Books for Bible Students

The library often receives book donations. The most frequent donors are retired ministers. When they retire, they downsize their personal and professional libraries and since they loved these books throughout their ministry, they look to pass them on to future ministers. What better way to do that than to support the local Christian University library which serves ministers in training?

It is my job to evaluate donations for possible addition to the library. As you might guess, we receive numerous duplicates of classics, reference works, and popular writings. We can't keep them all so we pass them on to Better World Books to sell for us on consignment. They can be purchased at a low cost by those who want personal copies and the library receives a modest income from the sales.

Over the past month or so an adjunct professor at Hope, Bob Mink, who is preaching his last sermon at Discovery Christian Church in Moreno Valley this coming Sunday, has been bringing in his library a few boxes at a time. From the looks of it, he has not only read these books, but has actively interacted with them. I have not met him, but I feel the love he has had for these books and how difficult it must be to part with them.

The current Christian Standard in the library.

Coincidentally, the October 2014 issue of the Christian Standard magazine has an article in which Pastor Mink has written a section called, "Four Books for Gospels Students." It also accessible online. I recommend reading the full article called, "Books for Bible Students: Seven Scholars Recommend the Must-Have Volumes for your Library," available in print at the Darling Library.

We truly appreciate these men and women passing their passion for reading in preparation for ministry to the next generation.