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Dig Deeper

What does it mean to preach the Word faithfully? One way to express it simply is this:
1. Get it right
2. Get it across
First we need to listen very carefully to the Bible text and chew on it and feel the force of it and see Christ in it and work out what is the main point of the passage. Then we need to think very carefully about how to communicate that to our hearers in a way that will keep it clear and cutting.
Both theses stages are hard work. Dig Deeper is a great resource to help us with the first stage - getting the right message from the text. Here is a review by one of the iServe Africa ministry apprentices Sheena Murabula.


In the Kenyan church context, at least as much as in other places, a very concerning phrase pops in bible study groups; "Well that’s your interpretation, but this is what I think." With this trend of individual opinions reigning, the Bible can say almost anything. Also, the Bible warns us against false teachers as in 2 Peter 2, 1 John 4 and several other references. But who knows, any one of us may misinterpret the Bible and lead others astray not because we mean to but out of lack of knowledge.
Dig Deeper has been written by Nigel Beynon and Andrew Sach. It offers a number of tools a Bible reader can use to find out the big idea of a particular passage or book in the Bible and therefore come up with relevant applications. The tools they recommend include; Genre tool, Repetition tool, Vocabulary tool, Who am I? tool, Copycat tool, Parallel tool, Quotation/allusion tool, Linking words tool, Author’s purpose tool, Translation tool, Tone and feel tool, Bible timeline tool, So what? tool, Narrator's comment tool, Context tool and Structure tool.
For example, the ‘Repetition’ tool helps one identify the author’s emphasis; maybe in the form of an idea, word or phrase that comes again and again in a passage. Similarly the ‘Author’s purpose’ tool can be very helpful to form the background of all your study - what we really need to know is what the original author was wanting to do with his words - warn, encourage, urge, challenge or whatever. All these tools are aimed at helping us handle the Bible in a way that is not based on one’s own thinking but on the Word; #LetTheScriptureSpeakForItself.
I like the persuasive language used in this book, the illustrations, the worked out examples and the assignments at the end of each chapter designed to help the reader learn and gain skills through the process of doing. It is also easy to follow through the book with a few stops for Bible reference when compared to other books of the same genre which can be much heavier reading.
This is a book is for every Christian: the Preacher who desires to faithfully handle the Scriptures, the Parent who would want to understand God’s word before sharing with their children and spouses, C.U. leaders who love to share the good news in missions and during fellowships, Bible study leaders and everyone else with the task of joyfully labouring at preaching the gospel.



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