What I\u2019m most interested in when reading a book \u2014 especially one, like this, written by a friend of mine \u2014 is what I can decipher about the underlying theology.\u00a0 I happen to know a lot about Mark\u2019s theology, having spent the better part of the summer of 2008 on an RV with him<\/a>.\u00a0 And here\u2019s what I\u2019d say:<\/p>\n One of Mark\u2019s core theological convictions that comes through loud and clear in the book is that human transformation is truly possible<\/strong>.\u00a0 Some of us may doubt this.\u00a0 Whether we\u2019re Reformed and think that a person\u2019s fate is prelapsarianly predestined or just Freudian and think that we are who we are, many of us are skeptical about the the human potential to change.\u00a0 But not Mark.<\/p>\n Pages 76-82 are, IMO, the theological heart of the book.\u00a0 There Mark lays out the way that transformation happens:<\/p>\n Transformation happens through\u2026<\/p>\n I would say that in the last characteristic, and in Mark\u2019s subsequent description of the human \u201cheart,\u201d you can see how Dallas Willard has influenced his thinking.\u00a0 (I, on the other hand, do not subscribe to Willard\u2019s view of the person.)<\/p>\n Overall, this is a great book.\u00a0 It\u2019d be very useful for personal study, and even better for group use.\u00a0 I highly recommend it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n