Mentoring for an Audience of One: A Call for Purity of Motive and Practice

For thousands of years in the biblical record, mentors have used their experience, wisdom, and resources to help younger, less experienced men and women mature. Elijah the prophet mentored his successor Elijah, Naomi mentored Ruth, Paul mentored Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila mentored Apollos.

Though mentoring is often used in the secular world to achieve higher levels of skill, performance, and income, this book reveals a program committed to perfecting God-ordained natural and spiritual purposes through mentoring relationships. Mentoring for an Audience of One returns calling, purpose, and destiny to its origins—God the Father. Charles G. Oakes establishes God’s love and Kingdom as the basis for individual purpose as he uncovers worldly ways we often seek for success.

Charles G. Oakes has a background in behavioral science and gerontology and has been studying and developing biblical applications for laypeople and the church for more than fifty years. He received the Ph.D. from both the graduate and medical schools of Emory University (Atlanta, GA), and has also done graduate study at University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University. He has served on the medical school faculties at Duke University and University of Tennessee. He is the recipient of the coveted Ross Laboratories Award for Excellence in Community-Based Long Term Care.

Oakes is founder and CEO of First Access International, applying proven integration of biblical principles and management techniques to achieve optimal human resource performance for churches and businesses. He currently manages mentor training at Christ Church of Nashville, one of Middle Tennessee's largest and most dynamic churches. He is a frequent seminar and conference speaker on mentoring and aging programs. His previous book is Working the Gray Zone (Providence House Publishers, copyright 2000, ISBN 1-57736-208-X, hardcover with dust jacket, $24.95). He and his wife, Carolyn, have two grown sons.