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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 5, NUMBER 26, JULY 3, 2005 BRING THE BOOKS In the last chapter of the second letter to Timothy, Paul began to make some personal comments and requests. In v. 13, he wrote, “The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.” Obviously Paul desired to have certain manuscripts with him during his imprisonment as well as additional material for reading and writing. At the close of his letter to the Colossians, in 4:16, Paul wrote, “And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea .” As John was bringing his gospel to a close, he told us of his purpose for writing in John 20:30-31. He wrote, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” In Revelation 1, when John was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” he heard the voice of the Lord saying, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia…” All of these passage, along with many others, help us to understand and appreciate the importance of the written word in the spread of Christianity. It was the method chosen by God for the preservation of His word and enables the Word to go even if a man is not able to personally accompany it. What a blessed privilege it is to be able to hold the written Word of God in our hands and to be able to read the very words that our Creator wants us to know. While only the scriptures are infallible, we must recognize that others can help us in our understanding of what God’s Word says. Remember when Ezra read the Law in the days of Nehemiah, when the Levites, “caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book of the Law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:7-8). When Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch if he understood what he was reading, the eunuch responded with, “How can I, except some man should guide me?” (Acts 8:31). Here at Northern Kentucky we are blessed with one of the most complete congregational libraries that I have ever seen or heard of. The church was able to acquire practically the entire library of Brother J.F. Dancer – somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200 volumes. In addition to multiple translations of the scriptures themselves, we have hundreds of additional books designed to facilitate Bible study and to enhance our understanding of God’s Word. The library is an invaluable tool for Bible class teachers and a marvelous aid to each one of us in our personal Bible study. Do you want to know what a particular word means? The Bible dictionaries, lexicons, and encyclopedias are there for your use. Do you want to know what a particular passage teaches? Some of the greatest Bible scholarship of all time can be found in our library, and you can read what numerous writers have said about the passage you are studying. Is there a special Bible subject that you would like to know more about? All the tools you need for additional study are here. Would you like to read about the history of the Lord’s church? The library contains a number of histories. Do you enjoy reading about individuals who devoted their lives to the service of the Lord? Our library contains a host of biographies that are inspiring and informative. One thing we all must remember is that the library was a “preacher’s library,” meaning it contains works of all sorts, including a lot of false teaching for the purpose of studying and equipping one’s self to defend the truth and refute error. You must be very careful when using it. In many ways it is like the Internet. You cannot just go to the Internet and search a Bible subject – take whatever is found there to be the truth, and use it in Bible class or sermons or whatever. Most of what is found there is just not true. Our library will be an invaluable tool, but one that must be used with extreme care. It is not yet quite ready for general use by the congregation. We are still in the organization phrase with cataloguing and the devising of a system to keep track of everything yet to be done, but we are close. There will be a desk and a computer in the library when it is all done for use in private study. Take advantage of a wonderful blessing. Greg Litmer I DON’T KNOW WHY I don’t know why terrible things happen to people. I don’t know why some folks seem to be burdened almost beyond endurance. But I know that Mike and Betty Patrick need us now. With bad comes good, if we just look for it. We have an opportunity to serve out of love, to embrace, lift up, and be whatever they need. Who knows what might ultimately happen if we all just do our part?
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