BOOK REVIEW: MULTIPLY by FRANCIS CHAN

The last words Jesus spoke to his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 are referred to as The Great Commission, and in the book of Acts we see Jesus’ disciples putting this commission into practice after they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. They set out to spread the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. Likewise, all followers of Jesus, are commanded to make more followers of Jesus, whether you are a doctor or a gardener, a stay-at-home-mum or a corporate manager - hence the title of this book, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples.

But how to begin? What to do? Isn’t that the responsibility of pastors and missionaries? In this book, Francis Chan gives simple and practical advice on how and why to tell others about Jesus, and furthermore, how to study the Bible together.

If you are a bit scared of reading the Bible with someone else or feel completely unequipped to disciple them, those are appropriate feelings. God’s Word is holy and needs to be studied with humility, lots of prayer and obedience. But God also uses weak and broken vessels for his purposes - so you don’t need a theological degree to tell others about Jesus. Christine Caine truthfully said,‘God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.’

Finally, Multiply helps one to read and study the Bible faithfully so that it can be fully grasped as the living treasure it is. Furthermore, each chapter of the book is filled with questions and discussion points to help us grow into disciple-makers who produce more disciple-makers through Jesus Christ.