Primal -- Book Review

If you've read this blog for awhile, you know that Mark Batterson is one of my very favorite authors of all time. His knowledge is so diverse; he's one of the most well read people I "know"; and he has the rare talent of making the most complex ideas accessible to everyone and seeming to do so without any effort! His newest book, Primal, is fabulous -- as expected.

Mark takes the Shema of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:5), the most important commandment according to Yeshua/Jesus (Mark 12:30), and discusses how one can truly love God "with all your heart, soul, mind and strength". In typical Batterson fashion, he explains loving God with your entire being by drawing not only on scriptures, but also psychology, science and real life analogies.

In a word, I love this book.

Having said that, I would be remiss with one tiny portion of Mark's book with which I disagree. At the beginning of the book, Mark is trying to explain why this is God's greatest commandments. He says that the Pharisees were guilty of making man-made commandments (they were) and that they created 613 commandments from the Old Testament. The fact of the matter is, GOD created 613 commandments in the Torah (and 1050 in the New Testament). The Pharisees (and priests and other leaders) then added to God's 613 commandments by creating "fences" around God's commandments. Let me give you an example. One of God's commandments was (and is) to honor the Sabbath by doing no work. That's one of the 613. The Pharisees then commanded the people not to carry a needle on the sabbath because if you didn't have a needle, you couldn't work at sewing. For the record, their intent in establishing these man-made laws was not evil; originally they created these "fences" around God's commandments so the people of Israel would not unintentionally break God's commandments.

Aside from that one point in Mark Batterson's book with which I take issue, the rest of the book was truly excellent. Primal will inspire you to go back to the heart of the matter, to what is truly important with respect to your relationship with God, and it will challenge you to serve Him better and more completely. I strongly recommend this book.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of Primal to give away, but it's well worth the money to order several copies (you'll want to give them away). Here's the link to purchase this great book:

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601421319

Below is the summary from the publisher:

Summary:

Be Astonished Again

We have a tendency to complicate Christianity. Jesus simplified it: Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If we are to live out the essence of Christianity, we must commit to being great at this Great Commandment.

In Primal, Mark Batterson explores the four elements of Great Commandment Christianity: compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power. Along the way, he calls you to be a part of God’s reformation, starting in your own life.

As Mark writes, “Is there a place in your past where you met God and God met you? A place where your heart broke for the things that break the heart of God? Maybe it was a sermon that became more than a sermon. Maybe it was a mission trip or retreat. Maybe it was a vow you made at an altar. In that moment, God birthed something supernatural in your spirit. You knew you’d never be the same again. My prayer is that this book would take you back to that burning bush—and reignite a primal faith.”

Primal will help you live in light of what matters most and discover what it means to love God. It will help you become great at the Great Commandment.

This was book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.

Pack Your Own Bags!

I thought I'd share a piece of wisdom from Graham Cooke's A Way in the Wilderness:

There's a difference between luggage and baggage. When you go on vacation, you pack your own LUGGAGE. You are excited and happy and you look forward to the process. You fill it with your favorite things -- the things that make you look and feel good, the things that make you comfortable. And you always leave room to bring something back.

BAGGAGE is always packed by someone else and it makes you feel terrible about yourself. It's the lies other people have said about you -- the life they've given you -- that's heavy and destructive and hurtful.

We need to stop carrying around our baggage. We need to leave it at the cross (the execution stake). We don't want to just empty it out -- we want to leave the whole mess there, bags and all, and burn it!

We pack our luggage with God. God is never past/present with us; He's always present/future with us. We pack our luggage and LEAVE ROOM TO BRING SOMETHING BACK (the future version of us we will become).

I've been listening to an 8 disk teaching series by Graham Cooke entitled, "A Way in the Wilderness". He talks about the lessons God teaches us as we go through "wilderness experiences". Graham teaches to love the "valleys" even more than the mountain top experiences because it's in the times of God's hiddenness that we really learn the lessons of how God thinks. If we can live by faith in the wilderness, we can do anything.

Alan Redpath once said, "There is nothing, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has come past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose."

A lot of people I know and love, myself included, are going through wilderness times right now. It's hard. It's unpleasant. It's especially draining when the battles last months or years.

But I have a feeling. A teeny, tiny feeling in the bottom of my heart that a lot of these long, long wilderness times are about to be over. I think we're almost at the end of the valley and starting the climb to the mountaintop.

I hope I've learned well the lessons intended for me.

If God is Good

We have all asked the question and probably more than once, "If God is good, then why . . ." Why is there suffering? Why is there unfairness? Why is their illness? Why is there death? Job loss? Divorce? Sexual abuse? War?

Many books have tried to answer this age old question. Some authors use this question to "prove" that God doesn't exist. Some say God does exist, but he doesn't have the power to work miracles in the face of free will. Some say God has the power to do anything, but isn't entirely benevolent and, therefore, allows evil to exist. Some say God created the world, but then lets it run on its own and doesn't get involved with the day-to-day workings.

