Breaking the Idols of Your Heart

by Allender, Dan B., Pllc

• ISBN13: 9780830834419
• ISBN10: 0830834419
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-07-30
• Publisher: Ivp Books

Summary

We all want to know our lives matter.So did the Teacher in Ecclesiastes. He invested time and energy in every activity he could think of that might bring meaning and purpose to his life but found only disappointment, frustration, hopelessness.In our thirst for significance we, like the Teacher, give our lives--our time, talents, strength, heart--to anything we think will give us worth and purpose: Power. Relationships. Money. Pleasure. Work. But worshiping these idols has a high cost--and still doesn't bring the fulfillment we long for.InBreaking the Idols of Your HeartDan Allender and Tremper Longman illuminate for us the Teacher's warnings and, after all his activities, his final radiant conclusion: Meaning and purpose come only when God is truly the center of our life and the object of our hope. Using a compelling fictional narrative at the start of each chapter to encourage reflection on our own life and the lives of family and friends, the authors lead us through Ecclesiastes to help us recognize and exchange cheap pursuits for the only One worth pursuing.Ecclesiastes is not an easy book to read, because transferring our worship from money, power and fame to God is not an easy road to travel. But as the Teacher discovered and wrote down for us, it leads to one conclusion: life lived abundantly, in freedom, hope, purpose, meaning.

Author Biography

Dan B. Allender is a professor of counseling and president of Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, Washington Tremper Longman III is a professor of biblical studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 9
Introduction: Searching for Meaning	p. 11
Chasing After Power: "I Can Control My World"	p. 19
Chasing After Relationships: "Relationships Bring Me Fulfillment"	p. 41
Chasing After Work and Money: "Money Brings Me Freedom"	p. 63
Chasing After Pleasure: "Pleasure Will Satisfy Me"	p. 88
Chasing After Wisdom: "Knowledge Will Put Me on Top"	p. 113
Chasing After Spirituality: "My Spiritual Life Will Save Me"	p. 137
Chasing After Immortality: "I Will Have a Long Life If I Take Care of My Body"	p. 159
Conclusion: Finding Abundant Life	p. 183
Notes	p. 190
About the Authors	p. 191
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