ASK Bookstore Is Online

Commentary for December 2, 2003 — Help Yourself and ASK

Bibles, bible helps, biblical studies, Bible software as well as various gift items (I trust I removed most of the pagan holiday items) are now online for your perusal, perception and purchase.

King Solomon wrote,

“The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”

• Ecclesiastes 12:11–12

In today’s world a person could also apply that to the “buying of many books,” all too often books you will never read. However, many of the books you may buy — and particularly the Bible (often several) — are not just to be read, but they are to be studied, studied inductively and deductively. The Bible can be studied by topic, by outline, by word, by book, by section or scroll, and by the method Dr. Martin loved best. This method was to study the history and background of a passage and understand the context of that particular passage of Scripture. In this way you come know what the Word of God intended to communicate in the past, present and future, as much as possible.

The intent is for you to read Scripture just like you read your local newspaper. This may sound absurd, but with your local paper you are familiar with the geography, many of the participants and the past history of where you live. You generally know who did what when, where, why and how events happened in your local community.

In life at this moment you live where God lives, albeit only legally, but you will be closer to God in the future than you are to any human being in your present, past or future. He knows you and you should learn about Him. After all He gave you the revelation of His Son Jesus Christ, the very Word of God whose purpose was to communicate the information that God considered (and still considers) vital for you to know. Isn’t it interesting that all too often we simply don’t care?

The purpose of ASK, through the works of Ernest L. Martin, is to bring that message to you and to as many people as possible in the world. At the same time there are other good books and works in the world that can be useful in learning about God and His Word.

While in my opinion Dr. Martin’s works offer the top biblical scholarship in his areas of study and expertise, with a unique understanding of the full plan of God, there are many, many other areas of study for those who love Scripture and wish to go deeper than Dr. Martin did. In many cases Dr. Martin merely touched upon subjects once and did not have time in life to go into great detail on several subjects that interested him..

Take a look at the “ASK Bookstore” and see if anything interests you. You will be helping ASK above-and-beyond your prayers, contributions and purchases that you do already.

Note that the ASK bookstore has been discontinued...    (Jan 2005, webmaster)

David Sielaff
david@askelm.com