Making Disciples Who Actually Reproduce | Brian Dye

Brian Dye grew up in one of Chicago's more impoverished neighborhoods — Puerto Rican and African-American community, a mentally ill mom, an alcoholic dad, and a grandmother who was the spiritual anchor of the whole family.

What changed the trajectory of his life wasn't a conference, a program, or a church event. It was a carpenter named Paul Terry who wasn't paid to do ministry — but who kept showing up on Saturdays to paint houses, move furniture, and bring a kid named Brian along for the ride.

That's the heartbeat of everything Brian has built since.

Brian is the founder of Legacy Disciple, a Chicago-based discipleship ministry that runs annual conferences in 5 cities, reaches 400 kids a year in Chicago's neighborhoods, and is launching Legacy University — accessible online Bible courses for everyday disciples and small groups.

In this episode, I get to talk with Brian about:

• Why Jesus called us to make disciples, not find them — and why that distinction matters more than we think
• The Hebrew educational context that helps explain why Jesus chose fishermen and tax collectors nobody else wanted
• The orphanage vs. family model of church — and why one keeps people dependent while the other releases them
• His practical 3-year discipleship framework: formal Bible study + informal life-sharing with 3-4 people at a time
• Why discipleship doesn't mean adding things to your schedule — it means inviting people into your schedule
• His 20-year relationship with Preston Perry and what the early, unglamorous years of that looked like
• What he's building with Legacy Disciple now and where the conferences are going in 2025

If you've been in ministry long enough to feel the gap between what discipleship sounds like in sermons and what it actually looks like on a Tuesday morning — this conversation will give you something real to hold onto.

Read the full blog post and show notes here
Learn more about Legacy Disciple at legacydisciple.org.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Discipleship and Legacy Disciple
02:41 The Call to Make Disciples
04:34 Brian Dye's Background and Cultural Context
07:36 The Role of Mentorship in Discipleship
10:26 The Importance of Community in Faith
16:31 The Impact of Personal Relationships in Faith
19:22 Jesus' Model of Discipleship
25:21 The Challenge of Long-term Discipleship
31:20 The Need for Depth Over Numbers
40:59 The Importance of Proximity in Discipleship
43:52 Incorporating Life Rhythms into Discipleship
47:35 Vulnerability in the Discipleship Process
53:39 Legacy Conferences and Community Engagement