Pens outmuscle swords, and books can help people in ways sermons cannot. Here are six secrets of developing a library that ministers.

Good books are like close friends-they wait patiently to speak until you're ready to listen. No hasty words escape their covers until you open the pages.

They're willing to repeat themselves as often as necessary. If you want them, they're never asleep. If you misunderstand, they don't scold. If you're ignorant, they don't laugh. They're steady and reliable-they won't change from one day to the next.

Ever wonder at the fact that the apostle Paul, with one of the world's most fertile and inspired minds, asked his friend Timothy to bring him his cloak and "the books, especially the parchments"? Apparently not even Paul could merely meditate, think lovely thoughts, and write inspired prose. In a damp jail cell, he needed a cloak for his body and books for his mind.

Like friends, books can bring comfort, shape habits, and mold character. They have the power to inflame, ...