Review: What Exactly is the Gospel?

What Exactly is the Gospel? book cover on blue background

I am grateful that I was able to be reminded afresh of what I believe and why I believe it through this book. What Exactly is the Gospel? by James Finke is an encouraging and motivating book for any Christian in affirming the core tenets of the Christian faith and in providing practical methods for sharing the Gospel.

Book Synopsis

My longtime barber was stunned and had tears in his eyes.

“James, keep going. The entire shop is listening.”

The chatter, laughing, and cracking of jokes that normally filled the packed barber shop was absent. Instead, the entire place was listening intently to the conversation he and I were having as he cut my hair.

It was the Gospel – the good news about the person and work of Jesus Christ – explained exactly as it is in this book.

I’d been in that barber chair countless times before and nothing like this had ever happened. That’s because it wasn’t something particular about me that had changed the atmosphere of the room. It was the Gospel - the single greatest offer in history and the most powerful message ever to be announced on the planet. It is the power of God.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ – we have a commission from Jesus Christ Himself to share His Gospel with all nations. It is my prayer that God will use this book to better equip you to do just that. You will:

Learn to methodically explain the essentials of the Gospel.
Be prepared to address some of the most frequently asked questions related to the faith.
Gain access to free printable Gospel tracts to aid your evangelism.

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Are you ready? Let’s talk Gospel.

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

This is one of the most practical resources I've seen on evangelism and how believers can share the Gospel with others. Broken down into illustrations and concepts that are easy to grasp, I found that this book encouraged my faith and affirmed the reasons why I do believe in the Christian faith. I appreciate that the style of this book is invitational and approaching, making it a volume that simply begs to be shared.

At the end of the day, it's a faithful reminder of how God has worked throughout history to draw us to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. Even if evangelism may not be our particular strong suit or gifting, we are called to always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks us about the hope we possess (1 Peter 3:15). This book seeks to equip believers to be prepared and is a useful guide when we need to be reminded ourselves.

Book Summary

Format of book: 📱
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recommendation: 👍

Comments

Didactic Scenes

I love researching and recently looked into Harlequin's Love Inspired line's submission guidelines to find out if there were certain parameters in the stories they accept and publish. One of the lines that stood out to me was: "Mandatory faith element that is integral to story and shows rather than tells, avoiding didactic, preachy tone or doctrinal language." This had me thinking about one of the cinematic attributes I've heard over the years between British and American movies and television, where one tends to show the story and have people reason it out, whereas the other can get into further detail, eliminating the need to piece things out as much when watching a story. I wish I could find the source for this thought as it's shaped how I view and compare a lot of mysteries and dramas (I confess that I may be a tad too shy for British comedies)—broadly speaking, of course. As a result, I can understand how didactic language isn't always pleasant to s...

Christian Book Review Programs

Over time, I've been on the hunt for Christian book review programs that readers can join. As a result, I've been able to compile the following list which may be of interest if you are seeking review copies of Christian books. This list mostly applies to print and ebooks, although some publishers offer audiobooks as well. If further information is available for any of the publishers below (or any missing publishers), please let me know as I am happy to update this list—thank you! Please note that you can also search for these publishers on NetGalley and other review sites in case there are no review programs available to you or you don't qualify for one 😊 List last updated: September 23, 2026 Christian Publishers 10ofThose Availability: U.S., Canadian, and U.K. residents Format: Only books published by 10ofThose qualify for review requests so as to avoid impeding with other Christian book review programs Genre: Christian non-fiction, children's books Email for availabi...

Lord of Our Entertainment

I have to give full credit for the title of this post to Heather Wood who used this phrase in an Instagram story to promote the #ClearlyChristianReadathon . Thank you for using this term as it's been in my head ever since I saw it! In thinking about what it means to have Jesus as the Lord of my life, this clearly and obviously extends to how I fill my time and what content I consume. Although my reasons for being more intentional with my reading were initially pragmatic (as in if I die soon, did I waste a lot of time in my life reading things that weren't even that great?), I also see how it can both reflect my walk with God and shape what it becomes. Though I'm sharing a lot of content about the Clearly Christian Readathon , I'm encouraged to think of all of my entertainment choices in the light of eternity. While I've certainly struggled with this at different times in my life, it's been hitting me in a different way now. I confess that even quite recently, ...