It is with great pleasure that we will conclude the first national gathering of a Disciple Making Forum with Bill Hull presenting Dr. Robert E. Coleman the first distinguished service award for disciple making. He is distinguished and worthy for us to model ourselves after because of the way that he has championed Jesus’ way of Disciple Making.
Dr. Robert E. Coleman, Disciple Maker
Over 55 years ago, a rookie seminary professor named Robert Coleman taught a class on Jesus’ methods of evangelism and disciple making. He couldn’t find a lot of good material, so he prepared his lectures by reading and reflecting on the four gospel accounts and jotted down what he observed. By God’s grace, his handwritten notes from that class turned into what is arguably the most influential book on discipleship to date. The Master Plan of Evangelism, originally published in 1963, has sold more than 3.5 million copies in English and many, many more in the 100+ languages into which it has been translated.
The basis of Dr. Coleman’s esteemed book is a belief that Jesus’ method of disciple making is the perfect one. He contends that we need both Jesus’ message and Jesus’ method. The timeless and transcultural principles of His method simply cannot be improved upon (John 1:1-4). His master plan was the perfect plan because in Jesus we find all treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).
More importantly, Dr. Coleman has lived out what he has taught. He has personally invited into his life countless numbers of men and women so that they could join one of his early morning groups. For over 55 years, he has taught (and continues to teach) young pastors in the best seminaries in the world—Gordon Conwell, Asbury Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and the Southern Baptist Seminary (among others). He served with the Billy Graham association and countless other ministries.
Written by Bobby Harrington, Founder of Discipleship.org