Treasure Troves
“The ordinances of the LORD …
are more precious than gold.”
Psalm 19:9-10 (NIV)
Last week’s Bible Bits Bring the Books considered the importance of developing an early love for reading. We shouldn’t be surprised that God loves words. He created worlds with them (Genesis 1:3) and Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1). Words strung together make sentences; sentences form paragraphs; paragraphs make up chapters; and enough chapters strung together form a book.
We tend to think of God’s Word as one big book, but it’s much better to consider it a large library. The Bible houses sixty-six books written over 1500 years by over forty human authors on three continents in three original languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic). Yet the Bible has One Divine Voice revealing the grand narrative of God’s relentless pursuing love and plan of redemption. It is diverse in its genres and authors, yet unified in its story.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work,” writes the Apostle Paul. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). But truth about God is never discovered; it is only revealed. To understand God’s Word, all of us need the help of the Holy Spirit and most of us, if we’re honest, can also greatly benefit from authors who have wrestled with and written about God’s Word over the last two thousand years.
In 1963 Dr. Frank Barker, Briarwood’s founding pastor, thought our church should have a Christian bookstore. At that time, no other Protestant church operated a Christian bookstore in Birmingham. Unfortunately, our young three-year-old church was limited in both space and funds. Dr. Barker located a very small room near the back of the church and recruited some volunteers to purchase planks and build shelves. The initial costs for wood, stain, and brackets were personally covered by Frank Barker. (To God Be the Glory, Briarwood History Jubilee, p.32)
With the space secured, there still weren’t church funds to cover any bookstore employee salaries. Linda Faulkner, a young congregant with physical disabilities due to polio, agreed to manage the bookstore for 5% of the sales. Dr. Barker selected the books to purchase; Linda ordered the books, kept the records, and placed reorders. When the first few invoices came in, there was no church money to pay them. Once again Dr. Barker paid them himself. Gradually sales increased and a larger bookstore space was secured. As Briarwood grew, so did the bookstore.
In 1970 Briarwood’s church library opened. Together our bookstore and library provide two treasure troves for our congregation, a wealth of information all in one location. Both resources provide a wide range of books and Bibles for children and adults of all life stages. Both also provide academic support and biblical resources for our seminary and Briarwood Christian School.
Last week I purchased Mother’s Day, birthday, sympathy cards, and a new Ezekiel commentary in our bookstore. Most brick-and-mortar retail bookstores have closed as digital commerce has increased. I purchase some books on Amazon, but I still prefer to hold a book or a Bible in my hands before I purchase it.
Following my bookstore purchases, I went next door to our library, searched the online catalog, and found several commentaries on the book of Revelation. Those books will help me prepare for teaching a women’s Bible study next fall.
As I settled into my library desk, I thanked God, not just for Frank Barker’s vision for a bookstore, but also for his generosity & sacrificial giving. I, along with countless others, am the beneficiary of his vision, service, and sacrifice. Frank Barker wanted his members reading! He followed the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians:“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). Right up until his death in 2021, Dr. Barker read and approved the books that were available for our congregation’s purchase.
The Barna group says the Bible is the best-selling, least read book despite Americans having more access, education, and discretionary time than ever before. A recent Barna poll summarized its findings by saying, “Americans revere the Bible, but by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.”
“The gospel, because it is a true story, means all the best stories will be proved, in the ultimate sense, true.” Tim Keller
Words make worlds! What are you reading?