DISCIPLESHIP TOOLS & RESOURCES
Bible Study
From the videos produced by The Bible Project to the Fire Bible, there are many tools in various formats (digital and print) that we recommend as you dig into studying the Bible. The PROAPT study method allows for digging deeper into the text, while Lectio Divina helps an individual imagine themselves within the story of a given text. Additionally, the intense 1-month plan (called New Through 30) to read through the New Testament is perfect for those desiring to abide deeply and spend more time with Jesus daily.
The classic devotional resource, The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, remains a wonderful resource worth reading. It’s available for free!
Prayer + FASTING
Brother Lawrence, a classic on prayer + worship, is available as a free eBook. Additionally, the Prayer of Examen invites us into a reflective review of our day alongside God. The Joshua Project is a resource to help us pray, intercede, for people that haven’t yet had the opportunity to hear the Gospel. For daily abiding time with Jesus, there are a few ‘frameworks’ to help us engage in prayer: ACTS Method, The Lord’s Prayer as a Guide and the PRAY Method.
A great 'information guide’ to fasting is from Bill Bright and you can download this free 11-page PDF via this link.
We also invite you to consider praying the early church creeds. This connects us to the traditions we come from, reminds us of our deepest beliefs, and helps us live into our day with the big picture in mind.
leading others
The Chi Alpha Edition of Habitudes (print book) is a gem. Additionally, this series of talks on Jesus as a Leader by Rod Loy is a foundational series of concepts for leadership within Chi Alpha (we recommend starting with Week 1).
→ Chi Alpha at the University of Virginia (our dear friends!) have also created a page full of great resources, including Life Group (which they call Core Groups) content curriculum. A recent resource we really enjoyed from them is a thoughtful article on how to cultivate and lead spiritual conversations with those that might not identify as Christians.
National Chi Alpha recently launched We Live Missions and one of our favorite parts of this initiative is the accompanying podcast.
As it pertains to how we express and live out missions as DC Chi Alpha, we desire to critique by creating. In other words, we want to honestly grapple with the ways in which missions (long-term and short-term) have been positive and also, where missions has been detrimental (throughout Christian history). Then, we aim to live out our critique by creating another way forward that retains and reframes the essential elements of missions (one of which is to share with others what God has graciously shown us!).
For those interested, Christ of the Indian Road by E. Stanley Jones and Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman are great books to start to engage in this conversation.