Donna Gaines challenges women to pursue Biblical literacy
Choose
Wisely, Live Fully points to
Proverbs 1–9 for wisdom and truth
Fortune, fame and power mean nothing without Godly
wisdom. King Solomon learned this in his day, and it is a truth that stands
today. Author Donna Gaines’ new
book, Choose Wisely, Live Fully: Lessons from Wisdom & Folly, the Two
Women of Proverbs (Abingdon Press/August 15, 2017),
draws from the timeless wisdom of Proverbs 1–9 to help women apply the same
principles in practical ways to the issues they face today.
Gaines harnesses her two passions,
discipleship and literacy, to challenge women of all ages to become biblically
literate. “God has not changed,” Gaines writes. “So why do we keep repeating
the same behaviors even though we can see no one has been able to sidestep
God’s laws or the consequences of breaking them? I am convinced the answer to
that question is this: Most of us honestly don’t know what God has said in the
first place. . . . Biblical illiteracy is rampant.”
The statistics support Gaines’ position. According
to Lifeway Research findings, 20% of churchgoers reveal they never read the
Bible (and the same percentage claim to read it daily), which leaves 80% who
have, at best, a marginal understanding of its teachings. That deficiency makes
us vulnerable to propaganda, political slant and other influences that do not
represent biblical truth.
Choose
Wisely, Live Fully responds to this need for biblical literacy
by looking intently at the lives of Wisdom and Folly, the two women described
in Proverbs 1–9, and their contrasting worldviews. By unpacking the topics
covered in these early chapters of Proverbs — truth, wisdom, folly, courage and
beauty, to name a few — Gaines seeks to awaken a perpetual hunger for firsthand
biblical truth instead of relying on someone else’s interpretation of it.
Most importantly, Choose Wisely, Live Fully helps readers quickly identify that only
God’s Word is the food that satisfies this hunger for truth and reminds us a
daily portion is required to be nourished and equipped with a biblical
worldview. Written with a built-in study guide, the book includes thought-provoking
questions and exercises that may be used for personal study, small-group study
or mentoring study.
Gaines examines the blessings and curses
associated with the choices made by the two women in Proverbs and equips
readers to:
- discern the voice of God and follow His clear path between Wisdom and Folly.
- experience the joy of wholehearted obedience.
- let God help them mentor the lives of those around them in remarkable ways.
- understand what it means to be a godly woman, wife and mother.
- view mistakes as opportunities for growth.
A free downloadable resource on how to offer
a mentoring program to help other women in their walk of faith is available at www.abingdonpress.com/donnagaines.
About
the author
Donna Gaines is a speaker and author of Choose Wisely, Live Fully, Seated: Living
from Our Position in Christ and
Leaving Ordinary: Encounter God Through Extraordinary Prayer.
Gaines is the founder of Arise2Read, a nonprofit organization
that recruits churches to adopt and provide tutors for inner-city elementary
schools. She also teaches Bible study at her home church, Memphis-area Bellevue
Baptist Church, in which her husband, Steve Gaines, Southern Baptist Convention
President, pastors.
She is the mother of four and “Nonna” to ten
grandchildren.
Learn more at www.donnagaines.org and follow her on Twitter (@donnadgaines).
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