I just finished reading Primal: A quest for the lost soul of Christianity by Mark Batterson. Let me first say that I recommend any Christian to read this book. It is a primer of the basics of the Christian faith to help those who are spiritually thirsty to return to the wells of God.
There was so much written in this book that caused me to think outside my box that I could write several reviews over several weeks. There were many thoughts in this book that provoked me, stirred me, and convicted me. Mark writes with his usual casual style as though he were sharing his thoughts straight from his blog Evotional. He doesn't disappoint us with his wit and wisdom. One thing about Mark, he is a geek at heart. He sees God in every detail of all the "ologys" of life. At times it was eye blurring but he always brought it back to God and made his point.
I want to share a few quotes that stirred me. The first was "making money is the way you make a living and giving it away is the way you make a life." I loved it. Too many people are caught up in the worries of the here and now and not looking forward to a "city whose maker and founder is God".
This next quote will preach; "The mind is educated with facts, but the soul is educated with beauty and mystery. And the curriculum is creation." Awesome.
Being that I planted a church in a movie theater much of what Mark writes resonates with me. I loved his thought, "Just as the medieval church used stained glass to tell the gospel through pictures, we turn the screen into postmodern stained glass via moving pictures." That gives me so much freedom of thought and a ton of new ideas for Riverstone Church.
In his section on the "Law of Entropy" he talks about vision and shares the verse "Where there is no vision the people perish." He brings up the concept of double-binds and how trying not to sin is a double-bind. Yet vision is the cure for sin. Sin requires time and energy, and even more so from trying not to sin. So the cure is to have a vision for ones life that requires your time and energy and focus on that in order to complete it. Instead of wasting energy on trying not to sin, use your energy to do something positive. Great stuff.
The last thing I want to touch on from Primal is a quote he took from Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales. "The impact God has planned for us doesn't occur when we're pursuing impact. It occurs when we're pursuing God. At long last, after a lifetime of striving, God was enough. Not God and impact or God and ministry. Just God." How convicting for any leader. Our hearts desire is to impact this world but how true it is that real impact happens when God gets a hold of us and we of Him.
So to sum up what I have read, it is most definitely worth your time and money to get his book. I plan on reading it again.
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