Be Wise: God’s Way

A couple of years ago, I was putting together some material for a Bible class on the writings of Solomon. As the amount of material continued to grow, so did the idea of putting the material in book form.

One of our Bible classes studied the material and made some suggestions about how it could be improved. After several revisions, I showed the book to Riddle Creek Publishing. Now, after several more revisions, I am proud to say that Be Wise God’s Way is in print.

The book is designed to walk Junior and Senior High School students through the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. While there are hundreds of lessons to be learned from these two great books, Be Wise was designed to find those that would be most helpful for young people.

The 97-page book contains 13 chapters, making it useful for Bible school material. Each chapter title shows the emphasis that Solomon had on working. The chapters are:

• Chapter One: Wisdom Commences
• Chapter Two: Wisdom Acts
• Chapter Three: Wisdom Avoids Sexual Temptation
• Chapter Four: Wisdom Recognizes Right and Wrong
• Chapter Five: Wisdom Teaches about God
• Chapter Six: Wisdom Learns about Morals and Character
• Chapter Seven: Wisdom Avoids Evil
• Chapter Eight: Wisdom Keeps Integrity and a Good Name
• Chapter Nine: Wisdom Stays Active
• Chapter Ten: Wisdom Helps Human Relations
• Chapter Eleven: Wisdom Recognizes Wisdom in Others
• Chapter Twelve: Wisdom Sees the Danger of Materialism
• Chapter Thirteen: Wisdom Remembers What is Important

Questions are included at the end of each chapter to facilitate discussion in Bible classes. Also, each chapter contains a prayer to help the students make the lessons learned more personal.

It is also special that the book features two young people from 9th Avenue on the cover. Cheyenne Logan and Trent Williams agreed to pose in the Thinker position for the front cover. Also, four young people from 9th Avenue have short thoughts published in the book. Cristina Knight, Heather Fortenberry, Orry Moody and Rylan Terry all have short inserts that go along with some of the themes of the book.

For more information, or to place an order, contact Riddle Creek Publishing.

Book Review: "Seeking a Life That Counts"

G. Scott Gleaves has written a unique book in many ways. Seeking a Life That Counts: Finding True Happiness is a Bible class study book that covers the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.

If you are like most people, and you look at your bookshelves, you will not find many volumes that deal exclusively with Ecclesiastes. We often hear “fear God and keep His commandments…” from that Old Testament book, but, sadly, that is often about all.

There is far more material in Solomon’s sermon, and brother Gleaves brings us 13 lessons that are filled with information. If you teach a Bible class, you will find yourself having a great amount of trouble getting through all the information in just 13 Sundays.

If you preach, this book contains much good preaching material, including several good lists that would make excellent points to a sermon.

The book’s 128 pages help the reader see that Ecclesiastes is not always negative, as it is sometimes portrayed to be. Solomon’s sermon does contain many negative thoughts (“vanity of vanities…”), but many of those are meant to help his listener then see the positive side of life. In this way, Ecclesiastes is a well-crafted paradox that proves a divine point: “Fear God!”

Available from Yahoo! shopping for $8.99, this book will be a welcome addition to your library. The book is also available from Gospel Advocate (the publisher), but is not yet listed on the website.