Welcome to Gospel Spice!

 

You are interested in discovering how to share the gospel with unbelievers and skeptics, in a way that is both true and real. You do not want cliche answers, and you're not afraid of asking God to transform YOU even as you share Him!

You're in the right place. I pray this article helps you. It's my story of coming to faith from atheism, and what I believe is the "secret ingredient" to a good recipe of gospel-sharing: delight in God.

- Stephanie Rousselle.

Delight in the glory of God: the secret to sharing the gospel with unbelievers.

   Tim Keller once said, “Bad evangelism says: I’m right, you’re wrong, and I’d love to tell you about it.” Sharing Christ is a right you earn through genuine love.

   I grew up fiercely atheist. Stephen Hawking was my hero. Religion was a man-made crutch for the weak. I was strong and capable, very much in control of my life, and I certainly didn’t need anyone’s help, thank you very much.

   But God.

   I came to the US as a sixteen-year-old foreign exchange student from France. My American host parents lovingly embraced me into their family and, as it happened, also shared what mattered most in their lives: Jesus Christ. They didn’t pretend to have it all together. Their marriage and parenting weren’t perfect. But when they messed up, they also reconciled with grace, without shame. This atmosphere was refreshingly different from my own highly dysfunctional family. So, little by little, their genuine love, care and grace earned them my trust and my listening ear.

   As I listened, I quickly realized that Jesus’ resurrection was the foundation beneath my American parents’ faith. Easter morning became my battleground. The more I sought to debunk that myth, the more I found myself accumulating mounting evidence for the historical truth of the resurrection—until the intellectual tension turned into a spiritual crisis for this stubborn French atheist. You will find ten of the resurrection facts I collected, in the sidebar article. As you ponder them, ask yourself two deeply personal questions:

  • Does the resurrection lead me to ever-growing worship and delight in the glory of God?
  • How can I express these facts in genuine love with the unbelievers around me?

   By God’s grace, intellectual integrity accompanied my sixteen-year old arrogance: if Jesus had truly resurrected, then I owed Him my life in worshipful surrender—much to my dismay. I was a control-freak: no one had any right to interfere with my life. But His resurrection gave Jesus the right to do just that. I was out of options. Reluctantly, I struck a martyr’s pose and surrendered, expecting gloom and hardship—the most reluctant convert ever. This was almost 30 years ago. I’ve never looked back. Joy and peace unexpectedly invaded this resistant heart and have remained through the hills and valleys of life with my precious Lord.

   Jesus is increasingly becoming the absolute delight of my life. I surrender every day in joyful, giddy awe that He would choose to woo me to Himself. The crazy part is, He invites us to change lives alongside Him. That’s where our stories catch purpose—for His glory, and our delight!

Scripture challenges us to describe our hope and faith to unbelievers when asked. That’s how we partner with God to change lives. Dare to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth—the spice of the gospel. The question is, how?

   I’ve already given you the first of three very public secrets to share the gospel: know your facts.

   The second secret lays the foundation: the world desperately needs your own vibrant faith and personal intimacy with the living God. Infuse God’s presence as a tea bag flavoring the hot water of your life. Let Him speak truth and love into every nook and cranny of your identity and life. When I focus on making Jesus my all-in-all, He serendipitously gives me opportunities to shine for Him, and, much to my relief, He orchestrates the conversation. Because I daily train my ear to discern the whisper of His still, small voice, this earthen vessel is ready to share Him when unexpected encounters come.

   So, immerse yourself in His presence. Study Scripture with a passion—whether you feel like it or not. If you don’t have that passion, ask Him for grace to love Scripture. Mark my words—He will deliver. Surround yourself with godly content— a Jesus-centric church, Bible studies and podcasts (check out Gospel Spice!). And worship. Worship with music, with the Psalms—at every opportunity. Commutes, housekeeping, cooking, morning routines, exercise times, gardening—all are opportunities to crank up the volume and worship through music. Finally, find someone in whom you see Jesus: watch and learn from them. Let them role-model Jesus to you. And consider asking them to mentor you.

   The truth of the resurrection led my mind to Christ; my American parents’ unwavering love and acceptance led my heart to Him. Both are equally necessary—mind and heart transformation by the power of the gospel. They listened. They took my questions seriously. They never forced me to attend church—though they clearly expressed it was their preference. They gave me room to choose. They never pressured me. Most of all, they trusted in the Spirit’s wooing. They humbly and boldly accepted to become spiritual midwives alongside the Holy Spirit’s work in me.

   It takes the Holy Spirit to win a stone-cold heart to Christ. And it takes a courageous believer to assist as midwife in this spiritual birth. The French word for midwife is sage-femme, which literally means “wise woman.” You see, wisdom is knowledge that is rightly applied. As spiritual midwives, we apply our intimate knowledge of God—who He is, and what He has done—to trust that He is ushering in spiritual birth. That is why our own vibrant intimacy with Him is utterly crucial.

   And thirdly, pray. We learn to trust God through prayer. Pray your head off throughout the spiritual birth process. My American parents ushered me into the Throne room through their prayers long before I even knew they were praying for me. The battle to win the soul of your unbelieving friend will be won on your knees. Don’t pray to try to convince God of their need: He is more convinced than you are already. As you bring your friend in prayer to the Throne room, you will find God at work in you, conforming your heart to His and training you to listen to His still, small voice. Your time spent in the presence of God will equip you to speak the Word in season. As you seek to grow in intimacy and holiness, you will exude Christ more—effortlessly.  Your time in the secret place will make you a more powerful Kingdom magnet to reach your unbelieving friend for Christ.

