“Max Anders’ greatest gift is being able to take large and complex subjects and boil them down to their irreducible minimum without distorting them.”
Michael Hyatt
Former President & Chairman, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Author, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World
I received the “Brave New Discipleship” kit in the mail this past week. It looks absolutely amazing! I have already spent hours looking through it. I’m so excited about it. This is what I’ve been looking for since I started ministry. – Pastor C. H.
Going through these courses changed my life. There’s no other way to say it. D. V. N.
This is the easiest and the best material I have ever taught. It is so interesting, after finishing the DVDs in our small group we have to actually shut off the discussion afterward because we run out of time. It’s great! – J. W.
This is really superb stuff. Very impressive. This is way beyond what I expected. – K. A.
Stupendous! – D. A.
This is far and away the most thorough and professional DVD system I have used. Especially enjoyed the skill with which you introduced the lessons. – J. D.
It’s absolutely fantastic! A Grand Slam! – K. H.
The quality of this seems inspired. – B. L.
After the first lesson I couldn’t wait to get the next lesson. Very well done! – R. M.
I have been a small-group leader for 20 years, and this is the best small-group material I have ever used. We often had to stop the interaction and send people home because it was getting so late. – R. W.
I’m not an experienced teacher, but my husband thought I could lead a group using the 7 Marks DVDs, so I did. It was so easy. Thanks for making this available so that people like me could lead others through it. – C. V. D.
Awesome! More, more, more! This study was easy to facilitate and encouraged me to further study on a personal level. – P. D.
A wonderful course! – C. M.
I would like to personally thank you for the opportunity to study what you have spent so much time researching. It really has opened my heart and given me a lot of answers that I was searching for. – E. R.
I feel that I’m a better person for having taken these courses. – H. H.
This is an excellent course for the mature believer and the spiritual “infant” alike. I went into it thinking it might be a little too elementary for me. It is very elementary, and yet profound. I loved the course and plan to use it in my own discipleship ministries. – J. N.
Great course! I loved the videos and the teaching. This course is an invaluable help for any Christian. – P. A.
It was awesome! If you want to know what God wants from you, take this course! Thank you! – S. H.
I am over 50 years old and have been a Christian all my life. As a layperson, I have been delighted by the depth this class has taken me to. It’s incredible in its depth, and ability to take even mature Christians to the next level of devotion and commitment. – J. H.
I am a better Christian because of this. – J. S.
No words can thank you enough for all I have learned. – S. D.
Sure wish I had this material to go through when I first became a follower of Christ! Thank you for your time and effort to complete this project. – A. A.
“Endearing Thanks” does not come close to expressing our appreciation for this series. – J. H.
Thank you, thank you! For the knowledge and wisdom. It was so well done. – K. E.
I wasn’t sure Dr. Anders’ discipleship idea would work, but I was desperate.
In late 2005, I planted a new church. It grew fast. Each year, well over 100 adults made a first time decision to begin a relationship with Jesus. Yet this non-stop blessing of new believers Sunday after Sunday quickly became a big problem. We couldn’t follow up. It was paralyzing.
Soon, nearly 70% of our adult attenders were brand new Christians – new to a relationship with Jesus, ignorant of the Bible, neophytes in their ability to serve or give or even identify orthodox doctrine. And we had no way to get them all up to speed quickly.
I pastor fast-paced families who struggle to invest even an extra hour outside of a Sunday service. So, whatever I did, I had one chance for it to work. It had to be transferable. It had to be orthodox. It had to be entertaining. It had to work. I was desperate.
When Dr. Anders presented his plan to reduce everything a brand new Christian needed to know down to the very essentials, I had no idea if his plan would work. He promised no rabbit trails. No fluff. Just the absolute basics of a core systematic theology into a visually engaging format on DVD without the boring talking heads that would put my congregation to sleep.
I was intrigued. Could this work?
The DVD format meant I wouldn’t have to rely on some beginner leader to try to teach a workbook or some self-appointed theological expert in the congregation to put his theological spin on our church doctrine. Instead, I’d have a transferable format. A set of DVDs that could be used again and again in a large group format, a small group format, or just played for a self-starter audience of one.
Plus, I’d have the entire text of the DVDs in the workbooks so that the teaching would be preserved for each student and easily previewed for discussion leaders. I’d have great follow-up and discussion questions built in that could take the 25-minute DVD lesson deeper as time permitted. Dr. Anders promised all this. I just kept wondering, “Would it work?” Could it grow believers?
Our leadership believed it could and so for 20 weeks, we partnered with Dr. Anders on the production costs of the first two courses, and invested $10,000 of our church funds to assist in the creation of the DVD’s. Now, it had to work. (Grin)
It did.
Recently, we graduated 38 believers thru the first two 10-week portions of the Brave New Discipleship program. ALL of them are committed to take the next course to learn how to lead others thru the program. By the end of the first year, I will have multiplied our discipleship leadership in our church 38 x over.
This coming fall, we will offer the courses again thru our small-group system and I now have the leadership to do that. And all I had to do was put a DVD in the player.
I don’t know how much Dr. Anders is charging for the privilege of having this DVD-based series available to your congregation, but as someone who paid $10,000 to help produce the first two courses, it was worth every dime.
I’m sold on the Brave New Discipleship.
R. R. H. – Lead Pastor
Ft. Wayne, IN