Going Deep...Becoming A Person of Influence

I really enjoyed this book as our own church is in a time of transition and it was quite inspiring. The author,Gordon MacDonald uses a fictional church and town to portray what it might look like if a church decided to intentionally cultivate "deep people." These people would be hand-picked by the Pastor and Elders with the goal being that they would be able to move a church forward in the future. The book is a work of fiction and that is indicated in the preface with the only genuine characters being Gordon MacDonald and his wife Gail.

I think that the underlying theme was that Gordon is getting ready to retire and is being challenged to think about what his legacy will be to his church family. His desire is to leave this church healthy and vibrant and to have other church members on board who desire to go deeper in their walk with God. Based on his interaction with several individuals, notably his next door neighbor, MacDonald, begins to develop what is known as the "big idea" at first and this later becomes known as CDP, Cultivating Deep People. Cultivating Deep People becomes a year-long small group mentoring program. I loved how he gave the reader weekly updates and helped you to see growth in the individuals who were participating.

My son is a Pastor and it is definitely a book I will pass on to him as I believe it has lots of good points. I think that it could be a good tool for cultivating discipleship training and encouraging others to grow deeper.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing an unbiased, authentic review. I was not required to write a positive review. The ideas and thoughts are my own.