One major focus of my ministry in recent years has been writing and translating books that will fill the need for training Christian leaders on a higher level. We have sufficient materials for training on the basic level but there has not been a lot available to use at the college level. Last year I finished up Jack Cottrell’s book, “Faith once for All” and then I wrote a couple of small Bible studies on the life of Christ. I have been working in this area because the need is great and there are few people who have dedicated themselves to this type of ministry.
I have begun to work on my next book, which is a Bible study based on the book of Acts. This will add to the three I have done on the life and teachings of Christ. It is part of a series to work through the entire New Testament. These are small booklets of about 76 pages long, as that is the largest book that can be saddle stitched; the most economical form of binding. This technique makes the books more economical to produce and distribute. We are also hoping to move the available material to a digital format as that is much more functional as more and more people get computers and have access to the internet.
At the current time I have begun to work on my next translation project. It is a commentary on the book of Revelation written by professor Tom Friskney, who recently retired from teaching at Cincinnati Christian University. I selected this book because of the tendency of many new Christians to see the book of Revelation as a detailed guide to current and future events. This has led many to see Israel as the chosen people of God even today and thus deny God’s plan of salvation, whereby we are saved by our faith in Jesus Christ.
Tom’s good details how the book of Revelation is a work intended to help and strengthen the persecuted and suffering church and a book that is intended to give strength to the suffering Christian to enable him or her to endure the tough times we face as Christians. He makes it clear that the figurative language was not intended to be linked to specific events but can be applied to many situations in the history of the church and in our own daily struggles. That is why I felt this book was so important for teaching the young church in Latin America; for it is often a persecuted church and we all need “Strength for Victory” in our daily walk with the Lord.