I have been fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of Mark Batterson's new book, Primal, recently. I wanted to put a few thoughts in my blog about the book.
Primal is a call to Christians to leave the mundane version of Christianity that most of us practice and to encounter God on a primal level, to find the lost soul of Christianity. This is done by rediscovering what it really means to love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind & with all of your strength. Mark Batterson refers to this as the Primal Commandment. Some of my favorite thoughts throughout the book are:
"Sometimes loving God with all your heart simply means listening to you heart instead of your head." (page 31)
Regarding the topic of giving, he said, "you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." (page 32)
"What do you think brings more joy to the heart of our heavenly Father - singing songs or caring for the poor?" and "What if we saw compassion as a form of worship?" (page 44)
"Every act of generosity creates a righteous ripple effect that can change the course of history. It will also change your heart." (page 46)
"If loving God with all our heart means a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God, then loving God with all our soul means a soul full of wonder, a soul flooded with the glory of God, a soul awed by beauty and mystery, a soul that hallows God above all else." (page 52)
I could go on and on with statements from this book that have made an effect on me. As a good friend of mine (and fellow blogger) said on his blog recently, reading Primal is dangerous. It will cost you. It will cost you the life that you know today, but it will bring about a life that is changed, if you let it. We all need to find what it truly means to practice the Great Commandment. We must love God with all of our hearts, with all of our souls, with all of our minds & with all of our strength.
I want to challenge you to make Primal the first book you read in 2010. If you do this, please let me know that you did. I would love to chat with you about the book.
