Why I Wrote the eBook, Invest in a Few
This blog is an excerpt from the free eBook, Invest in a Few: Giving Your Life to What Matters Most. Download it free here.
My Spiritual Journey of Investment
The content of this book comes from how God used various disciple makers to invest in me. I am amazed at how God has brought great people to spiritually invest in me over the years, including my parents who first spoke the gospel over me and helped me come to faith in Jesus. I had youth pastors who poured their lives into mine and spent endless hours answering my questions and teaching me to read and love God’s Word. In college, a retired businessman reached out to me and welcomed me into his home, where—along with other college students—I learned what it meant to follow Jesus on a secular college campus.
This is from Craig Ethredege’s eBook, Invest in a Few. Download the eBook here in your favorite format at no cost.
While in seminary, God brought an older man that stood about 5 feet 2 inches named Cecil, who taught me how to pray. Then, there was a former Olympic wrestler named Dave, who gave me a passion for disciple making. While pastoring my first church, God planted three professional executives in my life who taught me how to share the gospel and train businessmen to walk with God. Then, later God brought strategists like Bill Hull and Dann Spader into my life—each of whom instilled in me a passion and a vision for making disciples the way Jesus did through the local church.
Thinking about these men, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. Each one shaped my life and their influence continues to impact me to this day. I’m convinced that life change happens when one believer invests in another person to help them walk with God, reach their world, and invest in a few. I’m sure that when you reflect on your spiritual journey, you could list people who have had an incredible impact on your life, too. That’s how God works—he works through one life touching another life, and that life touching yet another. That’s God’s plan to change the world, that’s investing in a few.
Over the years I’ve noticed that many Christ followers have a desire to make a spiritual investment in others, but they don’t take action to do that. Many simply don’t know what to do, and others aren’t sure they are really qualified to make such an investment. For some others, they simply don’t believe that God could use them in such a significant way. If those describe you at all, I want you to read this next sentence slowly and think about its meaning for you: God has already given you everything you need to begin a movement that can change the world.
Do you find that hard to believe? Then, keep reading. This reveals Jesus’ call to make disciples. By reading this book, you will learn the secret to making a lasting impact on the lives of others who will in turn do the same. You will discover some “field tested” principles and practices to help you make disciples to the ends of the world. It is my hope that this book inspires you to fulfill Jesus’ great commission in your lifetime. Let’s get started.
Written by Craig Etheredge
A gifted communicator, author, and Bible teacher and the Lead Pastor at First Colleyville, a thriving church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Craig Etheredge is the host of Morning Thrive, a radio program that covers central Texas. He is Founder and President of discipleFIRST ministries and a regular speaker at the FlashPoint Conference across the United States. Craig is also Adjunct Professor of Discipleship at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas and is actively involved in his local community serving on various boards.
