Gospel Fluency Handbook: A Practical Guide To Speaking The Truths of Jesus Into the Everyday Stuff of Life

by Jeff Vanderstelt, Ben Connelly

“I’m an unbeliever. So are you,” Jeff Vanderstelt tells us in his book, "Gospel Fluency." We slip in and out of believing God’s word about us and trusting in his work on our behalf. We forget who He is, what’s He’s done and in light of that who we are. Do these statements resonate with you? Then the Gospel Fluency Handbook was written for you. For those who’ve realized there are areas of life—your normal, everyday, busy life—where you disbelieve God, His goodness and His gospel. For those who are keenly aware and weighted down by a failure to connect the way gospel truths actually matter to everyday life. The "Gospel Fluency Handbook" is designed to help you and your group become fluent in the gospel—in other words, to help you move from unbelief to belief. The discussions and exercises in this 8-week interactive handbook provide a step-by-step immersion of your mind, heart, soul, and life in the gospel. Each week follows a simple three sets of personal Readings and Reflections, a weekly guide for Group Discussion and Exercises that will lead to becoming a more gospel-fluent people. People who are learning to see and then speak the truths of Jesus into the everyday stuff of life. Handbook includes free download code for a COMPANION VIDEO SERIES.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Devotional, Christian Non Fiction, Discipleship

276 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 14, 2017

About the author

Jeff Vanderstelt is the visionary leader of the Soma Family of Churches. He also serves as one of the teachers and elders of Soma Tacoma. He is the author of Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life. He lives in Tacoma, Washington with his wife, Jayne, and their three kids.

Reviews

[Phil Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a challenging book.

[Chad Puckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a spiral bound paradigm shifter...
A Review of The Gospel Fluency Handbook

Somehow, I have far too often treated knowing and living the Gospel how I approached going through high school. I had a great time, but it wasn’t something I took all that seriously. High school was fun. High school had some great moments. High school didn’t change my life.
I’ve tried the Gospel as an elective, which required little and got little. Remember those days when you tried to find the easiest class requiring the least amount of thought and effort? There have been times when it felt like just another thing in my life. It turns out that is a revealer of unbelief in my heart.

I have treated the Gospel as an exercise, where I would go to my “gospel gym”, sweat for a bit, then back to eating what I wanted. If I could just pack on a bit more spiritual muscle then it would all make sense or I would be a better person. Unbelief.

I’ve attempted to approach the Gospel as some core-curriculum to be studied then put on the shelf, diagramed and dissected. I have piled up a significant number of facts and verb tenses, but too often missed the relevance and beauty of this good news. More unbelief.

I have tried to turn the Gospel into a pep rally, bringing massive amounts of energy and enthusiasm, but not much more. No one needs a pep rally gospel of cheerleaders and silly games. There have been times when I’ve even approached the Gospel like a sport, training and sweating to perfect my technique. Unbelief building upon more unbelief.

And I have been in full time ministry since college... Sad. I know. Yet, my experience and my gut tell me there are plenty more, with stories just like mine, out there who don’t even realize they can so easily just go through the motions.

The gospel, of course, changes everything. The Good News of Jesus Christ and what He has done, is doing, and promises to do is not an elective or a sport, but rather the life-rescuing good news of the King who has come and will come again.

Approaching the Gospel as a language to become fluent in, to speak with ease, applying to all of life, to recognize my areas of unbelief and to address them with grace and truth, well that was like seeing with kaleidoscopic vision.

My first reaction as I started this handbook was, “This might change a few things.” and it has. This handbook is such an easy read which packs an unbelievable punch. Whether you are familiar with the book or you are coming to the Handbook fresh, this guide offers so much for the soul. The Gospel Fluency Handbook is more than a collection of facts, more than a few exercises, and certainly more than a pat on the back. The Gospel Fluency Handbook is a spiral bound paradigm shifter.

