4.2 Stars Out Of 5
4.2 out of 5
(3)
(1)
(0)
(1)
(0)
Quality:
4.2 out Of 5
(4.2 out of 5)
Value:
4.2 out Of 5
(4.2 out of 5)
Meets Expectations:
3.8 out Of 5
(3.8 out of 5)
80%
of customers would recommend this product to a friend.
SORT BY:
SEE:
Displaying items 1-5 of 5
Page 1 of 1
  1. Julie
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Inspiring and helpful
    February 24, 2015
    Julie
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    David and Paul Watson raise the bar (in the best way possible) of what it means to be a disciple and what it means to make disciples.

    I grew up in a nominal Christian home then became a true Christ follower in college. Observing churches in the US, I figured it was normal to see maybe a handful of salvations each year (if you were doing really well). So when I read the story about 2 million people being baptized within several years in India that the Watson's begin their book with, I struggled to believe whether or not it was true since it was so far outside what I had seen or experienced. But I also had to ask myself: "What if it IS true? What would that say about our current stats that pale in comparison? What did the Watson's do differently? What could I do differently to get results like that?".

    So I began to learn about and implement the principles in this book about a year ago. Already I am seeing more fruit in my life than I had in the past 10 years combined.

    While a few of the concepts in Contagious Disciple Making may shake some assumptions of the average American Christian (as they did for me when I first learned them), I had to ask myself if my current way was resulting in many coming to know Jesus. I also had to humble myself and realize that whether I "liked" the concepts or not, they were a) working, b) currently being employed all over the world with great results, and c) based on the Bible. The principles were really just getting back to the basics of what the Bible says about discipleship, and they bothered me at first because I thought the best way to "do church" was the American way.

    Reading this book will challenge you, encourage you, and make you think. Implementing the principles in this book will challenge you, change you, change people around you, result in people coming to Christ, and birth new churches.

    Discovery Groups (obedience-based discipleship from inductive Bible study) is the best and simplest evangelistic tool I have ever used and the only one I now recommend and teach others.

    The most helpful chapter in Contagious Disciple Making for me was on Persons of Peace (the idea comes from Luke 10). Reading this chapter helped me narrow down who God was asking me to invest in at this time.

    I will be recommending this book over and over again.

  2. Skyking
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Post Reformational Mininstry
    February 25, 2015
    Skyking
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    David and Paul finally put in one place the principles and strategy that have been bringing millions to a life of obedience in Jesus from India to Africa and in the west.

    Because of the heavy burden of tradition that westerners have laden the gospel with, naysers will sprout like dandelions on unkept soil. But a serious and studious pursuit of what has happened but in quantity and quality of the followers of Christ who were discipled to faith rather than converted ignites a fire in one's soul.

    Having personally been to India and Africa among these movements, I am shamed to by their devotion to Jesus, their impact on their society and their boldness to take the gospel to places most wouldn't go.

    Their is a profound theological and ecclesiological purity in the simplicity of allowing God to lead his followers into organic expressions of the Body of Christ. Our addiction in the west to create form before function is the continued acceptance of a Greek philosophy that cancerously neuters the power of the gospel.

    Don't let David and Paul's simple style be confused by the modern Christianity that most of us have grown up in. There is a powerful and viral impact in the simplicity of allowing unregenerate people to discover God in the Bible in an atmosphere of obedience.

    The friction for me in reading and applying David and Paul's principles was in giving up control. For some reason I had grown up in a Christianity that spoke of an all powerful God but I didn't practice my theology. When I allowed God to be the teacher and simply began putting nonbelievers into God's word and asked them to begin obey it, the scales fell off of my theologically blinded eyes and I saw that what I espoused was actionable in the world that God was working.

