I recently finished reading Primal by Mark Batterson.   I have to admit, from the minute I opened the book, I started squirming in my seat.   The book is sub-titled “A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity.”   Mark explores what it really looks like to live your life with a focus on the Great Commandment:

Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

The question that kept arising in my mind was “am I living this way?”.  Hence, the squirming.   In all truth, Primal really spoke to me and I very much enjoyed it.  When I read I have to read with a pen in one hand.  I love to underline words or thoughts that really grab me.   My copy of Primal is filled with underlines and notes.   I really enjoy the way that Mark writes.  The way he weaves his words, stories, examples and information make for an interesting read.    I was able to read this book while on an airplane during a business trip.   I read half the way out and half the way back.

Mark breaks down the Great Commandment into four elements:

The heart of Christianity is primal compassion.
The soul of Christianity is primal wonder.
The mind of Christianity is primal curiosity.
The strength of Christianity is primal energy.

Have you lost your passion in life?   Are you feeling depressed at the pace in which we live our lives?  Perhaps taking a moment to slow down and read Primal would be a way to re-energize your life.   I can tell you that after you’re finished reading you will walk away with at least a few great ideas to chew on and continue to use to help grow.  If a book can make me squirm and really think about how I’m living my life, I have to say it is a great book.

Why not start out 2010 a new way? I dare you to get this book and see how it speaks to you.  You can get a copy here:
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601421319

The moment I started reading The Blind Writer by Matt Bays I knew this wasn't going to be your average book.  There were times as I read that I laughed, smiled and pondered.  I felt a connectedness to Matt's life.  I felt as if I were inside Matt's head on a comfy couch with a cup of coffee and he was telling me stories and life lessons he'd learned.   His trials, his triumphs.  Stories mixed in with some poetry.  There were times that I felt proud (not in a pompous, looking down sort of way), but in a way that acknowledges another person's goals and admires their accomplishments.

Besides wanting to tell you to go and get Matt's book, I wanted to journal some things that spoke to me, so I could come back at a later date and re-read them.   Whenever I read books these days, I have to have a pen in my hand.   I underline things that speak to me, so I'll be able to find them later on.

Here are a few things that spoke to me:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Taking our own spiritual inventory is the only way we are able to move forward in our journey toward God.

I used to live with passion.  I used to hear God's voice, even though it sounded like my own voice in my head.  I used to risk it all.  

I've had it with that shallow faith that represents a Jesus who is frozen in a stained glass window somewhere, not the Jesus who is alive and well...and passionate.

Depravity.  And I know it's an ugly word, but I use it to describe an ugly choice, which all of us are capable of if we lose our center with God.

When you referee the symptoms of a deeper problem, you end up not dealing with the "heart issue" of the matter, and the problem remains.

James 1:27.  Find out what I'm passionate about.  Start there.

Keep it simple:  Love God, Love Others

What is a poser to do when all their props are gone?   What do they do when someone looks them in the eye and doesn't smile back?

There comes a time when we must face our greatest pain, our greatest fear; the thing we feel has strung us up on a cross  and suffocated the life out of us.  And we must face it without the support of anyone other than our Father and the support of our own soul.

But our Father, who brings life from death, who finds strength in weakness and turns defeat into victory, will restore us to sanity and turn our death by fear into a life of courage and strength.

I think He cares about heart and intent, not about empty rituals or my obsession with being good, some kind of check-list life that looks good on my spiritual resume.

The problem with using God is, are we really using God, or are we just trying to find a quick solution to the pain and slapping God's name all over it?  Just because we say "I'm trusting God," does not make it true.

But it may be time to finally acknowledge our wounds, and then, to let God take us on the powerful journey of healing these wounds.  Jesus went to the cross knowing exactly what it cost Him.  He faced the suffering and acknowledged His wounds.  He wasn't hanging on the cross praying, "All things work together for the good."  No!  he reserved that scripture for after He was healed.  While He was on the cross He said, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"  He was hurting and wanted to know why God had let this happen to Him.

I wonder if God is always following me around hoping I'll pause for just a moment, somwhere in my day, so that He can teach me something I don't know.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

There were many other things that I underlined, some were full paragraphs that would be too much to put here.  The book is full of great insights, stories and thoughts.  You'll even find some things that will just plain challenge the way you think and the way you look at your relationship with God.  Go get the book and underline your own.