Author: Rich Gorecki

This week’s lessons from The MANual, my NIV Bible for Men, continue with another of the books of Poetry: Ecclesiastes. My prior posts on the book of Job, the 150 Psalms (an Introduction, Books 1 & 2, and Books 3, 4 & 5), and last week’s on The Proverbs, now lead us to lessons from King Solomon.  About Ecclesiastes The wisdom of Ecclesiastes comes from someone identified as “Qoheleth.” It’s not certain whether this is sort of a pseudonym or the title of an office but the related verb seems to suggest “convener” or “assembler.” Some English translations use “Teacher” or “Preacher.” Chapter 1 in the NIV begins with “The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (verse 1) which implied Solomon as the author. In fact, Ecclesiastes 12:9 specifically says that the Teacher was “wise” and “set in order many proverbs.” Ecclesiastes was probably written

My year-long journey through The MANual, my NIV Bible for Men, continues in the section called the Books of Poetry. I started with a post with lessons from Job. Next, I covered the books of Psalms in three posts: an Introduction to the Psalms, and two with lessons from Books 1 & 2, and Books 3, 4 & 5. I now move to Proverbs, which include the teachings of the wisest man who ever lived: King Solomon. About The Proverbs  By definition, a proverb is a short, concise sentence that conveys moral truth. It comes from a Hebrew word that means “to rule or to govern.” The book of Proverbs is a collection of wise statements to teach people how to attain wisdom, discipline, and a prudent life. It covers a wide range of topics, including youth and discipline, family life, self-control & resisting temptations, business matters, words of the tongue,

This post in my year-long series with lessons from my NIV Bible for Men called The MANual finishes the book of Psalms. My first post with the Introduction to the Psalms indicated there are five collections of songs and prayers that form 150 chapters. I covered the first 72 in my post on lessons from books 1 & 2 so this post on the last 3 books will cover the remainder of the 150 chapters.  Even More about The Psalms  As I previously explained, the collections of Psalms parallel the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Each book collection concludes with a doxology that signifies the completion of the book with Psalm 150 serving as the final doxology for all the Psalms.  Psalms are found in the very center of the Christian Bible so Psalm 118:8-9, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than