Mark Atteberry - The SOLOMON SEDUCTION: What You Can Learn from the Wisest Fool in the Bible

PRAISE FOR THE SOLOMON SEDUCTION

The college and professional sports culture is very seductive on many levels. Mark offers a lot of practical, no-nonsense advice that will be a big help to athletes, but also anyone else trying to live a godly life. If you choose to dig into this book, make sure you have your highlighter ready!

DON DAVIS

TWO-TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION

DIRECTOR OF NFL PROGRAMS FOR PRO ATHLETES OUTREACH

The words explode off every page of Mark Atteberrys latest book, The Solomon Seduction. Get ready for a life-changing reading experience if your eyes are open, your mind is free and your heart is ready. This book is that impactful.

PAT WILLIAMS

ORLANDO MAGIC C-FOUNDER AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT

AUTHOR OF COACH WOODENS GREATEST SECRET

Mark has written another fantastic book. Ideal for sports teams, church mens groups, family men, or single guys, The Solomon Seduction speaks in a powerful way to the dangers we all face and the subtle, but deadly, power of seduction. I highly recommend it!

DOUG GOTCHER

FORMER NATIONAL CAMPUS DIRECTOR OF ATHLETES IN ACTION

CEO/PRESIDENT OF LEGACEE SYSTEMS

A must-read for all men in business and leadership positions.

PATRICK BET-DAVID

FOUNDER AND CEO, PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE

Our ministry works with hundreds of church leaders and weve seen far too many wise fools fall. I cannot wait to give this book to Christian leaders around the country to help them recognize and address the seductions employed against them.

DARREN KEY

CEO, CHRISTIAN FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Marks in depth character study of the life and many missteps of King Solomon is a powerful and much needed wakeup call for men. Through this book I have been reminded that the same old tricks the enemy used to trip up even the wisest of men in history are the ones he will use to make us fall today. These pages provide the practical steps we men can take to guard ourselves and keep our lives on the path to true wisdom.

MATTHEW WEST

CHRISTIAN RECORDING ARTIST

OTHER BOOKS BY MARK ATTEBERRY

The Samson Syndrome

The Climb of Your Life

The Caleb Quest

Walking with God on the Road You Never Wanted to Travel

The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do

Free Refill

So Much More than Sexy

Let It Go

Dream (fiction)

2014 by Mark Atteberry

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

Author is represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, www.alivecommunications.com.

Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013922617

ISBN: 9780849964909

ISBN: 9780849922985 (eBook)

Printed in the United States of America

14 15 16 17 18 19 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Lee Hough

CONTENTS

IN 2003, I WROTE A BOOK CALLED THE SAMSON SYNDROME. IT WAS based on the life of a guy who might well be wearing a pair of blue tights and a red cape if he were alive today. Samson was the closest thing to a real-life Superman the world has ever seen. And he, too, had his Kryptonite: the curve of a womans breast. Its what kept him in almost constant trouble, prevented him from fully accomplishing his God-given mission, and caused him to be humiliated at the end of his life.

In this book, Im swinging the spotlight around and shining it on Solomon, probably the only guy in the Bible who could give Samson a run for his money when it comes to embarrassing moments. But dont get the idea that they were peas in a pod. Unlike Samson, Solomon didnt bench-press camels to impress the ladies. Instead, his most distinguishing muscle was between his ears. He was so wise that people came from all over the world to pick his brain. If he were alive today, hed be writing self-help best sellers, taking questions from the audience on his own talk show, and giving motivational speeches to corporate conventions.

It seems impossible that the valedictorian of the entire human race would ruin his life by making dumb choices, but he did. In fact, I believe Solomons demise was even more tragic than Samsons because his gift of wisdom was far more advantageous to spirituality than Samsons gift of physical strength. Solomon himself affirmed this in Proverbs 24:5 when he wrote, The wise are mightier than the strong. Simply put, Solomon was better equipped to see through Satans deceptions than any man who has ever lived, other than Jesus. But in the end, he became just as blind to them as everyone else.

This, of course, is quite a tribute to Satans cleverness. If he were an author, his blockbuster best seller would be How I Made a Fool Out of the Wisest Man Who Ever Lived (And Why the Program Still Works).

And it does still work. Pay attention to the news and youll see that its not just the numbskulls who fall into Satans traps. Its also the best and brightest of Americas fathers, husbands, and sons. I never cease to be amazed at how many smart guys who love God end up being shamed and humiliated by Satans seductions. I bet you, too, could probably name four or five examples right off the top of your head.

Thats why I wrote this book.

If youre a smart guy, an accomplished guy, a guy to whom people look for inspiration, leadership, and advice, I want to show you how Satan was able to seduce someone even sharper than you and offer some practical suggestions for how you can avoid a similar fate.

As usual, I intend to do all of this with humor and grace, because I despise all things heavy-handed and judgmental. I hate to be browbeaten, and I refuse to do so to others. That said, dont think for a moment that Im going to play patty-cake with you. If youve read my other work, you know thats never the plan. This is far too serious a subject to take lightly. Every day, good men are waking up to the reality of life gone horribly wrong. Theyre finding themselves in circumstances they never envisioned, tangled up with people they never approved of, doing things they never imagined. Theyre seeing their reputations ruined, their loved ones devastated, their careers derailed, their futures clouded. And always, in the aftermath, with smoke rising from the rubble of their collapsed lives, theyre asking, What happened? How did I get here? My goal is to help keep you (and me) from ever coming to that awful moment of devastated bewilderment. The only way to do that is to be frank and honest.