Debunking the Myths about the Book Ministry

The following book contains principles I have discovered for real advancement of the Gospel through books, audio messages, and DVDs. I wish to admonish you to carefully consider them and let God give you a deeper understanding of what I am trying to share with you in this book.
New churches are springing up in big cities, but the question we ought to ask ourselves is: Is the church really advancing or not? A closer look at these new churches is likely to reveal that they are filled with people who are moving from one church to another looking for instant breakthroughs or quick-fix miracle cures.
Jesus’ last command was to go into the world and to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Leaders, pastors, and workers must be trained in order to advance the Kingdom of God. But without the teaching, which comes by establishing churches, the Great Commission will not be truly achieved.
Churches must be planted in the cities and in villages. Balanced, sound, and biblically based Christian materials must also be made available in cities and villages to avoid shallowness and emptiness in Christians or even false teaching and indoctrination. These materials must be available at affordable prices.
I have been travelling to cities and towns in Zimbabwe, and to my surprise there are no Christian bookshops in most of the places I visited. For the ones that do, prices are unjustified. They are doing it mainly for business—not as a ministry. I haven’t seen a bookshop or even a library in a village that I have visited; yet there are churches in those places.
How can the disciples be trained if there are no materials available and at affordable prices? In my view, false prophets are therefore capitalising on the shallowness of the people, the spiritually naïve, and the uneducated. Food and clothing are being provided in villages, but I believe the greatest need of mankind is a spiritual need.
The root cause of all the world’s problems is sin. You cannot change a man unless you change his thinking. Food and clothing will not change a man’s thinking and sometimes may even promote laziness and a dependency culture. I believe now is the time for pastors, particularly in Africa, to encourage church members to read good, Spirit-filled, and sound Christian books.
Recommend the books that have helped you to your members, family relationships, colleagues, and unbelievers. By withholding this from your members in particular, you might be doing your ministry more harm than good. You can promote reading by making the books available. Have a bookshop or library at your church.
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel (Judges 2:10).
The reason why these people did not know the Lord and His works is because they did not read. We can simply call that generation a generation of non-readers. We also see this in Nehemiah 8-9 whereby Ezra’s reading of the law and also the testimonies of how God had dealt with other generations before them caused the nation to recognise how they had dealt with God wickedly. But this only came to their realization after having read.
Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly (Nehemiah 9:33).
This is the same case for many Christians today. We do not know how God used the generation before us, and subsequently will not know His works. However, all the information is in the Bible and other Christian books.