Review: Disciple by Bill Clem

COMING SEPTEMBER 2011

Becoming a disciple of Jesus is about integrating ourselves into the story of God, no longer as rebels, but as co-laborers with the hero of the story--Jesus Christ. DISCIPLE by Bill Clem is all about this integration, and it is an incredible exposition on what it means to be a genuine follower of Jesus Christ.

Through an incredible use of storytelling Bill Clem introduces us to discipleship beginning with the overall biblical narrative as God's story where God is the primary character who has created human beings in his image to reflect his character, nature, and glory to the world. Clem takes time to show Jesus as the unrivaled hero of the story because the humanity created to image God has been marred by sin and is in desperate need of rescue, atonement, and transformation.

Clem shows discipleship as a return to imaging God, and he covers some of the main components of this imaging--worship, community, and mission. After revealing what each of these looks like for disciples in the story of God, Clem shows us several of the ways these elements are often distorted in a disciple's life.

The book closes with creating a discipleship plan and a challenge for disciples to be disciple-makers. As disciples image God in the world, the story of God spreads and rebels in the story are transformed into disciples.

Each chapter closes with a journaling activity through passages of the Bible. DISCIPLE is a great guide on what it means and what it looks like to be a genuine disciple of Jesus in the world.

I received this book for free from Crossway through NetGalley.com