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Beginning Our Third Year!
Few projects, I would venture to say, have excited me more than this little
electronic magazine, which now begins its third year of publication. When we
were in the planning stages, back in the summer and fall of 1993, our vision and
imagination did not see the downloads, multiple sites, e-mail responses and
reception we've enjoyed.
This seems to be a suitable place to say some things about our readers. Who are
they? After two years and thousands of downloads, we are in a position to have
some impressions about our audience.
Expository Files is read by people ...
... who recognize that Jesus Christ is the perfect model of human excellence and
is worthy of our trust and obedience. Regardless of the varied institutions and
traditions commonly regarded as "Christian, Christianity - in its essence - is
the allegiance of the heart and the devotion of the life to a person, Jesus
Christ. It means I come face to face with my own sin, bring my life to Him and
submit to His authority in every way. If you believe in Christ, and you approach
the New Testament with a hearty willingness to learn, to receive and adopt what
it teaches, you will find the articles in EF to be helpful to that end. EF is
found in the computers of folks ...
... who believe that the confused and divided state of things in the current
religious scene can be solved only by going back to the Bible. There is a simple
inquiry that
reflects the singular interests of the believer: What does the Bible say? (Rom.
3:3). There is no value in repeating what men have done out of loyalty to
tradition. Let's find out what God's written will is, and build our lives on
that foundation. This magazine is read by people ...
... who realize that the truth of God isn't popular, and may even produce
division. "Where the gospel, correctly presented, produces divisions, as it
always will, the
divisions are right. We are not responsible for the legitimate effects of the
truth," (Moses Lard, Commentary on Romans, p.#463). And, EF is of interest to
people ...
... who refuse to manipulate, mis-use or twist the presentation of Scripture in
an effort to "make" it conform to anything, any group or anybody. If your
approach is inductive (letting the Scriptures determine what you believe, what
you will teach and what you will practice), we believe the articles offered
through this medium will provoke thought and help you in your study. And if you
should ever discover in any of our articles - an effort to strain and force
different texts into a simulated support of error, communicate to the writer and
send us a copy.
Jon and I do not, for a moment, flatter ourselves that our conclusions will be
accepted by all, or even by many. Nor do we boast of any perfection in our
ability to study, edit or preach. We only hope our efforts will help call
attention to the truth of God. We want to contribute something which we hope
will tend to lead the thoughts of earnest and objective minds in the direction
of Him!
By Warren E. Berkley
The Front Page
From Expository Files 3.1; January 1996
