Being a Disciple

I am currently using this book for a study at home with my husband, two daughters (teens) and a good friend. We are all in varying places of spiritual development and maturity so it has been interesting to hear the different opinions on the depth of the material. Those of us who have been following Christ for awhile have heard the scriptures used in the book many times and so the concepts presented sometimes seem basic. However, my youngest daughter (15) feels it is way over her head. And even for those of us who have heard it before, we have learned things we did not know and of couse, even reminders are always beneficial because who among us has actually mastered what it means to be a disciple? :-) It has been taking us closer to 90 minutes to complete each week's material. I definitely recommend the book but someone does need to be appointed as a facilitator. The facilitator should read ahead of the group each week and be prepared to guide the conversation. (and that is recommended in the book - good advice!) We have not been doing that prior to this week and I think that is why it is taking so long. Plus the facilitator is then prepared to help those in the group who may have less Bible knowledge or understanding of theology and also challenge those in the group who give the "Sunday school response" to go deeper in their answers to the discussion questions. I bought this book hoping to introduce those closest to me to inductive Bible study which Kay Arthur is a huge proponent of. I'm not sure it has really accomplished that goal but what it has done is to make us really think and contemplate on what it means to be a follower of Jesus. What is the true cost? How do we know if we or others are truly followers? What has Christ promised His disciples? What has Christ commanded of His disciples? These are the types of questions that will be answered through this study. The beauty of inductive Bible study is to teach people how to interpret God's word for themselves. Because of the book's stated purpose of moving through the material in 40 minutes and no homework, questions are slanted to lead participants to the "answers" rather than guiding them through a process of self-discovery. I am hoping to eventually move our intimate house study group into something that has a self-study component (homework) so that they can really begin to see how inductive study works. Unfortunately this type of study just can't accomplish that. We did like it enough to move on to another of the 40-minute studies for our next session. We'll be ordering the one on effective prayer. So ultimately it depends on what you want to accomplish in your group as to whether or not this book would be a good fit. If no homework and a limited amount of time to work through the study are important then give it a try. If your group desires something deeper and you feel that they will commit to homework then I would look elsewhere. Kay Arthur and many oth

I am doing a Bible study with two of my friends and we do not have a lot of time to spend. What this study does is focus on the subject. We spend the time on the study part and that gives us more time to spend on our fellowship and prayer portions. It is not that we don't want to spend more time studying, but that with our schedules, we only have a limited time for it with each other. I would recommend this for a good study with the people wanting to have a varied time together, studying, praying, fellowshipping. A great tool.