David R. Smith
Christian men’s groups have long needed an instruction manual. Relational Discipleship is the manual you’ve been waiting for. - Dmitri Bilgere, Author of Gateways to God: Remove Your Roadblock and Live His LoveIn Walden, Henry David Thoreau observed that 'The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.' More than ever in today’s world, lonely men face a depressing mental, emotional, and spiritual condition. They are often encouraged to numb broken, hurting relationships and resulting pain medicated with alcohol, sex, or drugs. However, we aren’t accidents meant to remain as damaged goods. In Relational Discipleship, with help from a Band of Brothers, David demonstrates a path for engaging in safe, confidential, affirming relationships with other men. By creating a sacred space and moving through assigned roles, asking key questions, and building trusting bonds, this book provides a road map on trusting others and God for healing. Healed wounds, the restoration of soul damage to the essence of who each man is ignites the humble and transcendent mission that God created in each and for each man.About the AuthorSeeing and hearing deep emotional wounds and damage that most people suffer, David delights in the invisible, quiet, and powerful miracles of soul healing and long-term inner restoration from a loving God. Frustration with simplistic messages on paths to restoration led him to dig deeper into Christian writers presenting a more integrated path. These include but are not limited to John Eldredge, Leanne Payne, Christian Schwarz, David Seamands, Watchman Nee, Gordon Dalby, Dmitri Bilgere, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and Derek Prince as well as selected secular writers. The path drawn in the book in your hands resulted from engaging men with like interests and needs. An architecture, planning, and civil engineering background energizes David’s consulting professional life which involves environmental restoration through research, instruction, and practice with a specialty on books about interlocking and permeable pavements. He lives in northern Virginia with his wife and enjoys four grandchildren from his two married daughters.