(Update: the video is up!)
Sam Storms has delivered his second message, "Biblical and Theological Foundations for Christian Hedonism: Seven Theses," and both the audio and notes are now available.
One question he asks is, "Why devote a conference uniquely to joy?" He gives four reasons:
- Joy requires the engagement of the whole soul, unlike any other expression of the human heart. There are things I understand with my mind that I don't enjoy. There are decisions I make with my will that I don't enjoy. When I genuinely enjoy something my mind is engaged and my will is active, requiring the conscious engagement of my whole being.
- There's no such thing as hypocritical or insincere joy. You can pretend to have joy but you can't have fake joy. There's something pure and serene about joy that you can't have about any other affection.
- There's a power in joy that isn't true in other affections. Consider the many occasions that the Bible combines a description of suffering with joy. We know those circumstances refine us, but joy in God also empowers us to persevere amidst pain. That's why Jesus said in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are you when you are persecuted for my sake. Rejoice and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great."
- Joy most clearly reveals what the human heart values. There's something about joy that magnifies God (not inflates or enlarges him) more than anything else.