Bill Hull - Conversion and Discipleship: You Cant Have One without the Other

Discipleship has turned into a buzzword that too many are throwing around without properly defining it. In such a sea of voices, we desperately need a navigational chart to get us back on a biblical course. In this book, Bill Hull provides the course correction we need.

Robby Gallaty, senior pastor, Long Hollow Baptist Church; president, Replicate Ministries

Bill Hull is spot on. Disciples are not a special class of Christians. Bill has provided us with a challenging and thought-provoking examination of biblical conversion and discipleship. My bet is that you wont agree with everything in these pages. (I didnt.) But I guarantee you that your ministry and personal walk with Jesus will benefit greatly from wrestling with the wisdom and insights he provides.

Dr. Larry Osborne, author and pastor, North Coast Church, Vista, CA

Bill Hull believes that in receiving Christ as Lord and Savior, we also receive his lifestyle of making disciples. The two commitments go together. Not the kind of book to read lounging in a rocking chair munching on chocolates.

Dr. Robert Coleman, author, The Master Plan for Evangelism

This book is a must for church leaders. It deals with the root issues, the upstream theological realities that are required to make a sustainable discipleship movement in your church and beyond. Read it, ponder it, and let it change your life and ministry. I heartily endorse Conversion and Discipleship.

Dr. Bobby Harrington, director, Discipleship.org; board member, Relational Discipleship Network; author and pastor

I am convinced that one of the deepest flaws in discipleship derives from our lack of understanding of the significance of repentance as an intrinsic part of a living relationship with God. Bill, as the longtime activist for the disciple-making cause, makes an irrefutable case for the relationship of ongoing conversion to a life of discipleship. A well-written book on an important topic.

Alan Hirsch, award-winning author; founder, Forge, 100Movements, and Future Travelers; www.alanhirsch.org

Bill Hull has been committed to discipleship for many years and has helped to shape many of the minds who consider discipleship the core mission of the church. I admire Bill so much because he is not just a theorist but a practitioner who does what he says others ought to do. He has given those committed to discipleship a new theological tool to promote something that has been left out of the church for some time. I know you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Jim Putman, senior pastor, Real Life Ministries; coauthor, Discipleshift

Ive been reading and listening to Bill Hull for years. Hes been a discipleship coach in my life, and for countless others. Im so thankful for him, his work, and his passion for discipleship.

Ed Stetzer, www.edstetzer.com

Bill Hull writes boldly about how Dallas Willard challenged him to think differently about one of the key pillars of evangelicalism, the meaning of the gospel, and the natural bond between conversation and discipleship (aka apprenticeship). For Jesus disciples, the good news was not that they could say a magic phrase and then go to heaven when they died; the good news was that they could enter into an apprenticeship with Jesus and begin living an eternal sort of life right then and there. Nothing has changed. That is still the good news.

Gary W. Moon, MDiv, PhD; executive director, Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Center, Westmont College; author, Apprenticeship with Jesus

Bill Hulls lifelong journey has given him one of the most important leadership roles in the discipleship movement of the last fifty years, and makes him uniquely qualified to guide the church to true biblical discipleship. This will be a hard read for some because Bill speaks directly and with no nonsense to those who have substituted elitist programs for biblical discipleship. Read, and heed, the clarion call of this book.

Michael J. Wilkins, Distinguished Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Talbot School of Theology; author, Following the Master: A Biblical Theology of Discipleship

Other Books by Bill Hull

Jesus Christ, Disciplemaker

The Disciple-Making Pastor

The Disciple-Making Church

Straight Talk on Spiritual Power

Christlike

The Complete Book of Discipleship

Choose the Life

Anxious for Nothing

Right Thinking

Building High Commitment in a Low Commitment World

The Experience the Life Series

Believe as Jesus Believed

Live as Jesus Lived

Love as Jesus Loved

Minister as Jesus Ministered

Lead as Jesus Led

The Christian Leader (May 2016)

Evangelism and Discipleship (with Bobby Harrington 2014)

The False Promise of Discipleship (with Brandon Cook 2016)

ZONDERVAN

Conversion and Discipleship
Copyright 2016 by Robert W. Hull

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Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition December 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-52008-5

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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To Dallas Willard,
the reluctant prophet who inspired
me to undertake this work

CONTENTS

by Scot McKnight