Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual – Product Review

What’s the most effective way to make disciples? By following this step-by-step game plan! Designed to equip small groups to multiply followers of Christ, this 12-week course helps you assess spiritual maturity, understand what it means to be an intentional leader, learn how Jesus used relationships purposefully, discover how the training process works, and more. 208 pages, softcover from NavPress.
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Title: Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual: Equipping Disciples Who Make Disciples
By: Jim Putman, Brandon Guindon, Bill Krause
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 208
Vendor: NavPress
Publication Date: 2010
Dimensions: 10.75 X 8.50 X .75 (inches)
Weight: 1 pound 7 ounces
ISBN: 161521559X
ISBN-13: 9781615215591
Stock No: WW215591

As I boarded the plane back to Oregon, I couldn’t help but think, If this church ends up looking like every other struggling church I’ve ever been in, what will we have accomplished? On Sunday evenings, I had been flying to northern Idaho to meet with a small group of people who wanted to plant a new church and me to become their pastor. If I agreed, how could I ensure we did not end up like so many other churches: struggling to survive, hoping for a better way, but not reaching the potential of God’s design for His church?

I accepted the offer to become their pastor, and the training manual you have in your hands explains how I and the rest of the leadership team at Real Life Ministries answered those questions. There isn’t much theory here. Instead, it is the day-by-day, boots-on-the-ground game plan that we use every day at our church. For the next twelve weeks, I along with Avery Willis, Brandon Guindon, and Bill Krause will coach you through a clear and uncomplicated way to make disciples.


Avery is the executive director of the International Orality Network, and he speaks around the world to both oral and literate audiences.

 


Brandon is the executive pastor at Real Life Ministries. He, along with his team, pioneered the small-groups ministry at Real Life.

 


Bill serves as the family ministry team leader at Real Life Ministries. Together we have boiled down the lessons our church learned through trial and error and put them into this workbook format.

 


You will need twenty to thirty minutes five days each week to do the assignments. It is important for you to complete each learning exercise before reading further. Each day will include interactive activities, passages to look up, and a review section that will summarize what you should have learned.

 

How to Use This Book


Week 1 : A Heart to Make Disciples

  • Day 1 : What Does Winning Look Like?
  • Day 2 : How Do We Obey Jesus’ Command?
  • Day 3 : Make Disciples as You Go
  • Day 4 : The Church Is God’s Team
  • Day 5 : On This Team, Everyone Plays

Week 2 : What Is a Disciple?

  • Day 1 : Jesus Invites Us to Be Disciples
  • Day 2 : “Follow Me”
  • Day 3 : “And I Will Make You”
  • Day 4 : “Fishers of Men”
  • Day 5 : The Invitation Is the Definition!

Week 3 : How Disciples Grow

  • Day 1 : The Spiritually Dead
  • Day 2 : The Spiritual Infant
  • Day 3 : The Spiritual Child
  • Day 4 : The Spiritual Young Adult
  • Day 5 : The Spiritual Parent

Week 4 : Three Keys to Making Disciples

  • Day 1 : A Successful Journey
  • Day 2 : Key #1: An Intentional Leader
  • Day 3 : Key #2: A Relational Environment
  • Day 4 : Key #3: A Reproducible Process
  • Day 5 : The Limitless Potential of God’s Plan

Week 5 : How to Be an Intentional Leader

  • Day 1 : Intentional Leaders Imitate Jesus
  • Day 2 : Intentional Leaders Understand the Game
  • Day 3 : Intentional Leaders Evaluate the Players
  • Day 4 : Intentional Leaders Create an Environment for Growth
  • Day 5 : Understanding God’s Role, Our Role, and the Disciple’s Role

Week 6 : A Closer Look at a Relational Environment

  • Day 1 : Small-Group Priority
  • Day 2 : Opening Relationships So Disciples Can Grow
  • Day 3 : Real Teaching, Real Learning
  • Day 4 : Shepherding Disciples
  • Day 5 : Shepherding Each Other

Week 7 : A Closer Look at the Reproducible Process

  • Day 1 : The SCMD Process
  • Day 2 : Jesus Modeled Sharing
  • Day 3 : Jesus Modeled Connecting
  • Day 4 : Jesus Modeled Training for Ministry
  • Day 5 : Jesus Modeled Releasing Disciples

Week 8 : Share: Being Intentional with the Spiritually Dead and Spiritual Infants

  • Day 1 : Sharing Your Testimony
  • Day 2 : Sharing the Gospel Message
  • Day 3 : Sharing Your Life
  • Day 4 : Sharing New Truth
  • Day 5 : Sharing New Habits

Week 9 : Connect: Helping Spiritual Children Grow

  • Day 1 : Relationships Matter
  • Day 2 : Helping Spiritual Children Connect with Their Father
  • Day 3 : Connecting Spiritual Children with God’s Family
  • Day 4 : Connecting Spiritual Children to Their Purpose in Christ
  • Day 5 : Handling Conflicts

Week 10 : Minister: Helping Young Adults Help Others

  • Day 1 : Making the Transition
  • Day 2 : Equipping to Minister
  • Day 3 : Providing Ministry Opportunities
  • Day 4 : Released to Do Ministry
  • Day 5 : A Break for Review

Week 11 : Disciple: Being Intentional with Spiritual Parents

  • Day 1 : Making the Transition to Parenthood
  • Day 2 : Explaining the Discipleship Process
  • Day 3 : Disciplining Together
  • Day 4 : Releasing to Disciple Alone
  • Day 5 : Maintaining Relationships among Spiritual Parents

Week 12 : One Necessary Tool: A Small-Group Curriculum

  • Day 1 : Why Bible Storying?
  • Day 2 : A Storying Session
  • Day 3 : How to Use Bible Stories to Make Disciples
  • Day 4 : The Phrase from the Stage
  • Day 5 : Guiding the Story in Their Heads, Hearts, and Hands

It is possible for you to work though this book on your own, but we recommend that you work through it with a group of three to ten people. If you are leading the group, we have a leader’s guide at the back of this training manual that will help you facilitate the group.