   Prayer is a thundering roller-coaster. Prayer will unleash the Spirit to court a dead heart to life through surrender to the Life-giver. And in the process, we will find ourselves falling in love deeper with our breathtaking Savior, as we remember what He has done for us and as we witness His hand at work through us to reach another precious one.

   So there you have it. As resurrection-believing, Kingdom-magnet midwives, our role is threefold. We lovingly share truth; we seek to ever-grow in intimacy and knowledge of our Lord; and we pray—incessantly, faithfully.

   That, my friend, is how one becomes the salt of the world, or, as I like to say, the spice of the gospel.

Now, I have a free gift for you - a 5-day email devotional to awaken your delight in God.

And, I also have a list of 10 telltale signs to validate the resurrection of Jesus. Just keep reading, it's just below.

- Stephanie :)

We have a free gift for you!


Please enter your name and email so we can send you a free gift: a 5-day devotional to awaken delight (see below for more details).

Here's what the devotional is all about:

Many of us live with a thin layer of faith—true, sincere, but dulled by hurry, pressure, and noise. We pray, read Scripture, and serve faithfully, yet wonder why God feels distant in the everyday rhythms of life.

The invitation of Awaken Delight is not to try harder, but to see differently—to recover the weight and warmth of God’s presence already near, in Christ.

Through this 5-day email devotional, you will receive daily reflections designed to slow you down, reframe your attention, and reawaken your desire for God.

Each day is crafted to be short enough to breathe, yet deep enough to disturb the numbness we often accept as normal.

Over five days, you’ll begin to notice what has always been there: God’s nearness, steady and full of joy.

If you’re ready to step into that kind of rediscovery, sign up and receive the first reflection immediately.

Along the way, you’ll be invited to pause, to notice small mercies, and to return again and again to the simple, astonishing reality that God Himself is your lasting joy and deepest satisfaction in Christ.

Stephanie’s Top Ten Telltale Resurrection Facts

  1. The Easter Sunday whispers started in Jerusalem itself. To invent a story, steer away from actual places and people. Legends are born overseas. True stories are told locally. Jerusalem grounds the resurrection in space.
  2. The resurrection rumors started spreading immediately. To disguise a lie as truth, wait patiently—until people have forgotten or died, so they won’t contradict you. Myths don’t have a beginning. Truth has a time stamp. The early claims ground the resurrection in time.
  3. The authorities simply needed to produce Jesus’ decomposing body to squash the early faith. Yet they struggled to explain its absence. The empty tomb grounds the resurrection in eternity.
  4. Devout, Monotheistic Jews were first to proclaim the resurrection. Since inception and by design, Judaism has always been unlikely ground to nurture another religion. Moreover, early believers changed worship from Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath) to Sunday. Such radical embrace of Christ is a mammoth cultural shift backed by solid evidence.
  5. Extra-biblical sources indicate each of the twelve apostles died alone. Don’t miss this. They weren’t peer-pressured behind closed doors before group-drinking the Kool-Aid. Each died alone, publicly, under tremendous pressure to recant. It takes profound certainty to die alone for your faith. And nobody dies alone for a lie they helped create.
  6. The transfiguration hadn’t been enough. Peter glimpsed the glory of Christ beneath the veil of human flesh, and yet subsequently denied Him.[1] It took the resurrection to take Peter from unbelieving denial to fearless martyrdom.
  7. Paul ruthlessly persecuted Christians until the resurrected Christ gloriously interrupted him.[2] This intellectual prodigy unequivocally surrendered, penned thirteen epistles, launched the church, and died for his faith. Paul squarely placed the entire weight of Christianity on the truth-claim of the resurrection.[3]
  8. The disciples didn’t seek to cultivate their own glory: instead of portraying them as Superheroes, the gospels embarrassingly highlight their shortcomings too prominently for comfort! They tell the truth, regardless of how poorly it reflects on them.
  9. Fiction writers would have avoided inconsistencies; yet at times, gospel authors almost seem to contradict each other! Even today, court judges are wary of collusion in near-identical witness accounts. Small discrepancies increase reliability: eyewitnesses describe the same events through the lens of their own experience.
  10. The first resurrection witnesses were women. Women! The disciples wouldn’t have purposefully chosen such a primary source in a culture that denied women court witness status and valued them as glorified cattle. They wouldn’t have self-described as huddled in despair on Sunday morning while the women believed—unless it was true. Their unwavering commitment to truth led to the culturally-shocking inclusion of women as primary witnesses—because that’s how it happened.[4]
     

 [1] Matthew 17, also Mark 9 and Luke 9—compare with Matthew 26, also Mark 14 and Luke 22

[2] Acts 9

[3] “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1Corinthians 15:14, NIV).

[4] See Luke 24, also Matthew 28 and Mark 16

 About Stephanie Rousselle:

My motto is, “God’s glory, our delight!” I thrive on Bible-centered inspirational writing and speaking, and dark chocolate. I know myself too well to take myself seriously... 

Born and raised in France, I have lived for my One over the last two decades on three continents, four countries and five cities through six professional roles. I am a wife, mom, podcaster, public speaker, Bible teacher, former women’s ministry director and strategy consultant. And 100% French. And now, I am the founder and director of Gospel Spice Ministries. 

I love sharing nuances taken from the French and English languages and cultures to experience the New Testament from the inside out. I have quoted my favorite words more times than I can count, first to myself and my children, and then also in settings as diverse as Bible studies, conferences, podcasts and more: “There is nothing you can do for God to love you more; and there is nothing you can do for God to love you less.” 

I am the author of "Awaken Delight" (IVP 2026) in which I share my story and, more importantly, how delight in God, rooted in His delight of YOU, is the missing ingredient to your more vibrant faith and gospel-sharing.

Curious about more ways to awaken your delight in God, rooted in His delight of YOU? We’re here for you!

 

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