Having a library
1.
OPAC stands for the Online Public Access Catalog in our
community libraries.
2.
Years ago libraries had what was called a “card
catalogue.”
3.
If someone wanted to find a book, they went to an area
where there were lots of little boxes.
4.
The boxes were in alphabetical order and patrons had to
find the right box.
5.
Then, they flipped through the cards to find the book
or subject they wanted.
6.
If there are any card catalogue systems left in the US,
they are just about an antique.
7.
We now have an Online Public Access Catalog.
8.
We can sit down at a computer terminal and type in what
interests us.
OUR
WORLD, AND THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR THE UNITED STATES, BELIEVES IN THE POWER
OF BOOKS. WE ESTEEM THEM SO HIGHLY WE
HAVE COME UP WITH NEW AND IMPROVED WAYS TO ACCESS THE MATERIAL THEY
CONTAIN.
1)
Tonight we want to think about books.
2)
If we are going to be a good Bible class teacher, we
should know some things about books.
a)
It is one thing to have some pre-printed Bible class
literature.
b)
This teaching tool can help teachers be very effective
in a classroom.
c)
There are other things a teacher can add that is not in
their class literature.
d)
These things are made possible by some basic but very
useful books.
3)
In 2 Tim. 4:13 Paul said, “bring the books.” We do not know what these books were.
4)
Some think they were letters (books) Paul had written.
5)
Perhaps he had copies of the letters he sent to
churches and these were going to be used to defend him.
6)
In this same verse Paul also said the “parchments” were
to be brought.
7)
We may never know exactly what Paul was telling Timothy
to bring.
8)
We do know that some books ranked high in the apostle’s
mind.
9) Today there are some books
that Christians and especially teachers should regard as very valuable tools.
a)
Many years ago I was told about a final exam that was
given to students in a Christian university.
b)
Bible majors were told to imagine that they were on a
desert island.
c)
They could have only three religious books with them
while they were stranded.
d)
The test question was:
What three books would you want?
10) If
one of the three books was not the Bible, I suspect the Bible major failed the
test.
11) What
if we took this test?
12) If
we could take only three books with us on a deserted isalnd, what would those
three books be?
13) I
am persuaded that many could not answer this question and this is unfortunate.
a)
Heb. 5:12 says Christians are to reach a time when they
“ought to be teachers.”
b)
God’s word is to dwell in us “richly” (Col. 3:16).
c)
Knowledgeable teachers “build up the body of Christ”
(Eph. 4:12).
14) Tonight
we want to think about books that can help us better know the Bible.
15) Some
of the books that we will talk about can be found in our church library.
16) Others
are easy to find and are fairly inexpensive.
17) Whether
we are married or not, we can start a family religious library.
a)
If we bought one good religious book a quarter, we will
have 40 good books in 10 years.
b)
People often buy things that they want to keep in their
family for generations.
c)
One of the best gifts is a collection of good books to
help us better know God’s word.
d)
These books are not just for sitting on a shelf; they
are for studying and learning.
1)
When we think about books, the Bible is obviously the
first book we need.
a)
Some have only one Bible; that is a good starting
place, but one version can be a bit limiting.
b)
There are many Bible versions on the market and there
are some pretty distinct differences.
c)
There are Bible versions that are paraphrases.
d)
A paraphrase is not a translation; it is a rewording of
what an inspired author said.
e)
Sometimes a paraphrase is helpful and sometimes a
paraphrase teaches outright error.
f)
Many Bible students take out a very reliable
translation like the ASV, KJV NKJV or ESV.
g)
They lay this good translation side by side with a
paraphrase and read both.
h)
In many instances this is helpful.
i)
If this is done, remember to use the standard
translation (non-paraphrase) as the accurate version.
j)
It is possible to accomplish this by buying a single
Bible.
k)
A Bible may have four versions side by side in just one
book.
l)
One of the Bibles in my library is actually based on 26
different translations.
m)
Alternative translations can help Christians grow and help
Christians teach.
n)
If we are using alternative translations, we need to
know a little something about the other versions.
2)
In addition to a variety of translations, it is good to
have some information about geography.
a)
We can probably get by with something as simple as some
basic maps in the back of a Bible.
b)
There are also books – more than a hundred pages thick
– of nothing but Bible maps.
c)
Imagine a teacher teaching a class and the Bible refers
to the place called “Dan.”
d)
A student says, “Where was Dan”?
e)
It is going to be a bit embarrassing for the teacher to
say, “I don’t know.”
3)
Before a class is taught appropriate cities can be
located on a map.
4)
Teachers can know where places are and make this
information part of their class.
5)
Geography is a part of the Bible and sometimes it is a
very important part of God’s word.
6)
Bible writers are often very careful about describing
specific places and locations.
7) Just as we want to know
where things are that affect us, knowing about Bible places is useful
information.
8)
In addition to knowing where places are, we can pay
attention to what words mean.
9)
As noted from this morning’s lesson, some words are
filled with meaning.
10) Key
words includes terms like heart, perfect, paradise, hope, church, baptism,
praise and reconciliation.
11) We
see these words in the Bible and they may also appear in class literature.
a)
We may be able to pronounce these words, but we may not
know what they mean.
b)
Students may not know what they mean, or not realize
the full significance of the terms.
c)
It can take a little time, but we can dig out
information on the meaning of Bible words.
