Primal by Mark Batterson (Book Review)

I’ve been working my way through Mark Batterson’s new book Primal this past week. Thank you Multnomah for the complimentary copy! The book is a very easy read and I think someone with ADD would really like it because Mark jumps around a lot telling different stories.

In this book Mark focuses on getting back to the basics of Christianity. Getting back to what is primal. What is primal? What is left of Western Christianity after you strip it of all the fancy bells and whistles? It’s about loving God and loving others. Mark then examines the great commandment of Jesus in Mark 12:28-31. Mark will seek to answer the questions: What does it mean to love God with our heart? What does it mean to love God with our soul? What does it mean to love God with our mind? What does it mean to love God with our strength?

It’s a quick easy read and it doesn’t get too complicated. However, I wished there was more depth to it. I don’t think Mark fleshed out enough what it means to really love God with all your heart and soul (the other chapters weren’t bad). There just wasn’t enough to really help a person understand what the heart is and what the soul is. Those chapters left me wanting more and a bit confused about the heart and soul of a person.

Again, if you like a lot of stories or need some good illustrations for your sermon pick this book up. If you really want a solid explanation of what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength buy, read and study Dallas Willard’s book Renovation of The Heart.

The Good and Beautiful God (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2 – God is Good

In this next chapter Smith writes to convince us of God’s goodness. Smith lost a 2 year old and the experience has shaped his theology of God and suffering. He shares a little about getting through that difficult time of grief. The most haunting thing is a story where a pastor friend of his blames his daughter’s death on some kind of sin he or his wife must have done. This brings a lot of confusion and soul searching to his life. Thankfully he emerges with a pretty solid view of God’s goodness and that God is purely good and has our best interests in mind.

I like this being a Wesleyan. We affirm the goodness of God and the goodness of creation. We start with Genesis 1 and 2 instead of Genesis 3. The Bible doesn’t start with sin; it starts with God the goodness of His creation. He created a perfect world and called it good. Sin is why we have all the imperfections and problems. Sin was never a part of God’s creation or plan.

Smith shares some thoughts Augustine had in regards to why bad things happen to good people and vice versa. Ultimately there is a trust we are going to have to have in God to set the world right and bring the justice we so eagerly desire. He concludes the chapter with the thought that we will know why such bad things have happened when we see Jesus.

Chapter 2 Soul Training Exercise

How do we experience God’s goodness? Two spiritual disciplines are recommended, silence and awareness of God’s creation. It is recommended that we take 5 minutes a day and sit in silence. This is a pretty easy challenge, but still a challenge because of the fast paced mentality of our world. We are always on the move. To practice awareness of creation Smith asks us to take a walk or just look at nature and praise God for its beauty. Again, very simple. These things together help us experience God’s goodness because we sit in silence knowing God is in control. The stillness helps us know God is good. and we become aware of His creation knowing He made a good world.

The Good and Beautiful God

The Good and Beautiful God
James Bryan Smith

Here are some notes I’ve gathered from the first chapter of The Good and Beautiful God by James B. Smith. If this first chapter is any indication of what the rest of the book will be like, this is going to be a fun read!

Chapter 1 – What Are You Seeking?

How do we change? How do we become the type of person Jesus talks about in His Sermon on the Mount? Is that even possible? Smith believes it is and declares that we change through training our soul. Smith was mentored by Dallas Willard and Richard Foster and a lot of their influence is seen (read?) here in this first chapter.

Is change in our lives brought about by willpower? Is that what it takes to change? Smith points out that our will actually has no power, but is controlled via our mind, engaging in the spiritual disciplines, and participating in the church, and the Holy Spirit. I like what he is saying here. Of course change in our lives involves God, but it also involves us working with God. Smith is not promoting salvation by works in any way, he is focusing in on how we Christians can live as Christians and be transformed by God’s grace in this wonderful process of being made holy. In this first chapter he asks us to rethink our lives and the stories that form our lives, to examine what we practice in regards to spiritual disciplines, and observe who we hang around with and what we are learning from them.

Chapter 1 Soul Training Exercise

Each chapter has a soul training exercise that is designed to engage you in the transformation process promoted in this book. The first exercise: sleep. We are encouraged to get a full day of rest. Smith pushes us to try and sleep until we feel we are fully rested and we couldn't possibly rest anymore. That’s it. It starts out that simple. This first chapter ends with a couple of reflection questions about what you experienced while trying to rest your body.

You need to check this book out. This book is designed to be used within a small group and I believe God will use this book and the activities in it to bring about transformation to those willing to give it a try.

