Amo Dei

Mark Batterson has become one of my favorite writers, though his outre is just three books. His In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day was among the best books I've read in a very long time. His newest offering, Primal (A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity) is as readable and entertaining as the one about the lion and the pit.

Primal asks, "What would your Christianity look like if it was stripped down to the simplest, rawest, purest faith possible?" It issues "an invitation to rediscover the compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy that turned the world upside down two thousand years ago." It prescribes a return to the Great Commandment as the new reformation our world--and the Church--needs.

Batterson's style is fluid and persuasive. Like In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, this book contains nearly as many quotable lines as it does pages, like,

"We dissect scripture instead of letting scripture dissect us,"

"Learning isn't a luxury; it's a stewardship issue,"

"The church ought to be the most curious place on the planet,"

"There is an awful lot of sideways energy in the kingdom of God,"

"Lack of faith is not a failure of logic. It's a failure of imagination,"

"Prayer turns us into first-class noticers. It helps us see what God wants us to notice. The more you pray, the more you notice,"

"God loves the smell of your sweat,"

"You have to think and rethink, but you cannot overthink....overanalysis always results in spiritual paralysis,"

"In God's economy, breaking even is a total loss,"

"Everything you see was once a sound wave in the vocal cords of God,"

"All of us love miracles. We just don't like being in situations where we need one," and,

"Everything minus God equals nothing. God plus nothing equals everything."

While Primal wasn't as compelling a read to me as In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, it is still some of the best I've read this year, and a unique and timely perspective on the Biblical command to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." It will not fail to inform and inspire any reader.

(Click here to view options for finding, ordering, and/or downloading Primal)

This book was provided for review by the publisher, Multnomah Books.