A disciple of Christ is, by definition, a convinced adherent of a school or individual. In the case of Jesus, His disciples were those who followed Him while He was on earth, as well as those who continue to follow Him and His teachings today. Discipleship is an inherent part of the Christian life.

Author Bill Hull writes, blogs, and speaks about discipleship, encouraging the church to reconsider what it means to be a Christian and to live a life of uncomplicated obedience to Jesus. One of his main focuses is how today’s church approaches discipleship.

“The most common paradigm is for churches to treat discipleship as of secondary importance, a needed activity that takes place somewhere in the bowels of the church’s infrastructure,” he says. “The reason for this is that discipleship is a needful process for new Christians, and it can be accomplished through laypeople. The leaders of congregations look for some good material or curriculum and in a few months, the work is done.

“A less common approach is to take it seriously and to extend the process into normal life. This is usually done in small groups and, in some cases, through one-on-one appointments. It is better than nothing, but it fails to address the most important issues of the Christian experience.

“The least-done but most-effective approach is for church leadership to become disciples themselves, to be the embodiment of Christlikeness, and to intentionally develop an apprenticeship system where they are schooling the next generation and even the generation after that,” Hull says. “This will require a serious realignment of what the church believes to be important. It actually starts with how you define the Gospel. Only when discipleship becomes a natural part of the Gospel, will it take its place at the center of all spiritual life.”

In Christlike, Hull examines the true basis for spiritual growth that, according to spiritual transformation leader Dallas Willard, is “nothing less than the settled and intelligent resolve to become Christlike.” Church leadership can benefit, too, from this book’s lessons.

“It’s more important to be a disciple than to have a plan to make disciples. And we are called to be disciples and make disciples before we are called to create churches and run them,” he explains.

“As C. S. Lewis said: ‘The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.’”

NavPress announces that A Praying Life by Paul Miller was selected by Christianity Today’s LeadershipJournal.net as one of the 10 most valuable books for church leaders of 2009.

A diverse group of more than 100 pastors and leaders, including LeadershipJournal.net’s contributing editors, selected five winners in both the "Leader's Outer Life" and "Leader's Inner Life" categories. A Praying Life was chosen as a top book in the "Leader's Inner Life" category.

In A Praying Life, Miller honestly examines the challenges of prayer and shares his insights on how to connect the broken pieces of life and allow prayer—even poorly delivered—to fill the gaps with meaning and substance.

Two NavPress books were featured in the Media section of the January/February 2010 issue of Outreach magazine. Christlike by Bill Hull helps readers grow intentionally in obedience to Jesus so that our minds and hearts are in alignment with each other; Live Like You Mean It by T. J. Addington shows readers their true significance in living out the incredible work of God’s kingdom.

Faithbook of Jesus by Renee Johnson (March 10), a one-year devotional written to spur twentysomethings forward in their walk with God, begins a two-month blog tour January 25. Scheduled bloggers include Matthew Paul Turner, Ed Cyzewski, and Susan Isaacs.

According to the Barna Group, 78% of the twentysomething generation claim to be Christian, resulting in more than 29 million twentysomethings in need of a guide to connect them to Jesus. Barna research also stated that if a twentysomething “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, then they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.”

Writer, speaker, and blogger Johnson connects with her readers in a challenging and genuine way. Preview the blog tour schedule.

Employees, donors, and friends of The Navigators are asking what efforts are being made by The Navigators to help with the Haiti earthquake disaster.

While The Navigators does not have staff or active ministry programs in Haiti, we are deeply concerned about how to provide tangible emergency relief to the people of Haiti as well as long-term assistance.

The Navigators urges its employees, donors, and friends to make financial contributions to Compassion International, a fellow non-profit organization headquartered in Colorado Springs. Compassion International has a deep and historic outreach in Haiti that currently serves 65,000 Haitian children in poverty. Compassion has been operating in Haiti for more than 40 years. They have 75 staff in Haiti that work through 237 child development centers. Compassion is well poised to provide immediate emergency assistance, and they are committed to continuing long-term solutions that will outlast the important global interest and media attention created by the earthquake.

The Navigators' staff is made up of citizens from many countries and nationalities. We are joining together to make financial contributions to Compassion International and other organizations that are well equipped to provide Haiti disaster relief for both immediate and long-term needs.

The Navigators shares in the sorrow and grief of the Haitian people. We also offer our prayers and financial assistance. Compassion maintains a blog to provide up-to-date information on relief efforts. We encourage you to read and pray.

We endorse Compassion’s efforts and credentials in Haiti. We urge all concerned people to join the Navigator family in funding Compassion’s disaster relief efforts with generous gifts.

Mike Treneer, International President

Doug Nuenke, U.S. President

As the international ministry leader of the Evangelical Free Church of America, T. J. Addington had always been committed to living with a deep sense of intentionality. This commitment intensified after a 45-day hospital stay during which he spent 35 days in the intensive care unit in a coma and on a ventilator. Addington was suffering from a highly resistant strain of pneumonia with complications of acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, congestive heart failure, plural edema, and a failed mitral heart valve—any of which could have killed him.

“I shouldn’t have survived that hospital stay,” he recalls. “I believe it was the thousands of people who prayed that are responsible for my miraculous recovery.”

In the wake of this traumatic health crisis Addington realized in a new and fresh way that every day is a gift of grace from God. In June 2008 he started writing Live Like You Mean It to encourage others not to take life and the opportunity to impact the world for Christ for granted.

Live Like You Mean It is based on Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (NIV). By asking 10 vital questions, Addington walks readers through a process to discover how God has wired them and how He wants to use them in significant ways for His kingdom.

“The questions start with the most important one of all: ‘Why am I here?’ and follow a logical sequence designed to help us understand the part that God wants us to uniquely play,” Addington explains. “I believe that these are the most important questions that any of us could ask if we are going to fulfill God’s destiny for our lives, leave a lasting legacy, impact others, follow Him closely, and live intentionally.”

Addington hopes that what he learned through nearly dying will help others not just go through the motions of life.

“Too many of us are hostage to others’ expectations and plans rather than living out of the strengths God created us with,” he says. “I want to free people to live out God’s design for them, which is where we find our greatest joy and satisfaction. When we choose to live at the intersection of God’s call on our lives and join Him in His work, we are no longer sleepwalking through life.”

NavPress launched its Book Deal for independent Christian retailers with tremendous success. As of the first week of January, more than 11,900 units of the preselected titles have sold.

"This is a fantastic response at an incredible opportunity for the independent retailer," says Eric Helus, NavPress Sales Manager. "We are blessed to be able to offer such a program that helps get life-changing product into the hands of our trade partners. We know the authors of the books included in this program have had an impact on many lives through their writings, and we're excited that many new readers will be exposed to the transforming power of the Gospel."

Beginning in January and continuing every other month through December 2010, independent Christian stores can purchase that month's preselected title at a reduced price. Every book in the program is a NavPress top seller by a well-known author.

The lineup includes The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges (January), Living the Resurrection by Eugene H. Peterson (March), Becoming a Woman of Excellence by Cynthia Heald (May), Dark Blue by Melody Carlson (July), Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow (September), and Abba's Child by Brennan Manning (December).