Primal

"Primal - A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity" is the title of a book that I finished reading last night (by the way it feels good to finally finish a book without picking another one up). The author of this book is Mark Batterson which is also the author of two other books, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase (which I will be purchasing and reading both of them). Mark is the Pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC and lives on Capital Hill with his wife and three children.
I was searching some blogs one day and I came across Mark's blog and noticed his layout (I have a link to it on my blog) and it caught my eye and I began to read some of his postings and was intrigued by what he was writing and so I began to be a frequent reader of his blog. One day I read his blog and he was introducing a brand new book by the name of Primal. It caught my attention as well. Long story short, I received a copy of his book from his publishers and read every page and was fascinated by it and I would like to share a little from his book.
The title in itself is eye catching, Primal-A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, and it is based on the scripture "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30) He asked the question to the reader, "Does your heart break for the things that break the heart of God?" This really spoke to me because it was a question that really seemed to not come from Mark, but from God through Mark to me personally. I have to admit I needed this question to be asked to me and if I hadn't read another sentence in his book, God was already convicting me on my heart, soul, mind, and strength condition! Right after this question in the book is this statement: "If it doesn't, you need to repent". And so I did!
I could write all day long about this book but you would never look at this blog again, but I do want to tell you some of the high points, or at least I think they are, and cause you to want this book to be the first one you read for the new year.
Mark says that the quest begins with rediscovery, but it ends with reimagination. This is totally true and after you read this book and listen to what God is telling YOU, you will agree with Mark. Our love for God is of most importance. He says that it's a reimagination of the four primal elements detailed by Jesus in the Great Commandment: The heart of Christianity is primal compassion, the soul of Christianity is primal wonder, the mind of Christianity is primal curiosity, and the strength of Christianity is primal energy. The author makes a statement that caused me to look at the love meter that I have for God, he said, "It's not about what you can do for God; it's about what God has done for you." Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. The most primal form of love is not doing things for God. It is receiving with gratitude what He has already done for us. And then reflecting it in our lives! One of the last things that Mark says in his book is this and it's true; "In its purest, most primal form, loving God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength is loving God for God. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else."
This book, and the Spirit of God within me, have shown me that my heart doesn't break enough for the things that break the heart of God and that my wonder of God's creation and his HAND, his TOUCH is not what it needs to be. I could go on and on about the book, but this might be one that you can only be impacted on by reading it for yourself. You can purchase this book and more at RandomHouse.com, so go out before the end of the year and buy this book and let it be the first you read, after your daily devotion with the Word, and let it change your mind, heart, soul, and actions!