Breaking the Idols of Your Heart: How to Navigate the Temptations of Life

by Dan B. Allender, Tremper Longman III

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 Power. Relationships. Money. Pleasure. Work. But worshiping these idols has a high cost--and still doesn't bring the fulfillment we long for. In Breaking the Idols of Your Heart Dan Allender and Tremper Longman illuminate for us the Teacher's warnings and, after all his activities, his final radiant 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 life lived abundantly, in freedom, hope, purpose, meaning.

Genres: Christian Living, Discipleship, Nonfiction, Counselling, Christian

191 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2007

About the author

Dan B. Allender, Ph.D, is a fly fisherman who also serves as president and professor of counseling at Mars Hill Graduate School near Seattle, Washington. He is a therapist in private practice, and a frequent speaker and seminar leader. Dan received his M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Michigan State University. He is the author of To Be Told: Know Your Story / Shape Your Future, How Children Raise Parents, and The Healing Path, as well as The Wounded Heart, Bold Love, and Intimate Allies. He and his wife, Rebecca, are the parents of three children.

Reviews

[David]

Reread this one again and it's great. It is a book deeply rooted in Ecclesiastes but is not exactly a Bible study nor a commentary. The book is separated into two parts a story and the content of the book. Each chapter begins with the story of Noah, his wife Joan, and their Bible study in Ecclesiastes. I don't normally like this kind of thing in my books, but I was particular grabbed by this story. I think it works and served the book well.

The book itself interprets Ecclesiastes according to the idols that it destroys. Each chapter is focused on a different idol like control, pleasure, money, etc. If you want a book on idolatry or something relatively easy on Ecclesiastes, then this is a good place to start.

[Kim]

awesome book!! But I think anything written by Dan Allender is great. He has such great insight.

[Mark Lassiter]

Idols aren't things, they're misplaced ideas we trust instead of God...

In his letter to the church in Rome the Apostle Paul writes "Don't be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Contemporary Christian's often console themselves with the notion that they don't struggle with idolatry because they have no physical trinkets, voodoo dolls or action figure type objects that are the subject of their veneration or superstitious consolation. But in this book Allender and Longman expose the truth that idolatry is not about personal property so much as it is personal beliefs that we can find our true identity or meaning apart from our Creator. A helpful read on an often neglected topic of particular importance to mid-life Jesus followers.

[Kerry Janse]

I enjoyed the format of this book, making practical and identifiable the theory that was being explained. The challenge to completely hand over and truly surrender to Christ is revealed in the ways we do not this. We are shown how we set up idols of control and religion, amongst others, in our lives and how these keep us from the very fulfillment for which we were created.

[Sean McGowan]

Very helpful book. Used this book in teaching Wednesday night youth.

[Eric]

Interesting story line that explores and examines who is in 'control' of life events and one's personal beliefs and faith. One may find it 'dry' to read at times, yet I came away with an appreciation of how events unfold and potential lessons learned. Page 149 covers "Religious Legalism" and the last paragraph was an 'ending' in and of itself to read countless times regardless of one's adherence to a supreme being or not.

[Samuel]

Does this or that matter to me ? Do i matter to ppl ? These are just some of the Qs that one can develop as you read and understand wat exactly are u chasing after as well as wat level of faith do you think u r relying on and whether is it correct or not. A gd combination of a story and scriptures to pt out things which one might not really notice hard enough.

[Zack]

Great book. Very accessible, and I may use it for a group study at some point. The fictional narrative sections alternate from natural to forced, and back again. The allegorical elements aren't the problem, however. Also, there are more than this book's fair share of typographical errors, which is certainly more the publisher's fault than the author's fault.

[Karen]

Wow - used as part of a small group bible study - excellent view of an "above the sun" God's world vs. a "below the sun" Satan's world and how the early idols of our hearts keep us from God, and how God is fighting for us to know him on a deeper level. Excellent study of the book of Ecclesiastes.

[Reeves]

So far...loving it! It is a fiction/non-fiction mix. It is very engaging!

[Bob Flores]

Awesome book! I loved the format and the wisdom is timeless. What a way to present the wisdom in Ecclesiastes. I will be recommending this book.

[G Walker]

see notes from _Bold Purpose_

[Jt]

amazing

[Zachary Hanje]

Excellent book! The authors did a fantastic job at exposing modern-day idols and pointing to Christ. Found it deeply convicting and encouraging.

[Trisha]

challenging in a great way...

[Sharon]

Excellent book. Teaches you about the many idols we create in our hearts.

[Shaun Lee]

Having had a diet of 95% non-fiction books in the recent years, this book brought me back to good old days of my childhood - when I could not stop turning the pages of an enthralling story. Dan Allender captivated and held my imagination with his narrative of Noah and Joan, so much so that I found myself trying to read Longman's commentary as quickly as I could to find out how the story would unfold.

I am astounded as to how Allender masterfully penned the vividly relatable fictional story whilst constrained with so little word counts. The extended parable served as a wonderful companion for Longman to flesh out, elaborate and reflect on the themes of idols, cast against the backdrop of the book of Ecclesiastes.

In choosing not to get mired in the source criticism, authorship or expounding various scholarly contentious theological issues, Longman probably targets the lay reader. I'd suggest that the authors did a marvellous job at engaging this target audience. However, I wished that the book was written with less brevity and more attention was given to narrate through the reflection and application segments (the authors provided reflection questions at the end of each chapter, but I'd guess the majority of readers would not journey through the book together with others and received the benefit of helpful introspection, prayer and review).

While I have given this title 4 out of 5 stars, I'm thoroughly impressed with how well Allender and Longman have put their strengths together to come up with this gem. I think that I am most definitely going to read (and maybe review) their other titles in the near future, just to appreciate this interesting format they have written so very well with.

I received this book from IVP Academic for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.