Disciple Her: Using the Word, Work, & Wonder of God to Invest in Women by Kandi Gallaty
4 stars
“Discipleship is intentionally equipping believers with Word of God through accountable relationships empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ.”
Disciple Her is a novel different from most Christian disciple books because it specifically looks at how to disciple women. Women and men are very different, which means discipling is different. Some advice and tricks that work for men are not always successful with women and some that work for women don’t always work for men. The Gallaty’s are known for Replicate Ministries and their Disciple program which they call “D-Groups”. Gallaty’s husband has written countless books on discipleship, but Disciple Her is one of the first discipleship novels published specifically for women. Kandi Gallaty is doing something great here with being openly bold about sharing her own discipling techniques with the women in her life and what works and what doesn’t. I love discipling women! I have been blessed with the honor of discipling three women and seeing numerous other women come into a Life Group I co-lead this past year and give their life to Christ and be challenge to expand their view of what they thought their relationship was versus how they could strive to know and walk in deeper relationship with Jesus. I also had the privilege and honor of following Jesus’s final commands to His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Discipling is doing this exact command (I also baptized two of the girls I disciple- PRAISE THE LORD) and these experiences changed me completely. My girls that I discipled were all so different from each other in how they saw, spoke to, and understood Jesus and this was the greatest challenge for me. None of my tricks or preparations worked because I had to learn through the guidance of the Spirit how one thing works in prayer for two girls, but not for another (just one example). Because of my own discipleship experience I was open and curious to hearing and seeing what Gallaty had to say.
Gallaty is a relatively strong writer. There are a couple of hiccups and a few questionable passages, but they aren’t consistently prevalent and I, overall, enjoyed the experience of reading this novel. I was challenged in a lot of the areas I failed in my first year of discipleship (which was creating women who were ready and prepared to disciple others- they are ready, but still hesitant of their own knowledge) and this convicting moment while reading was so enlightening and challenged/inspired me to pray specifically for women who will become disciple-makers after our time together, which I had never thought to pray for before. Her discipleship process is very similar to the one that I learned through the college ministry I serve and I saw that she references some books that we read or have been recommended, so it’s cool to see that the discipleship process crosses over in so many different ways outside of a college campus.
Personal qualms: Gallaty is obsessed with memorizing Scripture, which is great but I think the more you memorize Scripture the less it imprints on your soul. What I mean by this is that intake of large quantities of memorizing Scripture becomes more of a game or challenge instead of a meditating experience on what work God or the Holy Spirit is doing in your life or current season. Memorizing is important, but I don’t know if I think it should be done weekly. Personally, I think it has merits, but it also gets lost in the shuffle. I personally care more about the Word being spoken to me in context of someone’s life instead of a verse being recited for the sole purpose of checking a box and patting yourself on the back. She also doesn’t consistently do one-on-ones which I think is important to the discipleship process. Anyone who wants a one-on-one and is consistent in showing up the small group, Life Group, or D-Group should get this opportunity and it shouldn’t be a “only if our schedules sync up or if you are living in sin and we need to discuss it” thing. Combatting living in sin consistently can be done through consistent one-on-ones and being accountable in a personal individual setting. I am also not okay with people being given the ultimatum of confess your sin to the group or be kicked out. Being kicked out of a discipleship group should not be an option. I’m going to use Judas Iscariot as an example. Do you think that Jesus wasn’t aware of Judas stealing money from his ministry and planning to kill him? No, he makes it abundantly clear that he knows as they are breaking bread before his arrest when he says that one who sits and eats alongside him will betray him. JESUS DID NOT KICK JUDAS ISCARIOT OUT DESPITE KNOWING HE WAS A SINNER. He let Judas make the ultimate decision to follow through on this betrayal and sell Jesus out for money and basically leave the disciples by his own choice. Leaving a group has to be by someone else’s choice and not because their sin is weighing down a group and making things complicated. That’s when you need to get with your girl and pray and pray hard for chains to be broken. If after that she chooses to leave, then let her go. Jesus will guide and heal her in His way and not yours.
Besides those few problems, Gallaty’s discipleship method is sound. I received a lot of new ideas and promptings from the Spirit, so I’m excited about a new year of discipling. God is so good and amazing and it’s awesome to see His hand upon a woman’s life whose purpose is to faithfully disciple women. It’s inspiring. I pray that it’s something I can consistently do throughout my life. I recommend this novel to anyone who feels a tugging on their heart about discipleship or who wants to learn more about it.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4
Plotastic Scale: 4
Cover Thoughts: I love this cover. It’s simple, but the pattern is so pretty.
4 stars
“Discipleship is intentionally equipping believers with Word of God through accountable relationships empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ.”
