Book Summaries

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Teatime Discipleship Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Sally Clarkson 

  • You do not have to be a Bible scholar to love others well. 
  • Enjoy the blessings of sitting at the Master’s feet and gathering others to sit there with you. 
  • Teatime can be a time to stop, sit, and steep on the Word of God. Let your soul be refreshed. As a result, you will be able to share with others.
  • When you become a host, you become responsible for all those under your roof. Invite others to partake of what you have and what you know.
  • Everyone needs friends and fellowship, but go look for it instead of waiting for others to open the doors to you.
  • Your house does not need to be perfect rather open for others to come in.
  • When you serve and help others, God will give you the friends that you need.
  • Relationships are built on time together.
  • Becoming a safe person, one that could be trusted, is vital for relationships and discipleship.
  • Hospitality and friendship are paths to share the love of God with others.
  • Be sure you are being spiritually nourished and refreshed so you can nourish and refresh others. 
  • Discipleship is not about looking good, or your knowledge or experience; it’s about being faithful to serve. 
  • Sometimes you need to move your own things aside for a divine appointment God has for you and someone else. 
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Suffering is Never for Nothing: Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Elisabeth Elliott 

  • It is through the deepest sufferings that God teaches us the deepest lessons. 
  • We can come through anything knowing that God is in charge, He has a loving purpose, and He can transform something terrible into something wonderful.
  • A simple definition for suffering could be: having what you don’t want or wanting what you don’t have. 
  • We wonder if God is paying attention, and the answer is yes. He does love us and He is doing something and He will do something.
  • From the worst thing in the world (the cross) comes the greatest thing in the world (salvation).
  • Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God.
  • When Job asks God questions during his suffering, God never does seem to answer the questions. God replies back with more questions for Job.
  • Faith is not a feeling, it is a wield action of obedience.
  • Two things that should distinguish a Cristian are acceptance and gratitude.
  • Make it a habit of saying thank you Lord instead of complaining. 
  • You can thank God in advance because you know that no matter what happens, God is still in charge.
  • Gratitude honors God.
  • Gratitude prepares the way for God. 
  • If my life is broken for Jesus, it might mean that He wants to use it to feed the multitudes.
  • Suffering will cause us to long for that better country.
  • Colossians 1:24 and Philippians 1:29 speak about the joy of suffering.
  • The best fruit comes after the pruning. The best gold comes from the refining fire. Joy comes out of sorrow, and life comes out of death.
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Stepping Up Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Dennis Rainey

  • A man stepping up does the following five things: 
        1. Protects his Passion. He does not touch or mess with a woman that is not his wife. He protects his eyes.
        2. Provides for his family. 2 Thes. 3:10
        3. Protects his family. If there’s a thief that comes, the man steps up and protects his family. Proverbs 4:10–15 says a father passes on wisdom to his son.
        4. Serves and leads his family. 
        5. Follows God‘s design for true masculinity. Micah 6:8. The core of a man’s life should be his relationship with God. 
  • Too many boys are growing up without fathers. So they grow up looking mature, but they are not. 
  • A boy must know his identity, who he is to God. That he’s accountable to a Creator God. 
  • A boy must know God has a plan for his specific life. 
  • They will get their life’s mission from their dad. 
  • A boy without a father figure is like an explorer without a map. 
  • Don’t leave your son to find out life on his own. 
  • Every boy needs a father who is a role model. Be involved and intentional as you raise your son. 
  • A boy doesn’t know that today’s foolishness is tomorrow’s shame. 
  • Your greatest pressure as a dad is to withdraw from your son when he kicks back against you. 
  • Many fathers help their son know how to work and drive but not how to avoid sin traps, character, convictions and become a man. 
  • A dad needs a relationship with his son. Relationships are built on trust and transparency. 
  • Stepping up to be a man is not a one time decision but a journey of a million steps, its a lifetime process. 
  • Nothing comes to the man that is passive, except for failure.
  • Real men accept responsibility instead of passing blame; they find solutions instead of making excuses. 
  • Being a man requires initiative and initiative requires action. 
  • Doing nothing is the easiest thing to do, it’s what the majority of people do. Take a stand to teach your son to respect, your daughter to dress correctly, your own eyes to not wander and loving your spouse. 
  • Praying with you wife is one of the most powerful things you can do as a man. 
  • No amount of success at work can take the place of failure at home. 
  • We were made to generationally outlive ourselves by mentoring other young men. 
  • “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”— Edmund Burke
  • Protect your marriage, your relationship with your wife. 
  • If there’s ever been a day for men to put their hand to the plow and not let up (with their wife and family), it’s today. 
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Start With Why Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Simon Sinek

