Belief in the gospel is not a one-time decision or a conviction that we need salvation only for our past lives and future afterlives. Belief in the gospel is an ongoing expression of our ongoing need for Jesus. Standing firm in it means we continue to put our faith in him for our past, our present, and our future.

When it comes to the gospel, we can struggle with walking the walk much less talking the talk. This book addresses both. We throw out Christianeese clichés but many times our deeds are not behind our words and our words our meaningless when we don't understand the gospel. The text is written in three parts- The Gospel In Me - The Gospel with Us and the Gospel to Others. Unless you are not applying the gospel to yourself, you cannot apply the gospel to others. This is vital and this is where we often fail. What comes to mind when asked how does Jesus save? Why does Jesus save and what does Jesus save us from? Salvation is giving ourselves a new identity and believing the work of the trinity for salvation. It is not a self-help or name it to claim it, but a belief on who Jesus is and what he came to do.

The text goes into depth of how the gospel fights sin. Not my behavior change but by applying the truth of the Gospel. The text goes into the beginning with Adam and Eve and how God went to the root which is belief. Why are you hiding? Do we apply the gospel that way with our children, our spouse, or community? It takes time and intentionally by getting to know others in a deep intimate way. I loved how there is opportunity for the gospel in our disagreements.

We don't believe correctly when we lack truth about God, we believe lies about God or we fail to put our faith in what we know to be true of God. Doing so in turn, we start to believe lies about ourselves and others. Vanderstelt's own struggles with approval reveal how we too can believe a false gospel. We all have at one time or another. The gospel gives us a deliverance from the lies we believe when we apply Gospel truths. It also frees us from the idols we make. Whom do we make our god. A father/mother/job/friends/etc. who fail to give us the approval we need? We also not only look to others for the gospel but ourselves when we strife to do more or hide.

This book is really a book of opportunity. What the gospel looks like and what a false gospel looks like. With a true gospel, we see our need and we see our hope. We desire to become more immersed in the Good news of Jesus. We want more of Him and less of me. We come to understand Jesus is enough because we have applied gospel truths. We begin to see gospel instead of problems. The world needs the gospel and it needs us to embrace the gospel.

A Special Thank You to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

How can we speak the truth of Jesus into our everyday life? Being fluent is like the ability to communicate well in a particular language. The four basic language skills to measure competence are reading; writing; speaking; and hearing. As far as the gospel is concerned, this is what we all should strive to achieve, according to author Jeff Vanderstelt. He begins by declaring that all believers are in one way or another 'unbelievers.' It does not mean we do not believe. It simply means that there are pockets in various parts of our lives that we do not believe. That's the reason why we need Jesus. Using this fluency metaphor, Vanderstelt speaks gospel throughout the book. Whether it is flushing out unbelief or instilling greater belief, he passionately believes in the power of the gospel to heal and to reconcile people to God, and people to people. The gospel message begins right from Genesis and ends in Revelation. It deals with the creation of mankind and the fall due to sin. He describes the way God has spoken to us through the many people through history. The gospel saves and the salvation is through faith in Jesus.

From the gospel story, we learn about the Gospel in every one of us, that we all yearn for good news. In order to talk about the One we love, we need to be loved by the One who came to us. We need to watch our mind to know that it is the battlefield of many competing worldviews. Gradually, Vanderstelt shows us what faith in us can do to our lifestyles. By the fruits we will know the result of the gospel. Thankfully, we are not alone. So passionate is Vanderstelt about the gospel that he relates how he wishes he was a believer much earlier. Whether we are going through hard times at work or school; home or office; or any where else, we need to be reminded that Jesus is better that all of the solutions to them, combined. He talks about a gospel community who will do much better than to complain about their work or jobs. He challenges us to ask:

How does the gospel speak good news into the situation?
What about the gospel that we need to hear right now?
What gospel have we forgotten?
How is Jesus better than our wants?

By regular reminder about what Jesus means to us, we can learn gospel fluency. Like living waters, gospel fluency is about letting the gospel touch us in every way possible that we can live out the gospel in every way possible. Just like his previous book, Saturate, this book essentially continues the saturation process by creating a lasting vision in every one of us to be gospel-saturated in thought, word, and in deed. From beginning to end, this message is consistent. I read this book with an amazed WOW. Vanderstelt means what he says and lives what he writes.


