Wise Up!, Paperback/Alyce M. McKenzie
Descriere
Description Wise Up invites the reader to step up to the divine customer service desk and exchange self-sufficiency, self-absorption, self-indulgence, and self-protection for the four virtues of biblical wisdom: the fear of the Lord (faith), the listening heart (compassion), the cool spirit (self-discipline), and the subversive voice (moral courage). An invaluable resource for personal devotion, small group study, and sermon series, Wise Up is a spiritual manual for navigating the twists and turns of an unpredictable life. The author mines the riches of the Bible's wisdom literature from Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the short sayings of the synoptic Jesus. The result is four guiding virtues that can keep our feet from stumbling on the journey to wisdom through the thorniest of paths. Mc Kenzie, the author of several popular books for both clergy and laity, places her profound knowledge of biblical wisdom in conversation with the absurdities, pains, and joys of our everyday lives. She invites wisdom down from the pedestal to accompany the reader on his or her daily rounds. Reading this book, at the same time, soothes the soul and troubles the conscience. It deepens faith, fires compassion, cools destructive desires, and nudges the sleeping conscience awake. "Dr. Mc Kenzie has given us a powerful reading of wisdom literature. Rich in resources for reaching a twenty-first-century audience, she invites us to return our bad purchases--self-sufficiency, self-absorption, self-indulgence, and self-protection--and exchange them for faith, compassion, self-discipline, and outspoken courage. The ideas of this book will preach." --Scott Jones, Bishop of the Texas Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church, author of The Wesleyan Way: A Faith that Matters "Wise Up is a gold mine of compelling stories, accessible exegesis, and insights from practical theology. Alyce Mc Kenzie shows us just what we need: a renewed awe before the Holy, a listening heart, spiritual discipline