  • There are leaders and those that lead. Leaders hold influence and inspire others.
  • 80% of people say they do not have their dream job. 
  • There’s only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or inspire it.
  • Most companies do not know why their customers are their customers, they erroneously think it’s because they have better quality. 
  • Every company knows what they do, that is easy to detect. Some companies have figured out the how. Very few companies have figured out the why – their purpose and belief, the reason they exist.
  • Every company or individual that is successful works from the inside out, they have figured out why they do what they do.
  • What a company does is obvious but the why is the real success.
  • People do not buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
  • Knowing your why is not the only way to be successful, but it is the only way to maintain a lasting success.
  • When your why goes fuzzy it is much harder to maintain the growth, loyalty and inspiration that gave your original success.
  • Detecting your why will help others that have the same feeling. 
  • A failure to communicate your why only causes frustration.
  • Great leaders start with the heart before the mind, they start with the why.
  • When a company does not know their why, it is impossible for the outside world to understand it.
  • Everything you say and do comes from your why. Your why is a belief. 
  • When a salesman believes in what he’s selling, there will be more sales. 
  • If you know the why, you’ll know what decisions to make. 
  • Trust is a feeling, not a rational experience. 
  • Leading is not the same as being a leader. 
  • Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire people who are already motivated and equip them. 
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Spiritual Warfare is Real Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Jim Cymbala 

  • Satan is the cause of evil and the originator of evil. He is just as real as the Lord is. 
  • When you became a Christian, you entered in the spiritual war. 
  • Satan is not omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent.
  • Satan is originally from heaven, God’s beautiful creation. But he fell from Heaven and is against God and all that has to do with God. 
  • The devil looks for weakness, that’s why we are told to be strong in the Lord. 
  • The kingdom of darkness is only defeated by the Kingdom of Light. 
  • We have many things prepared for us and at our disposal, but faith is what will turn the key. 1 John 5:4. 
        • Jesus was never amazed at anything in this world except for someone’s faith. 
        • Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. 
  • God says believe, while Satan says don’t believe. 
  • Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith is sure of the future though can’t see it. Faith gives assurance about future. 
  • Faith says look at the future, Satan says look at the now. 
  • We can be victorious today through faith. 
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Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life: Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Donald S. Whitney 

  • Disciplines without direction equals drudgery. 
  • How can we pursue holiness? How can we be more like our Lord Jesus Christ? We must have discipline. 1 Timothy 4:7 — “exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”
  • Man arrives to maturity by way of spiritual discipline.
  • Our Lord modeled self-discipline for us.
  • Just as practicing to play an instrument requires discipline, so growing in your spiritual life requires discipline.
  • God’s Word.
        • No spiritual discipline is more important than the intake of God’s word.
        • Listen to the Word of God. Romans 10:17. 
        • Read the Word of God. How often do you need wisdom, encouragement, and strength? Every day! Then read God’s Word every day.
        • Discipline yourself to read the Word of God. Find a time. Find a plan. Find a word, verse, or thought to meditate on throughout the day.
        • What is one thing you can do to enhance your intake of God’s Word every day? 
        • Interview the text that you read. 
        • Consciously commit yourself to take at least one action from your daily intake of God’s Word.
  • Prayer. 
        • We learn to pray by meditating on the Scripture. 
        • Pray with others.
        • Where there is godliness, there is prayer.
        • Men and women of God are always people of prayer. 
        • Worship is responding to and focusing on God. 
        • Worship is a discipline to be cultivated.
  • Evangelism.
        • New Testament evangelism is presenting the gospel. 
        • Not every Christian should use the same means of evangelism, but every Christian should evangelize.
        • Evangelism is not a gift for a few, all of God’s children are to be ambassadors.
        • Before we make excuses, we should stop and ask ourselves, are we really too busy to fulfill the Great Commission?
  • Serving for Godliness.
        • If we don’t discipline ourselves for the purpose of God’s kingdom, we will probably never serve. 
        • Serving goes against two of our biggest fleshly enemies, our sloth and our pride.
        • We are to serve the Lord with gladness. It is a privilege, not a burden. 
        • Psalms 84:10 — “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
        • If we are to be like Christ, we must learn to serve.
  • Stewardship. 
        • Unless we practice self control, our bodies will choose to please self more than please God. 
        • Evaluate your use of time. The time to value time is right now.
        • Decide to discipline yourself and use your time for godliness.
        • We value time at the moment of death. 
        • Realize God owns everything you have. We are just temporary stewards of the things God owns.
  • Fasting. 
        • There is fasting from food as well as times to fast from entertainment and other areas.
        • The Lord expects His children to fast. He doesn’t say “if” but “when” you fast. 
        • Before we fast, we must have purpose, a God-centered purpose.
        • Fasting is one of the best friends we can offer to our prayer. 
        • It is more rewarding to feast on God than food.
  • Silence and Solitude for the purpose of godliness. 
        • God used silence and solitude in the life of both Moses and the Apostle Paul. 
        • Jesus practiced silence and solitude. 
        • One of the biggest reasons to get alone is to better hear God speak. 
        • We have an addiction to noise, and it’s connected to a spiritual shallowness. 
  • Spiritual Discipline of Journaling. 
        • A personal writing of thoughts to the Lord. Prayers, joys, verse challenge you read, etc.
        • Consider the discipline of journaling for godliness, and to remember God‘s faithfulness.
  • Learning for the Purpose of Godliness.
        • Wise and righteous people are teachable and continue learning.
        • Wise men seek and store knowledge. 
        • Mark 12:29–30. Our Lord teaches us to love Him with all of our mind.
        • How can we know more about our Lord if we do not learn more about him?
        • Learning is mostly intentional by discipline instead of accidental.
        • Most students don’t learn because their parents don’t learn. When was the last time you read a book to your children?
        • Growing Christians are reading Christians.
        • Godly learning leads to godly living. 
  • Perseverance in Godly Discipline.
        • Laziness does not lead to godliness.
        • Even though self-discipline is not easy, it is not self-punishment. Self-discipline is actually doing what your spirit need you to do.
        • Just as the only way to God is through Christ, so the only way to godliness is through Christlike practice of spiritual disciplines.
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Simplicity in Preaching Book Review by Jeff Bush

