What if the apostles were alive today? What if they had a front-row seat to the chaos of modern Christianity? What would they say? Buckle up. Gospel Reclaiming the Radical Message of Grace is here to shake the religious world like an over-caffeinated prophet. Bestselling author Andrew Farley and renowned storyteller John Lynch echo the voices of God's messengers in the 21st century, delivering fiery, blistering, and hilarious letters to the modern church. The Screwtape Letters meets The Shack but bolder, sharper, and completely unfiltered. With wit that bites and grace that heals, Farley and Lynch bulldoze legalism, torch religious guilt, and unleash the shocking, scandalous, untamed gospel of Jesus. This book will infuriate and inspire. It will shatter sacred cows and spark righteous laughter. It will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about faith, forgiveness, and freedom. If you've ever felt like Christianity has lost its way, buried under a mountain of rules, rituals, and recycled sermons, this is your wake-up call. Brace yourself. The apostles have something to say, and they aren't pulling punches. This isn't just a book. It's a breakthrough. A seismic shift in what Christianity was meant to be. Are you ready?
If you've been searching for a book that cuts through the noise and gets to the heart of what it means to live in God's grace, "Gospel Zero" is it. Having been a fan of John Lynch's work, particularly "The Cure: What if God isn't who you think He and neither are You," this was an easy purchase for me, and it did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.
While the tone can come on a little strong and the wit a bit biting at times, the core messages are incredibly powerful and have deeply impacted me. It's a powerful reminder that our standing with God is based entirely on what Christ has done, not on our performance. This message of freedom and grace is so desperately needed by the church today. The authors are counteracting a powerful tradition and long-held beliefs, and sometimes it takes a strong force, maybe even an overly strong one, to get the course correction they feel is so needed.
The creative format is a standout feature. Organized as a series of letters from modern-day apostles, the book is broken down into short chapters that you can easily read in under 10 minutes. This helped the book really fly by for me, making it a quick and impactful read.
The authors do a great job of anticipating objections and dealing with scripture in a straightforward manner. They bring in key context to oft-quoted verses to show how their view is completely supported by the canon. The chapters on suicide and the "unforgivable sin" were especially impactful for me. While the authors do cycle back to the same core arguments and illustrations, it serves to reinforce their central message and ensure the reader truly grasps the concept of Gospel Zero.
This is a must-read for any Christian who feels burdened by the weight of performance-based Christianity or who wants a fresh, liberating perspective on their relationship with God. Highly recommended!
📖 Gospel Zero: Reclaiming the Radical Message of Grace ✍️ Andrew Farley & John Lynch 🙏 Thank you to the author and Skyhorse Publishing for the copy!
Let me say this first: I’m all for grace. 💛 I'm all for a faith that makes people kinder, more compassionate, more Christ-like—not less. That’s the Christianity I believe in, and to be honest, the one that feels more and more rare these days. Because let’s face it... there’s no hate quite like “Christian love” when it's used as a weapon instead of a shelter. 🕊️😔
So when I picked up Gospel Zero, I wanted to love it. I wanted to be inspired, shaken, challenged. But instead... I just felt out of place. 💔
This book is fiery—no doubt. 🔥 It swings hard at legalism, shame, and the stale ritual of performative religion. It wants to burn it all down and rebuild something freer, wilder, more grace-filled. And I appreciate the intention. But the execution? It didn’t land for me. 🪂
Instead of feeling like a conversation about rediscovering grace, it often read like a megaphone rant against anyone who’s ever struggled with questions or found beauty in structure. For a book so focused on grace, I was surprised at how little grace it seemed to offer readers who might still be trying to figure it all out. 😕
I found the tone abrasive at times, like it was trying to shock me awake rather than meet me where I was. And if that’s your thing—if you love bold, disruptive theological challenges—you might feel right at home here. 🧨 But for me? It felt more like I was being talked at than talked to. 🧍♀️
🌀 What Didn’t Work (for me): ❌ The fire and brimstone tone—just on the opposite end of the spectrum. ❌ The claim to radical grace felt more like a new kind of certainty, not a space for seekers. ❌ Left me feeling judged in a book supposedly against judgment. ❌ The critique of “modern Christianity” was sweeping and harsh, with little nuance. ❌ Lacked the tenderness and humility that make grace feel truly radical.
🌱 Final Thoughts: I wanted this book to remind me why grace matters. I wanted to feel seen. Instead, I felt shut out—like grace only belonged to those who agreed with this particular interpretation. And that’s the opposite of the Gospel I know. 🕊️
I hope this book finds the readers it was meant for. I really do. But for me, it missed the mark. Sometimes what’s sold as revolutionary just feels like another version of loud certainty in a world that really needs gentle faith. 💭💔
We enjoyed this book thoroughly from Part1-4 and some of Part 6 until the entirety of Part 5 where they try to assert that we no longer have a sin nature, and that our propensities to sin are merely a shadow of our former self (our sin natures) and where they assert that our sin natures were eradicated at salvation, or they assert that it is when we forget we only have new perfect, blameless natures left in us that we might slip into forgetfulness and that a sin might slip through. We wholeheartedly disagree with this notion. It’s as if they are trying to make their theology logical and the only way they can do that is to assert we no longer have the nasty sin natures where we may do what we don’t want to do, etc (apostle Paul in Romans 7). We wanted to love this book, but it is clear we can no longer endorse Andrew Farley nor John Lynch.
This book breaks down simple truths which us Christians tend to forget in the effort to try to live right...its refreshing and informative and fun to read! Thank you Andrew and John for letting us know its not about us and what we are doing its about what Christ did on the cross and his life living through us!
took me a bit to get used to the writing style - but then it definitely had me doing some sole searching on my understanding of God's grace and where that meets my striving.