A review by Daisy Serrano, Library Member and Contributor.

How do you make a disciple? Connect people to God? Evangelize? Discipleship is relationship and when you approach a disciple through the lens of relationship, that is, connecting with God and connecting with one another, it will be easy. Discipleship is the core of ministry. The two most important commandments of all time are Love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus made it clear to His listeners that life is all about relationships – a relationship between God and man, and a relationship with one another/fellowman. How is this related to a Lego piece? Regardless of the shape, color, or size of a Lego piece, each piece is designed to connect to one another at the top and at the bottom. Likewise, you can connect to the top with God and to the bottom with others. Thus, being a disciple and making disciples are both simultaneously possible. We all may have different personalities and yet, share something in common – the love of God and love for God. As a bonus, you will know how to find joy, fulfillment, and God’s blessings along the way. This book is neither a preachy nor an overly theological book. It is filled with engaging, real life stories from the author’s own life – including both serious and hilarious anecdotes about his three sons as well as great insights from his wife. This book reveals that “making disciples” can and should be both natural and doable as opposed to burdensome and impossible. This leaves us without an excuse for failing to make a disciple. A key point expressed by the author is that connecting to others in a crossgenerational manner is essential in discipleship. It is important that the older generation ensures that the next generation hears about the mighty acts of God, love, obey, and praise God. With his outside perspective and the Bible, the older person can help untangle some of the younger generation’s thinking about God, life, and how they fit into it. Highly recommended reading.

A review by Daisy Serrano, Library Member and Contributor

Are you willing to suffer and live for Jesus? Would you retain your faith even if it meant losing your life? Are you experiencing frustration in your faith? Is your life centered on following Jesus and nothing else? Are you on fire for Jesus? Muslim converts in Africa, Iraq, Syria and other Middle Eastern countries have answered “Yes” to these questions knowing the cost to themselves and their loved ones: persecution, torture and sometimes death. They deemed it an honor to have been chosen by the Lord to spread His Word. This book relates true stories of survivors who underwent tremendous suffering for their desire and willingness to spread the Word. They endured the unendurable by clinging to Christ in the midst of their brutal persecution. Every miracle, every answered prayer, every miraculous escape, each torture session and (for some) painful death was an everyday reality for them as new Christians. Yet, they persevered and shared the gospel joyfully and prayerfully with those who had no hope within the Muslim faith. They chose faith over survival in spite of the terrifying circumstances. Persecuted believers see Jesus Christ reaching down to the hurting, the desperate, the forgotten, and all those who suffered. Jesus is also reaching down to us when we are affected by the pervasive evil in the world and when there are attacks on Christians online or in print media. Killing believers has not stopped people from believing the Gospel. Rather, killing believers has emboldened them in their walk with the Lord, accelerating the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church. May our faith in Jesus in the free world be as strong as these persecuted believers.