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There is some good here. JMC rightly points out that often the Gospel that is preached today is not the full gospel. People hear that they need to put their faith in Jesus so they can go to heaven, but they do not hear about how the Gospel changes their lives today. JMC also talks well about the heart and how following Jesus is more than just rules. I appreciate these things!

However, I struggled with most of this book. Maybe it's because of how I've become so immersed in Reformed theology. :) I think JMC and I have different views on salvation and the Christian life and what those things entail (and honestly our overall theology). We would seemingly agree that salvation and life as a Christian are based on grace, but I think we would differ on to what extent. While he talks about grace, much of this book is about what we do to follow Jesus only as an apprentice of his. And, it almost seems throughout this book that Jesus is no more than a really good rabbi to JMC. He talks about him as the Son of God, but rarely. He seems to imply that we can be like Jesus here - perform miracles, prophesy, etc. - because he was the perfect man with the Holy Spirit, not Christ, the Son of God.

I have lots of thoughts on this but overall struggle to see how this book is good news. With so much emphasis on doing and not enough emphasis on grace, JMC misses how Jesus is the beginning AND end of our salvation. Jesus not only justifies us but he sanctifies us and he is always interceding for us. I become like him because his Spirit is working in me. Of course there are means that he uses to do this work (like prayer, Bible reading, meditation, etc. like JMC talks about). But my becoming like him is a work that he does. That is good news.