Author, Gordon MacDonald, wrote of the
changes taking place in how we do church in his book, Who Stole My Church? We can change the music, utilize a more visual
approach, change from being formal to casual in appearance, even
change the name of the church to be more inviting and receptive. We
can bring unchurched people in and lead them to Christ. How do we
then move them from finding Christ to becoming strong, stable, mature
disciples of him?
Gordon MacDonald deals with this
question in his book, Going Deep, Becoming a Person of
Influence. He picks up the story of the fictional congregation
in New England from "Who Stole My Church?" He dives into
the lives of several new characters as the book introduces, develops,
and implements the concept of cultivating deep people.
Gordon MacDonald writes in an engaging,
entertaining, very readable, yet highly thought-provoking style and
this book is no exception. He takes you through the twists and turns,
the successes and the seeming failures of growing deep, mature
followers of Jesus Christ. He opens the story with an off-the-wall
question, "What is your elevator story?" There is twenty
million dollars riding on your answer. You have an elevator ride of
thirty floors to answer...
While not a "how-to" book on
making disciples, Going Deep, Becoming a Person of Influence
gives some excellent visionary concepts to developing disciples of
Christ. One concept kept coming at me time and time again throughout
the book: relationships. We must allow ourselves to develop deep
relationships with those we desire to disciple and pour ourselves
into their lives. Those desiring to grow deeper in Christ must be
willing to develop deep relationships with those who can mentor them.
Going Deep, Becoming a Person of
Influence, though a fictional work, deals head-on with
developing true and mature followers of Jesus Christ who are capable
of reproducing true and mature followers of Jesus Christ. The book is
thought-provoking and inspiring. A vision is cast before the reader
and developed to maturity presenting concepts which can be tailored
and implemented in nearly any church body. I highly recommend this
book to anyone interested in discipleship.
I
received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of
their BookSneeze.com book
review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive
review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing
this in accordance with the Federal
Trade Commission's 16 CFR, part 255: Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
