Publisher's Synopsis
The Word of the Disciple, Parts 1-3, are designed to help followers of Christ (Disciples) to establish a biblical foundation for life and leadership by doing an inductive Bible study of the Gospel of John. The focus of this workbook is on the theological and practical teaching of John about living like Christ in a fallen world by learning how to successfully "abide" (John 15:5-8) in the "living" Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... In him (the "Word") was life..." (John 1:1 and 4a, NIV, bold added). The three parts of The Word of the Disciple include: Part 1: John 1-7; Part 2: John 8-14; and Part 3: John 15-21.This workbook is part of The Bible-Centered Leader Series. Each volume in this series uses discovery learning to facilitate personal "transformation" by establishing a foundation in "spirit and truth" (John 4:24) that will stand the test of time and help you meet the challenges of learning how to be "lovers in a dangerous time" (Musician Bruce Cockburn, Stealing Fire, 1984). If you discover it, you own it, and you may apply it leading to life transformation. The Word of the Disciple is formatted using the IDEA approach of discovery learning for life and leadership transformation. The goal of the IDEA approach is to facilitate the "gracious work" of God through his word and spirit to transform us "into his likeness with ever increasing glory..." (II Corinthians 3:18, NIV). Each chapter has four sections: -Introduction (I) - various translations and paraphrases of the passage to be studied -Discovery (D) - study questions to help you better understand the passage -Explanation (E) - exegetical notes for the passage to help you interpret the passage -Application (A) - questions to help you discern how to apply this passage to your life and leadership These four sections are integrated with the inductive Bible study method to provide opportunities for understanding and applying the life changing truths and principles revealed in the Bible: -Observation - "What do I see?"-Interpretation - "What does it mean?"-Correlation - "How does this relate to what the rest of the Bible says?"-Application - "What does it mean to me?"The Word of the Disciple is not meant for everyone. It is not any easy way to gain insights about the Gospel of John. Actually, it is an invitation to do some time-consuming "digging" into the meaning and application of each passage by developing Bible study skills useful for studying additional passages in the Bible.Take your time and prayerfully and carefully read, study, discuss, apply, and evaluate your progress. Remember that becoming a Bible-centered leader is not an objective as much as it is a process or lifestyle. Over the years you will be transformed and God will reveal the "meat" of his word if you remain "teachable" (Hebrews 5:11-14).
