My Next Step, Volume 2

Need a little help on this journey of faith? You are not alone.

The adventure continues in Volume 2 of:

We follow Jesus better when we follow him together.

Whether you just finished Volume 1: Getting Started or this is your introduction to the My Next Step series, this book is for you. More precisely, this book is for you and a friend. Or you and a neighbor (or family member, or acquaintance). We follow Jesus better when we follow him together.

Whether that truth excites you or terrifies you, or a little of both, this volume will help you think about, pray through, and experiment with relational discipleship: taking a small next step with someone on your rope.

The My Next Step series provides real help for real people who want to follow Jesus, but sometimes get stuck. You won’t find the secret formula that makes faith easy. You won’t find three sure-fire tips for tackling doubt. You won’t even find the one *right* way to improve your relationship with others, or with Jesus. Instead, you’ll find a gracious framework for following, laid in love, with practical, real-life faith experiments that help you explore ways you might take a small next step.

Following Jesus with other people is not for the faint of heart. Yet it is the most exciting, challenging, joyful, and adventurous undertaking you could ever be part of. And there are no prerequisites: anybody can take a small step following Jesus at any time. Let’s see if we can do that together.

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Inside Volume 2 You’ll find…

Real Help

Isolation and loneliness have been pervasive in the Church since before COVID hit. We continue to privatize our faith even as we struggle to find relational support.

You don’t need a spiritual BFF; you just need someone, anyone, to take a small next step with you on the journey of faith. This volume will help you experiment and grow in a crucial area of faith development that has become harder and harder to pursue: actually following Jesus with other people.

Real Encouragement

Self-improvement makes following Jesus a burden; and burden is the enemy of faith. One of the best ways to flip the script on burden is to catch an attitude of adventure. Adventure thinking is less focused on your personal success or failure and much more interested what the Spirit of Jesus is doing, in you and in the world around you.

As you discover and focus on what Jesus is up in your life, you will end up growing in your faith and faithfulness—you will advance and improve—but almost as an afterthought. All along the way, My Next Step offers encouragement, grace, and the freedom to try, because Jesus has got you covered, no matter what.

A Real Jesus

Even Jesus wanted friends by his side as he lived out the Father’s delight. Those first disciples often failed Jesus and failed each other. But again and again, Jesus showed up in their midst.

We follow Jesus better when we follow him together, not because of our strength or expertise, but because Jesus uses people to deliver his promises. Like the Emmaus Road disciples discovered, when you are walking together and talking about Jesus—even when you are headed in the wrong direction—Jesus shows up to walk with you.

“The Lord sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.”

Luke 10:1 (ESV)

“In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them.”

Luke 24:15 (ESV)

Praise for My Next Step

Get a Complete Set (Coming Soon)

Volume 1: Getting Started (Easter, 2022) looks at attitudes and patterns of thinking that help make following Jesus an adventure rather than a burden. You’ll practice being honest with God and withholding judgment long enough to wonder what Jesus is up to in your life. You’ll get a chance to try some discipleship tools like the Secret Code Prayer or the Spiritual MRI. You’re off to a good start. [Order Now]

Volume 2: Who’s on Your Rope? (Fall, 2022) leans into the blessings of having someone (anyone!) on your rope as you move forward in faith. You’ll explore how to engage Jesus in his Word and look for the work of the divine Sculptor in your life as the Spirit shapes a unique response in you. [Order Now]

Finally, in Volume 3: Finding Your Groove (Winter, 2023), we’ll put it all together to find a simple, repeatable process that supports your ongoing faith journey. The key questions, “Where am I right now?” (Vol. 1) and “Who’s on my rope?” (Vol. 2) frame three intentional prayers in Vol. 3:

Jesus, where are you speaking into my life?
Spirit, what response are you shaping in me?
Father, what promise covers my next step?

Once our Standard Following Procedure is in place, we’ll explore some ways we get off track, and discover some tools for recalibrating. Don’t miss the rest of the story in Volumes 2 and 3 of My Next Step: A How-To Companion for People Who Want to Follow Jesus (But Sometimes Get Stuck)!