The Live Dead Journal: 30 Days of Prayer for Unreached Peoples, 30 Days of Challenge

by Dick Brogden

To LIVE DEAD is to live life wholly for Jesus. To die to self, know God will do a greater work through you. To announce the life of God among those who are unreached. This journal, in 30 day meditations, examines character-based mission among those unengaged by the Gospel. Each day includes an informed way to pray for an unreached people in East Africa and a challenge to live and die for Jesus in order that He might be made famous among all peoples of Earth.

Genres: Christian, Devotional, Nonfiction, Christianity

172 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2012

About the author

Dick Brogden is an Assemblies of God missionary to the Middle East.

Dick and Jennifer Brogden’s passion in ministry is to bring the gospel to the Arab world by church planting in those nations. The Brogdens have lived and ministered among Muslims for the last 19 years in three African nations. Dick and Jennifer have two boys, Luke and Zack, both of whom were born and raised in Africa. They currently lead a church planting team that will equip team leaders to plant churches throughout the Arab-Muslim world.

Since university, Dick has dreamed of God using his life to bring one million Muslims to saving faith in Jesus Christ; he humbly acknowledges, however, “I may never lead many, but if I can influence some who will influence others and be a catalyst for ministry in the M*slim world, I would love to see that happen. I want to live a life to make much of God.”

Dick ministers alongside many multi-national missionary teams and strongly believes in the power of spiritual multiplication, as well as the importance of developing self-sustaining ministries. His next goal is to train 33 teams to plant churches in various cities in the Arab world. Dick hopes that God will enable his teams to accomplish this, and then he hopes that another 400 teams will be sent to preach the gospel to every unreached people group in the Arab world. “Then I can die happy,” he says.

Through God’s grace, Dick and Jennifer have been blessed to see their ministry in one African nation multiply seven times, after they faithfully raised and equipped leaders to run home churches. These churches currently feed several hundred believers and are now ministering to third generation Christians. Through the use of spiritual multiplication to create self-sustaining ministries, the believers in that country are now equipped and enabled to continue to reach their country with the gospel through their international church, international school, ladies’ community centre, indigenous development agency, as well as several English centres and cooperative training networks.

Reviews

[Onisim Pînzariu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been one amazing journey. I didn’t expect it to be so profound and so challenging and I’ve learned so much from it. I’m so happy I got to read it over a span of 30 days and I really recommend you read it at a slow pace so you get to absorb every bit of information.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Live Dead challenge has a specific goal—the raising up of missionaries who will join teams planting churches among unreached peoples. In order to reach these people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are going to have to live a certain way. We must live dead [...] The Live Dead challenge is an invitation to make a life. Make a life that counts for eternity. Under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, attempt the impossible and for the glory of Christ live and die among unreached people of the earth. Die to your self that Jesus might live through you, and extend His ineffable love to those who have never heard.”

[Mike Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 30 day devotional that encourages people to live in a way that they die to sin and trust the Holy Spirit to have His way in our lives. The focus is on inspiring people to go to the mission field, particularly to unreached people groups, and to pray for different people groups. Each day is a little vignette or thought from a missionary and a short description of a people group.

I'm usually not one for devotionals, my regular daily Bible reading and prayer is move beneficial to me. However, having taken the Perspectives class on World Missions, this seemed like a good way to continue the focus on missions. From that perspective, this devotional was motivating and informative.

[Bryan Neuschwander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not much for devotional journals, but here's one I'd recommend.

[Tereza M · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most amazing journal that had a great impact on my prayer life. It is filled with insightful stories written by missionaries followed by a challenge and a related writing prompt for a journal entry. Each day includes a description of an unreached people group to pray for. Aside from the thought-provoking entries, this journal is filled with beautiful art that makes the journal feel so much more personal and even more inspiring.

[Alex Adkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a powerful devotional to prepare hearts for traversing to unreached people groups. In this novel, 30 or so guest authors depict how God has worked in their lives to get them to minister to unreached people groups and the challenges they face. Each day has an excerpt on a specific unreached group with specific prayer requests.

[Dad Bowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good devotional to help understand missions and commitment to Christ and His work. Written by AG workers in East Africa, this journal helps understand the challenges, hard work, and rewards of such a life.

[Roberta Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each chapter is written by a different missionary (some of whom we know personally!) and, through stories and examples, challenges my perceptions about God, his call, his expectations, and how he defines success in ministering to unreached people. This book will change you.

