“Best for New Believers”
In this devotional, Tim Chester covers a variety of topics that are fundamental to the Christian faith, church life, and personal holiness. Each section includes an imaginary anecdote, a Scripture reading and explanation, comprehension questions, and suggested action steps. This is appropriate for individuals to work through by themselves, but the author primarily designed this for people to go through with a friend or in a discipleship group. At the end of the book, Chester includes advice for group leaders, suggesting different ways that they can adapt the material for their group's use and foster meaningful conversations.
"Life with Jesus: A Discipleship Course for Every Christian" has a somewhat misleading title. It is for "every Christian" in the sense that it isn't for any particular demographic group, but this is best for new believers who are learning about their faith. People who have already been Christians for years may find this to be a helpful review, but the material focuses on basic concepts that will already be familiar to most Christians. Although there is nothing shallow about the material, it is very basic, and the title and book description could have better reflected the book's target audience.
This is appropriate for teenagers and adults, and can be a helpful discipleship tool in one-on-one meetings or in a group, but this is for people who are just beginning to learn about their faith, or who may have come out of a very shallow church where they didn't learn fundamental things about Christianity. If someone is looking for a deeper take on the topics this book covers, they are better off looking for another resource, especially if they are trying to deepen discipleship relationships in a group of people who have already professed faith and attended church for long periods of time.
Note: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
