I was attracted to this used book at Goodwill because our church has been focusing on disciple-making. The style of this book is from my generation, printed in 1988. It looks like a book I might’ve read a long time ago, but I don’t think I did.
No matter when the book is written, the basic concepts of discipleship are the same because what the Bible says about discipleship hasn’t changed. However, the way the material is organized makes a difference in how it’s applied in the reader’s current context.
The tone and feel of the books is a bit dated. But it explains many concepts of what is now called Biblical counseling (we didn’t call it that in the 80’s) and evangelism. The chapter on Imparting the Basics lacked a basic concept of obedience. The basics according to the author are prayer, witnessing, fellowship, and reading the Bible – the usual spiritual disciplines. However, it didn’t say anything about obeying with joy.
That was my experience when I first followed Jesus. I was told to do these 4 things as a discipline. My time with God was very legalistic and guilt-driven.
My favorite chapters are Conviction & Perspective, and Choosing a Life Objective. I’ll have to read those chapters again.
Reading discipleship books helps me understand how to teach and disciple children. We tend to teach children to obey, focusing on behavior only. Conviction and perspectives, and life objective need to be taught to children. The way the author laid it out will help me train others to teach children better.