Welcome to the Building a Discipling Culture Study Guide

We designed this guide to help you grasp, explore, and go deeper with the major concepts presented in Building a Discipleship Culture. The book was first published in 2005 and has gone on to become a global bestseller. Before diving in, we feel it's important to understand where and why this book was originally conceived. It came out of frustration and desperation that accompanied trying to disciple people who had little or no education, people who would traditionally never open a book and read it.

The following LifeShapes were designed to help those who had the least access to training yet wanted to grow in their understanding of Jesus and the Bible. The simplicity of the shapes allowed for easy understanding. The LifeShapes prevented the overwhelm and intimidation that can accompany text-centric methods. They could be shared on a napkin over coffee or a brown bag over lunch.

In this guide, we have attempted to make it again accessible and straightforward. It can be used by anyone, anywhere, and at any stage in their journey of faith. We pray that you will find many uses for this guide so that every disciple can be equipped in building a discipling culture in their homes, workplaces, school, and coffee shops.

This guide does not go through Building a Discipling Culture exhaustively, but serves as an introduction through the key LifeShapes:

• The Matrix: Invitation & Challenge
• The Circle: Learning from Life
• The Triangle: Deeper Relationships
• The Semi-Circle: A Balanced Life
• The Square: Multiplying Life
• The Pentagon: Personal Calling
• The Hexagon: Definitive Prayer