Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

I received an early copy from the publisher to read and review and I can assure you that this is a book you definitely want to buy. I am a huge fan of Mark Batterson who is the pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. I was able to attend his church this summer with my family when we were on vacation and we really enjoyed the hospitality that his church showed our family. Mark has a great blog at[...], and his previous two books have had an incredible impact on my ministry.  In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars  was about seizing the God given opportunities in your life while  Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God  encourages believers to follow the Holy Spirit on a wild adventure.In Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, Mark breaks new ground by returning to the roots of our faith. We live in a complicated world, but the answer to many of our problems lies in a return to the simplicity of following the Great Commandment. To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Here is how Mark describes the quest:"The quest for the lost soul of Chrisitianity begins with rediscovering what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength ... It's not enough to love God with just your heart or soul or mind or strength. We are called, even commanded, to love Him in all four ways ...The heart of Christianity is primal compassionThe soul of Christianity is primal wonderThe mind of Christianity is primal curiosityAnd the strength of Christianity is primal energy"I always read books like this with a highlighter in hand. There are so many great quotes and illustrations to capture and think through. I may be a little strange, but while reading, I keep coming up with new ideas for sermons and series that I could teach. There is so much here to meditate on, and I urge you to read it slowly. Mark is a story teller, and he is able to weave you into the story. I was challenged in the way that I love God, and I think you will be as well. I enjoyed his use and application of science and I enjoyed how he wove his life story into the book. I read through it in two days, and I want to read through it again. You can also find out more about the book at the official Primal website, [...]. Let me leave you with this challenge from the book."Do you love God for what He can do for you? Or do you love Him for who He is? In its purest, most primal form, loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is loving God for God. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else ... Reformations are born out of rediscovering something ancient, something primal. They are born out of primal truths rediscovered, reimagined, and radically reapplied to our lives."

The question is deceptively simple.Answering the question is not as easy."Does your heart break for the things that break the heart of God?" asks author and pastor Mark Batteron in his third book, Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. It's not a question that is easily answered by me, or most of us, for that matter. But it's a question that lies at the heart of this book, as Batterson strips the Christian faith to these four elements: compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power.How can I show compassion and shower others with generosity?Do I truly comprehend the majesty and beauty of the world in which I live?Am I willing to continue to learn, both spiritually and intellectually?Do I understand what I am capable of doing if I call upon the strength of God?These are the questions that Batterson asks in Primal - and he answers them both with Scripture and with examples from science and history. Each represent how we fulfill the Great Commandment to love God: with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength. After all, the way we choose to live our lives should begin with loving God first, and Batterson shows us ways in which we can do that in our lives. For the way to change the world is to begin by changing the way we live ourselves, retreating back to the Father who created us by loving Him first.For instance, in the chapter called "Holy Curiosity", Batterson writes: "There is an indivisible linkage between loving God with all your soul and loving God with all your mind. Wonder and curiosity are spiritual cousins. When the soul stops wondering, the mind stops learning. And vice versa...when you stop learning, you start dying intellectually. But the spiritual implications are more profound than that. When you stop learning, you stop loving. Why? Because loving is learning more and more about the one you love. True love is never satisfied. It always wants to know more about the object of its affection. The more you love God, the more curious you become. When it comes to loving God with all your mind, curiosity is both the cause and the effect."Batterson challenges us to see the hand of God in all our lives - there is not one aspect of our lives in which God does not play a role, and exhibiting a sense of wonder and curiosity draws us closer to Him. We get to know more about God, and get to know God more, as we learn about the world that He created.Do you want to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength? This book will assist you on that journey, helping to unpack what that statement in Scripture means. The Christian faith is due for yet another change, another reformation, as Batterson refers to it, and that reformation will begin with you and in you.Definitely check it out. It's worth your time.

I was looking for a book that would challenge us (followers of Christ) to get back to the foundational roots of faith in Jesus. My heart was yearning for the wonder and awe of God to be stirred again, in myself and in the Church. I desire to see the Church awaken to the reality of the immensity of His love for us, and out of that, flow in that love to others. This book will take you to these places and beyond! Mark really challenged me to expand my mind to think about things I had never thought about, and even enjoy learning some math and sciences 🙂 (Some of those chapters blew my mind.) I recommend this book to anyone who is tired of the status quo and who desires to know more about God and who we are in Him.

this book is a refreshing look at the essence of modern-day christianity, clearly written in a very readable and yet thought-provoking way. it contains lots of gems which can be mined, and if the values described in this book are put into practice in daily life, the world would be turned upside down. well worth reading personally, or in a study group of book club.

A excellent book looking at the "heart" of the Christian faith without the trappings that man has added so as to enable us all to understand better what Christ was actually teaching