Come Alive: Ecclesiastes: Conversations with Scripture
Kuhusu kitabu pepe hiki
What do you do when life hasn’t worked out like you thought it would?
Why do pleasure and privilege – the things we think should make us happy – so often come up empty?
Does life have meaning or is it a random accident, where contentment eludes us and we all meet the same fate?
Ecclesiastes is an unexpected piece of Scripture that asks these questions with beautiful, brutal honesty and gives us permission to wrestle with our own existence – without prescribing easy answers or requiring that we arrive at an “approved” conclusion.
Like a great song or piece of art, Ecclesiastes speaks to the range of human experience and emotion, reminds us we’re not alone, and proves that wisdom can be found even in the darkest of places.
Come Alive: Ecclesiastes will help you navigate this poetic, perplexing, and profound book so you can:
- See beyond your Western “how to” lens and approach Ecclesiastes like the work of art it is
- Stop asking, “What am I supposed to do?” and start asking, “How do I feel?” when reading Scripture
- Identify where Solomon’s musings reflect distorted thinking and where they reveal truth about God
- Experience God as caring and empathetic, even in our struggles
The fact that God inspired a book written in the middle of depression and despair reveals His great love for us: He is secure enough for our questions and compassionately meets us in our pain.
Ultimately, Ecclesiastes leaves us with hope that there is a purpose to every season, that life has meaning beyond our passions and attachments, and that everything is made beautiful in its time.
Kuhusu mwandishi
Talbot Davis was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. As a teenager, he was the two-time Texas state champion in tennis for boys’ 18-and-under. After graduating from high school in 1980, he attended Princeton University in Princeton, NJ, where he played varsity tennis for four years, served as team captain, and graduated with honors in English in 1984.
Talbot is a 1990 graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY. In 32 years of full-time United Methodist ministry in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference, he has served two appointments: Mt. Carmel-Midway (1990-1999) and Good Shepherd (1999-present). Since 1999, Good Shepherd’s average worship attendance has increased from 500 per Sunday to 2,000 per Sunday. The church is known for its modern style of worship, ethnic and racial diversity, and radical impact projects. Prior to the Come Alive series, Talbot published six works, all with Abingdon Press: Head Scratchers, The Storm Before The Calm, The Shadow Of A Doubt, Solve, Crash Test Dummies, and Simplify The Message; Multiply The Impact.
Talbot has been married to Julie since 1984 and they have two adult children.
