I would suggest that Christian living is hard because we have never been taught to live the Christian life. We have been taught a lot about the Bible. We know a lot of Bible stories from the Bible. We could give you a lot of Bible facts. We could even throw in a few Greek words and several dates. But we have never been taught, systematically, step-by-step, how to live the Christian life. We read one book that says that the secret is to be continually filled with the Spirit. Is that right? Well, that is part of the answer. But, there is more to discipleship than living the Spirit-filled life. We read another book that says we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. And we are. But, there are 20 other ways we are transformed. Here is this book in a nutshell: Discipleship is complicated. It includes being Spirit-filled, but it is more than that. It included being transformed by the renewing of our minds but it is more than that. A lot more. Twenty things. more. We fail to live the Christian life because we fail to understand how complicated it is. We fail to make disciples because we fail to understand how complicated it is. To paraphrase Einstein, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” If we don’t understand all 21 laws of discipleship we oversimplify things. The result?
Josh Hunt, The 21 Laws of Discipleship (Good Questions, 2024). |
If you have a request for a book, email me at josh@joshhunt.com | Years ago, I read this verse in my Quiet Time:When you come, be sure to bring the coat I wrote in the margin of my Bible: Books have always been important The passing years have confirmed that observation to be true. Most of the godly people I have known were lovers of books. They have shelves full of books in their homes. They read nearly every day. They love to hang out at Barnes and Noble. When I think of my own walk with Christ, the same dynamic holds true. Books have been the #1 influence in leading me into a maturing relationship with Christ. My guess is this is true of many believers. What is even more interesting is that most of them have read the same books. It seems there is a core curriculum of spiritual maturity that most of us have enjoyed. It is the core curriculum of great books that will be the backbone of a new curriculum outline. The Great BooksI am pleased to introduce the release of a new curriculum outline. For years I have written four lessons a week, based on the suggested texts of someone else’s outlines. With this new outline, I will invite groups to join me in reading The Great Books and discussing the Bible verses in those books. I plan to write these first four and then evaluate from there. If I get positive feedback, the plan would be to write about 6 a year. This way, you will always have choices. I will be writing more than you have time to complete. These studies will be suitable for Sunday morning as well as mid-week groups. Participants will be encouraged to buy and read the corresponding book. I will be writing a study guide in the form of Good Questions Have Groups Talking. These will be available on Amazon, in both print and Kindle versions. In addition, they will be available by subscription as part of www.mybiblestudylessons.com . Churches would be encouraged to subsidize the cost of the books. I do not encourage churches buy the books outright, as the typically do with Sunday School curriculum. If people will not pay for the book, they are likely not going to read it. Nothing has influenced my life—except for reading the Bible itself in Christian Quiet Time—like the reading of The Great Books. My dream is that this plan will encourage thousands of Christians to benefit from these books in the same way that I have. |