Wanted: Reader Feedback

 

The Almighty has not given us an infinite amount of time, money, and resources.  That is for our good, because we need to learn to have the character to set our priorities in accordance with His will.  I find it increasingly evident that I do not have the ability to do everything that I want to do.  I must learn patience, and leave everything in His hands.  I also need wise counsel from our readers to help determine which projects we should address first.

Because of the overwhelming number of requests that Giving & Sharing has received in recent months, inventories of our books and articles have become a critical problem.   As you know, our “suggested donation” approximately covers our cost of printing and mailing materials.  We make no profit, and pay no salaries.  In over eighteen years that I have been involved with Giving & Sharing, working 10-20 hours a week or more, I have not taken a penny of personal remuneration.  I work full time as an accountant.  Giving & Sharing is a labor of love.

In order to take advantage of economies of scale, we need to reprint our materials in quantities of 1,000 or more.  Perfect binding, 8.5 x 11 inch, with a high quality, glossy laminated cover, is best.  Several items are either out of stock, or nearly so:

Biblical Holy Days has approximately 500 pages.  It was issued serially in 1986, and additional articles have been added since then.  The ten sections cover the Sabbath, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, New Moons, Sacred Calendar, and Pagan Holidays.  It is perhaps the most comprehensive book on Biblical Holy Days in existence.  To print 1,000 copies would cost about $8,000, not counting postage from the printer to our bookstore in Missouri.  To cover the cost of postage and mailing individual copies to requestors, the suggested donation for a single copy would have to be about $12.50.

Biblical Law, originally published in 1986, has been updated.  It is a comprehensive analysis of the laws and statutes of the first five books of the Bible, showing how God’s laws relate to one or more of the Ten Commandments.  The new 1996 laser printed version is 72 pages.  One thousand copies perfect bound would cost about $2,200 to print.

History of the True Church, by Andrew N. Dugger and Clarence O. Dodd, was originally published in 1936.  This classic history briefly covers the history of Sabbath-keepers from the first century to the 1930s.  Our Church of God view of Church history comes from this book, which is truly a classic.  With the help of a team of typists and proofreaders, we have retyped the book, and have a camera- ready, laser printed original.  It has 116 pages, and would cost about $3,000 to print 1,000 perfect bound copies.

Biblical Doctrine compares the fundamentals of belief of many Sabbath-keeping organizations.  The 1996 edition has 96 pages, and it would cost about $2,500 to print 1,000 perfect bound copies.

These books are excellent material for group Bible study, local evangelism, and international outreach.  We would like to reprint these books now, but lack the $15,700 to print them at this time.  Do you have any ideas?  Can you help us?  Which book(s) should we print first?

If some are interested in bulk quantities, of 100 or several hundred, it would help us greatly to keep these books in print.  We are requesting a number of individuals to prepay for bulk quantities.  The printer will ship the books directly to you.  You pay only for the actual cost of printing and postage, the same amount we pay.

This type of co-operation has recently enabled us to reprint the exemplary group Bible Study book of the Church of God, Seventh Day, The Bible Home Instructor.  Originally published about 1920 by Andrew N. Dugger, this comprehensive compilation of Church of God doctrines has likewise been retyped and laser printed.  Two relatives of the late Elder Dugger ordered 700 copies at cost, leaving 300 for us to distribute through Giving & Sharing.  They plan to send 100 copies directly to a Sabbath-keeping church in Kenya, Africa.  If these zealous folks had not stepped forward to work with us, we would have had to pay $9.12 per copy to print 300 copies.  As it was, we both shared savings in the cost of printing 1,000 copies, which was only $3.80 per copy, a tremendous savings!

If you are interested in helping to keep this material in print, please call me at 307-686-5191.  Please complete the “Reader Survey” contained in this Newsletter.

 

Leon Lyell’s Sabbath History Newsletter

 

Another newsletter of merit!  We encourage church history lovers to subscribe to Sabbath History Newsletter, edited and published by Leon Lyell of LaTrobe University, Melbourne, Australia.  I met this fine gentleman at the Friends of the Sabbath seminar at Sydney, in July, 1996.  You will enjoy his interesting, and well-researched, writing style.  Subscription is $18.00 per year.  Send your order to: Sabbath History, PO Box 206, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, AUSTRALIA.

 

The Coup De Grace

 

I have recently been engaged in written and telephone discussions with Joseph Tkach, Jr., leader of the Worldwide Church of God.  This contact, initiated by Mr. Tkach, has centered on his view of Church history.  Mr. Tkach believes that there has not been a continuous thread of Sabbath-keepers from the first century to present.  In his view, modern Sabbath-keeping churches stem from seventeenth century British separatists and Puritans.

Of course, Dugger and Dodd’s History of the True Church gives the lie to this theory.  However, the scholarship of this book has been held up to question.  The Bible Sabbath Association has recently obtained copies of a most remarkable scholarly book which gives a death blow to Mr. Tkach’s theory that Sabbath-keeping has only a recent history.  The Celtic Church in Britain, a review which follows, demonstrates that for six hundred years the Celtic Church in the British Isles generally observed the seventh day Sabbath, kept the quartodeciman Passover, eschewed unclean meats, and avoided a hierarchical government like that of Rome.  Even the famous “Saint” Patrick, the supposedly “Catholic” patron saint of Ireland, was a Sabbath-keeper, and was NOT a Roman Catholic!

We encourage you to order this eye-opening book for $9.00 from The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY  82718.

 

— written by Richard C. Nickels

 

Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO  64849

 

Reader Survey

 

1. Please check the “Yes” box below to keep your name on our mailing list.

[ ] YES!  Please continue to send the free Giving & Sharing Newsletter.

[ ] NO, please take my name off your mailing list.

 

2. Please give us your feedback as to which book(s) we should reprint first.  Rank the following books according to your preference (1 = high priority, 4 = lowest priority).

___ Biblical Holy Days                         ___ Biblical Law

 

___ History of the True Church             ___ Biblical Doctrine

 

3. Would you, or your church group, be interested in pre-paying for bulk copies of a hundred or several hundred copies of any of the above books?  Books will be sent directly from the printer to any address you specify.

 

Estimated   * Cost does not include postage.

 QuantityUnit Cost*Book

 

______$8.00 Biblical Holy Days

 

______$2.20 Biblical Law

 

______$3.00 History of the True Church

 

______$2.50 Biblical Doctrine

 

4. Do you own, or know brethren who own, copying and/or printing equipment?  Would you or they be willing to make copies for Giving & Sharing at cost, for “low volume” (up to 300 copies) print jobs?

[ ] YES, their address and phone number is:

 

 _______________________________________________________

 

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5. Request directly from me the special items mentioned in this Newsletter:

[ ] The Celtic Church in Britain (please enclose a donation of at least $9.00, payable to Bible Sabbath Association)

[ ] Seventh Day Adventist material, FREE.

 

6. Are you satisfied with Giving & Sharing’s service to you?  Please give us suggestions for improvement.

 

Return to:  Richard C. Nickels, 3316 Alberta Dr, Gillette, WY 82718