Review - The Call That Changes Everything: Embracing the Call to Discipleship by Donnie Thaden
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About the Author
Donnie Thaden is the discipleship pastor at Harrisburg Baptist Church in Tupelo, Mississippi, and shares that focus as a speaker and author with the Embracing the Call ministry. Other books under his belt stem from where he was in his ministry and life, including Parenting with Purpose: Transforming My Heart to Leave a Lasting Legacy Workbook and a handful of books targeting youth to engage them in their studies of scripture.
Book Description
This book promises to revolutionize your faith journey by digging into the significance of discipleship and the subsequent life-altering adventure. The author says this book, as well as the entire Embracing the Call series, will equip readers with the tools, insights, and wisdom needed to navigate the call to discipleship with confidence and conviction. The discipleship topic, however, is the only topic of the Embracing the Call series that has made its transformation into a traditional book format.
Review of The Call That Changes Everything: Embracing the Call to Discipleship
When I got the opportunity to review this book, I was excited. The concept of discipleship has always seemed murky for me. I’d heard the term used in so many different ways that it had become just another one of those nebulous Christian terms. Is it about my transformation? Is it about someone disciplining me? Is it about making disciples of others? After reading this book, I discovered the answer to my questions was “Yes.”
The author doesn’t come out and specifically define discipleship; he describes it instead. This seemed odd to me at first, but as I continued reading I discovered I was the problem. I was trying to stuff discipleship into a simple box and define it like a one of the blind men describing an elephant in the famed Aesop fable. Once I stood back and saw the whole elephant, not just the tail or trunk, I realized discipleship was more of an umbrella term that describes the various processes of becoming more Christ-like — both internally and externally. Discipleship is a way of life that takes my internal transformation and puts it into action to spread the gospel.
This book is a great primer for the new believer to understand what it means to be a follower of Christ. The language is simple and clean. Tons of scriptural references with sufficient context to guide the reader. The author is a pastor and a speaker, and it shows in his writing. There is an element of redundancy common from the pulpit that helps underscore the key elements. That strength was also the book’s only weakness. Most chapters read like stand-alone essays, with some themes overlapping to showcase how the different aspects of discipleship are interwoven throughout the Christian life.
While this book can serve as nurturing milk to the novice, it is complex enough to be meat for the mature Christian looking to assess or reinvigorate their walk with Christ. The author repeatedly emphasizes that the discipleship journey is not a solo path, and the book’s structure encourages its use in a mentor-mentee relationship — whether one-on-one or as part of a small group. I could definitely see how this book could help shape the conversation in an intentional mentor-mentee relationship. What this book lacks, only a mentor can provide — a person to model the life of a Christian passionate about their discipleship and the discipleship of others.
I look forward to my next lesson from Pastor Thaden’s pulpit.
Where To Find The Call That Changes Everything by Donnie Thaden
You can purchase The Call That Changes Everything: Embracing the Call to Discipleship at the following link:
About the Reviewer
For nearly three decades Stephen Pierce had been either reporting on the newsmakers or serving as a spokesman for them. He traded that all in for a quiet life in rural East Texas with his wife, two dogs and not too far from children and grandchildren. When he’s not trying his hand at writing his own novels, he explores ways to be creative in the kitchen, workshop, and garden. Invisible Defense, a Christian suspense thriller set in San Francisco, is his first foray into novel writing. You can learn more about him at www.stephen-pierce.com.
