical Seminary. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Religious Studies as well. She resides with her husband of 14 years and two daughters in New Mexico where she pursues her online ministry and works as an artist.
Melissa was saved at 16 years old and her life dramatically changed as a result. However, one of the issues she ran into was that she had many questions about Christianity and the Bible and nobody around her could answer them for her. She didn't know it at the time, but she had a love for apologetics and a hunger for theology.
She struggled to find answers for years, and never found a solid foundation in the Bible. In this time, partly due to her biblical illiteracy, she adopted many new thought beliefs that she truly believed were Christian beliefs, especially since almost all the teachers she admired quoted the Bible and talked about Jesus. She believed in things like Christ Consciousness, the Law of Attraction, Pantheism, Channeling, Crystal energies, and more.
It wasn't until 2010, after she had her first child, when a very unexpected visit from two Jehovah's Witnesses caused her to research not only the Jehovah's Witness religion, but her own beliefs. It was during this time she discovered the terrible deception she'd been in. As a result, she pursued counter cult ministry to Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons and also taught Christians how to witness to them as well. Those tentative years and lessons she learned in that time were used greatly later on when she pursued online ministry as an ex new ager.
Melissa wants her content to reach a variety of people from the skeptic to the seasoned believer. Her focus is on reaching people through good theology, teaching about the new age and through her art, whether satire or painting. Her ministry revolves around loving God and loving people.
