Primal

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Over the last few weeks, I read Mark Batterson's new book, "Primal." He gave free copies to Lead Pastors who agreed to join his blog tour and blog about it. Well, here goes my blog. (Thanks for the free book, Mark and Multnomah Publishing!)

Great book. Mark reminds me or Rick Warren in that he speaks in plaques. He has a gift for saying old things in new and creative ways that are attention grabbing and memorable.
This book was especially meaningful to me in light of CCF's purpose Statement. Our purpose statement is strongly rooted in the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:36-40) and this book was structured around the same. Mark divided the book into 4 sections as he shared deeply into the complete call of the Greatest Commandment:
  1. The heart of Christianity
  2. The soul of Christianity
  3. The mind of Christianity
  4. The strength of Christianity
Some of my favorite excerpts or quotes:
  • If I say what God wants me to say, then all the criticism in the world does not matter. And if I do not say what God wants, then all the compliments in the world do not matter.
  • It is way easier to act like a Christian than to react like one. Anyone can put on an act, but your reactions reveal what is really in your heart.
  • Making money is the way you make a living. Giving it away is the way you make a life.
  • Whether in getting or giving, it seems like enough is never enough. Listen, you will never have enough. You will never be enough. You will never do enough. But, don't let that keep you from giving what you have, being who you are or doing what you can.
  • Awed silence in the presence of divine beauty is a form of worship that is often deeper and truer than sung words. Silence is one of the soul's love languages.
  • One of the most common reasons that people leave churches is because "they are not being fed." Children feed themselves from the time they are toddlers. If you are not being fed, it's your fault! Stop letting Pastors study the Bible for you. If you are relying on a preacher to be fed, I fear for you.
  • Regarding the importance of meditating on scripture: Meditation is the mechanism whereby one dimensional knowledge becomes two dimensional understanding. But it does not end there. Obedience is the mechanism whereby two dimensional understanding becomes three dimensional faith!
  • Your life translates scripture into a language that those around you can read. He wants to write His-story through your life.
  • It's taken thousands of years for billions of people to explore one tiny planet in one tiny galaxy. And we've barely scratched the surface. Wow, God!
  • God does not just want you to worship him. He wants you to know why you worship him. And worship is not lip syncing words on a screen.
  • We need to be less focused on getting out of situations and more focused on what we can get out of situations!
  • It is far easier to find something wrong with something new, than to admit something wrong with the old way of doing things.
  • We all need to get less afraid of making mistakes and more afraid of not making mistakes. Not making mistakes probably means that we are doing nothing.
  • Christianity was never intended to be a noun. It was always intended to be a verb.
  • Potential is God's gift to us. What we do with it is our gift to God.