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Discipleshift: Five Steps That Help Your Church To Make Disciples Who Make Disciples (2013)

by Jim Putman(Favorite Author)

4.14 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0310492629 (ISBN13: 9780310492627)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Zondervan

review 1: These are a cut&paste from a word doc that I wrote:DiscipleShift by Jim Putman & Bobby HarringtonChapter 1 The Engine That Drives It All• This chapter gave an introduction on the effectiveness of the church. He then described four main categories of churches based on focus and methodology:o Category 1: Educational - a pastoral-educational focus with a classroom methodologyo Category 2: Attractional - an attractional focus with an entertainment methodologyo Category 3: Missional - a missional focus with a service-opportunity methodologyo Category 4: Organic or "Home" - a fellowship focus with an organic methodology• I'd have to say that Riverside is probably a Missional church (which probably aligns with the mission we used to espouse). The author then describes what s... morehould be the focus and methodology: Focus = biblical discipleship, methodology = relational environmentsShift 1 From Reaching to MakingChapter 2 Defining a Disciple• Ask yourself two questions: What's the purpose of the church, What is a disciple. The chapter then defined a disciple as:o Follow me: acceptance of Jesus (head)o And I will make you: changed by Jesus (heart)o Fishers of Men: saved for a purpose (hands)Chapter 3 How to Start Growing People• There are 3 parts to the discipleship process: my part (disciple maker), their part, God's part. The chapter then uses a diagram to describe the 5 stages of discipleship:o Level 1: Dead - spiritually dead - people in this stage have not yet accepted Christ as Lord and Savioro Level 2: Infant - spiritually alive - have decided to follow Jesuso Level 3: Child - continuing to grow in relationship with God, beginning to grow in relationships with other Christianso Level 4: Young Adult - shifting from self-centered to being God- and other-centeredo Level 5: Parent - has a solid understanding of God's Word, a deep, abiding relationship with God, and a desire to be involved in raising up other disciplesChapter 4 The Four Spheres• A disciple grows in 4 main spheres of life. o In his relationship to God head: does the person I am discipling know what Jesus teaches about growing in relationship to him? heart: are there visible changes happening in this person's life? hands: are they willing to follow Christ in the direction he is leading them?o In his relationship with God's family, the church  head: does the person that I'm discipling know what the Bible teaches about the church? heart: are they growing in their love for others in the body of Christ? hands: have they developed the relational skills they need in order to have healthy relationships with other believers?o In his home life o In his relationship to the worldShift 2 From Informing to EquippingChapter 5 The Role of the Leader• The equipping of this shift comes from Ephesians 4. A leader not only shepherds others but he creates a shepherding environment. 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 list qualities that reflect on the character of the man not his skill level or intelligence. There are 4 relational environments:o Intimate Discipling Relationships (one leader interacting with 2-3 people)o Personal Discipling Relationships (one leader interacting with 10-12 people)o Social Discipling Relationships (one leader interacting with up to 120 people)o Public Discipling Relationships (one leader interacting with larger crowds of people)Chapter 6 A New Job Title: Equipper• Before Jesus focused on doing something, he focused on being in relationship with God and with his disciples. The 4 main roles of a disciple-making pastor:o an authentic disciple - men of prayer, Bible study, and the inner life of the spirito a discipleship-system builder - given the task of leading a church in which he is to create a system in which people are taught how to be discipleso a developer of leaders - not everyone is a leader, should be able to identify emerging/gifted leaders and help them grow; 3 problems: too busy doing work to see and develop leaders looking for already-developed leaders looking for people who can do everythingo a vision caster - cast the vision and keep telling people what it isShift 3 From Program to PurposeChapter 7 Components of Person-to-Person Discipleship• 3 necessary components to disciple-making process:o Word of God: small groups should be dedicated to regular Bible studyo Spirit of God: does the work of God in our lives (transformation)o People of God: can't separate relationships from the disciple-making process (Romans 12:9-21)• Because leaders have failed to correctly define biblical relationships and live in them, our churches are filled with people who have no understanding of what it means to be in a discipling relationship.Chapter 8 Rolling Up Our Sleeves and Engaging• This chapter goes into the methodology based on 4 words:o Share: we incarnate Christ's life in a lost world and then invite people to respond to Christo Connect: we help new Christians associate with other disciples and consecrate themselves to GodMinister: we demonstrate service to others, delegate service opportunities, and supervise the progresso Disciple: we expect mature disciples to learn to reproduce other disciples, and we trust the Holy Spirit's impartation in their lives to guide them• It overlays the 5 Stages of Discipleship chart from chapter 3.Shift 4 From Activity to RelationshipChapter 9 Rethinking Our Practices• This discusses alignment and making sure that ministries align with your mission. In order to do this, a ministry needs 5 components:o a clear goal of discipleshipo an intentional leader who makes discipleso a biblically relational environmento a reproducible processo a supporting organization• It's easier to not start a new mission than to kill an existing one.Chapter 10 The Relational Small Group• Components of a small groupo shepherdingo teachingo authenticity and accountabilityShift 5 From Accumulating to DeployingChapter 11 A New Scorecard for Success• The goal is to move away from scorecards that are metric based to ones that are based on share, connect, minister, disciple. The books gives lots of example types of questions to ask.Chapter 12 Making the "DiscipleShift" in Your Church• 5 steps:o Develop Biblical Visiono Create a Common Languageo Develop the Disciple-Making Processo Live Out Your Visiono Assess, Correct, and Encourage
review 2: This book for the Mission of the Church and Jesus Christ's final command, is a what strategy and practical hands-on books are to business reading. There are those books that paint broad stroke pictures. This book gives God-given guidance that each Parish and Church needs if they are struggling with what they should be doing in this current again. There are more practical examples of what you can and should do to successfully make the disciples in your congregation that can then, 'Go, make disciples of all the world...'I fell on this book after reading Pastor Bonhoeffer's, "Cost of Discipleship" and Rev. Putman's other two books, "Church is a Team Sport," and "Real-life Discipleship". We use the process described in this book to make disciples who make disciples. We are in the midst of the 'shift'. We have not yet arrived, but we are on the path. In the end, as people work through the focus of being and making disciples, one needs encouragement. This book is that encouragement. The on-line references add support to what is being described in the chapters as your church moves from Reaching to Making, from Informing to Equipping, from Programs to Purpose, from Activities to Relationships, and finally from Accumulating to Deploying. Read it with an open heart. Pray for wisdom and God will guide you in to everything He has called us to do in His Church. Follow Christ, be changed by Him and then move and go on His mission that He has called all of us to do. And change the world in love, one soul at a time. less

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