Jeff Vanderstelt is visionary leader of the Soma Family of Churches and Saturate. He is also the lead pastor of Doxa Church in Bellevue, WA. He has previously written books like Saturate. This latest book is his third. His website is at www.jeffvanderstelt.com

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

I was and still am a fan of the concept of this book. I also believe in the message the author is trying to convey, and ultimately think he did a good job in conveying his message. One of the problem areas for me was initially finding out the point of the book apart from the title. Half of the book was telling the Gospel story, which I don't want to take anything away from, however, it is not until you are nearly done with the book that he begins to hit on the point of the book. Overall, this was a great read, just could have used a better format.

From chapter one: I’m an unbeliever. So are you. “Wait,” you’re thinking. “What are you doing writing a book about the gospel of Jesus Christ if you’re an unbeliever? And what do you know about me? Who do you think I am?” I grew up believing that people fall into two categories: you are either a believer or an unbeliever—; you either believe in Jesus Christ and what he has done for us or you don’t.

Do you know the gospel? Do you need the gospel? Do you love the gospel? Do you live the gospel? Do you SPEAK the gospel, not just in the words you say in front of others, not just in the words you say to justify yourself to yourself, but in the way you live your life? Vanderstelt's book is about becoming fluent in the gospel.

What does it mean to be gospel fluent? In his own words,
"We need to know how to believe and speak the truths of the gospel—the good news of God—in and into the everyday stuff of life. In other words, we need to know how to address the struggles of life and the everyday activities we engage in with what is true of Jesus: the truths of what he accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection, and, as a result, what it true of us as we put our faith in him. The gospel has the power to affect everything in our lives."
He continues,
"Gospel-fluent people think, feel, and perceive everything in light of what has been accomplished in the person and work of Jesus Christ. They see the world differently. They think differently. They feel differently. When they are listening to people, they are thinking: “How is this in line with the truths of the gospel? What about Jesus and his work might be good news to this person today? How can I bring the hope of the gospel to bear on this life or situation so this person might experience salvation and Jesus will be glorified?” When they see movies, they see the themes of the gospel, and they also notice which themes represent a false gospel. They begin to evaluate the storylines of their surrounding culture in light of the story of God’s redemptive purposes in Christ Jesus, and they learn to perceive where God might already be at work around them, preparing the soil of a community and individual hearts for the seeds of the gospel to be sown. Most significantly, those who are growing in gospel fluency are experiencing ongoing transformation themselves."
This book is divided into five sections: Gospel Fluency, The Gospel, The Gospel in Me, The Gospel with Us, and The Gospel to Others.

This one is good and basic and fundamental. Don't assume because it covers all the basics that "mature" "advanced" believers can skip it, that this is one for baby Christians. I'm convinced that we need the gospel every day, no matter what. And sometimes it's the people who think they know the gospel inside and out and back again that need the most basic principles of the gospel fleshed out for them...again.

The ideas are really good. The narrative has a lot of illustrations in it--dialogue situations--that I haven't quite decided if I like or not. I think his coaching you through how to speak the gospel to others--or to yourself--in love can come across at first as a little condescending. There were certain passages that I just felt were slightly awkward or unnatural. But. That being said, do I disagree with his theology? No.

I found his ideas thought-provoking for the most part. I liked what he had to say about stories and storytelling especially. "Listening to one another’s stories enables us to learn about God’s work in one another as well. Every one of us has a story, and all of our stories are part of the true story. Really, our story is God’s story. Though we regularly believe they are about us, our stories are really all about him, for “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)."

His ideas about gospel fluency stayed with me as I read two books: John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and Taylor Caldwell's No One Hears But Him. Both would be great examples of gospel fluency, in my opinion. Caldwell's book in particular stood out to me in terms of stories and finding ways to connect the gospel to our lives, our stories, our needs. But Christian and Faithful OR Christian and Hopeful (depending on where you are in their journey) are also great at speaking truth in love into any and every situation.