The Discipleship Difference Making Disciples While Growing As Disciples Robert E Logan Charles R Ridley 9781944955007 Books
Download As PDF : The Discipleship Difference Making Disciples While Growing As Disciples Robert E Logan Charles R Ridley 9781944955007 Books
“Why am I even bothering to do this?” Rob thought to himself as he stacked the chairs. The sky outside the window was darkening, and he could hear the last of the cars pulling out of the church parking lot.We invest a lot of time, thought and energy into our discipleship efforts. We teach classes, gather resource materials, design curriculum, arrange discipleship relationships . . . but at the end of the day, what change are we really seeing? How come we aren’t seeing the kind of real-life results we’re looking for? Why isn’t it working? Where’s the transformation? What is discipleship all about? We are to love God, love others, and make disciples. That’s the Great Commandment and the Great Commission put together . . . not bad shorthand for the life of faith. The first two—love God and love others—are the way we are to live our lives. The third one—make disciples—is the mission to help others follow Jesus just as we are following Jesus. Our making of disciples flows out of our life with God, to be certain. Yet in some ways, the order needs to be inverted as well Only as we make disciples are we perfected in the faith. As we reach out, we are shaped and transformed. As we go about life, the mission of Jesus is to recognize the people in our sphere of influence and help them take the next steps toward God. Engaging in that mission results in not only an increased quality of relationships, but a changed life for us as well. Every person is different and we all reflect God in different ways. So why is our typical approach to discipleship the same across the board? The Discipleship Difference lays out an intentional, holistic, and relational approach to discipleship that is individualized to meet each person wherever they are.
The Discipleship Difference Making Disciples While Growing As Disciples Robert E Logan Charles R Ridley 9781944955007 Books
This is one of the best how to get started books for understanding what a disciple is and being a disciple...across denominational lines. This book provides Scriptural and practical insights that lead to growth, both personally as Christ would have us grow plus in our ability to plant seeds of faith for the Holy Spirit to do His work! One of the best points is that one does not need to be a Biblical scholar to be a witness for Christ. Additionally, that all important 'stepping out of our comfort zone' is also addressed; there are ways to do that without trembling or not doing it at all. Wouldn't it be great if this book became the impetus for you to bring one more person to the feet of Christ and everlasting salvation--one more soul in heaven! Then again, maybe more than one!!!!Product details
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Tags : The Discipleship Difference: Making Disciples While Growing As Disciples [Robert E. Logan, Charles R. Ridley] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. “Why am I even bothering to do this?” Rob thought to himself as he stacked the chairs. The sky outside the window was darkening,Robert E. Logan, Charles R. Ridley,The Discipleship Difference: Making Disciples While Growing As Disciples,Logan Leadership,1944955003,RELIGION Christian Ministry Discipleship
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The Discipleship Difference Making Disciples While Growing As Disciples Robert E Logan Charles R Ridley 9781944955007 Books Reviews
The Discipleship Difference Making Disciples While Growing As Disciples
by Robert E. Logan and Charles R. Ridley
Published in 2015 by Logan Leadership
ISBN 978-1-944955-00-7
The basic premise of the book is that only as we make disciples are we truly perfected in the faith. This is biblical. Paul wrote the following to Philemon "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Many churches have negated the mandate of Jesus. We have all the programs, but we are not focused on doing what Jesus called us to do right before he ascended.
The Logan-Ridley approach is to treat different people differently, individualizing the approach to fit the uniqueness of each person. Jesus himself had a different approach with each of the following people Peter and Andrew, the demon-possessed man, Nathaniel, the woman at the well, the self-righteous Pharisee, Zacchaeus, the rich man, Nicodemus, and the Roman soldier. This individualized approach allows us to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit and be less controlling in our approach to what it means to disciple other people.
The authors listed ten principles that reflect how Jesus made disciples. I liked the first three the most (1) Jesus made disciples of ordinary people, not superstars, (2) Jesus started with unbelievers, and made disciples of those people, (3) Jesus expected that his disciples would make more disciples than he would.
The authors note that focusing on behavior rather than knowledge yields a clearer picture of a disciple. So they described the types of behaviors we should expect to see (1) sacrificial service, (2) generous living, (3) disciple-making, (4) personal transformation, and (5) authentic relationships.