12) Since
the Bible was written in English, some think they should get an English
dictionary.
a)
An English dictionary is the wrong book to use for
words that come from other languages.
b)
Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the
New Testament was written in Greek.
c)
There are specific books that go back to these
languages and define the words in the Bible.
13) One
of the most common books for this task is Vine’s Expositary Dictionary of New
Testament words.
14) This
book is for people who speak English and it is very easy to use.
15) Another
great little book is a small volume by brother Wayne Jackson on New Testament
words.
i)
If people do not know what words mean, their learning
is going to be limited.
ii)
If a child sees the word reconciliation, he will likely
not know that word means.
iii)
If he hears the word “church” he may understand the
word as his friends do – a building.
iv)
We want people to know the true meaning of baptism, not
what Mr. Webster says it means.
v)
This is not only true for our classes, it should be
something we do in our homes.
When we read the Bible in more than
one translation, when we can find places on a Bible map, and when we can define
Bible words, we are going to have a lot of good information to give to people.
a)
The teaching process does not end here.
b)
There are books which offer a great deal of “general
knowledge.”
c)
As I was growing up “World Book” was a well respected
resource.
d)
A more in-depth resource was the encyclopedia
Briticania.
2)
These reference works helped thousands of people
instantly understand all kinds of subjects.
3)
This was how people learned things before computers
became so popular.
a)
When I was first seeking a place to preach Indiana
showed up as a prospective place.
b)
At that time I knew absolutely nothing about Indiana.
c)
Although it bordered the state where I was raised, I
had never been to Indiana.
d)
I didn’t know anyone from this state.
e)
With a job prospect in this state I found a set of
World Books and pulled out the “I” volume.
4)
It did not take long to find out a lot of the basic
facts about Indiana.
a)
This is precisely what a Bible dictionary does for
people.
b)
For about $20 a Bible dictionary will tell you
thousands of things about the Bible.
c)
When we see the word “talent” in the Bible we may not
know how much that was.
d)
A Bible dictionary will help us calculate how much a
talent was.
5)
When we see the name “Herod” we probably do not know
much about him.
6)
Who was he? When
did he live? What did he do? How and when did he die?
7)
A Bible dictionary instantly answers all these
questions.
8)
If we see the name “John” in the New Testament, it may
not always be the same one.
9)
How many men had this name and what did they do? A Bible dictionary answers these questions.
a)
We find other things in the Bible that are likely
unfamiliar to us.
b)
We find references to plants such as Hyssop and
Mustard.
c)
A teacher who has not prepared well will say to his
class “the text says mustard seed.”
d)
A well prepared teacher will say, “The text says
mustard seed and this seed was very small.”
10) A
Bible dictionary will provide some information on when Bible books were
written.
11) It
will tell us who books were written to and many other details.
12) The
tools I have described so far total about $100.
13) If
used, they will enhance every Bible class teacher’s ability to teach.
14) If
we do not want to spend the money on them, borrow them from the church library.
15) Another
important tool for teachers is a concordance.
a)
There are basically two kinds of concordances.
b)
There are “topical” concordances.
c)
Pick out a topic and a topical concordance will give
you virtually every passage on that subject.
d)
We could pick the word joy, peace, sorrow, grief,
parents, children, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, etc.
e)
All the verses relevant to this topic will be
immediately before.
f)
If we use the verses from such a book, we need to keep
the verses in context.
g)
A topical concordance such as Nave’s puts thousands of
passages at our fingertips.
16) A
second type of concordance is one like Strong’s exhaustive concordance.
17) Maybe
we can remember part of a verse but cannot recall the whole text.
18) We
can take what we remember, even if it is just one word, and look it up in this
book.
19) Every
time this word is listed in the Bible is also listed in an exhaustive
concordance.
20) This
is a great tool for finding verses we cannot recall or to see where certain
words are used.
21) Another
useful tool is a Bible commentary.
a) A commentary is where a writer
seeks to explain and perhaps apply the information in a Bible book.
b) Some commentaries are a
single volume (it covers the whole Bible or the entire Old Testament/New
Testament).
c)
Others cover one specific book.
d)
Commentaries come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very good and others are very poor.
e)
Before buying one, it is usually best to skim some of
the pages and see if it really helps us.
22) In
the past many of the books were available only as books.
23) With
computers, a lot of religious material is now on Bible programs.
24) These
programs range from $20 to more than $500.
25) In
many respects we literally get what you pay for with Bible programs.
26) Some
top notch programs can be bought for about $200.
27) For
people who are really serious about the Bible, this is a good way to go.
28) All
the tools can be accessed rapidly and combined as needed.
29) In
addition to books, there are also magazines.
30) At
least one subscription to a magazine can help keep teachers fresh.
31) We
have some of the best tools the world has ever seen and they are not all that
expensive.
a)
Using these resources will improve the skills of any
teacher.
b)
There are a lot of people who do not want to pull out
the books and study.
c)
20 years ago I stopped to visit a seminary bookstore in
d)
The bookstore had a prominent place on the campus and
it was impressive.
e)
There were rows and rows of books and many of them were
excellent.
f)
I was recently at this same school and the bookstore
had been moved. It is no longer
prominent.
g)
The books it has are not the types of tools to really
study the Bible.
h)
A religious bookstore at the mall, in some respects,
has a better section of reference works.
i)
If a school does not emphasize study with its potential ministers, what
will be the fate of those who hear them?
32) All
need to study and study well. This is
especially important for teachers.
33)Then we need to apply what we learn
for a time is coming when we will be judged.