Ordinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation

by Jessie Cruickshank, Christine Caine (Foreword by)

Overview

God wired your brain for transformation.

Jesus told his followers, “Go and make disciples of every nation,” but a lot of us stop before we start—because we feel like we don’t have what it takes. But Jesus didn’t ask spiritual superstars to make disciples. He invited ordinary people into the adventure of following Him.

Jessie Cruickshank learned how to be a disciplemaker in the wilderness. When she connected her training in outdoor adventure ministry with her Harvard degree in neuroeducation, God showed her a pathway for ordinary disciples of Jesus to experience profound spiritual growth.

• You can help someone choose to go somewhere they have never gone before and to be brave enough to choose to change.
• You can model a new way of living.
• And you can share your own hard-fought wisdom on the journey of faith.

Jessie Cruickshank will help you navigate the terrain, be inspired by the vast sky, and move toward the hope to which you are called. With Joseph Campbell’s iconic hero’s journey framework as a guide, you’ll discover how a spirit of adventure, brain science, and passionate faith can equip you for the greatest adventure of all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641587327
Publisher:	Tyndale House Publishers
Publication date:	05/09/2023
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	898,441
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x (d)

What People are Saying About This

Jim Wilder

“Not biologically possible.” The words leapt off the page as Cruickshank described the most common discipleship method I have seen attempted all my life. Ordinary Discipleship clearly guides us to change the way the brain learns the life of the Spirit.

Roy Moran

Jessie Cruickshank is the dangerous sort. She robs the intelligentsia of vital concepts they attempt to obfuscate and makes them visible and usable to everyday people. Ordinary Discipleship is a bit of sleight of hand. Jessie takes a hidden and seldom-used concept, priesthood of the believer, and makes it operational for the average Joe and Sally. Dare I say that it is a breath of fresh air to read not only because she uses her outdoor experience as metaphor from cover to cover but also because the ever-abiding references operate like superglue, attaching the concept to concrete, doable actions. I am roped up and ready to use this tool!

Aubrey Sampson

My friend Jessie Cruickshank lives and believes what she writes. As a church leader, it has been a long time since I’ve read such a practical resource for those in disciplemaking. The church needs this work. In fact, while this book is itself accessible and “ordinary”—the words here are paradigm-shifting and world-changing. You’ll leave these pages equipped, encouraged, and ready to start your own adventure of ordinary discipleship. A must-read for all who want to lead others in following Jesus.

Rowland Smith

Discipleship is a word that often haphazardly gets thrown around in the church. Definitions are numerous; achievement is rare. Though this book title uses the word “ordinary,” it is an extraordinary call to the true north of the church . . . making disciples who also make disciples. Jessie does a tremendous job of serving as our guide through the journey of not only being a disciple but teaching others to be guides as well.

Michael Frost

For Jessie Cruickshank discipleship isn’t an outcome—it’s a process. In this insightful book, Jessie fuses a biblical understanding of discipleship with the taxonomy of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey and shows us how spiritual maturity is an extended process of learning and unlearning, being broken and remade. Or to use her words, it is “climbing the mountain and coming back down again.” Here’s the guidebook to get you started on that heroic journey.

Daniel Im

Recently, there’s been a lot of buzz around brain science and discipleship. What does this mean? How does it intersect? What can we do differently? In this book, you are going to find the answers to these questions, but it’s not going to be in the way that you might initially think. Jessie offers a practical and accessible framework to easily help you leverage the insights from brain science into discipleship and disciplemaking. It’s amazing. Don’t miss this important work.

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Rios

So much of what we are seeing in today’s church behavior in and outside of the building can be linked to discipleship (or the lack thereof). This simple, practical, and inspiring book is needed in this time to help ordinary people like you and me join in on an amazing opportunity and privilege that we are actually made for . . . that of making disciples of Jesus. Jessie provides helpful insights, stories, and even brain science to point the way for us to lean into a God-given invitation to be agents of transformation for lives around us.

Editorial Reviews

02/20/2023

Minister Cruickshank (coauthor, Activating 5Q) suggests ways for Christians to lead nonbelievers to Jesus in this mixed offering. Charting a path for Christians who wish to mentor disciples, the author argues that “God hardwired our brains for transformation,” and so “anyone can help anyone else change.” Cruickshank uses the “hero’s journey” to model this evolution, explaining how ordinary Christians first need to “answer the call” to disciple another person—and acknowledges that while this can be an intimidating prospect, only Jesus can “decide that you are qualified” to lead. After accepting the call, it’s important to connect with like-minded disciple-makers for support. Eventually, disciple-makers will reach the “struggle” at the heart of the quest, sometimes in the form of internal narcissism (making the discipleship about one’s ego, as a way to “prove” their role in the church) or desire for power (focusing on having a “follower” rather than serving God). One must be vigilant in identifying these impulses and redirect themselves toward God’s mission, she reminds. Despite an occasional lack of argumentative clarity, this entry provides useful motivation to believers, and delivers it in a tone that’s earnest but not cloying. Christians aiming to deepen their faith practice should take a look. (May)

Publishers Weekly