Two caveats before I begin my review of the Saturate Filed Guide by Ben Connelly and Jeff Vanderstelt.
1. My review is my thoughts, words, ideas, etc... and not those of the Veritas community. They do not necessarily reflect the Veritas community, even though the blog is hosted on the Veritas Community website.
2. I received this book free of charge from the Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for a review of on the Field Guide, as well as posting my review on various sites including Amazon, etc..
Now on to the review.
The Saturate Filed Guide is about helping everyday Christians with principles and practices for being disciples of Jesus in the everyday stuff of life. The goal for this Field Guide would best be summed up by the words in Habakkuk 2:14 which says, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
What if we could translate our belief from just a head reality to a lived out reality. From the head to the heart and out to the hands so to speak. To actually live out the faith that we say we believe. The authors hope that their Field Guide would help followers of Jesus embody the faith in their everyday lives, so that the entire world would be saturated with the Kingdom of God
The Field Guide is an 8 week guide that you do as a community. The 8 weeks cover the themes of Jesus, Discipleship, then transition into the overall theme of Identity (which includes Family, Servant, Missionary), then the last 3 fall under Everyday stuff (Rhythms week 1 and 2 and Commission)
Each week of the 8 has the same flow. Day 1 is called Start where you get a brief overview of the week's theme and some questions. Day 2 is called Read where you read Scripture and answer some questions. Day 3 is Think where you focus on your self and thoughts, and do some reflective thinking and writing. Day 4 is Pray where you pray for the Spirit's leading and guiding in relation to the week's theme. Day 5 is Do where there are action steps to take in order to cement the learning in your life. Day 6 is when you Meet with the community that you are working on this material with. You meet to eat, pray, and share together about what you are learning, experiencing and how you are growing. Day 7 is a day of rest or sabbath to celebrate God's goodness.
This rhythm to me is very familiar because it reminds me of the Tangible Kingdom Primer, the Barefoot Primer, and the Gospel Primer. And I truly believe these rhythms of scripture, prayer, reflection, action and community help to truly develop disciples (in this case) who will saturate their world with the Kingdom of God.
I could see using this Field Guide in a traditional church setting, a new church plant, a missional community, or a small group. I appreciate the flow of the material, the focus firstly on Jesus and Discipleship, the identity of followers of Jesus as a family of missionary servants, and the desire for everyday Christians to grab ahold of the Kingdom of God and live it out in the world.
If you are looking for something to use to help give people (and yourself) practices and principles that will make the Kingdom more tangible and for the Kingdom to saturate the world around us, then the Saturate Field Guide might be exactly what you are looking for
If you'd like to grab some copies visit the website and grab a few to take your people through Saturate Field Guide.
http://bit.ly/1OcMYGg