Discipleship: The Simplicity and Purity of Devotion – an invitation to connect your heart with God’s

Maybe you’re still unsure about “this whole God thing,” aware only that something’s missing in your life. Maybe you’re a brand-new believer that’s still finding your feet. Or maybe you’ve followed Christ for decades and sense there’s further to go.

This book is an invitation to connect your heart with God’s. At its center is one quiet truth that reframes everything: sin hands the throne of your heart to something lesser, and salvation offers God His rightful place back on that throne. Beyond that, we find the question:

Are you content to stand near God, or do you want to be with Him?

The Christian life is simple, though it was never meant to be easy. God is closer than you realize, and He never stops drawing you deeper. There is always more of Him to enjoy. Come and see.

Like a parent watching their child loudly clanging pots and singing the wrong words off pitch, we have a Father who appreciates the joy in our hearts, despite our imperfection.

A printed edition of this book is sold at cost through Lulu.com. It doesn’t add anything beyond what’s already here on the site. It’s simply for those who’d rather read from a physical copy.

The free Discipleship companion workbook PDF works alongside the main book, for individuals, mentor-mentee pairings, and small groups alike. Twelve sessions cover the eight chapters, each with thought-provoking questions, relatable activities, and practical exercises for making it real. Chapter five’s session is where you take the spiritual gifts test, spread across a time of prayer rather than answered in one sitting, with time to reflect and discuss the results. Every session closes by pointing to the next reading, so the pace is yours to set. Both are designed to be revisited, the questions and the gifts test alike, so you can see how God is working in you over time.

John 21:25 (NLT ’15)

^[25] Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

As yet another book in the towering but insufficiently high pile of books about God and His relationship to mankind, the aim of this discipleship book is to help anyone craving more of God.

From the very first page to the very last one, the Bible shows that it’s always been about relationship: hearing God, connecting our hearts with His, and walking in unison with Him. We rarely “get it right” (and rarely for very long), and when we don’t, God’s grace abounds all the more! God doesn’t give rebellious hearts consequence-free immunity, but He chooses to extend mercy to those who continually desire more of Him.

To put it another way, we must seek the rhythm of God’s heartbeat and stay in harmony with it. Like a parent watching their child loudly clanging pots and singing the wrong words off pitch, we have a Father that appreciates the joy in our hearts, despite our imperfection.

Alternatively, entire series of books have been written on any one of the subjects covered in this book. The goal here isn’t to be exhaustive, but introductory. Also, many of these topics have been highly debated for millennia by people much smarter than me. I just aim to provide a perspective that hopefully keeps the main thing the main thing.

The structure of this book is designed to loosely follow the path of the Christian journey. Starting with salvation, moving through a variant of the “read your Bible and pray” phase, and then stepping into some of the deeper subjects of a growing relationship with God. I often include passages, but sometimes just references. So, I encourage you to grab a Bible, look up the passages yourself, and read around them for context. Finally, each chapter ends with a reflective prayer and additional reading resources related to the theme of that chapter.

While I do relish deep theological discussions and the occasional poetic prose, my hope is that this book will be attainable for anyone, landing theologically in a balanced place somewhere between “fluffy” and “stuffy.” I pray that whether you’re “unsure about this whole God thing,” a new believer just starting your journey, a long-time follower seeking something more, or a fellow “Christian mystic” (see A.W. Tozer’s definition of this phrase) looking for kindred spirit in the wilderness, that it helps you crave and find more of God.

So, I invite you to come with me on this journey of the heart. Together, we’ll walk the paths that sinners and saints have traveled before us, seeking the God who is closer than we often realize, yet always drawing us deeper into His presence.