    This is must reading for anyone who is serious about the Great Commission. But reading is not enough. Find some friends far from God and ask them to read the Bible with you using David and Paul's strategy. You can stand from afar and be a naysayer but when you get close you will feel like you are standing on holy ground because you will have a front row seat to eternity watching God transform lives without your "human control" and experience obedience beyond belief to God's truth rather than your teaching.
  3. Heather @ Virginia
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    It's contagious!
    November 13, 2017
    Heather @ Virginia
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This book has completely changed my goals and excitement for disciple making. I am on FIRE! This is the first time I have really felt like I am making tangible strides toward living the Great Commission. So many churches want to see the effects of disciple making in their congregations. Sure they have the numbers, but are those butts in seats going out to share the gospel or make relationships for the kingdom's purpose? I can't speak for others, but that wasn't me. Or my family. Or anyone else I knew in a 1000+ person church. Sure the pastors did it, but not regular people like me. "I certainly don't have the knowledge and haven't read the Bible enough. I don't even pray well enough to talk to people about Jesus." I learned from this book I have everything I need to make disciples. My love of Jesus, my belief in the work of the Holy Spirit, and the opportunity to interact with future Christ followers. This book gave me the tools to do that, right where I live in Northern Virginia, next door to our country's capital. It's also one of the most politically and vocationally diverse cities in America, as well as, the 9th largest non-Christian population in the country. The strategies in this book are solid and the tactics are successful when applied with heart and enthusiasm and a belief that God with do the big, hard, scary parts for you. If you're trying to force the ideas in this book by your own will, they won't work. It took me a while, but I learned it doesn't belong to me. Showing up is my only job. And today, I am a Church planter.
  4. Chuck
    4 Stars Out Of 5
    Contagious Disciple Making
    April 15, 2015
    Chuck
    Quality: 4
    Value: 4
    Meets Expectations: 3
    Contagious Disciple Making is a book that leaves many people motivated to want to take the Great Commission seriously. I mean, what Christian doesnt want to be better equipped for bringing people to Christ and seeing them become obedient followers of Jesus? Isnt that the goal for all of us?

    And David & Paul Watson have done an excellent job laying out detailed how-tos when it comes to engaging our friends, family and neighbors with the message and gospel of Jesus Christ.

    Theres no denying that their methods work because of the success they have seen in their lives and their ministry. However that doesnt mean that their methods will work for everyone.

    I am leery of how-tos and step by step methodology when it comes to the realm of areas that should be guided by the Holy Spirit. Not that theres anything wrong with their method but it shouldnt be limited to what has worked for them.

    And so while I have agreed with many parts of this book there are some parts I disagree with.

    My agreements with this book are agreements that every Christian should hold to mainly that true disciples make disciples and everything must be rooted in prayer.

    But when it comes to things I disagree with, they are mere methods and not doctrines.

    Overall this book is a helpful resource in engaging someone to be a disciple maker instead of a pew sitter and this book would be useful for reference when engaging new Christians.

    I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 : Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

  5. Scotty
    2 Stars Out Of 5
    Big claims from traditionally ineffective methods ...
    February 19, 2015
    Scotty
    Quality: 2
    Value: 2
    Meets Expectations: 1
    David and Paul Watson begin their book, "Contagious Disciple-Making" (published by Thomas Nelson) with some pretty big --- correct that --- massive claims of success in their method for making disciples. The rest of their book lays out a methodology that traditionally has been very ineffective. For me, there would have to be some real proof to believe the size of claims made based on the methodology promoted.

    Just how big are those claims? From page xiii in the introduction of the book, the authors write the following:

    "... a formal survey of the work among the Bhojpuri showed that our team actually underreported the number of churches planted in the area! By 2008, another survey of the work revealed 80,000 churches planted and 2 million people baptized. Things were exploding!"

    Yeah, those are big claims! Much more information is needed, such as what are the authors counting as churches, was each person among those 2 million people surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ, and so on. If the claims are accurate, then praise God! But on the face of it, they are questionable, not just because of the size of the claims, but how they say they were accomplished.

    The authors actually start the book from some philosophical points I could agree with, but the more they moved into describing their methodology, the more I had problems with how they claim effective disciple-making should be conducted. The methods they use and promote include the following:

    Focusing almost exclusively on working only within silos.

    Using inductive Bible study with a facilitator only (not a teacher who specifically presents the Gospel) as the primary means of leading the lost to Jesus Christ (inductive Bible studies are routinely ineffective among Christians, much less non-believers!).

    Relying on a "Person of Peace" as their entry into a community. While I understand their point, this "Person of Peace" is an extra-biblical term attached to someone they raise to an essential level.

    The authors seem to have no concern about what is considered a church, writing on more than one occasion that the people who become believers can figure that out for themselves and design what works for them. That's a great formula for having groups that are nothing like what the New Testament tells us a church should be! They're also as lackadaisical about leadership roles in the church as well, even though the New Testament is very specific in this area.

    And finally, the authors commit a very common error seen today, by confusing "discipleship" and "mentoring" and thinking they're interchangeable when they are two very distinct things.

    I found the authors to contradict themselves on more than one occasion by, on the one hand stating that disciple-making must be done biblically, and then writing that new believers can create what works for them. They also write that the disciple-maker shouldn't teach directly, yet state the disciple-maker works very hard for at least a couple of years training leaders. I found several occasions where readers would need more information from the authors to fully understand what they were suggesting.

    I don't know these writers, and perhaps they have achieved phenomenal things using methods that routinely fail elsewhere, but without more substantiation than simple claims made in a statement in this book, there's no way I could recommend this book to anyone. There are proven methods for being effective disciple-makers that are well substantiated that would be worth your time as a reader to pursue.
Displaying items 1-5 of 5
Page 1 of 1