Jesus wants to train us to live his life: Reading the gospels and Acts as manuals of practice for disciples

Featured Resource by Andrew Attwood, Kx Missional Leader

We're thrilled to feature this exceptional book by Andrew Atwood, a valued member of Kairos Connexion, who brings fresh insight to how we read the gospels and Acts. Through 57 carefully crafted questions and answers, Andrew demonstrates that these aren't just biographical accounts of Jesus - they're training manuals for disciples. He argues compellingly that Jesus and the early church modeled a radical way of life and mission that was meant to become the norm for all followers.

The book explores how the gospels were intentionally structured to teach us Jesus' methods of disciple-making, his Spirit-led mission practices, and his emphasis on shared life as a family on mission. Andrew traces this template from Jesus' training of the Twelve through the Acts church and into the first two centuries, showing how the promise of "Jesus on the inside" empowered early Christians to be remarkably effective.

The book concludes with practical training principles for today's mission-minded Christians while offering a thoughtful critique of how later Christianity departed from Christ's original training model. Andrew's work challenges us to reconsider our church traditions and return to the radical discipleship practices that shaped the early church.