I wrote Foundations for a few reasons. The primary reason is that although there are a number of excellent books written about discipleship, there are fewer books that can be used as curriculum or workbooks by those wishing to disciple others or be discipled. For those desiring to disciple or mentor someone, it can be a daunting task to know how to go about it. Some will be comfortable charting that path on their own, but many will be much more confident with a process that has some shape and direction. At the same time, some materials can be too directive and feel stifling. The hope in creating something like Foundations is to offer both guidance and freedom. 

An additional aim was to offer a breadth of topics, with the hope of exposing people to areas they may not have encountered in the church traditions in which they grew up (if any). Often we have had a good bit of exposure to some areas of teaching, but very little in others. And for some of us, it is all new! 

As mentioned in the introduction to the book, I would like to recognize and thank Greg Ogden for key concepts in his books that have been adopted in the Foundations materials. His books can be found in the Discipleship Resources section. 

Other key ideas for Foundations can be found in the Overview section of the book, which can be located under the Excerpts section.