Life in Christ: A Manual for Disciples

"Life in Christ" has been on the market for a long time. In terms of Christian books that usually says good things about the quality of the work.Billed as "A Manual for Disciples", this workbook is a very thorough examination of all aspects and disciplines of the Christian life. Its nearly three hundred page length attests to the breadth of material that is covered. Topics such as knowing God, prayer, the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Christ, testing of one's faith, and evangelism make up just a few of the areas covered.Each chapter follows a topical study that has a short passage of the Bible to read with a question or two afterward about the passage. There are sidebars that explain some concepts as well as stories by Christian figures. Opportunities are presented for journaling and Scripture memory.The sidebars are especially enlightening and cull from some of the greatest Christian writers and preachers. The assemblage of thought here is splendid. You hear from the likes of Leonard Ravenhill, Billy Sunday, D.L. Moody, R.A.Torrey, J.I. Packer, Charles Spurgeon, Vance Havner, George MacDonald, and others. That list should give you a feel for where this manual is coming from doctrinally. Frankly, I think it is superb in this regard.It is also worthy to note that this workbook is absolutely filled with superb engravings from artists such as Gustav Dore. The illustrations give the book a serious feel and help to highlight the profundity of the material covered. Never have I seen a book of this type so well illustrated. A delight for the eyes as well as the soul!If I have any problems with the material it is that it has a tendency to ask questions that require only simple responses. While there are many thought-provoking questions and sections, a few don't really delve that deeply. If you intend to use this as a guide for a group, take time to unpack some of the questions a bit more for best results.Let me end this review by saying that I've used this workbook with new Christians and it has brought excellent results. You would not go wrong in considering it for your discipleship materials.

I find Tony Salerno's "Life in Christ" discipleship manuel to be the best I've ever found and I've used it the past 15 years or more as a foundational text for teaching the basics of the faith especially to new coverts. I've required anyone who aspires to our church leadership to go thru this material with me one-on-one as a prerequisite. [This is part of building unity of faith within our church.] I even made up a "final exam" based on this manuel for each student who would complete "discipleship." If there is a better discipleship manuel out there in Christiandom, I sure would like to know. I do supplement this manuel with my own teaching but the framework provided to hang my own stuff is just excellent. There's 10 chapters each dealing with a specific topic; I think Salerno picked the 10 most essential for the "basic" Christian. Bible doctrine could be "dry" but Salerno has good illustrations, pictures and anecdotes, so I find what is taught is interesting and edifying. I don't find the "extremes or distinctives" of varied denominations taught here; all teachings seem to be very basic and biblically grounded. My own personal preference would be for the manuel to use the NIV (New International Version) rather that the KJV (King James Version). Students need to write their response to questions in the manuel and all my students uses the NIV--for easier, better understanding of the Holy Scripture. But other than that, anyone going thru this manuel with the right attitude will be well on their way to becoming a solid disciple of Christ.

"Life in Christ" is a wondeful discipling tool for communicating the basic Christian doctrines with a new believer. This text guides a new believer in exploring and studying the Scripture, realizing they have a testimony and encouraging them to witness. My husband and I went through this study about six months after our conversion and were blessed by its thoroughness. The artwork throughout the pages is beautiful.