Want to learn more about Proverbs? Use these Bible Studies for personal devotion, group Bible studies, or teaching a church class. Below are links to the lessons in this 13-part series.
Introduction: Would you like to be smarter? Would you like to know exactly the right thing to say in difficult situations? In the employment related courses that I teach in law school, I include a "mini-course" on Bible-based emotional intelligence. Emotional i...
Introduction: One tip I share with young pastors is that sermons need to be filled with stories. This may seem illogical. If you have 20-30 minutes for a sermon, you need to pack in as much "meat" as possible, and avoid the fluff, right? Wrong! I recall one pre...
Introduction: This morning I was reading an article about an atheists' rally. At the rally, they were making fun of Jesus and comparing the atheist rights movement with the homosexual rights movement. The writer of the article pointed out that homosexual rallie...
Introduction: Does truth vary for each person? Someone recently wrote to me "there are many paths in life," to which I responded, "but only one leads to the right destination." Lawyers understand this intuitively. The "rule of law" means that you have only one...
Introduction: Do you know someone whose life is out of control? To be truthful, does your life seem to be on the edge of losing control sometimes? We could all use a little help. Normally, we pray that God will help us with our problems. But, did you ever consi...
Introduction: Computers interested me from the time they were available to the public. I recall purchasing a Timex Sinclair which had 2K of memory. After I bought it, I decided that its best use was as a door stop. (It had sort of a wedge shape.) Early on, I had...
Introduction: There are many reasons that the Internet is wonderful. One is that it makes it easy to be in contact with many friends and acquaintances. With greater contact, however, comes the serious problem of the lack of civility. People feel free to say nega...
Introduction: "Miscellaneous maxims" is how one Bible commentator referred to a portion of our study this week. That brought a grin to my face, because our readings in Proverbs this week seem disjointed and repetitious. Repetitious is good - at least for me. I n...
Introduction: Do you want to know the truth? Sometimes fooling ourselves seems more pleasant, but generally we want the truth. The Bible tells us that we can be fooled by what others say. But, if we learn to view the situation through the eyes of wisdom, we woul...
Introduction: This week I read a saying that goes something like this: "A person with a difficult past gives good advice." The proverbs we have studied so far suggest that those who have been wise in the past are the best source of wisdom. But, this saying high...
Introduction: Two topics we discuss this week are the law and transparency. You might guess this means, "Those who live behind glass windows should not throw stones." But, you would be wrong. Instead, "transparency," means letting people see all of what you do....
Introduction: The Proverbs repeatedly tell us that wisdom brings wealth and happiness, while being a fool or lazy brings poverty and grief. When people are doing very well in life, are they generally humble? My observation is that they are not humble, and for a...
Introduction: "Women and Wine" sounds like a song, right? Women, thinking this might not be heading in a direction that will put them in a good light, are asking, "Why not Men and Beer?" The Proverbs have given us positive advice to improve our lives and this,...
