Primal- Mark Batterson

I was one of a lucky few to receive a FREE copy of Mark Batterson's new book titled: Primal.

I had previously read Mark's other two books: In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase, so I jumped at the chance to get a free copy of this book.

Mark's premise is that we have lost the Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength of Christianity. We've gone far off of what Christ intended and we need to go down the corridors of our faith and get to the most authentic, the most real and the most Primal parts of our faith.

He then sections his book off into Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength, taking Christ's "primal description" of our faith ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength") and pointing out key ways in which we can discover (or rediscover) the Primal pieces of our faith.

Some key points:

Heart:
1. We are not lovers of God or people in the way we should be
2. We must have hearts that are broken by what breaks God's heart
3. Our hearts determine what we do

Soul
1. We must be in awe of God and what he's done
2. Being connected to God's soul will help us see what god has for us (and the world)
3. Our soul's ears must be in tune with God's voice

Mind
1. We must stay curiously and constantly learning and seeking to learn
2. We need to realize we will never "arrive"
3. Reading is essential to learning. Keeping a healthy reading regimen is good
4. Being a person of the Word will transform you and the way you connect to Jesus

Strength
1. Sweat equity (working and sweating for Jesus) is a GREAT way to minister
2. Giving God all of us, even our physicality is an amazing way to connect to Him
3. Do you Love your dreams or God more? Who are you willing to work harder for?


These are just a few of my own personal take-aways. This book is a great book and I highly recommend it. However, I enjoyed his other two books more as a whole. There were some great sections for me that spoke to my heart for sure as well as convicted the heck out of me (i.e. "Do you love your dreams or God more" hit quite the Strong cord with me).

I am glad to have been able to read this book and would've bought it whether or not I received it for free.

Lastly, let me say that this book is not a book about lists and "ought to's".  Primal is highly engaging and begins with story and ends with story.  Mark Batterson is a wordsmith and engages his readers with stories that he weaves in and out of the plot.

  The begining of this book starts with Mark taking the reader down into the bowels of a church, deeper and deeper finding the very root of where it all began.  He weaves this "decending" narrative all throughout the book, pointing out that we must decend back into the real, raw and authentic roots of the Church so we can discover what it means to be "Primal"!