By the end of the first week, you should be able to explain why making disciples is a priority for both you and your church. By the end of the twelfth week, you should be better equipped to make disciples. Our objective is that you will become a more intentional disciple-maker and have a strong grasp of the process Jesus modeled for us.

Jim Putman                                                                 

Spring 2010

Please Leave All Comments in the Comment Box Below

 


 

 

Author: HBS & DwJ

16 thoughts on “Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual – Product Review

  1. Thank you very much for sharing this product review with us and I think you convinced me to buy this book. At only $ 15 I think it’s very cheap considering how much you can learn from it.
    I find it very interesting that it is divided into 12 weeks, and every day I feel as if I have a task that I have to complete. For example Week 5: How to Be an Intentional Leader I find very interesting. Leaders imitate Jesus, I can’t wait to read these words.

    1. Hello Nimrodngy,

      Thank you for reading and commenting on this post. You are most certainly welcome for the sharing of this product review. Thank you in advance for your purchase of this book, I learned from experience that you will learn steps of discipleship structure from this book.

      Thank you for your continued support,

      Jerry 

  2. Many thanks to you for sharing such an excellent article with us .Your Registration Requires Real-Life Disciple Training for Poetry.Because there is so much to be learned and so many things to know that we cannot achieve through anything else.I want to take topical training in my life and make my life easier.I want to receive disciple training in my life and make my life easier.This is very important for everyone’s life alone so everyone who reads your article will know about the new experience.

    1. Thank You for taking the time to read and comment about this post. There will always be hurdles in life as we know it to currently be. This training doesn’t promise an easier life, however it provides the training required of us in order to be disciples of Christ. There is a lot of work involved with discipleship. This book helps us learn how to constructively overcome the hurdles of life.

      Thank you again for reading and commenting on this review. I pray that you receive the spiritual guidance needed to aid you in this side of life.

      Blessings to you my friend,

      Jerry 

  3. Wow, a drafted plan would always make things easier to achieve and that is one thing I appreciate you for doing. So many failed churches is as a result of lack of plan and these contents of this laid down programs is really amazing as it touches a different part of the human life and members would easily relate to it. You have done a very fine work indeed .

    1. Thank you for your participation in reading and commenting on this review.

      Growth is a commitment, the Word tells us to seek and we shall find, ask and we shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened onto us. If we truly want a relationship with GOD, it is imperative that we go after Him, seek Christ and apply his ways, this the way to the Father in Heaven, through His Son.

      To GOD goes All of the Glory!

      Thank you again for your participation,

      Jerry 

  4. Thank you for giving one nice article about Real life Disciples Training Manual which is written by Jim Putman, Brandon Guindon, Bill Krause.  Of the key insights in this book is viewing discipleship as a growth cycle: birth, infant, adolescent, spiritual parent.

      I bought this book a while back. Here the author has compiled an extensive list of characteristics and phrases that help to identify and assess each person’s growth stage.This book is a powerful resource to accomplish this.

     I really enjoyed reading the book mentioned in your article. I would recommend it wholeheartedly. I would like to share your article with everyone so that everyone can find out more about this book.

    1. You are most certainly welcome, and thank you for considering this, one nice article. It is my absolute pleasure to share this information with everyone, you have my permission share it with everyone you can as well. Thank you in advance for your support in sharing this powerful resource.

      Here’s to spreading the Good News!

  5. Wow 🤩! Never taught I’ll see a review on this book, I over heard a pastor friend of mine talking about this book with his team of Ministers and I could feel the joy he had while sharing his experience of the book. I think I need to get my now.

    Thanks for the review, it’s helpful!

    1. Thank you for the read and comment. Everyone of the Christian belief should invest their seed in this Wealth of Knowledge Return.

      You are most certainly welcome for this helpful review.

  6. Punctuality, Faithfulness, Obey, etc. are the most effective way to make disciples. All you need to follow them step by step game plan. Several systemic ways such as A Heart to Make Disciples, How Disciples Grow, Keys to Making Disciples, etc have been indicated to become a Disciplined individual.

    Several people have been practicing to become disciplined in real life. Following the almost same type of tips and principles.

    This website is very educative and rich in content. People should be involved in this and make a wise decision.

    Thanks for your contribution and sharing.

    1. Thank you for your reading and commenting time on this review. I would also like to thank you for sharing your insight on the information mentioned in this book.

      It is my absolute pleasure to continue to contribute and share the Good News. You are most certainly welcome.

  7. Hello there! Thanks for sharing this vital information about this book. I bought it few months ago and words can’t express the joy I have inside of me as the life examples inside this manual has changed my life and a friend of mine who borrowed it to read. Thanks to the persons who put the book together.

  8. This is a good one. I must first commend the time and energy that you have put into making this website with nice templates and finding time to write an article on the manual for real life disciples. the inspiration that i have gotten from this article is mind blowing. thank you very much

    1. Thank you for reviewing, receiving, and commenting on this review. I am very pleased that you have found this article to be mind blowing. 

      You are most certainly welcome for the construction of this article.

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