This Handbook is thoughtful and brief, challenging and accessible, while also being thoroughly enjoyable. One word of caution though: This is coaching. And just like my high school coaches who push their team further than they think they are capable, The Gospel Fluency Handbook is likely to push you in areas you would rather avoid. It is for your good and ultimately for the glory of God, but not always fun in the moment.

Get this handbook. Work through it with some people who will love you enough to tell you the hard things. Take a week or two and then do it again. Get some water. Wipe the sweat away and then apply what you have learned to the everyday places of your life.

Note: I received a pre-release copy from the publisher for the purpose of review. This did nothing to shape my feelings on the Handbook. (That was the Holy Spirit convicting me.)

[Tyler Rody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many people have underlying areas of unbelief. In Gospel Fluency Handbook, Jeff Vanderstelt & Ben Connelly have compiled an excellent workbook to explore areas of unbelief and how we can overcome through faith in God and a greater understanding of how the Gospel can saturate every area of our lives.
It is very thorough and had 3 readings with reflection questions and small group discussion for each week. Working through this book will allow the reader to be saturated in deep study of God’s Word and God’s desire for us to grow in faith through the power of the Gospel so we can reach the ends of the earth.
There is an emphasis on ares of disbelief that doesn’t resonate as strongly with me personally. I found that it takes about 1-2h to fully digest and work through the weekly readings. I have been incredibly encouraged and challenged as I pray about how I can live a Gospel fluent life.

“formal training alone does not make one fluent. You become fluent through immersion in a gospel-speaking community and through ongoing practice. You have to know it, regularly hear it, and practice proclaiming it.” p.33
“You become like what you believe in” p.23
“The gospel of Jesus Christ changes you. And when it changes you, you talk about it” p.83
“But if we’re really honest at times it’s just so hard to believe that the gospel is the solution to every problem…” p.87
“There is good news and great help for absolutely everything in life in the person and work of Jesus Christ.” p.30

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed two other books by these authors: Saturate (just Jeff), and Saturate: The Field Guide (both authors). I found both books excellent reads, with a lot of great information and advice in them. When I got the chance to review this book, it was a no-brainer.

Books like this are different to review than most. They are not mean to be read, but are meant to be read, studied, and followed. This is a Bible study type book. It is split up into 8 week segments. Each week starts with a reading. That is followed by a section to write down thoughts on the Scripture verses referenced in that reading. That is followed by reflection, which is a couple pages of questions to answer and reflect on.

There are 3 readings and reflections for each week. After the 3rd, there is a group discussion with questions and an exercise to do.'

The whole idea of the book is designed to make the participant become fluent in the Gospel, and the authors do a great job of doing that. Though the questions and discussion has a likelihood of causing deep thought and reflection, the book is interesting and easy to read.

Gospel Fluency is extremely well done and laid out in an easy to use way ideal for a group study. I would definitely recommend it.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a great deal of good material to work through in this book. It has taken me a couple of weeks just to work through week one material. Readers should plan to spend a year in this book to fully make use of it. For example, "Train yourself to regularly stop and closely examine what you are thinking, feeling or believing in light of the truths of the gospel." (91) Granted, there is some work to that end in the succeeding material, but it would still take a long time to train one's self to be that mindful, I think.

I also think doing the work with a group of trusted friends is essential. For example, a reflection question for week one asks readers to identify situations in their own life where they have believed lies. That may be very hard to do without some input from a friend.

I do recommend this book to Christians who truly want to live out gospel truth. Be prepared for lots of soul searching work.

Food for thought: "A mature Christian is one who resembles Jesus Christ in thought, attitude, emotion, and behavior." (24)

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Litfuse. My comments are an independent and honest review.

[Julie D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best, in-depth studies of the Gospel I've ever read. It way exceeds anything I've learned or read in the past. This is not a book/study that you will go through quickly but one you will savor as you dig deep into what the Gospel really means.

I absolutely love all the in-depth questions in this book. They helped me to really focus on what I was learning and apply it to my life. This book is meant to study in a group situation, which would have been great, but I found it a blessing to do it on my own, too.

