I think Coleman's book (which seems to abbreviate A.B. Bruce's earlier and bigger work
"The Training of the Twelve") is good on a theoretical level for disciplers to understand their overall path.
One simple principle I've heard is "never do anything by yourself"... a la Deut 6, we should have someone with us as much as possible to train along the way.
The problem, in my experience, is finding faithful people. Based on 2 Timothy 2:2, when someone doesn't follow through consistently for me, I realize now they are telling me to concentrate on someone who will be faithful! As a result I don't believe it's wise to "chase" people. They must want to follow you.
But back to books. I no longer suspect there is "one book" I can give as a "cure all" to someone who wants to grow in Christ in "here, read this!" fashion. The task is too overwhelming.
At some point the issues of Biblical/Theological Knowledge, Faithful living, and skill in ministry/vocation need to be addressed. Each person is different and usually the best way to address an issue is when it is of concern to the potential disciple.
For instance, if a man comes in with marriage struggles, it does little good to say "Hey, we can get to that in lesson 65 and our curriculum places us at lesson 6 "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin".
So, curricula shoulw be flexible and non-sequential in some ways. As
Paul-Timothy.net calls this, it's "menu driven". You can see their free printable handouts and read more on that there. I'm
Reformed and Evangelical in a way they are not so I would have to adapt their materials and you likely will too. But at least you can learn the concept. Alternatively, if you have your "perfect book" you can ask what the most pressing need is? They key is for them to respond immediately, put it into practice and teach others (2 Tim 2:2).
The danger in identifying "disciples" to train, is that we do not know who the Spirit is working upon. That is why the whole congregation should be continually catechized on an ongoing basis with special attention given to those whom the Lord is raising up. Nobody does this more thoroughly than Pastor Bender, a Lutheran pastor at Peace Sussex church in Wisconsin. His weekly handout
"Congregation At Prayer" shows how on a weekly basis, every congregant is encouraged to grow in Christ through their worship "in church" and at home and how he progresses through the basic topics of Luther's Small Catechism on a regular basis. It's exhaustively thorough!
How do you combine the two concepts? That's a work in progress for me but worth considering later...
