“The CSB Disciple’s Study Bible” guides an individual’s journey in following Jesus, by featuring discipleship-themed study notes, as well as tools and resources that equip Christians to disciple others.”

The CSB Disciple’s Study Bible will go down as one of the most innovative resources in this reformation of disciple-making endeavors. Although there is nothing that can replace the infallible, inerrant Word of God, there is still a great need for resources such as these.

About the Author

Robby Gallaty is the Senior Pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, TN. He was radically saved out of a life of drug and alcohol addiction on November 12, 2002. In 2008, Robby, and his wife Kandi, founded Replicate Ministries to educate, equip, and empower men and women to be disciples who make disciple-makers (www.replicate.org). He is also the author of Growing Up: How to be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples (B&H Books, 2013), Rediscovering Discipleship: Making Jesus’ Last Words Our First Work (Zondervan, 2015), The Forgotten Jesus (Zondervan, 2017), and Here and Now (B&H Books, 2018).

Review

With the recent release of the Christian Standard Bible, the Disciple’s Study Bible is one of a kind. Here are some wonderful characteristics about this Bible that stand out:

1) The Foundations 260 Reading Plan

The Foundations reading plan is the reading plan of Replicate Ministries. This plan is geared toward giving first time readers a plan to stay in the Word on a regular basis, to institute a church-wide reading plan for your local congregation, and even for pastors to faithfully shepherd their congregations to spiritual health and vitality. The reason for the 260 rather than 365 is that this plan offers a 5 days per week reading plan for 52 weeks. In the front of the Bible, you will find the plan in place with a check box to the left to keep up with where you are in your readings.

Along with the reading plan is a Scripture memorization schedule. One of the most critical things we as believers do not do is memorize Scripture. It is one thing to know Scripture and paraphrase it; it’s a whole other thing to quote it verbatim. In the beginning pages of this Bible, there is offered a sample way of memorizing Scripture by flash cards.

2) Integrated H.E.A.R. Journaling

I’ve written why I have embraced the H.E.A.R. journaling method here. The most effective way to truly let the Word take hold of you is to write yourself clear. This Bible is the perfect resource to begin both a habitual, daily reading of God’s Word and the daily journaling paired with it. Not only is this journaling method helpful by allowing the reader to dive a bit deeper into the passages studied, there are also notes given by Robby and Kandi Gallaty for each H.E.A.R. journal entry.

3) Disciple-Making Terms

But even more than the reading plans and the journaling is all of the disciple-making resource in the back – what the Bible refers to as “disciple-making terms”- and they are as follows:

C.L.O.S.E.R. – This acronym institutes the 6 spiritual disciplines: prayer(Communication), Bible Study (Learn), Obedience (Obey), Scripture Memory (Store), Evangelism, and Journaling (Renew).

Discipleship: “Intentionally equipping believers with the Word of God, through accountable relationships, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ.” In this section of the Disciple’s Study Bible, there are 4 areas of discipleship written on by the Replicate staff: men, women, children, and staff.

D-group DNA: This section consists of 8 pages of resources revolving around the discipleship group (D-Group) model from Gallaty’s book, Growing Up: How to be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples. In my opinion, this view of discipleship is the most Scripturally based view on discipleship. It focuses on accountability, prayer, Bible Study, and sharing life.

Discipleship Pathway: The discipleship pathway, unlike D-Groups, gives churches an avenue to reach their community with disciple-making efforts. It gives believers a vision for disciple-making in their own community. Starting with the Crowd (the people living in your region), then to the Congregation (those who attend your local church), on to Community (those who meet in your small group), and finally to the Core (those who are in your D-Group).

H.E.A.R.: As stated earlier, this is the journaling method along the F260 reading plan. However, in the back of the Bible it is fleshed out in a more self-explanatory way.

M.A.R.C.S. of a Disciple:The last section is an acronym devoted to describing those who are true disciples of Christ. There are five characteristics and they are as follows: Missional, Accountable, Reproducible, Communal, and Scriptural.

Analysis

In all reality, this Bible is most efficient and effective in the setting of discipleship. However, the overwhelming truth is that almost all settings are a setting for discipleship. If discipleship is about relational accountability, Bible Study, prayer, and Scripture memorization, then this Bible is for everyone.

As someone who shares a passion for discipleship, this is a Bible I will cherish forever. Not only does it contain content from a great author, it also is melded into a study Bible for an effective Bible study every day. Every person that is in a D-Group should invest in one of these Bibles, for it will only help their own spiritual life.