Follow: A Handbook for Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Late in 2013, I went on a sabbatical with the hope of getting some rest and writing a book.  I had several chapters of a book called Ride the Lion completed and had hoped to bang out the rest of it and be done.  I spent many days at Slow Train Cafe drinking coffee and trying to write, but little came of it.  It just wasn't time. 

God was impressing upon me the vital need for a revival of individual discipleship.  Recent years have brought a renewed value for small groups, a value that I hope soon translates into a house church movement in the West.  However, there are very few one-on-one discipleship relationships in churches.  Where are the Paul to Timothy relationships of influence?  Who is speaking into new believers?  Who is helping shape maturing believers?  

The problem became especially clear to me when I talked to a seasoned believer about discipling a younger believer.  His response: "I don't know how."  This godly man who had known God for decades had no idea where to start when it came to making another disciple.  That is a tragedy.  

I knew that we couldn't just motivate people to make disciples, we had to disciple them to make disciples.  I also knew that if we were going to see the Kingdom of God multiply, we needed to provide a reference point, something disciple-makers could refer to when they weren't sure what to do.  That's when I realized that we needed a handbook.  

Last year while at a church planter assessment the Holy Sprit moved.  I pulled out my iPad and started typing.  God led every chapter, and the first draft of the book was done in a matter of weeks.  Since then, I've been editing and sharing the book.  We've spent almost an entire year field testing the material in actual discipleship scenarios, and it works!  

I'm not expecting this book to be a best seller.  The truth is that it isn't my best writing.  The simple writing style comes off a lot more like ReWork by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson than Shakespeare.  I don't expect Christians to read it for pleasure and reflect on it as they would with other Christian books.  What I do hope is that Christians make disciples, and that this book is a helpful in that process.