"Gospel Fluency" (Jeff Vanderstelt)

TITLE: Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff of Life
AUTHOR: Jeff Vanderstelt
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017, (224 pages).

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:

1. How does the gospel speak good news into the situation?
2. What about the gospel that we need to hear right now?
3. What gospel have we forgotten?
4. 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

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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.