This book shows us what the Gospel is and how to live it out in our every day life. It's not always easy to do this but I feel more equipped to do so now that I've read and studied through this book.

If you really want to make the Gospel an integral part of your life and truly understand how you can live and breath it, this book is for you! I love this book and plan on going through it again and again because it is truly life changing! I give it 5 out of 5 stars

*This book was provided to me for my honest review by LitFuse Publicity Group

[Jay A. George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little on the "yeah, yeah" side when my men's group started this book. In other words, not very impressed. It felt a prescription model for sharing the gospel. Sticking with it was worth our time! We also did some of the exercises in the companion Handbook which to clarify some of things the author was saying along the way. The most significant sentence, I think, in the whole book comes in chapter 14 when he says,"we can''t make people believe, that's the Spirit's job." We can share our experience of Jesus and this book will definitely help you look for opportunities to do just that.

[shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this resource

Great explanation of the gospel, how to live by it, and share it with others. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in digging deeper into the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[Craig Forbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical wisdom in sharingJesus

This book helps us all get to the heart of the matter in getting more of Jesus in us so we can share more of Jesus to others.

[Marcus Whitson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Handbook is extremely practical. I would recommend the content and exercises to any Christian I know!

[Andrew Bondurant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the Gospel Fluency Handbook extremely helpful. The handbook is designed to study in community. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to do this when working through it for this review. One of the strong points of the handbook is the structure and discussion questions which encourage communal study and growth. This structure helps put flesh on the content as the reader processes how to apply the information to the everyday stuff of life. One challenging part of the handbook is the high demand it places on participants. Each week, there are three readings and multiple exercises/questions to work through and a weekly gathering to make a priority. As I will note later, these readings are manageable in and of themselves. However, the amount of reading and reflection required of a participant over the course of a week will be very demanding.If a group decides to use this book, which I would highly recommend, it will require a high level of honesty and commitment by each participant. There is an alternative schedule that may be helpful for some groups to consider (see the bottom of page 3). The keys for communities walking through this together will be honesty and accountability.
The handbook derives from Jeff Vanderstelt's Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff of Life, which desires to help readers "move from unbelief to belief, in whatever area(s) of your life you find it difficult to believe God's promises, and live according to that belief" (page 2). In pursuit of this goal, participants take the following journey:
- Week 1: seeing unbelief in everyday life;
- Week 2: looking at the Gospel story
- Weeks 3 & 4: understanding how the Gospel story intersects with the life of an individual;
- Weeks 5 & 6: understanding how the Gospel transforms how we interact with one another in community
- Weeks 7 & 8: speaking the gospel into the lives of those around us in the everyday stuff of life.
These are big ideas that might seem impossible. However, because of the structure and content, I believe Vanderstelt and Connelly have provided the Church with a resource that sets the stage for groups to begin applying the Gospel to the everyday stuff of life. What is so helpful about the structure?
(1) As noted earlier, the communal bend. Here I want to bring to the forefront the accountability this provides. The community offers an even stronger motivation to press forward, especially when things get hard. This truth is seen in a study like this as well as other areas of life.
(2) The material is articulated well and presented in manageable chunks. The readings each week are only 3-4 pages and focus on a single theme. These sections allow the reader to understand and apply the truth of the Gospel for that day/week. What is important here is not to skip over what is the third helpful piece of the structure.
(3) Penetrating reflection questions. When given the appropriate time and introspection, the reader has no other option but to begin applying the Gospel to areas of unbelief in their life and community.
(4) The exercises. These are designed to be done on the community day and will encourage participants and communities with ways to apply the Gospel that may seem uncomfortable at first, but will allow there to be transparency and an opportunity to speak the Gospel to one another.
This is a great source for individuals, groups, and churches. If you are an individual, I recommend you find a friend to walk through the material with you. This will only increase your ability to apply the truth of the Gospel to combat unbelief in everyday life.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Litfuse. My comments are an independent and honest review.