Can I really use a ebook in my small group?

Posted on July 29, 2016August 1, 2016 by Buddy Eades

I have wondered over the last few years if WDA should publish our Guided Discussions as a ebook. Could we actually deliver a meaningful experience for our customers who might not want to carry a book to their group.

One younger leader mentioned that he was excited about the new workbooks we publish for Cornerstone but after looking at the format said, “when are you going to create a ebook version. None of the people I work with will bring a book to small group but all of them have their iPhone®.”

I was also talking to a friend who is creating curriculum for church leaders in Africa, and as we talked he mentioned that there are many challenges to creating and publishing materials for their ministry partners. Our International staff has taken digital pdf books or even hard copies of materials to people by hand.

As you can see printing materials in many countries is very challenging. Not only is it a challenge it can be costly.

Because WDA’s mission is to serve the church worldwide, we are always looking for new ways to deliver our materials and training to as many people as possible. I think ebooks is a good option for some people! So what do you think?

Just this week we published all the books that are part of “Cornerstone” in a Kindle format. You can now get Getting Started, Knowing God, Understanding People and Growing Spiritually to use on your device.

At this point we are offering them for Kindle, which can be also used on other devices that use the Kindle app as well.

They are available now on Smile.Amazon.com. There are both student and leaders editions available for you and your church to use.

If you want to know more about these books, please visit our WDA store, and read about them.

You can then follow the link to the smile.amazon.com website, where by buying with Smile.amazon, Amazon will give a portion of your ebook purchase to WDA as a charitable gift at no cost to you!

We hope you like the Cornerstone books in the Kindle format. We are also working on versions for epub/ibooks. Please contact us if you desire those formats as well.

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What is Amazon Smile? By logging into smile.amazon.com rather than the regular Amazon.com site you can choose Worldwide Discipleship Association as a charity and Amazon makes donation to WDA with each purchase!

Learn more about the program and how to choose WDA by following this link. WDA Amazon Smile

What’s Missing? 28/20 Conference DVD Preview

Posted on November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 by WDAHQ

Why is Discipleship critical for the church worldwide? The WDA 2820 Conference DVD provides insight from WDA President Bob Dukes and Restoring Your Heart Leader Jack Larson. Watch this introductory video and consider getting this conference produced on DVD and suitable for use in many ministry contexts.

Phase 1 – Faith and Repentance

Posted on May 25, 2011February 15, 2013 by Buddy Eades

WDA’s structure for Christian Growth has 5 phases. The first phase is Repentance and Faith.

Some think that once you master something you no longer have to focus on it again. Discipleship is a process and we do believe that once a person is able to learn the principles in a phase they will continue toward the next phase. They do not however leave the things they learn behind.

A home that has a firm foundation, is able to last a long time. A person who lays good foundations in Christlike character will also grow strong over time. The first phase, Repentance and Faith is like the foundation for a building. Once laid you are able to build on it. You do not however leave that foundation to build your home somewhere else.

For the Christian, we begin to walk with God as we turn from sin (repentance) and trust in Christ’s work (faith). C. Jack Miller once said that you need to continually preach the gospel to yourself each day. We are never too mature to return to phase 1. We are always needing to remember that while our salvation is secured in the finished work of Christ, the act of believing and turning from sin is a continual work of the Holy Spirit as He teaches us from God’s word. I need to go to the cross all through my day. As I find myself stressed and worried, I remember that the God who has called me to Himself by grace and died for my sins, Loves me dearly. I repent turning from my anxiety and fear and run in faith to my heavenly Father.

Phase one is not only necessary for a person to come to Christ, believing and trusting, it is also the life breath of my day as I continually learn to trust and run to Christ over and over.

Discipleship – Life on Life

Posted on May 24, 2011April 3, 2013 by Buddy Eades

Discipleship is more caught than taught someone once said. We at WDA believe that for people to grow to maturity in Christ this begins with relationships. Life on Life, day by day, moment by moment relationships. When Jesus begins his ministry he starts by asking one of his first followers to “Come and See.” This basic invitation for them to come along and learn is the root of great discipleship. No one ever can see all that you invest in a friendship. You cannot see all the training that your children get from you by only looking at what you may have covered over the dinner table. Even the most involved home-schooling parent cannot see the full measure of what living with you child teaches them.

The person who says to another come and see doesn’t just say come learn from the things I do correctly or listen to be teach a bible study, they say come learn how I follow Christ. A disciple who is able to connect with a discipler, has to commit time. There is a partnership and a familial relationship that develops. The beauty of this type of teaching is that I share my failures and better yet reveal and demonstrate my failures to someone I disciple. They get to see me running to the cross, repenting and trusting in the truth of the gospel. They get to see me struggle to obey and strive to understand difficulty truth.

Life on Life discipleship is not something that happens in a classroom. Consider who the people are who have poured into your life. A teacher, a coach, a neighbor, a Dad or a Mom. These people didn’t have an impact on you because you listen to a lecture and answered all the questions. You grew because God used them in your life. You got to learn as you were able to live around them.

Discipleship is Life on Life. We at WDA strive to give you the tools to know how to learn to disciple this way. We have staff who are trained in this type of ministry. See if there is a WDA staff person in your area who may be able to introduce you to WDA and more importantly to Life on Life Discipleship like Jesus did.