Disciple Her is a novel different from most Christian disciple books because it specifically looks at how to disciple women. Women and men are very different, which means discipling is different. Some advice and tricks that work for men are not always successful with women and some that work for women don’t always work for men. The Gallaty’s are known for Replicate Ministries and their Disciple program which they call “D-Groups”. Gallaty’s husband has written countless books on discipleship, but Disciple Her is one of the first discipleship novels published specifically for women. Kandi Gallaty is doing something great here with being openly bold about sharing her own discipling techniques with the women in her life and what works and what doesn’t. I love discipling women! I have been blessed with the honor of discipling three women and seeing numerous other women come into a Life Group I co-lead this past year and give their life to Christ and be challenge to expand their view of what they thought their relationship was versus how they could strive to know and walk in deeper relationship with Jesus. I also had the privilege and honor of following Jesus’s final commands to His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Discipling is doing this exact command (I also baptized two of the girls I disciple- PRAISE THE LORD) and these experiences changed me completely. My girls that I discipled were all so different from each other in how they saw, spoke to, and understood Jesus and this was the greatest challenge for me. None of my tricks or preparations worked because I had to learn through the guidance of the Spirit how one thing works in prayer for two girls, but not for another (just one example). Because of my own discipleship experience I was open and curious to hearing and seeing what Gallaty had to say.
Gallaty is a relatively strong writer. There are a couple of hiccups and a few questionable passages, but they aren’t consistently prevalent and I, overall, enjoyed the experience of reading this novel. I was challenged in a lot of the areas I failed in my first year of discipleship (which was creating women who were ready and prepared to disciple others- they are ready, but still hesitant of their own knowledge) and this convicting moment while reading was so enlightening and challenged/inspired me to pray specifically for women who will become disciple-makers after our time together, which I had never thought to pray for before. Her discipleship process is very similar to the one that I learned through the college ministry I serve and I saw that she references some books that we read or have been recommended, so it’s cool to see that the discipleship process crosses over in so many different ways outside of a college campus.
Personal qualms: Gallaty is obsessed with memorizing Scripture, which is great but I think the more you memorize Scripture the less it imprints on your soul. What I mean by this is that intake of large quantities of memorizing Scripture becomes more of a game or challenge instead of a meditating experience on what work God or the Holy Spirit is doing in your life or current season. Memorizing is important, but I don’t know if I think it should be done weekly. Personally, I think it has merits, but it also gets lost in the shuffle. I personally care more about the Word being spoken to me in context of someone’s life instead of a verse being recited for the sole purpose of checking a box and patting yourself on the back. She also doesn’t consistently do one-on-ones which I think is important to the discipleship process. Anyone who wants a one-on-one and is consistent in showing up the small group, Life Group, or D-Group should get this opportunity and it shouldn’t be a “only if our schedules sync up or if you are living in sin and we need to discuss it” thing. Combatting living in sin consistently can be done through consistent one-on-ones and being accountable in a personal individual setting. I am also not okay with people being given the ultimatum of confess your sin to the group or be kicked out. Being kicked out of a discipleship group should not be an option. I’m going to use Judas Iscariot as an example. Do you think that Jesus wasn’t aware of Judas stealing money from his ministry and planning to kill him? No, he makes it abundantly clear that he knows as they are breaking bread before his arrest when he says that one who sits and eats alongside him will betray him. JESUS DID NOT KICK JUDAS ISCARIOT OUT DESPITE KNOWING HE WAS A SINNER. He let Judas make the ultimate decision to follow through on this betrayal and sell Jesus out for money and basically leave the disciples by his own choice. Leaving a group has to be by someone else’s choice and not because their sin is weighing down a group and making things complicated. That’s when you need to get with your girl and pray and pray hard for chains to be broken. If after that she chooses to leave, then let her go. Jesus will guide and heal her in His way and not yours.
Besides those few problems, Gallaty’s discipleship method is sound. I received a lot of new ideas and promptings from the Spirit, so I’m excited about a new year of discipling. God is so good and amazing and it’s awesome to see His hand upon a woman’s life whose purpose is to faithfully disciple women. It’s inspiring. I pray that it’s something I can consistently do throughout my life. I recommend this novel to anyone who feels a tugging on their heart about discipleship or who wants to learn more about it.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4
Plotastic Scale: 4
Cover Thoughts: I love this cover. It’s simple, but the pattern is so pretty.
You can purchase this novel on Amazon here! (I'm an Amazon Associate and do make a small commission if you purchase anything with this link.)
Thank you, B & H Books, for providing me with a physical copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you, B & H Books, for providing me with a physical copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Disciple Her? What do you know about discipling people or have any experiences? Share your testimony about discipleship down below in the comments!
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