Disciples Indeed (book review)

If you’ve been keeping track of my reading habits, you will know how much I appreciate the wisdom of Oswald Chambers. If you are not as familiar with his works, a great book for pastors and ministry leaders to get initiated into his wisdom is Disciples Indeed.

One reason that My Utmost For His Highest has been so popular (I believe) is the singular thought that Chambers presents each day. In Disciples Indeed you are taken into Chambers’ classroom at the Bible Training College in London, where he is instructing those preparing themselves for full-time vocational ministry. His teaching style was not to weigh his students down with lengthy lectures, but to give these students a place to think more deeply about the things of God.

Disciples Indeed is made up of nearly two dozen lectures. Each lecture presents a single thought in a series of small paragraphs, some of them only a single sentence in length. Chambers’ style of teaching in bullet-point fashion was intended to present profound truths upon which the student could meditate at length. Each chapter appears short on the pages of the book, but there is so much in each lecture for us to ponder.

I highly recommend Disciples Indeed to all “Christian workers” (as Oswald Chambers called his students) who have answered God’s call on their lives to step into a role of teacher, pastor, evangelist, youth leader, or the like. I am confident that your biblical thinking will be greatly enhanced by “sitting in” on these lectures.

Need Power?

In many ways, Labor Day marks the beginning of a “new year.” The summer fun is behind us, a new school year is starting, and everyone is settling back into their normal routine.

Undoubtedly many people begin this part of their “new year” with the same excitement as New Year’s Day, with a renewed passion to accomplish greater things. Perhaps you are thinking about some new habits for this “new year.” Or maybe you are taking a deep breath before you have to dive in to all that awaits you in the next few months.

In any case, the greatest and best thing we can do to prepare ourselves is prayer.

I always start January with a week of prayer, so I want to begin this “new year” with a week of prayer as well. So we will be having a special prayer focus September 4-7. The church will be open each evening from 5:30-6:30pm, but I encourage you to pray with us wherever you are during that week.

Here are some great quotes on the power we can gain in prayer:

“Prayer does not equip us for greater works—prayer is the greater work.” —Oswald Chambers 

Prayer provides the powerto do what we love to do, but can’t do without God’s help.” —John Piper 

“The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits…. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labor of prayer. …Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer cannot do!” —Charles Spurgeon

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