A Return to Something "Primal" aka Thanks for reminding me Mark Batterson

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to read Mark Batterson's new book, Primal and it grabbed me.
And when I say "grabbed me", I mean at my very core.

Let me try to explain...
I have been off lately.  Tired.  Restless.  Frustrated
With the church
With ministry
With God

But mostly with me...

Then I read Primal and it was like having my own spiritual trainer working with me.
Like when you hear of an athlete having trouble with their game and they bring someone in
to work with them.
More often than not they take them back to the basics of their mechanics.
Back to basics.  Back to the fundamentals.  Back to the beginning.

That was what Primal was for me.
The book takes a detailed look at Mark 12:30...

Love the Lord your God with all your heart 

and with all your soul 

and with all your mind 

and with all your strength

...and makes the case that we aren't fully loving God unless we are all in with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And "not fully loving" means we lose our capacity for compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy

The book makes you look at what Batterson calls 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

To me it was saying - "throw off all the junk that is making you a whiny little kid and focus on what is essential.  What is primal"

So for those young lions that God has placed in my path recently who keep saying they want more...

Asking me what's next...

I'm inviting you on what Batterson calls, "A quest for the lost soul of Christianity"

I'm inviting you to go primal with me.

If you're reading this - you need to read Primal

And Mark...

Thanks for the reminder.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601421319

Mark my words...

As the family sat together talking about the upcoming funeral service for their father/husband the subject of appropriate Scripture to be used came up.  Each of the family shared Scripture that meant something to them and was comforting at the current time.  All good stuff.


One of the kids asked to see an old blue Bible that was laying on the floor.  
"Whose Bible is this?" asked one of the children.  


"That was your father's"


Each of the family slowly began to smile
It was a very pleasant surprise


Their father's faith was so personal that there had been concern as to whether he had a strong faith at all
But this was dad's Bible...


As they opened the worn blue leather cover, another pleasant surprise awaited them


As they read from Romans 8 they realized
Romans 8 had been read over


And over
And over again


And with a simple pen this man that they so loved and respected marked the words of His creator
He marked those words so he could hold tight to them
He marked those words because they were truth and life


The phrase "mark my words" means give your attention to what I am saying because it it true and important 


I think God longs for us to "mark His words" and hold Him to His promises


Here's some I've marked lately - Psalm 119:50


Mark my words - He'll make good on His
Peace