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61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Understanding Idolatry and Developing True Love for God, July 7, 2004
This review is from: Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone (Paperback)
Our women's group embarked on the "Idols of the Heart" study about a year ago. We found within the pages the words of a woman who struggled with the same things we all did. One who was transparent, and who told us there was no reason for us to dwell in the temple of self any longer. I encourage anyone who picks up this book to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the study, and not merely read the chapters and plug in answers to the questions.(which would be difficult to do the way Mrs. Fitzpatrick designed the study) Where the author refers to the people mentioned in the Bible, find out all you can about their lives, what their idolatry was about, and how it relates to your own life. One thing we all learned was that we can never "lay our weapons down" we must always be on guard because as John Calvin said our hearts are perpetual idol factories. Mrs. Fitzpatrick shows us the two prong attack the enemy of our souls uses to prod us along the path of idolatry, and gives us the tools we need to bend those prongs back so that when the prong is jabbed towards us it has no sharp edges. Self-examination is crucial, we must be willing to look at our lives honestly and to lay aside all those things that come before God. There is victory, peace and hope when we do. While our hearts will continually try (notice I said TRY) to resurrect those shatterd idols from the broken shards, or create new idols to replace those that were destroyed; WE MUST bind ourselves to the throne of grace in humility and cling ever tighter to the mercies of God recognizing His unchanging nature, and finally acknowledging our own inability to do or be anything without Him.
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44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What (or who) must you have to be happy?, June 3, 2004
This review is from: Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone (Paperback)
This book shows you why answering that question will reveal the true object of your trust, your hope, your worship. If the answer is anything but the God of the Bible, then you have named the idol of your heart (more likely idolS, if you're honest). The lie of the enemy is that we need something other than God for our happiness. Overcoming this lie with the Truth that ALL of our happiness rests in the Lord of Life is the essence of sanctification. Elyse Fitzpatrick does a great job of explaining these truths. I found her thoughtful questions at the end of each chapter very helpful in applying this crucial material. Why crucial? Because learning to love and enjoy Jesus Christ above all else is training for heaven, the place where we will spend eternity perfectly happy. The reason we will be perfectly happy is because we will finally know that our happiness is in Jesus alone. Heaven is not joy apart from Christ, but perfect joy in Christ, "I say the joys of heaven are not the joys of heaven without Christ; he is the very heaven of heaven." (Richard Sibbes) The quicker we crush the idols of our hearts, the quicker we will experience a measure of the Joy of heaven.
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Theology of Sanctification, June 24, 2006
This review is from: Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone (Paperback)
Elyse Fitzpatrick has written one of the most helpful books in recent years on practical sanctification. In the tradition of the Puritans, "Idols of the Heart" exposes the true nature of the battle for our desires.
Often a book like this can come across as either heavy (too deep to be practical) or hard (so attacking that people are turned off). Fitzpatrick skillfully avoids both extremes. Her writing is relevent and her focus is positive, even when discussing the negatives of sins of the heart.
Her explanation of desires, idols, and heart sins is thoroughly biblical. She also provides the biblical counseling process for helping oneself or others to put off sin and to put on righteousness. Highly recommended!
Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."
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