Walk With Me

In a Christian culture where disciplemaking has been relegated to professionals, Bill Mowry has revealed from Scriptures that making disciples is something every follower of Jesus can do and should do! Bill is not only an author but a practitioner I have observed firsthand in the context of our local church. I invite you to walk with him on the journey of learning your role in making disciples.

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!

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!

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.

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.

As an elder in my church and small business owner trying to manage a multitude of challenges, I prayerfully enlisted Bill’s help to coach me through the changes and challenges that I face as a leader. Bill has helped me not only with the day-to-day challenges of staying connected to Christ in a busy schedule but has helped me develop the vision for the next chapter of my life with Christ. He has helped me assess priorities, establish a meaningful schedule to accomplish those priorities, and chart my future goals. This accountability has been a spur for action. Bill helps me see how Christ is at work right now in my life and given me a view for the future. As a coach, he is coming alongside me to help me mentor and grow other men in spiritual leadership. I often struggle with feeling inadequate for this next chapter in life but Bill constantly reminds me that I’m not alone in this endeavor and all things are possible with Christ. I appreciate how he challenges me that faith requires action and that my feet will never get wet until I step out of the boat.

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.

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.

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!

Despite being a senior law enforcement executive, I knew I wanted to stay focused and finish strong in both my personal and professional life. Bill coached me through the process of determining my personal vision statement and priorities. As a result of our time together, and Bill’s mentorship, I’ve gained a richer insight into how God has gifted and prepared me for different challenges and opportunities.