“I’ve come to realise that when people don’t know what to do, they don’t do anything”
– Robby Gallaty
Robby is the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist church located in the Belvoir community of Chattanooga, TN. In Growing Up Robby shares vulnerably his rocky past of drug addiction and shares how Jesus used this and radically changed him. In 2002, he experienced a Paul-like conversion and surrendered his life to Christ, changing his life forever. He is also the author of Unashamed: Taking a Radical Stand for Christ and Creating an Atmosphere to HEAR God Speak.
This quote from Robby in the introduction is a sad but true statement, are we as Christians actually informing people of what we have been called to do? Are we communicating effectively what it means to truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Looking at the current state of the church in the West the answer is no, but there is small pockets of disciple living and creating amongst us.
After reading this book I am certain it will be an outstanding resource to go through for years to come. Ed Stetzer (the man with the goatee and author, speaker, researcher, pastor, church planter, and Christian missiologist) calls it a “Church tested, scripturally rich” book and I would agree with him. It is encouraging when you turn the pages to see every idea and model built on a biblical foundation. The one thing this book is not designed to be is to only be read and put on a shelf; it is not a one time read and is a book I would recommend to be used for future study both personally, in small groups and in discipleship groups. Each chapter has questions to reflect on and in the back of the book you will find a vast range of resources in which to use in your group. Robby strongly encourages discipleship groups of 3-5 people as the optimal environment for making disciples. Scripturally and functionally he explains how these groups work and does this in a very clear way. A lot of us can feel like asking, ‘How do I do discipleship?’ and this is a very practical book that will not leave you without answers.
At times the book can seem very prescribing, for example Robby states, “to fulfil its purpose and be profitable, each meeting must be focused on the disciple-building activities discussed throughout this book”. This is a very minor critique but it could look like this is the only method by which to carry out The Great Commission for a new believer, however I know this is not the intention.
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Being a disciple means making disciples: it means sacrificially investing in people and yourself, following Jesus and His gospel mission; that’s what gospel centred discipleship is all about. It can be messy, imperfect, but life changing. Robby is a good guy and bold leader that God has used to teach me through this book and it is an amazing resource and gem for those seeking to grow in their own discipleship and discipleship of others. This is a must have book and I hope that in reading this book it challenges your heart and thinking on how you do and view discipleship.
Thank you for emailing me the book brother.
Info on the book can be found on >>>> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Growing-Up-Disciple-Makes-Disciples-ebook/dp/B00GHB68OS/ref=la_B002GF1LPA_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396426214&sr=1-1
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