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Book Review: The Little Red Book Of Wisdom by Mark DeMoss

The Little Red Book Of WisdomI finished reading Mark DeMoss’ book The Little Red Book Of Wisdom this afternoon.

I have to be honest; I really didn’t expect to enjoy this book. My initial impression was that it would be too much like all the Life’s Little Instruction Books: cheesy and trite.

But upon digging into this book, I was really surprised.

DeMoss has written 23 chapters that are full of sage wisdom for all areas of life. Many of his kernels of wisdom find their basis in the book of Proverbs, and as such, convey a lot of truth in a few short pages.

Divided into two parts, The Little Red Book Of Wisdom shares wise advise for both your professional life.

Addressing such topics as keeping your focus, honesty, integrity and communication, the section on the professional life was excellent.

But the second section, dealing with the personal life, was simply astounding! This section hits such topics as perspective, priorities, how to listen, and wise advise about drinking.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Little Red Book Of Wisdom, and suspect it will become one of those resources I turn to again and again for input into my life, and as a resource within my youth ministry.

I highly recommend that you read The Little Red Book Of Wisdom. You’ll be glad you did.

If you are interested in reading The Little Red Book Of Wisdom, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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How an iPad 2 Is Helping Me Become More Environmentally Friendly

I bought an iPad 2 last week.

On hearing this, a friend of mine commented that I have finally, fully converted to “the dark side.”

Not too long ago, I purchased a MacBook Air on Quibids. I use it almost exclusively for writing. About a month ago, I added the iPhone to my list of Apple products.

And now… the iPad.

iPad 2 in White

I bought it to teach from.

I didn’t get all the extra features, like the WiFi/3G, or the 64 gigabytes of memory. I really don’t need those features for what I want to do with it.

I’ve recently begun to change the way I store things. I’ve started using EverNote for a lot of my file storage, and bought a ScanSnap Scanner so that I could transfer documents from my filing cabinets to a digital format. Almost all of my bills and statements come in digital format now, as well.

I’m well on my way to consuming a lot less paper than I have in the past.

The next step was to look at my teaching habits.

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Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 23

This week’s passage completes the teaching on giving that began with the start of Matthew 6.

Jesus teaches here that our giving should be done solely from the motivation of being for God; not so that others will see and congratulate us.

This week’s passage is found in Matthew 6:3-4.

Matthew 6:3-4

Giving is an affair that is between you and God alone.  That helps us keep our motives pure.

Do you struggle with letting one hand know what the other is doing? Let me know in the comments.


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9 Things You Can Do To Eliminate Stress

I’ve had one of the busiest summers I’ve ever had.

I’ve been to three weeks of summer church camp, traveled to west Texas for a wedding, experienced the deaths and funerals of both my father and my step-father, and still have a mission trip to Arizona next week.

To put it bluntly, my summer has been pretty stressful.

Frayed Rope

As a result, I’m exhausted, irritable, and overwhelmed. I’ve started clenching my mouth and jaw when I sleep and have developed several stress-related canker sores. Not to mention headaches.

I’m ready for a break.

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Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 22

Matthew 6 starts out with a few verses on the practical aspects of giving.

While the specific context here is giving, the hypocritical nature being warned agains here really applies to every area of life.

The text is from Matthew 6:1-2.

Matthew 6:1-2

Jesus is encouraging us to keep the proper motivation in our giving.

I don’t know about you, but I find that this can be difficult to do, especially in our culture today.

How do you guard against displaying your ‘acts of righteousness’? Let me know in the comments.

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11 Things I Love About Field Notes Brand Journals

I’m a journal junkie. I will freely admit that.

I love a good journal. I find them and buy them, whether I actually need one right at the moment or not.

Field Notes Brand Journals

Not too long ago, I stumbled across Field Notes Brand journals. I’m not sure how I even found them. But I am glad I did!

I browsed their website and fell in love what what I saw. I purchased a few pocket-sized notebooks to get a feel for what they were like. But I knew… I was destined to connect with these little journals on a long-term basis.

Field Notes journals really only come in a couple of sizes: the 3.5×5.5, and the 6×9 Steno, which is spiral bound. The smaller ones caught my eye from the very beginning. I’ve always had a stash of Moleskines in this size around for notes and lists and such. So these were a natural selection for me.

When I received my initial order of six, I was astonished at the look and feel. My long-term love affair had begun.

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The iShine Bible: Totally for Tweens!

iShine BibleNot too long ago, I received a couple of copies of the iShine Bible, a Bible totally designed for tweens. I received both versions: guys and girls.

I was especially interested in looking this Bible over; my oldest daughter has entered Junior High. She’s in that stage where she’s trying hard to figure out just exactly who she is.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen her utilize this resource often, and as a result, she’s grown from her exposure to God’s Word.

According to their website, the iShine Bible helps tweens grow to understand their Value, Identity, and Purpose. The iShine Bible will help tweens to see how they are valued by God, how their identity is found in Jesus, and the purpose that they have because of this.

Filled with extra resources, web links, and QR codes that they can scan, these Bibles are a great tool that can help tweens find their place.

Here are a few aspects of the iShine Bible that I really like:

  • Pocket-sized. It’s easy to carry around, or to stick in a pocket or purse.
  • Trendy. With three cool-looking, information-packed sub-sections dealing with Value, Identity, and Purpose, it’s very current.
  • Stylish. The iShine Bible is a great looking Bible. The guys’ version is a slate blue with a guitarist graphic. The girls’ version is pink with stars on it.
  • Durable. Both of the copies I have seem to be tough enough to withstand a tween’s use.
  • Resourceful. There are a lot of extra tools and helps included.
  • Easy to understand. The copies I received are in the New Living Translation. While not my favorite translation, they are extremely easy for young people to grasp and understand.

My daughter loves her iShine Bible. I do too.

If you are interested in the iShine Bible, you can purchase either the girls version or the guys version at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“