Lent books are a well-worn tradition in the Church of England, and they are much loved by bishops and Christian publishers, who try their best to commend them to their clergy, who will commend them to the people in their pews.

I was honestly surprised and pleased with this one. Less a traditional 40-day devotional, but more fittingly for our age, a 40 day pattern of self-improvement. Not to be our best selves or to live our best lives, but to be more like Jesus. On the face, this seems an apparently unreachable goal, but the author suggests that we approach our discipleship - an oft used but perhaps off-putting term- with the increasingly familiar pattern of apprenticeship. "Just as the aim of apprentices is to learn the ways of their teacher, so the aim of Christians is to learn the ways of Jesus."

Whilst much of the contemporary Christian life can seem passive - go to church, listen to this podcast, read this book - the suggestions in this text are designed to move us "from a passive mode of mere listening to an active mode of learning that helps us in practical ways to develop and to grow."

The author helpfully breaks this down into three areas - "use their minds (heads) to grow in the knowledge of [Jesus]; to be filled with desire and passion for him in their hearts, and to use their hands to be active in serving him." He gives 20 initial questions as to how we are presently doing, covering these three areas. He gives some suggestions as to the patterns of our answers - some might be majoring in one of the three areas already, some are doing well in all of them, some might be inconsistent across the three areas.

Following on from this initial assessment, he offers 40 short reflections - well-timed for the days of Lent - each one linked to one of the 20 questions. Each one offers some theory, a practical suggestion, and a prayer. I particularly enjoyed the sessions on reading more of the Bible; loving those who are difficult; why even engage with a church community; making strong commitments; letting go of commitments and passing them to others; keeping a day of rest; and raising teenagers. The final section on sharing the faith was superb.

The only part of the book that didn’t quite work for me was the epilogue on the Lord’s Prayer, it feel that it had been bolted on to the rest of the text. This book is written in a very light style, but it is thankfully not 'chatty' and avoids the stream of consciousness blog-post style of writing that is increasingly common.

Something I noted - we are entering a new age with millenial writers writing for millenials - and one of the issues he raises that inhibits the spiritual life is the use of pornography, and he writes about his experience openly. This was a refreshing take, and I can't really imagine it happening only a few years ago.

This book is written by an Anglican minister (I imagine in the open Evangelical tradition) and commended by the Anglican Bishop of London, but there is no notably Anglican content - indeed, the devotionals draw from many eras and traditions of Christianity - and so could be commended and read by anyone of any denomination.

This a great devotional that will really help those on their walk with Jesus. I have been reading as a lent devotion but can be used at any point. Cris Rogers brings years of leadership into this book that will certainly challenge, inspire and encourage readers!

What a great book. I cannot wait to read this slowly and use it in ministry. Thank you. I love the way it is written by the church community, as a resource for deepening discipleship. I think 40 day detonations books like this are great for small groups and whole church resources.