Discipleship Matters
Dying to live for Christ
By Peter Maiden
About the author
Peter Maiden has worked with Operation Mobilisation for over four decades and is currently International Director Emeritus. He is a former Chairman of Keswick Ministries. He travels widely, fulfilling his teaching ministry.
Reviewer: Susan Geddes
This book will surely become a classic. It is a deceptively simple unpacking of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. Peter writes as a fellow learner and struggler: Someone who is in the process of being transformed, hanging on to the promises of scripture, with honesty and humility and out of a long life of service and a close personal walk with the Lord.
Many ‘heroes’ of the Christian faith are quoted in the book, notably Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote “when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die”.
The book explains, chapter by chapter, how this discipleship works out in daily life, with chapters on relationship (the very foundation of discipleship), spiritual disciplines, our time and resources, work and others – there is no area of our life in which God is not interested. The chapter entitled ‘mind the gap’ highlights the artificial divide which we often construct between our secular and church lives, and the integrity and wholeness we need in our Christian lives.
It is an eminently sensible and practical, yet also radical and challenging read. Each chapter ends with questions and suggestions for further reading.
Throughout there are many examples from Peter Maiden’s personal experience with typical humility, not all displaying his ‘best side’, but shared out of a pastoral heart, for our benefit and to help us in our journey.
The book finishes with the encouragement that the call to ‘come and die’ is in fact the call to life – to deep rest in the finished work of Christ. The Lord Jesus is right there with us through his Spirit and his Word and the goal is to know him better in an ever-deepening relationship. ‘It’s all about being with him.’
I finished the book overwhelmed by its depth, clarity and wisdom, but blessed and inspired to continue the journey.
Hear Peter’s previous sermon at TCF on 27th January 2019 via the Sound Cloud on this website. Click on Listen to our sermons on the Home Page.
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