I TEACH A WEEKLY Bible study for a small group of friends. We've been on hiatus for a number of weeks but resume again next Monday. In preparing lessons for a study on the Kingdom of God, I went looking for books to help me. I sampled a couple of books on my Kindle and downloaded both. As I reviewed one of the books--Gospel of the Kingdom by George Eldon Ladd--I noticed it was published in 1959. I was six years old in 1959.
Such realizations set me to thinking. Fifty years ago, Professor Ladd didn't have me in mind when he released his book. I wonder if, as he sat at his typewriter, he imagined his book being purchased 50 years later. Ladd died in 1982. Twenty-seven years after his death I electronically plunked down money to buy his book. Material from that book will help me teach twelve other people. Professor Ladd is still teaching.
That is the power of writing. It is a ministry multiplier. It can continue to do good work decades after it is published. I never met George Ladd, but many seminary students have, not because they attended his classes, but because Ladd chose to put his knowledge down on paper.
When you write, you are speaking to people you may never meet, and maybe to people who will encounter your work long after you're gone. That is the beauty of writing: It is a ministry multiplier.
Alton Gansky
www.altongansky.com
www.facebook.com/altongansky
www.twitter.com/altongansky
