"Discipleship Handbook" (Bobby Harrington and Josh Patrick)

TITLE: Discipleship Handbook
AUTHOR: Bobby Harrington and Josh Patrick
PUBLISHER: Discipleship Resources, 2013.

[Free ebook available here.]

Written by two pastors from Harpeth Community Church near Tennessee, this handbook was initially for their own Church. Now they have published it for the benefit of others because they believe that all churches, not just theirs, ought to focus on making disciples and on cultivating a discipleship lifestyle. Anyone who says that "Jesus is Lord" must equally affirm three things:

1. Jesus is God
2. Jesus is King
3. Jesus is Ruler over all our lives.

This is the foundation of all things discipleship. Once this is established, discipleship is all about helping one another form their lives around "Jesus is Lord." They then bring together six distinctive elements of a discipleship lifestyle.

First, DISCIPLE. Whoever claims themselves to be disciples of Christ must live as Jesus did. It means imitating Christ. It means not just going to Church but being a part of Church. It is not just believing but fully trusting; not just singing songs but surrendering; not simply clapping to God but participating in God's mission; not just observing from a distance but to be up close and personal with God; not just studying the Bible but following hard after Jesus; not just religious bur passionate about loving God through people.

Second, INTENTIONALITY means having a strategy to begin with, a direction to move with, and specific steps to live with. Studying Scripture must be pointed with an attentiveness to Jesus. It is not enough to get Bible knowledge. It is more important to develop a living relationship with God. Spiritual growth is preferred to numerical growth. It means learning to be community.

Third, RELATIONSHIPS is a mark of discipleship. If there is no relationship or discipleship, then any knowledge passed around is simply head knowledge. People can be impressed during lectures but only through relationships can people be impacted.

Fourth, BIBLE is the source of discipleship matters. It helps us develop faith in Jesus, to be sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit, to learn obedience to God and the centrality of Christ in all of our lives.

Fifth, JOURNEY is a popular way to describe the Christian life. Five stages are mentioned.

1. Spiritually dead
2. Infant
3. Child
4. Young Adult
5. Parent

When one becomes a Christian, one becomes an infant. As a child, one learns the do's and don'ts of the Christian life with a mentor as guide. A a young adult, one starts growing away from self-centeredness. As a parent, one mentors others.

Sixth, REPEAT means reproducing others to do the task of discipleship. Disciples make disciples.

Discipleship is too important a subject to be restricted to simply a definition or a concept. It needs to be practical and doable. It requires us to be teaching others even as we learn from the Bible of Jesus and of that living relationship with God. Harrington and Patrick have given us a useful too to launch into any discipleship venture. It is not just a program but a purposeful way of life. It is not just a list of concepts but a tangible movement of learning and growing. It is not simply something to feed the brain but to serve God through ministry to one another in Christ.

With the price of free, you are strongly urged to download, to read, to reflect, and to put into practice what is stated in this very useful resource. Share it widely beginning with yourself.

conrade

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This book is provided to me free by Discipleship.org without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.