Customer Reviews

The Disciple Making Church: From Dry Bones to Spiritual Vitality

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This is one of several books that I have read in the past couple years that have been transformational for me.

McDonald is the senior pastor of Zionsville Presbyterian Church in suburban Indianapolis, which was organized in 1983 and has been named as one of the 300 excellent Protestant congregations in America by Westminster/John Knox Press.

McDonald bids "farewell" to the "ABC" church -- churches that make attendance, building, and cash their primary concerns. "It's safe to say," McDonald says in his first chapter, "that a large majority of Protestant congregations have made attendance, building, and cash -- as opposed to Christ's Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 to be and to make disciples -- their organizational bottom line." "The dirty secret of the ABC church," McDonald says, "is that its goals are far below the bar that is set in Scripture. It is disturbingly easy to make progress on the scales of attendance, building, and cash even while failing to sustain significant conversation with God or enjoying redemptive relationships with people."

The first half of the book is devoted to questions pertaining to spiritual transformation, framed around six key questions (which would make an excellent sermon series, by the way). The second half of the book identifies six marks of discipleship. I won't spoil the book by telling you what the six questions or the six marks are. Go read this for yourself!

As a mainline Protestant on the "left" end of the theological spectrum, I expected to have some theological issues with this book. I was surprised to discover that I really did not. McDonald is onto something huge here, and we better start listening.

Glenn McDonald is the senior pastor of Zionsville Presbyterian Church in suburban Indianapolis. The Disciple Making Church: From Dry Bones To Spiritual Vitality is the true and inherently interesting story of Pastor McDonald's reaction to a profound question: "How long would it take for someone who visits our church to learn about his or her need for Jesus and to find out what to do about it?" Taking this serious issue to heart, Pastor McDonald overhauled and reexamined everything about his church in light of Christ's call to "go forth and make disciples". Blending insights from scripture, the knowledge of biblical scholars, and highlighting the six discipling relationships and six marks of the disciple, The Disciple Making Church is an inspirational and spiritual testimony that is practical while replete with insights directly relevant to Christian congregations across America and around the world.

Author Glenn McDonald's easy going writing style is perfect for telling the story of how, as pastor of a large suburban congregation, his church was transformed from stressing the ABCs of attendance, building and cash to one that made disciples of Jesus Christ. The book is divided into two parts: six discipling relationships and six marks of a disciple. It correctly points out that being a disciple is based on relationships and on who a disciple is. McDonald weaves Scriptural insights and the wisdom of scholars with the experiences of his own congregation and others, distilling it into a helpful, valuable and enjoyable book. It is a book that will impact pastors, church leaders, seminaries, congregational study groups and individual church members. I recommend it highly.

I enjoyed this read which centers on getting off the ABC's which most churches center on (Attendance, Building, Cash) and on Disciple making. However, progressively as I read it became obvious in our differing centers of theology. I longed to hear about the precious gospel driving all the rest, but instead heard putting people back under law, what they must do to be more like Christ. Only way of doing this is gospel.

Luther said it well: we must never let life dominate over doctrine, for the life of a Christian can never produce proper, true doctrine. However, in the opposite scenario, true doctrine can produce proper life. McDonald offers forth the counter position.

This is not to belittle his desire to make disciples, but begs the question: law or gospel. For this Lutheran, he confuses the two. Nor to belittle his suggestions which at times are beneficial for the life of disciple making, but again read lack of emphasis on means of grace, Word and Sacraments being the power of God to fuel this. Much as I enjoyed his stories to illustrate his point, much rather here reasoning from God's Word. That is why I read classic in our circles which illustrates my theology all this: "Follow Me:Discipleship According to Saint Matthew" by Martin Franzmann. You'll be blessed to find this out-of-print gem and read its gleanings from the First Gospel.

I appreciated very much his conclusion that disciple making is not program oriented, nor set of principles to be duplicated from congregation to congregation.

The Disciple Making Church is an excellent, biblically based approach to discipleship as Jesus demonstrated in the gospels. McDonald uses strong biblical examples to show healthy images of discipleship (including having a discipler for ourselves as well as mentoring others). He continues with six areas in our lives to focus on for developing a disciple mentality that will allow us to grow deeply into Christlikeness. I strongly recommend this book to every Christian who longs to be a true follower of Christ and who desires to implement Jesus' instruction in Matthew 28:19-20 to "Go therefore and make disciples...."

Well developed and easy to read, this book encouraged me and strengthened me to move even more deeply in implementing discipleship into my own life.

A voice crying in the wilderness of the mainline church today - GET BACK TO WHAT GOD PUT YOU HERE FOR! Go and make disciples! This is an excellent book with meat on the bones, and the Breath of Life for the church, if we will only Be Not Afraid of being considered intolerant, live what we believe, and enjoy the blessings of the D,E,Fs (discipleship, evangelism and failthfulness) rather than the anxieties of A,B,Cs of attendance, buildings and cash. If God has called you to leadership in His church in any capacity, don't just read and reread this book and use it as a group study within your congregation - act upon it. As the saying goes, "Someone's life may depend upon it." Thank you, Glenn McDonald.

When introduced when the time is right (God's time, not ours) this easy to read book can inspire members of a congregation to surrender long-standing opinions and embrace Biblical truths with a new excitement and energy. After being introduced from the pulpit by the pastor, 3 small groups immediately inquired about using "Dry Bones" as their next study. The discussion questions at the end of every chapter brings the book from a reference piece to an instrument of change. Thank you, Glenn McDonald

McDonald doesn't teach on making disciples in the same sense as Leroy Eims or Robert Coleman. Instead, he is describing the benefits of mobilizing the church to equip its members. Strengthening their grasp of scripture and their understanding of following God at a deeper level elevated the spiritual life of his church, including substantial growth. So I agreed with his thrust and direction, but found myself wishing he went even further.
-Dennis McCallum, author Organic Disciplemaking: Mentoring Others Into Spiritual Maturity And Leadership

This is one of the best books I've ever read on discipleship. It is well written, easy to read, and tells excellent stories that tie back to scripture.

The first chapter deals directly with the state of many churches today, trying to live by the ABC's (attendance, buidings, and cash) and quickly points out how this is out of line with scripture. The next 14 chapters deal with being a disciple and how to disciple others. As pointed out in other reviews, the information provided in this book would make an excellent sermon series, however, don't miss other uses for this text - this book is excellent for a small group and/or individuals to use in their study of the Word of God. More important - the scriptures referenced in the book are important for the spiritual growth of any believer!

This book is very informative and real, the principles presented makes a lot of sense. There is a lot that one can learn from this book and apply to ones life and the life of ones church.