Primal

The other day my wife was reading a book. Now, that is not unusual in itself, as my wife has a blog where she reviews books. You can check it out here if you would like to: http://deenasbooks.blogspot.com/

She reads LOTS of books. I read a lot of books, and you might think you read a lot of books, and maybe you do, but my wife reads LOTS of books.

And this particular day while reading this particular book, she kept making noises. Sort of like, “Oh my”, and “Ohhhh” and “Wow”. Stuff like that.

I finally asked what she was reading. She told me. I asked if it was good. She replied that if I would read it, it would ruin my life. Ok, now I was very interested.

So, once she was done, I started to read this book that she said would “ruin my life”. She was right. It did. It has. And I’ve only read two chapters.

Here’s some snippets from the book that I have highlighted:

“…I couldn’t help but wonder if our generation has conveniently forgotten how inconvenient it can be to follow in the footsteps of Christ. I couldn’t help but wonder if we have diluted the truths of Christianity and settled for superficialities. I couldn’t help but wonder if we have accepted a form of Christianity that is more educated but less powerful, more civilized but less compassionate, more acceptable but less authentic than that which our spiritual ancestors practiced.”

“He calls us to faith on the far side of doubt, joy on the far side of sorrow, and love on the far side of anger.”

“Does your heart break for the things that break the heart of God? If it doesn’t, you need to repent.”

Those I got from chapter one. From chapter two I got these:

“…we’ve engaged our culture mind-first instead of heart-first.”

“…minds often remain closed to truth until hearts have been opened by compassion.”

“…compassion is the ultimate apologetic. There is no defense against it.”

“…compassion is always the right reaction. I’m not saying there isn’t a place fo rebuking, correcting, and exhorting. Sometimes that’s the most loving thing you can do. But even those things can be and must be done in the spirit of compassion.”

“In my experience, it’s much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Anyone can put on an act. But your reactions reveal what is really in your heart. And if you love God with all your heart, you won’t just act like it. You’ll react like it.”

“…what will kill you if you don’t do it?”

“There is something that breaks your heart because it breaks the heart of God…what are you going to do about it?”

Maybe I’m just easily impressed, but these and other statements the author made have really caused me to stop and think.

Do I really love God?

Does it show?

Does anyone else know it?

Do I really care about the lost?

Do I really care about suffering?

Do I really care about reaching out to the lost and the suffering?

If I do, then why aren’t I doing anything about it?

I’m not done reading the book, and I’m still asking questions. At this time I have more questions than I have answers, but this I know: it is time for the church, to be the church. It is time for the followers of Jesus to really follow. It is time for the light to shine…like a blazing sun!

I’m looking forward to the rest of this book…and I don’t know if I will write more about what I find…but at this point I would encourage you to get the book yourself, read it, think about it…and if you feel like it, drop me a line and let me know what you think about what the author has written.

The books is called: “PRIMAL: A quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity” by Mark Batterson.


Ok, I'm going to try and read a bit more before Bible study tonight.
Dave