Discipleship: 40 Days of Discipleship: A Self-Paced Doctrinal Instruction Plan


We recommend that church leaders pursue formal education that gives both breadth and depth.[1] However, formal education is not practical for everyone. We recommend here a plan by which a person might use free resources from the GCI website to guide them in their education.

There are two important components of this list: 1) prioritization and 2) breadth.

  1. Prioritization: Our website has more than 1000 articles, and it can be difficult to know where to start. Of these articles, which are the most important? We try to provide some guidance on that by putting them into three groups. These are not necessarily levels of difficulty (most of our articles are from publications aimed at a lay audience), but provide some guidance about how to spread the reading out.
    Since most of the articles on our website were previously published in our denominational magazines, you may have read these articles before. Nevertheless, do not assume that you know what is in them! Almost all of our website articles have been edited within the last four years, to remove phrasings we now realize to be erroneous, and in some cases, to add insights we’ve had more recently. (Some of the articles were originally published 20 years ago, and some have been extensively revised to bring them up to date with our current theological understanding.)
  2. Breadth: Do not study only the topics that already interest you. You (and the members of your church) need exposure to other important topics. Try to read all articles in group 1, in all subject areas, before you proceed to group 2. We have attempted to give breadth in each sequence, with about the same amount of reading in each area. We have grouped the articles into 2000-3000 words for each day. If you read about 15-20 minutes per day, you’ll be done in 40 days. Some people might want to go faster, others slower. Since you set your own pace, you will need some self-discipline to continue the journey.

For a PDF containing all the articles in one document, click here. If you want a paperback printed copy, you can obtain one for $6.58 from Amazon in the U.S. or Europe. In the U.S., spiralbound copies can be obtained from thebookpatch.com for $12.79. The first 20 days have been translated into Portuguese.

For the second group of 40 days, click here.

GCI articles organized by doctrine, with links to the GCI website

Group 1: The first 40 days

Theology in general

words

  1.  
Why Bother With Theology? by Joseph Tkach

Strong Theology vs. Weak Theology, by Joseph Tkach

1084

1326

2. Theology Affects the Way We Live, by Joseph Tkach

Theology in Perspective, by Joseph Tkach

1509

936

  1.  
Theology: What Difference Does It Make? By Terry Akers and J. Michael Feazell

2586

  1.  
Answering Questions About Our Theology, by Gary Deddo

Beware Theological Labels, by Joseph Tkach

1143

984

The Triune God

 

  1.  
An Introduction to God, by Michael Morrison

2749

6& 7 The God Revealed in Jesus Christ, by GCI

4686

  1.  
We Were Always on His Mind, by Joseph Tkach

2382

Jesus Christ

 

  1.  
Who Is This Man? by Michael Morrison

2628

  1.  
Is Jesus Really God? A Look at the Arian Controversy, by J. Michael Feazell

2428

11. What Jesus’ Incarnation Shows Us About What It Means to Be Human, by Rick Shallenberger, and Jesus, the Unexpected Messiah, by Joseph Tkach

1255

1150

  1.  
Why Did Jesus Have to Die? by Michael Morrison

2456

The Holy Spirit

 

  1.  
The Holy Spirit, by Michael Morrison

2616

  1.  
The Use and Misuse of Spiritual Gifts, by Joseph Tkach, first half

2511

15. The Use and Misuse of Spiritual Gifts, by Joseph Tkach, second half

2435

  1.  
The Holy Spirit Is the Personal Presence of God, by Paul Kroll

2879

The Scriptures

 

  1.  
The Written Word of God, by Michael Morrison

2480

  1.  
Bible Study Secrets, by George Hague

2400

19. Inspiration, Authority, and Reliability of Scripture, by Michael Morrison

2290

  1.  
The Importance of Doctrine, by Joseph Tkach

Incarnational Trinitarian Theology: A Brief Outline

1654

229

The gospel

 

  1.  
The Gospel—It’s Not Fair, by Joseph Tkach

The Message of Jesus, by Michael Morrison

1246

1194

22. Preaching in the Book of Acts: Peter, by Michael Morrison

2488

  1.  
Sharing the Good News, by Joseph Tkach

2276

  1.  
Good News for Ordinary People, by Michael Morrison

2591

Grace and salvation

 

  1.  
Grace, by Joseph Tkach

Going on a Guilt Trip? By J. Michael Feazell

1641

664

  1.  
What Is Salvation? by Michael Morrison

2581

27. Humans in the Image of God, by Michael Morrison

2260

  1.  
Responding to God’s Grace in Our Relationships, by Joseph Tkach

Grace: A License to Sin? By J. Michael Feazell

1654

858

The church

 

  1.  
What Is the Church? by Michael Morrison

2685

  1.  
Six Functions of the Church, by Joseph Tkach, first half

2449

31. Six Functions of the Church, second half

Perfect Worship

1868

444

  1.  
Ministry Means Service, by Michael Morrison

2631

Christian life

 

  1.  
Christian Life, by Michael Morrison

2721

  1.  
Obeying God, by J. Michael Feazell

2850

35. Responding to Jesus With Prayer, by Joseph Tkach

In His Name

1692

1046

  1.  
The Role of the Law in Christian Life, by Joseph Tkach

2267

The future

 

  1.  
The End Is a New Beginning, by Michael Morrison

2621

  1.  
The Resurrection: Our Hope for the Future, by Joseph Tkach

2175

39. We Are Living in the Last Days, by Joseph Tkach

Heaven, by Joseph Tkach

1283

1368

  1.  
No One Knows When Christ Will Return, by Norman Shoaf

2209

 


[1] Ambassador College of Christian Ministry provides instruction at an undergraduate level; Grace Communion Seminary provides accredited instruction at a graduate level (although some people without a bachelor’s degree may be admitted – see the GCS Academic Catalog for details). Both ACCM and GCS charge tuition.

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