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Saved Only Narrowly
Rev. J.W.Deenick
Reformed Churches Publishing House, 2001, 252 pp
Review by Rev. John Westendorp
The recent Reformation Forum 2000 Conference was an appropriate occasion
to launch this excellent publication produced by our own publishing
house.
In some churches (denominations) the preaching for the year follows a
lectionary of given texts. This saves the preacher hunting for new texts
to preach on, ensures that the events of the ‘church year’ are followed
in preaching, and means that one can go from one church to another and
find a fairly unified approach. In Reformed churches we have mixed
feelings about the lectionary. Some feel that it is restrictive. Others
have some difficulty with the whole concept of a ‘church year’ (the
ecclesiastical calendar that flows from Advent through Lent and on to
Pentecost and beyond.
Retired CRCA Minister, Bill Deenick, has taken an interesting approach
in this book. It consists of some 55 Biblical and expository studies –
all about two to four pages in length. They follow the lectionary style
being ordered according to the church year.
The studies themselves are eminently readable – with one qualification:
those who do not know Hebrew, Greek or Latin, will find the frequent
references to words in these languages somewhat irritating (although one
can usually work out the meaning from the context). So while the book is
a good tool for preachers it also lends itself to devotional reading –
especially by the more biblically literate among us.
The studies are a lovely blend of exegetical notes, commentary and
application to our modern day culture. The book demonstrates the mature
insights of the author who has spent a lifetime in expounding and
applying the Word of God to our day and age.
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