Your thoughts?

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For

Turkey day is almost here. Thought I would release this week’s Thursday Thinking a day early. I’ll be spending tomorrow with family eating and watching football. So, here are some of the things I want to express thanks for.

My Top 10 things I’m thankful for

1. That I live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Come on, despite the changes and crazy stuff happening, you have to admit we live in an awesome country!

2. Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Spirit and all they have done and continue to do on my behalf. The Trinity is sweet!

3. My wife who makes me a better person. So much of who I have become is because of her and I’m very thankful for that (this line should get me some brownie points! Ha!). She’s also in love with Jesus and that’s hot!

4. 2 beautiful daughters. Kids are awesome. It was fun being one, but I think it’s more fun raising one (it’s also tough). Now you get to laugh at all the silly things they do and tell all your family about it and hear, “You used to do that too!”

5. God’s Word because it reveals to us Jesus and teaches us everything we need to know about Him and the kingdom of heaven. You gotta love the Bible!

6. All my family (in-laws and out-laws). They really exemplify Christ-like love in all they do and say. We all get along very well and enjoy hanging out with one another. How many people can say that about all of their family?

7. Great friends. I have so many wonderful friends. Funny thing is I don’t deserve such great friends because I have really failed at friendship (Would I really want to become friends with me?). I love meeting and hanging out with them. I have friends that belong to Christ and some who don’t. I learn from both.

8. Cooler weather. I enjoy autumn and winter. I’m not a big fan of warm weather, so this is my favorite time of year. There’s even a song that supports my view and sings, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

9. Christmas lights. They’re pretty and my daughter gets excited whenever she sees them. All the new LED lights can be spotted a mile away and they draw you in like a bug zapper. Awesome lights!

10. Vehicles. It’s so great to be able to drive around to work, home, bookstore, etc. We usually are only thankful for our vehicles after they break down and we get them fixed. Before that happens to me again, I want to say I’m thankful for it while it’s still running. Could you imagine doing all we do today on horseback or in buggies?

When and where do we pray? (part 2)

Nelsman did a superb job in summing up the way we should view and interpret Jesus’ teachings on prayer in Matthew 6 (from the comments last week). Here is his comment in regards to praying in public and if it is ok or not:

Sounds like it on the surface, but Jesus prayed in the presence of the disciples in John 17, gave thanks for food for the 5 thousand in Mark 6:41, prayed for Lazarus in front of others in John 11:41. So this reads more like a warning to not turn a prayer into a performance "to be seen by men". Maybe Jesus is leading us into private prayer so we will not be tempted to go beyond a one on one relationship with the Father

It's some great thoughts on this matter. The key is the heart. What is the heart? It’s that area where choice and will come from. It is our motive for why we do what we do. If you read the first verse of Matthew 6 you can see that Jesus is talking about motive. Matthew 6:1 (NRSV) reads,

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heave.

I think it’s ridiculous and wrong to interpret Jesus’ teachings on giving, prayer and fasting apart from this first verse. It clearly connects to everything that follows. Jesus clearly teaches that it is all about the heart. He is telling us it is all about our motive.

I’ve heard Christians tell me that it’s ok for Muslims to pray in public but Christians are to go to a private place and pray. I’ve even heard some people say it’s wrong to do public prayer in church. Those two comments are examples of how NOT to interpret Matthew 6. If your reason for wanting to pray in public is ok you can pray whenever and wherever you want. Jesus has given us freedom to do that! Nelsman gave some great examples of Him praying in public.

So, if you ever hear someone state Christians are not supposed to pray in public you have opportunity (maybe even responsibility?) to correct them and bring them back to the heart of the matter. Take them to Matthew 6:1 and make sure they catch and understand the phrase “in order to be seen by them”.

When and where do we pray?

Sorry to miss last week, was in class all day Thursday and Friday. Matthew 6 is a fun passage of scripture to read. I’m curious as to how you interpret Jesus’ words in verses 5 and 6 in regards to prayer? So, here are a few questions to get you thinking.

- Is He saying we should never pray in public?
- What about praying publicly when the church is gathered?
- Does this mean Christians should stop praying for their meals while out to eat?
- Is Jesus saying God only hears our prayers when we pray in secret?

What do you think?

Big fish, small picture

In case you were wondering if I caught any fish last week (it's not my proudest moment!).

Caught few little largemouths. Using pumpkinseed Triple Ripple from Bass Pro Shops. Salt Creek was a really neat place to fish. I would have loved to have had a canoe and a whole day to explore and fish it.