December, 2001

Table of Contents

Message From Editors

Warren E. Berkley & Jon W. Quinn

This issue marks another publishing milestone for the editors, writers and webmasters of Expository Files. This work started with two men and has grown to include hundreds of writers, thousands of readers and a few special helpers like Alan LaRue. Without any paper, stamps, ink or physical transportation - we have sent Bible teaching around the world. We thank God for granting us this opportunity, giving us the strength to pursue it and most of all, for the truth He gave us to impart.

There have been times when we have sought relief from the task. The work requires study, thought, writing, prayer, judgment, help from good writers, html assembly, e-mail, uploading, notices to readers and posting to lists. And this work we do is in addition to our local preaching, meeting work, other writing duties and family time. We have done this work, kept up with deadlines and offered on-time publication for eight full years, motivated by four basic things:

1. The urgent need to get Bible teaching into the hands of people. As Christians all of us should be committed to the spread of truth (Acts 5:42). The World Wide Web method is limited in some ways. We have little opportunity for personal contact with our readers. While we can measure statistics (views and downloads) and collect information on the geographic regions and servers, we are limited in knowing exactly who benefits from the material. It is unlike preaching to an audience or teaching a class. It is more like radio and television preaching, but in electronically printed format. Yet, even with the acknowledged limitations, we know that Bible teaching is making the journey through the Internet and into personal computers. We pray the truth is making the further trip into good and honest hearts.

2. The personal discipline the work produces for us. If only a dozen people read the magazine, the study, writing and work involved serves a good personal purpose. The pressure of doing the writing along with the desire to write good, simple, biblical material has become a means of growth for the editors. Often, what we study and write about becomes a part of our local preaching. Hopefully, every passage we study and write about becomes a part of our lives. We are not editors first. We are Christians, and we have grown through our work in putting EF together.

3. The feedback we get, expressing appreciation for the teaching. Several times a year we receive e-mail proving to us that the magazine is read. Requests come to use the articles in church bulletins and other publications. Both commendation and criticism arrive in our e-mail inbox. The feedback builds us up for the task of continuing.

4. The commitment to expository instruction from the Bible. The heart of true Bible study is the personal reading and concentration on the text, for implantation in the heart and transformation of the life. One goal we have is, to encourage our readers to get into the text, get comfortable with it and make it personal. While many preachers and Bible teachers read and use our material, our main target is the average person who has access to electronic information.

Please accept our appreciation for reading Expository Files. And we ask you for a favor. Send us your suggestions, comments and criticism. Take a moment and send out e-mail to tell others about EF, just paste the URL into the e-mail and invite your recipients to visit the site. Most important, we ask Christians to pray for us.

Warren E. Berkley
Jon W. Quinn