‘If there’s anything in life we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel…passionate in thinking about the gospel, reflecting upon it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to colour the way we look at the world and all of life.’

It was an issue I found to be really helpful. I know in my head the cross should be central to my life, but I find in busyness I often move away from it or assume/forget it’s message. Mahaney pushes the reader to see that Jesus’ cross was my cross, his atonement was for the guilt of my personal sin, his death for me when I rejected him.

As is typical of all Mahaney books this is easy to read with lots of practical illustrations and he makes what can be difficult theology easy to understand! The book goes through the topics of: defining the cross of Christ, defining what it means to live a cross-centred life and outlining the three main dangers to the cross centred life. It has discussion questions at the end of the chapters which make it perfect for small group discussions and equipping one for pastoral care.

It talks of a society so indoctrinated by other people’s opinions of what it is to   be successful, that one can no longer think for it’s self and boundaries between right and wrong become blurred in the race to succeed. This leads to ‘the fear’. Fear of not succeeding in the world’s eyes, fear of not being pretty or rich or famous enough.

As Christians today, we too are susceptible to this ‘fear’. We can fill our minds with what the world is telling us, and worry about how we compare to our others. However, the bible encourages us to fix our minds upon Christ and battle against worldly desires. We no longer need to be consumed by the fear of what others/the world thinks of us, because Jesus accepts and loves us totally, as we are.