In the final pages, the authors had some good questions for us to use in our discipleship efforts , such as Who are the people God wants you to invest in? How will you connect with them? How are you already engaging the harvest? How will you model the way for others? Who are you going to be discipling? Who will you team with? How can you maintain an outward focus? How can you raise up others who raise up others?
I found the appendix loaded with helpful discussion questions which we can use for discussing the content in each chapter. My favorite question in this section was, What resonates with you about how Jesus made disciples? My answer to this question is (1) Jesus used an entirely oral approach, mainly oral stories, (2) Jesus used questions, such as "Who do others say that I am?, (3) Jesus used positive feedback with his disciples, such as, "I saw Satan falling like lightning..., (4) Jesus discipled his disciples at their workplace (fishing and boating environments), (5) Jesus discipled his disciples primarily in group settings.
The only weakness of this book was that it had no index. I would have loved to have seen an index so that I could see where the authors first used and defined the term 'triad' (used on p.109).
"Our making of disciples flows out of our life with God, to be certain. Yet in some ways, the order needs to be inverted as well Only as we make disciples are we perfected in the faith. As we reach out, we are shaped and transformed. As we go about life, the mission of Jesus is to recognize the people in sphere of influence and help them take the next steps toward God. Engaging in that mission results in not only an increased quality of relationships, but a changed life for us as well."
This “inversion” struck me from the outset, and it’s critical to what this book is all about. We are not only called to make disciples, but as we make disciples we become more complete disciples ourselves. That’s just one of the “differences” this book highlights.
Two other main points Bob makes throughout the book 1) One size doesn’t fit all—Jesus changed His approach with every person He encountered, and so should we; 2) We are not just meant to be disciples making disciples—we are disciples making disciples who make disciples. If people are sitting at our feet instead of moving on to help others sit at Jesus’ feet, we’ve missed something huge.
This holistic approach to discipleship is woven throughout the book, which is also borne out by the branches of the “discipleship tree” examined here
◾Experiencing God
◾Spiritual Responsiveness
◾Sacrifical Service
◾Generous Living
◾Disciplemaking
◾Personal Transformation
◾Authentic Relationships
◾Community Transformation
Another huge point is that discipleship is not reserved for believer—it starts “in the harvest,” with those who haven’t yet turned to Christ. By taking this approach, the result is new believers who already are disciples, rather than having some false dichotomy between belief and some later “higher calling” to discipleship. The two were never meant to be separated, and they’re not here.
The overall format of the book goes between practical advice and a fictional case study (“Rob”), whose course we follow as he implements that advice. It’s a success story (of course), but as opposed to other books I’ve seen that have used this device it’s a realistic story — there are real challenges; everything doesn’t go perfectly; sometime things happen that make no sense at all, at least at first. But when it comes to discipleship, staying the course is more than half the battle, and our travels with “Rob” throughout this book help us to vicariously experience that—with the hope that we’ll experience it for real after putting the book down.
On the other side of the spectrum, Chuck Ridley adds dozens of more academic notes HOW discipleship works, but also showing us proof THAT it works.
In the later chapters, we’re (re-)introduced to the tools of discipleship. And really, all that needs to be said is that the hardest thing about using these tools is being willing enough to obey and actually use them.
As always, I’ve really enjoyed (and been challenged by) The Discipleship Difference, and am confident it’ll do the same for many others.
So simple, direct to the point, very helpful
A great and inspiring book. It walks you though defining what a disciple of Christ is and how that differs from the "Christian" title that has so many different definitions. The book goes on to provide encouraging examples of how discipleship fits into our busy lives. The teachings are interlaced with an on going story which helps make the book entertaining and also illustrates the lessons being taught. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to be a better Disciple of Christ.
This is one of the best how to get started books for understanding what a disciple is and being a disciple...across denominational lines. This book provides Scriptural and practical insights that lead to growth, both personally as Christ would have us grow plus in our ability to plant seeds of faith for the Holy Spirit to do His work! One of the best points is that one does not need to be a Biblical scholar to be a witness for Christ. Additionally, that all important 'stepping out of our comfort zone' is also addressed; there are ways to do that without trembling or not doing it at all. Wouldn't it be great if this book became the impetus for you to bring one more person to the feet of Christ and everlasting salvation--one more soul in heaven! Then again, maybe more than one!!!!
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