Neil Cole - Ordinary Hero: Becoming a Disciple Who Makes a Difference

2008 by Neil Cole

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

Previously published under the title Search & Resuce

Ebook edition created 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-1453-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Scripture marked NRSV is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Published in association with the literary and marketing agency of C. Grant and Company.

Simple, uncluttered, apostolic, organic, and eminently doable. I heartily recommend this book to you.

From the foreword by Alan Hirsch , author, The Forgotten Ways

Neil has written a much-needed book. More than raising up pastors and church leaders, the key issue today is raising up disciples if we want to see lives changed and radical transformations take place in our society. Not only is the book good; what Neil recommends makes a difference. I speak from experience. We have used Neils LTGs for years at NorthWood and have found them core to making disciples. I am convinced that what is needed today is more writing and teaching on discipleship, but resulting in a different kind of disciple. Neil understands that and writes about it.

Bob Roberts , pastor, NorthWood Church; author, Transformation ,
Glocalization , and The Multiplying Church

Neil Cole has discovered a startling new style of Christian living, one thats 100 percent free from the standard hassling, coercion, and constant sermonizing that drives people away from church.

Pastors love it! After centuries of bashing the guy in the pew, pastors can now be free from the futile effort to browbeat people into being good Christians. In fact, they can relax and let God do the heavy lifting!

Best of all, Ordinary Hero actually works. Neil Coles network of friends and co-workers is the fastest-growing informal fellowship of believers in the Western world. Why? Because it instantly attracts every person who desires an exciting role as a genuine hero in the greatest adventure of our time.

James Rutz , author, Megashift

Neil Cole evidences all the fire and intensity of a lifeguard in Ordinary Hero . He brings to his job of discipling people the same or greater determination than he brought to his job on the beach. In this practical book, Neil gives you everything you need to start patrolling your own beach if you want to get serious about lifesaving efforts.

Reggie McNeal , author, The Present Future

I love it! I will recommend this book to every person on our staff and every leader in our network. No one knows more about how to make and multiply disciples than Neil Cole, and in Ordinary Hero he shares it with all of us.

Dave Ferguson , Community Christian Church/New Thing; author, The Big Idea

Everyone dreams about being a hero; not many are willing to do what it takes to be one. Inside every one of us is a desire to live a life of significance. In order to do that, we must live for a purpose bigger than ourselves. In Ordinary Hero , Neil Cole clearly defines what it means to be a person of significance, what it takes to be a hero in our day, and how to pursue a life worthy of the name Jesus Christ. Warning! This is not another self-help book; it will challenge you to save others lives. If you read it, believe it, and do it, God will use your life to change the world. Seek not to be a person of success, but seek to be a person of value, because God is looking for ordinary people who will live by his Word and do extraordinary things. This generation needs true heroes. Will you seek to be one? If so, you must read this book.

Jaeson Ma , lead director, Campus Church Networks;
author, The Blueprint

Using his experience as a lifeguard to illustrate, Neil Cole makes Christian disciple making come alive. A captivating story that is solidly biblical and down to earth, with practical application. Right on target!

Robert E. Coleman , distinguished professor of evangelism and discipleship,
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

This book is dedicated to those heroes who are willing to blaze new trails for the sake of Gods kingdom, those who have sacrificed security and salaries to show people the way. Your tribe is increasing and the world will soon show it.

So Others May Live

Motto of the U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers

Contents

Foreword

It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said, I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity. Simple answers, offered without taking into account the vast intricacies of human life in an infinite universe, are close to being outright worthless to any human being in need of real truth that addresses real, live situations. Simplicity this side of complexity simply doesnt fit or resonate with our condition and is not worth a dime. However, when simplicity presents itself beyond the complexities that we all face, and it takes into account the nuanced and often perplexing situation we find ourselves in, then these truths are worth all that we own. I think this is partly what Jesus was alluding to in his parables of the pearl of great price and the hidden treasure. Some truths are worth serious personal investment. Neil Coles writings are of this order. Sell everything and buy in!

Ordinary Hero brings to light a suspicion that I have long held about Neilthat behind the catchy slogans and folksy narratives that lace his teaching lies authentic spiritual genius. Neils genius (and it is that) confers upon the reader genuine, and all too easily lost, insights into the organic nature and workings of the kingdom of God. He just seems to have a real gift in putting his apostolic index finger on things that are essential to the ongoing life of the church, and he does it in his characteristically generous and disarming way. Organic Church is a case in point, but Ordinary Hero is no exception. Make no mistake, in this book Neil is subversively reworking your, and by extension your churchs, priorities around what is most essential in our daythe lost art of disciple making.

And it is hard to find someone more qualified for the job. You see, Neil is a real, live hero. He is a Californian lifeguard who has been involved in actually saving many people from drowning. He has also pioneered a missionary movement across the world. He knows heroism from the inside. He knows the real meaning of search and rescue even at risk of his own life. He is someone we can trust to guide us here. And the metaphor of lifesaving, from which the book derives its name, extends far beyond individual heroic acts in which one risks his or her life in the waters. Neil uses it to describe the kind of quality that should infuse any authentic following of Jesus. This book is deliberately designed to awaken the heroic potential in and among Jesuss people. In effect, Ordinary Hero is an agenda for invoking spiritual heroism in our day.