I am writing this as an open letter to a few select individuals who are dear to my life and heart. I hope and pray that anyone else into whose hands it chances to come may find it interesting, and may in some way benefit from it.

All my life I have been what is loosely called "evangelical" in my general outlook and spiritual perspective. As such, in order to breathe freely in my spirit and keep my brain and heart thriving and growing, I have found it necessary to re-think many of the doctrinal particulars of belief in which I was raised.

What follows is not an autobiography by any means of that journey. It is rather an attempt to place my sojourn into a wider context, and to explain this "necessity" I have felt to explore Christian thought beyond the boundaries of the teaching I received at various stages of my life.

In the antebellum South, Richmond and Carolyn Davidson live lives of ease as wealthy plantation owners. But even though their wealth and livelihood depends on slave ownership, their Christian consciences speak against the practice.

When the Davidsons decide to follow their own moral judgment and God’s will by freeing their slaves, they face consequences they never could have anticipated. Risking their lives as an important link in the Underground Railroad helping runaway slaves escape to the Northern states, the Davidsons must rely on their wits—and God’s protection—to stay alive.

Most of us want to know God more intimately. But are we willing to boldly face the challenge of what that means? Are we truly willing to pray a prayer that may be dangerous in ways we cannot anticipate? Are we willing to ask God to make us like Jesus?
Author Michael Phillips shares from his own life how he has learned to take up that challenge. Then he examines key decisions in the life of Jesus Christ that illuminate what it means for each of us to be conformed to the image of God’s son—to love like Jesus, think like him, pray like him, and trust the Father like him.
If status-quo spirituality is for you, do not read this book. It is a dangerous book—dangerous to the flesh—for the journey toward Christlikeness may be painful and costly. Yet that journey leads to the ultimate purpose God intends for all his children: conformity to the image of his son.