Books - be generous with them

Books play an important part in our family's life.  You will find books in almost every room in our house. Our books not only have stories and conversations within them but also wrapped around them. I look at certain books and remember the places I have taken them, people who have borrowed them and those who have received some as gifts.

Recently God has given us several ministry opportunities through the books we own. I hope this little post encourages others to see their books not just as learning tools but also as ministry opportunities.

Book #1 - Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

Brandon has had the opportunity to hand a couple of these out to workmates recently. He decided that he and the group at work who get together for lunchtime religious/Christian discussions should read the book.

For Christmas this year, Brandon decided to give everyone in his group the book.

Pray that those receiving this gift would read it and be challenged by its content. Pray also that if they don't read it that the book wanders into the hands of someone who will.









Book #2 - The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller

As you can see from the dust jacket this book has been handled well. Brandon and I have both read this and would have to say it is one of the best books on marriage that we have ever read. One tip...read the footnotes! Timothy Keller's footnotes help to dig deeper and give you even more to chew on.

We recently lent this book to a Christian friend who is still single. He was encouraged by the book and found it useful. Lord willing in the next year we might start a Bible study around this book and the study guide that the Head, heart and Hands blog offers.









Book #3 - The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

I always carry a book in my purse/bag. One valuable lesson my dad taught me early on in life was that you should never leave home without a book. It doesn't matter how long you think you will be gone or what you might be doing. Always come prepared, bring a book.

A few Saturdays ago I had the privilege of hearing another sister-in-Christ's life journey. During her testimony this book came to mind and how it might be encouraging for her to read. Providentially the book was in my bag - thanks Dad. I was a bit hesitant to hand it over as I was only half-way through. The prompting from the Holy Spirit won out and I passed it on to the new owner.  I figured I could buy another one in a few weeks.

Little did I know, that the book our church would purchase for every family this Christmas was this very book! I read the last half of the book today for my Sunday reading.

Book #4 - Handmade books by our girls for two deaf Sri Lankan girls

Through a workmate of Brandon's God has provided us with a ministry of mercy. This workmate is Sri Lankan and while back home met two families who have deaf daughters. The girls need hearing aids but these devices cost the amount of a year's salary for both families.  Dan, the workmate, asked Brandon if our church helped with this sort of need. Through our church family, other workmates and family we have been able to raise enough money to buy both girls hearing aids as well as a little extra.

As a family we decided to send these homemade books along to tell the story of Jesus and Jarius' daughter. See Luke chapter 8. Brandon's workmate has graciously said that he will translate the stories found within these humble books into Sinhala, their native language. We also included notes sharing with the families how Jesus' ultimate mission was to come and clean/fix our dirty/broken hearts. Below is the entire message we added to the back of the books. Please pray for these families. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts. Pray that God would bring Christian Sri Lankans into their lives.

We are so glad that Dan told us of your need for hearing aids. People from America and Australia all wanted to help and gave generously. All of us gave a little and it added up to a lot. Some people who gave are Christians, who worship Jesus. Christians are happy to give because Jesus gave so much to us. Christians believe that God came to earth as a man and lived with the very poor and helped those who were sick. But that wasn’t his ultimate mission. His mission was to fix broken hearts. 

All of our hearts are broken from birth and don’t work right. We sometimes lie, cheat, steal, hurt others and much more. These actions make our hearts dirty before God. Dirty hearts make it impossible to have God as our Father, as he wants to be. The only way for this to happen was for Jesus to die for us, punished in our place. Then we could have God as our Father forever. Jesus didn’t stay dead, because he was God, death had no power and he came to life after three days. If we believe this and worship Jesus, who is now with God in heaven, we can have God as our Father forever, our dirty hearts are taken and he gives us a new heart, and we can have hope that we live forever with him after we die 

This is what Christians believe. This is why we like to give and help others; because our God loves and gives to us. He even gave himself.

Pray and look forward to the opportunities that God may give you through your books. And be generous with them!

Future ministry opportunities? First on the left for sure.