Every generation needs to seek to communicate the transforming truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to their culture. Of course, the gospel message never changes, but the ways in which we communicate it and the areas where it challenges our society directly do change. Tim Hawkins, in 'Free To Be Me', gives us a great example of how the gospel is still relevant today and still meets our greatest needs. Two of the defining characteristics of our current cultural moment are a desire for freedom and personal autonomy. Unfortunately, today this desire for freedom is often presented in opposition to Christianity.

Tim challenges this narrative and using this desire for freedom as his starting point presents the cross of Jesus as the true source of freedom – freedom from shame, guilt and fear. The book presents the gospel through this lens of freedom and paints a picture of what the Christian life looks like. The book is particularly written with young people in mind and is a great resource for helping them explore what the gospel actually is and its implications for their lives. Especially young people who have grown up in the church will find this book helpful as they come to a point of owning faith in Jesus for themselves, rather than simply following their parents’ religion.

Stephen Allison, Kiltarlity Free Church