Walk With Me

I’m excited about what God is doing through our partnership with Bill and The Navigators to build a disciplemaking church. We started small with a Discipleship Leadership Team, whom I led through The Ways of the Alongsider. Last September, each person on that team applied what they learned from the Alongsider by leading a discipleship triad (a group of three people) through The Navigators 2:7 discipleship series. There is now nearly thirty people in micro-disciplemaking groups. We’re finishing with the 2:7 series this fall and then many of the current triad members will launch disciplemaking triads of their own, thus doubling people in the disciplemaking process. Multiplication is happening! I’ve preached a 10-week series on our picture of a disciple. While I’ve preached on disciplemaking from the pulpit, behind the scenes, the Discipleship Leadership Team is building the life of a disciple into people’s lives. We’re excited about the changed lives that God is producing through our investment in disciplemaking.

I had never heard of a LifeCoach until about a decade ago when in a conversation with Bill he wisely prescribed a LifeCoach (himself) for me. I’m quite grateful for Bill’s skillful mentoring and encouragement impacting my life at a significant crossroads. His coaching helped give direction that clarified my life version and my God-given contribution. I’m living out these discoveries in my life today.

Bill Mowry writes with winsome clarity about a subject that is near to the heart of God and invites us into the ways of Jesus Christ. No other topic reflects more fully the life and purposes of Jesus than His focus on helping everyday people walk with God and reflect His character. Bill makes it doable for all of us, people in busy lives and in a culture that tries to pull us away from meaning and relationship.

Bill’s gifting is not only in helping leaders to understand the necessity and potential of creating a discipleship culture in the local church, it is a life coach – discipling leaders to greater faithfulness and fruitfulness in their calling as Christ followers. With Bill’s partnership, I am experiencing renewed passion for the work of the gospel, greater focus to and effectiveness in my ministry, even growth in the health of my relationships and care of self.

How does a church change its culture to a place where disciplemaking is a way of life? Bill Mowry’s book “The Ways of the Alongsider” is helping us do this. The Ways of the Alongsider maps out an intentional guide for disciplemaking. The book teaches such simple tools as building authentic relationships, helping others love and live the scriptures, and practicing application and accountability. My people are becoming more confident in discipling others — building genuine friendships with a purpose. The Ways of the Alongsider is helping our church change how help people become Jesus’ disciples.

After seeing the dead end of church life driven by constant programming and new gimmicks, I believe American Christians are beginning to rediscover the beautiful simplicity of Jesus’ method of disciplemaking. Walk With Me is a practical guide for this journey. With decades of hands-on experience, Bill Mowry offers practical advice and helpful stories about learning how to make disciples in everyday life. Whether you’re a church leader looking to lead culture change, or a churchgoer who is ready to get in the game and make disciples, this book is for you!

In 2015 we started Zanesville Neighborhood Church with a group of people who were passionate about living on mission with God and making disciples. While our church, like many others, knew what God was asking us to do, we needed help on how to do it. Bill’s coaching on the how of disciple-making has been timely and critical for our church to realize the vision that God had embedded in us from the very beginning. Because of Bill’s coaching, I and the church that I lead are now being given disciple-making methods to match our missional heart. We are so grateful!

I love Bill’s statement that “most of disciplemaking is sticking with people until they get it.”  Bill lives the ways of an alongsider, sticking with people like me, applying the love described in 1 Corinthians 13.  Many of us in the Christian life have never experienced an alongsider in our lives. Sometimes we’ve been hurt by being abandoned by others just when we needed them the most. We all need the commitment of an alongsider! This book has given me some tools and principles to help others grow in Christ. It teaches me how to stick with others. I highly recommend The Ways of the Alongsider to you and to your church.  The world needs far more alongsiders!

The Navigators did something different in their disciplemaking training. They led us back to our neighborhoods! Our church family has always had a heart for serving in our neighborhood but it was often limited to a one time, do good event. Now, since we’re making strides to build a disciplemaking culture, our outreach and service looks different. We still serve in our neighborhood, but we aim to connect in relational ways and place a priority on building on-going relationships. It is in these on-going relationships that we’re trusting God for gospel conversations. We have moved our evangelism training from large workshops to our disciplemaking triads for greater accountability and application. Our church family now goes about their daily activities with eyes open to the lost people around them, trusting God to start faith conversations. We pray corporately for these people, we intentionally equip our people to excel at building relationships for the the gospel, and we look for every opportunity to start spiritual conversations. It’s beginning to impact our Sunday worship services. Now our guests are being invited by a friend. What a blessing to work with Bill and the Navigators, God has used them to transform us to more fully devoted followers of Jesus.

After over twenty-plus years of pastoral ministry, I realized I was missing a piece of the ministry puzzle — making disciples. Working with Bill Mowry has helped us rearrange and put in order the puzzle pieces for a disciplemaking church. Bill came alongside us and helped us understand the need for and gave us the tools to help us fulfill our church’s mission to “Glorify God and Make and Nurture disciples.” Seeing people in our church making disciples is a breath of fresh hope for us. We have taken the slow path of culture building and seen a well-meaning but typically ineffective church culture change to a disciplemaking culture.