By JC Ryle 

  • Unless you are simple in your preaching, you cannot be understood, and if you cannot be understood, you are of no good to the listeners. 
  • No greater mistake can be made than supposing you can easily be understood. 
  • The majority of preachers preach over the head of their listeners. 
  • It is not easy to write a clear and straightforward sermon that can be easily understood. 
  • To write what is simple, striking. and easily understood is a rather hard thing. 
  • If you are going to attain simplicity in preaching, you must have a good understanding of your subject. 
  • Do not preach on an obscure passage that you do not know or understand. 
  • Be careful of spiritualizing and drawing out something that the Holy Spirit never put in the text. 
  • If you want to be simple, there must be order your sermon.
  • If you do not understand a passage or subject, you cannot make it simple; and if you do not make it simple, it will not be understood.
  • Use simple words. Simple words, are not words of one syllable rather words that are commonly used.
  • Use antidotes and illustrations. Look at the sermons of Jesus, He referred to the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the sheep, the goats, etc.
  • The best speaker can turn the ear into an eye, causing people to imagine and see.
  • You will never preach with simplicity without a lot of hard work. Take time to prepare and develop your sermons.
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Simple Discipleship Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Dana Allin

  • Discipleship is more of a journey than it is an event. 
  • Making disciples is the primary task to which Jesus calls us.
  • Many churches know that making disciples is a core value of the church, and will even put it in their mission statement, but are failing at doing it.
  • Discipleship, which is helping others love Jesus more, has too often been overcomplicated.
  • A reason we’ve failed in making disciples is because we do not have a clear, Biblical understanding of what a disciple of Jesus is to look like. 
  • If the church helps people love God with their heads and hands, yet not with their hearts, they’re doing a great disservice.
  • As churches, we sometimes confront discipleship as everyone needs to grow in the same areas, but that is not always the case.
  • We are not only saved by grace, but we continue to grow in grace as disciples of Christ.
  • Discipleship is so much more than dispensing information. A big misconception is that the more information we have, the more transformation will occur.
  • True discipleship is about being transformed.
  • Discipleship transformation does not happen at a microwave speed.
  • To disciple, a person should know you care for them and they’re not just a project. 
  • True growth takes time and intentional effort.
  • A mistake in discipleship is feeling you have to be a mentor, which is one who has more experience. It is good to see yourself as a coach, which doesn’t mean you are better than the other person, yet you are drawing out the best of the other person.
  • Clarify your goal as where you want the person to be after completing discipleship.
  • Be careful as you give advice. Do not try to offer solutions for everything they ask, rather ask questions questions that will help them think through what they need to do.
  • If you can help disciples, think for themselves, they will be better prepared to disciple others in the future.