Primal by Mark Batterson

It is often good to focus on the core; to get back to the basics of what you believe or how you do something. Mark Batterson sets out to help our generation embark on a reformation, not one that is a new discovery, but one that is a rediscovery of something old, even Primal. Primal is the title of the latest book by Mark Batterson. In an effort to pursue reformation, Mark takes a look original reason for creation, the core meaning of the Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

The author encourages us to engage Christ by applying thought and action to the four ares where we're to love God: our heart, soul, mind and strength. Each section is a thought-provoking analysis of the meaning of the those words from the original Greek, but the application uses relevant illustrations. This is not in an academic study, but an experiential one as you think carefully about what it means to love God with all your heart or with all your soul.

We live at a multi-task pace. We pay attention to our cell phones while we watch TV, surf the Internet and talk with our family. Many time the author calls us to focus, think deeply about what it means to do anything with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. For example, in the section on all of our mind, he discusses how our imagination is much more powerful than the logical-thinking part of our brain. Our imagination is able to conceive of much more than we can feel or taste or smell. But we use so little of our imagination when we are engaged with God. I confess avoiding my imagination in relationship to God. I get so easily discouraged when God doesn't meet my expectations. So I keep Him in a box. I was very challenged by the idea of worshiping God with my imagination. My gratitude goes to the author and the publisher for the challenge.

You need to read this book. Our church (the universal one) needs to re-ignite our Primal, core need to engage God and love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. This book will help you do just that.