• Neil Cole. Search & Rescue: Becoming a Disciple Who Makes a Difference. 240p., $17.99. Baker Books.

In his latest book, Search and Rescue, Neil Cole casts a vision for Christians to become heroes, going into the hard places to rescue souls that are going down. He offers a challenge and follows up with a practical means, prayerfully dependent upon God the whole way.

Do you love a good metaphor? A great story? This book is full of great stories of daring rescues — first-hand stories from the years that Neil spent as a lifeguard with the Los Angeles County Lifeguards. Nearly every chapter starts with an engaging first-hand story, which Neil skillfully weaves into the bigger story of how to rescue those who are far from God.

The book is, by Neil's own admission, a bit of a rework of two of his previous works, Organic Church and Cultivating a Life for God. But where Organic Church was geared to pastors, Search & Rescue is targeted toward laypeople. Its purpose is to equip readers to make a difference in the lives of the people around them. It is, no more and no less, a basic book on how to make disciples.

Cole lists two qualities to look for in making disciples. First, look for people who are desperate — like a man gasping for air. People who don't want to be rescued can't be. Cole says, "There is a temptation to think that good people make good soil for the seed of the gospel. In our church, however, we have a saying, 'Bad people make good soil. There is a lot of fertilizer in their lives.'"

The second quality to look for is people who stay faithful — people who will receive the help that is offered. If they want to get better but don't want to do it God's way, we can't make disciples out of them.

The basic means by which Neil recommends is the Life Transformation Group (LTG), a multiplying group of two or three that meets weekly to do three things:

1. Hold each other accountable for, and discuss, the reading of Scripture. Neil recommends groups read about 30 chapters of the Bible each week. In this sense, it is fairly hard-core discipleship. The group does not go on to another book until everyone in the group has read the agreed-upon book. If everyone didn’t complete Proverbs, everyone reads it (or tries to read it) again. There are no books or curriculum, no blanks to fill in. Just the Bible.

2. Confession of sin. The sound of it brings chills to your bones, doesn't it? When was the last time you sat down with someone and said, "Let's confess our sins, shall we?" Neil provides a list of questions that an LTG could use for accountability. A card is provided with the book with these questions, and alternate lists are provided.

3. Prayer for non-Christians. The back of the card mentioned above provides specific prayers based on specific passages of the Bible that can be used in praying for non-Christians.

Of particular interest to me was the chapter called "More Powerful than a Locomotive." Neil did a masterful job of communicating the power of multiplication. It is of interest to me, in part, because I teach conferences on my book You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, which is all about multiplying groups. Multiplication begins slower than addition, but like a car rolling down a steep hill, it builds up momentum as it goes. A penny can become millions, and then billions, and within a short time, trillions.

Here are two take-away concepts you can lift from Search & Rescue for your small group ministry:

1. Consider starting Life Transformation Groups. Lead by example. Start a group yourself. I have just gotten started at this. Others who have been it doing for years (including the editor of this site) can testify that it is a great concept.

2. Cast a vision for your groups to grow and divide. A group of 10 that doubles every 18 months can reach 1,000 people in 10 years. (Do the math!) You will never get that many in your small group, nor should you try. Eventually growth will kill a small group, as it is not small any more. Cast a vision for doubling groups.

If you’d like to read more, Neil has an excerpt from Search & Rescue at http://www.cmaresources.org/node/199.

Josh Hunt is passionate about small groups. He encourages small-group leaders through online lessons, books, and live conferences. He is the author of You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less (Group) and Disciple-Making Teachers (with Dr. Larry Mays, also Group).