This little book is an excellent introduction to a life of Christian discipleship. The book follows the story of a young man, Jason, a recently converted Christian as he looks to begin and make progress in his spiritual life, and this format is definitely engaging as we see application to life throughout.

Each chapter is also filled with illustrations, points to stop and reflect with helpful questions attached, memory verses and short summaries so if you like your information in ‘bite-size chunks’ then you will definitely enjoy this book.

Another very helpful feature is the division into ‘personal’ and ‘public’ training in the Christian life so it is a book with real balance. Personal training covers discipleship, Bible reading, prayer and worship, while public training focuses on church and evangelism.

As you would expect from a 9Marks book, each of these areas is full of strong biblical instruction but pitched at a level a young Christian would appreciate. I particularly valued the emphasis on loving the church and of seeing evangelism as a corporate activity, helpfully avoiding the pitfall of making discipleship a purely personal thing.

I would highly recommend this book if you are a new Christian looking to begin well and establish good habits for a life of following Jesus. I would also expect this to be helpful for more mature Christians involved in mentoring others or wanting to provide teaching on living as a follower of Jesus.

James Ross, Buccleuch Free Church