Follow: A Simple and Profound Call to Live Like Jesus
Floyd McClung Examines
What It Really Means to Follow Jesus
Author Floyd McClung believes it’s time to get back to the basics: Jesus wants relationship, not religion. An international church planter and missionary, McClung is convinced that the simplicity and truth of biblical discipleship has become lost and confused within the post-modern church. His provocative new book, Follow: A Simple and Profound Call to Live Like Jesus, compellingly captures what it means to become authentic followers of Jesus as it also exposes the idolatrous hype and religious nonsense that is often passed off in the name of discipleship.
A manifesto for discipleship the Jesus-way, Follow is intended to challenge and inspire readers of all ages to live a life of wholehearted devotion that will draw others to a life of following Jesus. Though McClung doesn’t hide the costly nature of discipleship, he does invite readers to critique and even challenge much of what they’ve been taught that reduces following Jesus to simplistic programs that require little or no sacrifice. “Jesus did not allow His culture to hold him captive, nor should we,” says McClung. “Instead, Jesus established an upside-down kingdom that leads to radical opportunities for every believer.”
Follow begins by sharing McClung’s own personal story of how he was set free from a life of religious tradition to enjoy one of relationship with Jesus. This liberating experience caused McClung to realize the importance of changing the focus of life from ourselves to Jesus and led him to form outward-looking communities of disciples. “Rather than setting out a list of rules that put people in bondage to religious legalism, we should be offering unbelievers and believers alike a Jesus-focused invitation to find one’s identity and life shaped by the kingdom Jesus came to establish here on earth,” says McClung. By using stories and Scriptural examples, McClung reveals the freedom that comes from living our lives the way God intended and provides an intelligible path toward total Lordship—without condescending into religiosity.
Follow’s message is centered upon the practical, personal areas of believers’ lives that must be examined and transformed so that they are able to love Jesus, love each other within the body of Christ, and love others currently on the outside. While addressing topics such as obedience, identity, significance, church, sexuality, marriage, work, humility, faith, prayer, witness, sacrifice, and simplifying church life, McClung seeks to answer the question, “How are we to think and live day to day as followers of Jesus?” Each chapter ends with questions for group discussion and some practical steps of application.
Offering a fresh injection of spiritual adrenaline into mediocre attempts at following Christ, Follow teaches readers how to be on mission with God in His world, free from the world’s attempts to domesticate and tame what it means to follow the wild, untamable Jesus. “We must constantly return to Jesus as our source and our example for how to live life and how to do church together,” McClung believes. “Studying His life, spending time in His presence, seeking to be filled with His Spirit, and fulfilling His mission with others in community—this is how we are to experience life as Jesus intended it.”
About the Author: Floyd McClung is the founder and director of All Nations, an international leadership training and church planting network that partners with local churches to send short-term and long-term church planting teams to more than 30 different countries. Floyd has spoken on more than 100 university campuses and has traveled to 187 countries. He is the author of fourteen books, including the best-selling books The Father Heart of God and Living on the Devil’s Doorstep, that have had a profound influence around the world and have inspired new generations to take risks in both outreach and service. Follow will serve as a catalyst for church growth at the local level—growth in both depth and size. The McClungs live in Cape Town, South Africa where they lead a training and outreach community that equips church planters to work among the poor and unreached in Africa and Asia. Follow: A Simple and Profound Call to Live Like Jesus
by Floyd McClung
David C Cook/September 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4347-0192-3/254 pages/trade paperback/$14.99
For review copy and interview information, contact:
Karen Davis - 800-927-0517 x109
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