The Nuts and Bolts of Discipleship
Tools for Living Out
Our Faith --
A Primer
by William P. Wilson, M.D.
Order Now!
This
book sells for $10.00 plus $ 4.00 for shipping and
handling. We are now taking orders! The book will be sent to
you once the order is here. Make
the check out to Institute of Christian Growth and send
orders to:
William
Wilson, MD
ICG
1209 Virginia Ave.
Durham, NC 27705
"I highly recommend this book (The Nuts & Bolts of Discipleship) because I have learned
that only 5% of people in our church today have been discipled -- and
these have often remained spiritual midgets."-- William P. Wilson, M.D.
The Nuts &
Bolts of Discipleship -- Tools
for living out our faith: a primer "is written
for the committed Christian (new or longer-term) who has
recognized the need to mature and become a competent worker in the
Lord’s vineyard” (page 11). The problem is so many philosophic
Christians who are actually not actively growing in the Kingdom. These are
persons who received Christ with joy and thanksgiving, but fail to grow or mature in the local churches where they worship.Is the problem due to a lack of
healing community in most churches?
The book describes the attributes of
a healing community: what these must be. Is some of the problem based on the
failure of 60% of the ministers in this country to recognize that each
Christian is in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6), and that Satan and his entities of spiritual deception consistently surround
us? Or, is it that church-lay and other
leaders do not want to know what the steps are, that help all of us to
mature as Christ-followers?Are so many Christians in pews as
philosophical Christians only -- with no growing
intimacy with the person of Christ -- in part due
to the failure of the church community to articulate the need? Or resulting from the failure of seasoned members
to demonstrate their own translucency?
Dr. Wilson not only poses
these key questions but also provides insights which startle, but also
enable, us to become part of the solution. “The Christian Community” (Chapter 8) is a gem:
the unique integration of the psychiatric theory of healing communities and
the Christian church as it should be now, and was in the early Christian
church era. This integration is a unique and stunning analysis and all
serious churches should consider it carefully. “Communication is possible only if a
person is available to the other person and willing to converse” (page 73). Dr. Wilson, in this book, shows
for individuals and for a church, the important organizational steps
prerequisite to help us grow in Divine intimacy with Christ.
-- Dr. Elisabeth McSherry,
formerly of Dartmouth Medical School, and currently consultant to the VA
chaplain services.
Discipleship is almost a lost concept
in the church today. There is a lot of emphasis on conversion, church
membership, church activity -- but little emphasis on building authentic
Christian disciples. And yet "making disciples" is the heart of the
Gospel and the purpose of the Great Commission. In many seminaries
today men and women are taught about church theology, church polity, church
administration, church worship -- but little about discipleship. As a
result, most ministers are poorly equipped to lead people to the Lord --
much less disciple them in their faith to maturity in Christ.Dr. Bill Wilson is a discipler of
people. Ever since his own dramatic conversion, he became a mentor and
builder of disciples -- in the medical field as well as in the church.
The same practical skills he successfully used in mentoring medical
students, clinicians, and psychiatrists in the integration of faith into
their medical practices, he later used in discipling people in the church. I highly recommend this practical book on The Nuts 'N Bolts of Discipleship from a dear friend, mentor, and partner in the Gospel.
-- J.L. Williams, D.Min.
Founder and CMO
New Directions International
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