Are these books for sale? Nope, they're free.
an ongoing club initiative
About a week ago, there were a few girls gathered around the shelves in our seating area, looking at the books we had set out. I was walking back to the bar after wiping down some tables, and they stopped me and asked, “Are these books for sale?”
“Nope, they’re free,” I replied.
“You’re kidding,” they said.
I told her I wasn’t kidding, and then encouraged her to take the one she was holding in her hand (which happened to be the book in the cover photo for this post: Room for Good Things to Run Wild by
).I thought it was funny how astonished they were at the books being given away for free.
Nothing’s free anymore. Always a catch. Always a free-if-you-do-this-fill in the blank.
No room for true pro bono in people’s minds. No category for a gift offered for their Good, and free of charge.
But yes, they really are free. And here’s why:
We care about people, human beings bearing the Image of God. Which is every one of us: from the rich to the poor, from the strong to the weak, from the “normal” to the “strange”. We all are made to know and be known by God, to live in fellowship with Him and others, to reflect His Nature in the world as our older brother, Jesus, did properly.
And to reflect His likeness, we must reflect on His likeness. We must become familiar with what He says and does and how He thinks. We need to know God to become like Him.
We do this first and foremost through His word, the Scriptures contained within that book known as the “Holy Bible”. This is where God speaks directly to humanity in all times and all places. If you “want to hear from God,” go there. (we also have copies of the Bible to take for free at the shop)
It is deep and boundless, and leaves no room for guessing who our Creator is.
It offers us an account of the life of Jesus: THE Image of the Invisible God, the exact imprint of His Nature. This leaves us no room for guessing what it looks like to bear the Image of God rightly, to fulfill the purpose given to humanity by their Creator.
But God’s grace overflows. He has blessed His people by using the gifts He has given them. Some have the gift of communicating complex truths in a way that people can understand.
Give them a pen and paper, and they can turn deep ideas into something digestible for you and me, common folk.
I am talking about people like C. S. Lewis, Athanasius of Alexandria, Augustine, Chesterton, Piper, Tozer, and so many more. What grace has been given us in God saving and using people to expound His truths.
How many people have been drawn nearer to God through these writers? How many have come to see Him more clearly? How many have come to know Him for the first time?
Countless.
God uses these authors and their writings to conform people to His Image, to aid in fulfilling their designed purpose.
So, we want people to read them! And we want to remove all barriers.
We want to share these treasures with people free of charge.
Because fundamentally, our highest priority is not profit margins, though they are important.
We care most about people coming to know God through the gospel and then to be conformed to His Image: their destiny.
We have a mix of titles available in the shop right now, all of which are worthy of reading and re-reading.
Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer
On the Incarnation by Athanasius
Room for Good Things to Run Wild by Josh Nadeau
Don’t Waste Your Life by Piper
Also, we want these books in hands, not on shelves. So, our hope is that people would take these books and read them, then give them away to someone else, then again to someone else and so on.
Take, read, be edified, then give away to build up someone else.
Isn’t that the spirit of our faith? Receive the Love of Christ freely, and then without skipping a beat go and freely offer that Love to others. That’s our calling.
God has made you for a glorious purpose, friend. Embrace that, and pursue it through His Word and through these books.
The power of "self discovery" is immense!