About Us
For hereunto you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
(1 Peter 2:21)
The English name of the Christian Bookstore is Remnant Footsteps Bookstore, which literally means "remnant footsteps bookstore". "Remnant footsteps" sounds a bit strange and confusing, so we use "Christian Bookstore" so that it is clear at a glance. In fact, the meanings of the two complement each other. Both include the identity and direction of God's children. On the one hand, it is the grace we have received before God, and on the other hand, it is the path we must take with the help of God. Christians are like the remnant of the Israelites in the past. The path they take should also follow the footsteps of the Lord, especially in today's spiritually chaotic era. How much we need to follow the footsteps of the Lord exclusively.
Many people understand the word "remnant" only from the numerical point of view, thinking that it is a small group of people left. In fact, the etymology of this word means "root", and the meaning of root is more important than the number. This small group of people maintained their original form. Although they experienced the baptism of countless terrible years, they never lost their original form. In the end, they will forever accompany the Messiah, Jesus Christ, in God's promise to them. The history of the Israelites has left us with great inspiration. Although they were weak and failed many times, they left God and experienced God's heavy discipline, but God never abandoned them. These remnants will eventually be with the Messiah forever in glory because of God's promise, and God's plan will finally be fulfilled.
Under the mercy and guidance of Father God, we opened this book room not for the purpose of making money, but to please the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Lord in this small place, and to willingly sell some good books that are helpful for the spiritual growth of Christians. All books are carefully selected. Our conscience tells us that if one of the books misleads readers away from the truth, how can we bear this sin before God! There have been Christians who have deviated from the Bible and even disbelieved in miracles, resurrection, and the second coming of Jesus Christ because of reading books written by unbelievers (so-called new theology). Imagine how serious this is. For this reason, we "must earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" and are determined not to sell books that are not pure in faith. In order to please God, we do not seek forgiveness from others. On the other hand, someone once asked us what we think of today's Charismatics. The answer is the same as the previous one. We will never sell the works of Charismatic authors.
As for how we can serve the Lord in our literary work, we would like to quote some words from Watchman Nee (see below) to encourage each other.
Literary Work and Its Distribution Watchman Nee
"Since the days of Moses, God has used written words to express His will. Therefore, the work of writing is recognized and approved by God. The Bible is a great proof. The usefulness of writing lies in its ability to accurately preserve a thought, so that people can recite and refer to it at any time. They will not forget it after a while. The first time the Bible mentions written records, it clearly states that it was for "a memorial, and to be read to Joshua (representing all the young believers)." (Exodus 17:14)
Here, we cannot help but mention the relationship between the written ministry and the oral ministry. Some people think that we only need to read the Bible and do not need to read other books. They think that books written by people are useless and that God’s books are enough. However, those who hold this view do not stop listening to sermons. During meetings, they are willing to listen to sermons, but in ordinary times, they are unwilling to read books written by people. In fact, no one doubts that listening to sermons and reading books are the same. Isn’t the status of writing the same in God’s work? Why would anyone doubt its status? The only difference between the two is that one is spoken and the other is written. If books written by people cannot be read, can we listen to sermons spoken by people?
The Bible also often mentions many books outside the Bible. This is very meaningful. For example: "The Book of Wars of the Lord" (Num. 21:14); "The Book of Jasher" (Joshua 10:13, 1 Sam. 1:18); "The Book of Solomon" (1 Kings 11:41); "The Book of Nathan the Prophet", "The Prophecy of Ahijah", "The Vision of Iddo" (2 Chron. 9:29); "The History of Shemaiah and Iddo" (2 Chron. 12:15); "The Book of Jehu" (2 Chron. 20:34), etc. The value of these books is equivalent to today's spiritual works. They do not have the authority of the Bible, but they have places set by God to help people. When the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, He called people's attention to these books so that we would know their importance and at the same time so that we would know God's will. It did not mean that there was no need for other books besides the Bible.
The Holy Spirit specifically calls the attention of Bible readers to these books because they can get help from them to understand the Bible. If they want to pursue, they will definitely listen to the Holy Spirit's instructions and check those books. It is the same today. A diligent believer will follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and try his best to find books that can help him and read them one by one. Although there are many books, he will not think that they are too many, but thank God for their large number. Even if he himself does not have time to read, he will not stop others from reading. At the same time, he will not think that reading only the Bible and not other books is higher and more spiritual than others. Of course, on the other hand, we should also remember: "Writing many books is not exhausting; reading many books tires the body. ” (Ecclesiastes 12:12) Therefore, the Bible is essential. We cannot neglect the reading of the Bible. However, we should also welcome other help from the Lord.
Of course, what we have said above refers to the books given by the Lord. Therefore, our responsibility and right is, on the one hand, "Do not despise prophecies," and on the other hand, "Test everything; hold fast what is excellent." (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21) If a spiritual work or a book has no special features and can not help people in any special way, it does not need to be printed or read. If some books can help people, and some of them may have good experience, but because of insufficient knowledge of the Bible, the citations and interpretations are not entirely reliable, and this requires careful discernment by each person. In today's era of heresy, "distinguishing good from evil" (Hebrews 5:14) is indeed indispensable.
One thing that should be noted about the written ministry is that the oral ministry in the Bible precedes the written ministry. This is true in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Moses first spoke orally and then wrote. This is also true of the other prophetic ministries in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus did not write anything (except for the few words He wrote on the earth that time) (John 8:8). He first spoke orally and then the disciples wrote it down. As for the epistles, they were not available until long after Pentecost. Therefore, it is not acceptable to have a written ministry without an oral ministry. Therefore, those who "specialize in written work" are neither like Moses nor like the apostles. Many times, they will flow into ideals and become dead because they lose the living contact with the human soul. The ministry of writing cannot replace the ministry of oral transmission, but can only serve as an auxiliary to the inadequacy of the oral transmission. In any case, the Bible shows us that oral transmission came first and writing came later.
Because the ministry of writing has a special place in God’s economy, the work of publishing books is also very important and cannot be ignored (however, not as important as oral transmission). For this reason, it should be promoted as widely as possible. Because it is God’s work, the work of publishing books, whether for individuals or groups, should not be for the purpose of profit. As for the author’s royalties and the publisher’s copyright, it is somewhat commercial in nature, which is not the requirement of God’s work. If the author and the publisher have not yet seen these clearly, how can it be called God’s work? "Freely you have received, freely you shall give." (Matthew 10:8) This is true for oral transmission, but is it not true for written transmission? Does the gospel also have copyright? If the work of publishing books is recognized as God's work and is for the purpose of serving believers, it must never be turned into a commercial business.
The work of distribution is entirely for the purpose of serving the believers. It is to make it convenient for the believers so that they can get the books they want without having to work hard. Although they paid a price for the paper and ink (books), the message in the book (copyright) is free. This kind of work is a bit like the ministry of Levi. In the Bible, there is the ministry of priests and the ministry of Levi (Numbers 3-4). The work of preparing books for believers is the nature of the Levitical ministry. Therefore, although this is not as spiritual as the priestly ministry, it is not as worldly as the nature of business. It is a service to believers like the Levitical ministry. The priestly ministry is completely spiritual. The business work is completely worldly. However, Levi’s ministry was to do worldly things for spiritual purposes. Because we see that the things the Levites did in the Old Testament were nothing more than worldly labor. However, what they did was related to the temple. For the written work, it must be done in accordance with the nature of Levi’s ministry in order to be in line with the Lord’s will.