Clarifying—and Simplifying—Our Disciple-Making Efforts

By Michael C. Mack I read Robert Coleman’s book The Master Plan of Evangelism as a seminary student in 1989, when it was in only its 45th printing, with more than 925,000 copies sold. It has now sold more than 3.5 million copies and been translated into 105 languages. I’ve read the book many times over the years. It’s hard to find a page that doesn’t contain highlighting, underlining, asterisks, exclamation points, and notes in the margins. I’ve read his follow-up, The Master Plan of Discipleship, based on the book of Acts, many times as well. These books formed my

September 13, 2011

Christian Standard

New Testament Theology & Bible

Getting the Most from the Gospels (Part Two)

By Matt Proctor In Part One of this article, I explained that Matthew, Mark,Â Luke, and John are more than divinely inspired, historicallyÂ accurate biographies. They are that, to be sure. But eachÂ writer”s distinctive approach to telling his material gives usÂ nuance and knowledge we would never have received fromÂ one writer alone. This week we consider principles to help us get the fullest meaning possible from what I call these “pastorally interpretive narratives of the life of Christ.” Read Behind the Lines The first principle of Gospel reading is read behind the lines. In other words, look at the history and culture