Deep Mentoring - by Randy D Reese & Robert Loane (Paperback)

About the Book

Randy Reese and Robert Loane argue that the best leaders are a product of deep mentorship. Thus tomorrow's good leader needs a good mentor today. This book taps into the twin resources of leadership and spiritual formation to help you become the lifelong guide and friend our future leaders need.

Book Synopsis

"God is in the business of raising up leaders." --J. Robert (Bobby) ClintonWhen good leaders are needed, when the work is urgent, our immediate reaction is to enlist new leaders. Instead we are called to invest in new leaders.Good leaders are developed in and through slow, deep mentoring. To think otherwise is to embrace the myth of the quick fix. We proceed, instead, by paying careful attention to and joining in the work God is already doing in people's lives.This book is designed to help you know better how to come alongside others as a guide and a friend, to invest in their spiritual formation and leadership. If you want long-term impact on the lives of future leaders, how you guide must be as important as the content you impart. Only then will you see lifelong change and empowerment in those you mentor.Randy Reese and Robert Loane show you how to make the most of the crucial ministry of mentoring. They offer a biblically grounded approach that draws on the research and teaching of Bobby Clinton as well as their own experience in resourcing churches and Christian organizations.Jesus Christ still calls people to become leaders in a lifelong journey of conforming to his image. Join him as you guide others through deep mentoring.

Review Quotes

"Deep Mentoring is a breath of fresh air for churches and Christian leaders weary of business leadership axioms and growth principles. I highly recommend reading this book but even more strongly encourage Christian mentors to prayerfully ponder the wise guidance provided for the important work of guiding others and begin to pay attention to the way that God grows his people toward maturity in Christ. As you read, be prepared to slow down."

--Rob Peterson, senior pastor, Thornapple Evangelical Covenant Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.

"Deep Mentoring is a must-read for anyone in leadership, a valuable tool for those mentoring the next generation of leaders as well as a helpful guide for those seeking mentoring. It has lots of great examples and ideas for building strong, effective mentoring relationships that will change lives as mentors and mentees learn to notice God's work in their lives."

--Elizabeth "Betsy" Glanville, Ph.D., assistant professor of leadership, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

"I have to believe that whether you are a seasoned Christian leader or one just starting out, Deep Mentoring will provide enough food to feast on for years to come! In this book, Randy Reese and Rob Loane provide substantive content and guidance along with probing questions and vivid examples that demystify the critical but often-ignored task of developing others."

--Beth Booram, congregational consultant, spiritual director, speaker and author, Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God

"Sharing the biblical reflections of leadership guru J. Robert Clinton, Reese and Loane ably communicate the insights gained from a lifetime of study. Their book imparts life-changing ideas. Reflecting on the patterns of growth in others, the book deepens our understanding of how to develop leaders. Deep Mentoring moves the needle toward maturing leadership!"

--Doug McConnell, provost, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Sometimes we can't see because what we're looking for is too obvious. Sometimes we can't see because we're moving too rapidly past what we need. Sometimes we don't see because we settle for something less too quickly. Deep Mentoring opens the door to a centuries-deep practice of apprenticeship in Jesus' way of forming leaders. Reese and Loane invite us to linger at that table of formation which begins with the practice of learning to pay attention to the presence of God in everything. Let's face it: we need help for holy seeing and sacred listening. Deep Mentoring gives us that help."

--Dr. Keith R. Anderson, president, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology

"Two fresh, 'younger' doctors of the soul offer invaluable guidance to those who desire to honestly pursue the path of transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Deep mentoring is an essential, desperately needed discipline for today's church if the large and growing chasm between the generations (modern and postmodern?) is to be bridged. Deep Mentoring provides both inspiration and wisdom towards this vital task of the twenty-first-century body of Christ.Deep Mentoring presents a much needed broader exposure of the already-proven but largely unknown ministry of VP3. I have seen firsthand as a pastor more than a hundred lay leaders and ministers have their lives changed by going through this process of spiritual formation. Read this book and taste the process, and then run to get your church involved in the most effective ministry and leadership development tool/discipline/process for the local church I have ever come across.This book, while thoroughly grounded in Scripture and good theology ('Who is God?'), is really about application of the Gospel and the implications of the Gospel for how we live our lives (see Eph. 2:10, which may be called the theme verse of the VP3 process). People everywhere in the church are looking for someone to apply the Bible to their lives. What they don't realize and what Deep Mentoring makes clear is that only they, with a few others helping them (hopefully including a mentor and necessarily including the Holy Spirit), can truly apply the Word of God to their lives! No one can do it for them! They must hear uniquely from God the answers to the often unasked questions, 'Who am I?' and 'What am I to do with my life?'. Few things are needed in the contemporary church more than the deep exercise of seriously and honestly asking these three questions that form the threefold 'vantage point' of this process described in Deep Mentoring."

--Dr. Vic Gordon, senior pastor, Kenwood Baptist Church, Cincinnati

About the Author

Randy D. Reese (D.Miss., Fuller Theological Seminary) is president of VantagePoint3, a ministry seeking to foster renewal and maturity in local communities through the development of lifelong approaches to Christian leadership formation. He is also the coauthor of Spiritual Mentoring.

Robert Loane (M.Div., Talbot Seminary) oversees educational design at VantagePoint3 ministries.

Peterson, now retired, was for many years James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also served as founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. In addition to his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message (NavPress), he has written many other books.