[Ashley Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great guide to praying for the unreached. Did not do it every day, spent many days on some entries, and went weeks between without reading. Ended up buying the year long prayer book because it was so helpful!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book on missionary's in Easter Africa.
These are their stories.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first devotional journal. I enjoyed it. Each day was distinct and important. I really liked the way each author connected their lives to their prompt and gave plenty of examples. The prompts were thoughtful and challenging. It wasn’t without fault and I think one of the big ones was that it suffered from ethnocentrism. The book could have been kinder to the cultures of study. At one point, it called a group of people “savages”, which I really didn’t appreciate. It is important to celebrate the good elements of all cultures, even if they are different from one’s own. I didn’t always see that in this journal, which was disappointing.

[Brandon Stiver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by some friends that were contributors in the project. It was a good book and worthwhile for the month that I spent reading it. There are some very compelling stories and each day there was a challenge to move the reader beyond the book and into the world. I liked that. The artwork throughout the book was also very appealing. I think what these people are doing is remarkable and I have the utmost respect for them. The only thing that kept it from getting a higher ranking in my book is the consistency. Admittedly, it's hard to keep a work like this consistent as each day has a different writer doing the devotional. Sometimes it was a difference in one person's story being more compelling than another's or one person's writing being more polished than another. There were a couple days where you had a five star entry, some days four, lots of days three and a few that were more like two stars. So overall, I gave it three. It is certainly a worthwhile read as it fits well into a devotional time and has some great and challenging material. I would say the best thing for me that I got out of this book is that it really kicked me back into gear to make sure that I'm having my daily devotional time with the Lord.

[Trace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great devo book. I have spent years overseas and often found what was written each day to be very real and challenging. Day 29...it hurts its so true. I could say that about several of the entries. Another review said some of the entries weren't very good. I would agree the writing ability varies, but in a book like this the authors aren't polished writers. They are incredible servants who live in hard places trying to love people that can only be loved through supernatural power. So, even the less polished stories and challenges were still worthwhile because they are very raw and real. I think our world needs more of that and less edited, polished books that are great in theory, but silly in practice. This book is all the practice and living life with eternity in mind. It was also good to have a people group to pray for on each day. Helps the book to work even better into daily time with the Lord.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the original Live-Dead journal and is a masterful presentation of a biblical worldview on missionary living. The short essays are packed with personal illustrations of the key areas that comprise the Live-Dead philosophy for life and ministry.

Each chapter contains a single reflection question with space for you to write your thoughts. There is also one unreached people group featured for prayer with the chapter. It is a gripping journey into what it means to abandon ourselves to Christ for the sake of the mission.

Many churches, college groups and missions minded organization have used this journal as a way for their group to collectively ponder the meaning of God's mission on earth. It provides challenging insights that draw you to the place of prayer and God's grace in order to live for His glory.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many gems in this book, entries that I will ear mark and read again when I need to be challenged or encouraged. It is even more special to me that I know a few of the individuals who contributed to this book, and their lives are even more inspirational than their writings. Anyone can write about living dead, but it is much more difficult to actually live there day in, day out. They are by no means perfect, but I am incredibly blessed to have had my life touched by theirs.

[Susan Berke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very challenging book written by various missionaries among unreached peoples in East Africa. This journal is part of a challenge, described in the introduction, of taking 30 days to read the journal and have 2 hrs and 24 minutes with God each day of those 30 days. Guidelines for how to use your time are given, and it's not about legalism of time or what you do, but learning to abide in Jesus and give him extravagent worship. Life-changing for me.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books is incredible. It's written by 30 missionaries (mostly from Africa and the Middle East), sharing powerful stories and lessons learned through their devoted walk with the Messiah. It's divided into 30 small chapters that are quick to read, and will leave you with much to ponder and put into action for the rest of the day. It will cause your heart to thirst for more of God, and inspire you to "die to self" so that He can be glorified in your life.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very inspirational. The missionaries who have written the 30-day challenges have had to lay down their lives for the gospel and serve in dangerous places. An amazing prayer guide for reaching the "unreached". I feel honored to have met two of the missionaries in this book.

[Lainey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to anyone. This book helped me rethink how I spend my time in the day, and draw so much closer to the Lord. It is a hard challenge, but the hard things are usually what pushes us harder toward growth.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely inspirational, definitely challenging. And full of wisdom. Would recommend to anyone feeling like they are called to the mission field--or even just wanting fresh perspective about the mission field/unreached people groups, etc...

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 30 day devotional aimed at reaching unreached people groups. Each day features a challenge in your personal life and some info on an unreached group. Very potent.

[Jodi]

Powerful challenge to live for Christ and die more and more to one's self.

[Mark Renfroe]

Every follower of Jesus should take the 30 Day Live Dead Challenge. I think the subtitle ought to be, "A 30 Day Plan to Wreck Your Life!"

[Samuel]

There's more to life than fast cars and women.. This book shows you how to live a life worthy of God by losing it

[Dani Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best devo I've ever had!

[Justin Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://justinfarley.blogspot.com/2015...