Tuesday, December 22, 2009

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

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