"Meeting the Dawn at Jimmy's Egg" by Randy Faulkner. A Review

 

Often, one-on-one relationships with people bring about some of the most satisfying results in Christian ministry. But there are hurdles to jump to get there. Some of the barriers are personal, others are generational or vocational. But elders and pastors of God's church should aim toward making those connections with the goal to developing disciples of Jesus. Randy Faulkner, retire Senior Pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church (now Metropolitan Bible Church) in Oklahoma City, penned a short 146-page dossier on how he did this while he was a pastor, "Meeting the Dawn at Jimmy's Egg: How Pastors and Lay Leaders can be Disciple-Makers". The book surfaced in 2009 after years of practicing what he preached. The work is easy -to-read, chock full of real-life examples, running over with Randy's trademark graciousness and wisdom, and is set up to help.

The chapters are focused on encouragement, motivation, and concepts, unfolding each and developing them in baby-steps. Bit by bit Faulkner takes the reader through different facets of discipleship mentoring in ways that help the squeamish to come to the point of saying, "You know, I think I could just do something like that."  The volume is ideal for pastors, elders, and others who sense that they should be investing themselves in the lives of others, for Christ's sake. It is empty of guilt-manipulation, and running over with patient coaching. Though the book was written for men, women could easily take this manuscript and, with a little thought, apply it to their situation as well. I highly recommend the work.

My thanks to Bob Kanary, who gave me a copy of the book, and Randy Faulkner for autographing it. No one asked me to review it, and so my analysis is all my own without any pressure.