(Disclosure: I received a free advanced copy of this book to read and share with my blog readers. However, there were no parameters put on the actual content of what I wrote).
Mark Batterson’s new book, Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, far exceeded my expectations. Having read Mark’s two previous books, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase (along with the facilitating the respective small groups series connected to these two books), I feel that I have a fairly good idea of what to come to expect from Mark’s writing.
I believe this is his best book to date. Mark is one of the most well-read Christian writers I have encountered. His passion for the sciences, the arts and his family creates so many great stories and illustrations for the content in the book.
In Primal, Mark unpacks his central idea: that we are not practicing the greatest commandement well – love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind and strength. In a very straightforward way, Mark describes how a trip to Rome and the exploration of some catacombs under the city connected him to one of the earliest community of Christ-followers. This experience convicted him that he had become a professional Christian and had gotten away from his “primal beginnings” as a college student who diligently prayed and sought God’s presence in his life. The book is divided into those four categories – heart, soul, mind and strength, through which Mark unpacks his thoughts about how we can reclaim each of these pieces of our interaction with God and the world.
It is hard to capture a book like this in bullet-point quotes, but here are some good nuggets that you will encounter if you read this book.
-Your inability to understand stems from a failure of imagination on your part. -J.R.R. Tolkein to C.S. Lewis
-One of the mistakes we’ve made in Christendom is equating spiritual maturity with knowledge acquistion, but head knowledge never has been and never will be the litmus test. The truth is that most of us are already educated way beyond our level of obedience.
-Faith equals God-ordained risk in the face of fear. Obedience equals God-honoring decisions in the face of temptation. And compassion equals Spirit-prompted generosity in the face of greed.
-Who you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you are saying. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
-So many Christians are so bored. So many Christians are so frustrated by the gap between their theology and reality. The way to close the gap, and the way to experience that holy rush of adrenaline again, is to break a sweat serving others.
You can buy this book here and here. The book releases to the public on December 22nd. It was a quick read for me, about 2 1/2 hours. I think it would be a great first read for 2010 for you and other Jesus-followers that you know.