In his new book If God Is Good, Randy Alcorn attempts to answer this question in a scholarly and comprehensive manner. His book is very lengthy, detailed and attempts to leave no scriptural stone unturned or facet of the question unanswered. This book is an excellent resource for counselors, pastors, caregivers, and anyone who wants to help someone who's hurting. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for someone in the midst of turmoil unless that person is the type who needs to process grief through intellectual undertaking. Because the book is so detailed and long, I can't imagine someone in the throes of trauma having the wherewithal to cull through it. However, since we all go through difficult times at one point or another, it's an excellent book to read so that your faith and understanding are more fleshed out when the time comes for you to undergo a situation that raises the question, "If God is good, then why . . . ?"

Unfortunately, I don't have a free copy of this book to give away. However, you can buy it here:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601421326

Summary:

Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

Book Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Julie of Norfolk, Virginia, and Eliana of Madison, Wisconsin, our winners of Kiss Me Again by Barbara Wilson. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Book Review

Kiss Me Again by Barbara Wilson is for women who have lost the intimacy in their marriage due to the baggage of their sexual history. I think this book can be very helpful to a lot of women; however, I don't believe that sexual history is the only reason women lose intimacy in marriage.

By the time most women come to marriage, they have had one or more previous romantic experience, sexual or not, and those bonds, hurts, experiences, perhaps sexual sins, etc., can have a cummulative effect on a woman's marriage and the intimacy of marriage. I admit that I've often told my husband I wish I would have met him before I was hurt multiple times -- I would have been less jaded, more giving, less protective, more hopeful, and, generally, a better wife. So I can certainly see how many women's romantic and sexual histories would have a negative effect on intimacy in their marriages.

Barbara Wilson gives step by step instructions for healing the wounds caused by sexual and romantic history and uses a lot of examples (many personal) demonstrating her points. Her book is easy to understand and engaging. I can certainly see how her book would heal a lot of marriages and would recommend it.

GIVE AWAY: I have two copies of Kiss Me Again by Barbara Wilson to give away. To enter the random drawing, e-mail your name and mailing address to seewhykinsman@gmail.com. The winner will be drawn Monday, September 21st. Good luck!

To buy the book, go to www.amazon.com or your favorite bookseller.

Summary:

Do you ever wonder why marriage can seem like the end of intimacy and sexual desire instead of the beginning?

Ever wonder why it was so hard to resist sex before marriage—and so easy to resist it now? If so, you’re not alone! Many married women genuinely want to feel more desire toward their husbands…and can’t figure out what went wrong. But there’s good news. In Kiss Me Again, Barbara Wilson shows how powerful “invisible bonds” from past relationships can cause heartache, disappointment, and distance for couples in the present. Then—with sensitivity, honesty, and hope—Barbara walks you step by step toward healing…and a rekindling of the closeness and passion with your husband that you really want.

You don’t have to live any longer with confusion, disappointment, resentment, or shame. You can rediscover desire. You can say Wow! again.

With assessment tools, write-in exercises, and gentle guidance, Kiss Me Again offers a biblical plan for rekindling the closeness and passion women long for in marriage. Because no past is beyond the reach of God’s healing touch.

In Kiss Me Again, Wilson:

· Shares her own story of healing and renewed desire

· Helps women forgive themselves and their husbands for past choices

· Shows readers how to break free from “invisible bonds”

· Explains God’s plan for helping a husband and wife to re-bond

· Includes conversation helps for both wives and their husbands

· Helps couples reignite the passion that they thought was lost

Author Bio:

Barbara Wilson is the author of The Invisible Bond and former director of sexual health education for the Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Sacramento. She speaks nationwide to youth and adults with her message of sexual healing, and she teaches frequently in the women’s ministry at the multi-campus Bayside Church in Northern California. Barbara and her husband, Eric, have been married for twenty-eight years.

The Best Example . . . for Everything!

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived by Steven K. Scott is a great book. Imagine reading a self-help book, one of those books that teach you how to better manage your time, focus on your priorities, cultivate friends, make more money, be fulfilled in your career, have an enviable marriage, be a better parent, etc., etc. Now imagine being told you can do all of the above if you just follow the example of one man: Jesus. This is that book.

Steven K. Scott manages to make complex subjects easy to understand and apply, while not dumbing down his message. This is a rare talent – one I greatly appreciate. We all know we are supposed to be followers of the Master, but this book shows us how to do that in practical terms.

I have TWO copies of this book to give away to my readers, free! To enter the random drawing for The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived by Steven K. Scott, just e-mail your name and address to me at http://seewhykinsman@gmail.com. Winners will be drawn on Friday, March 27, 2009. Good luck!

If you don’t win, you can purchase this book at numerous booksellers. Click the link below to find out where:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385526005&ref=externallink_wbm_thegreatestwordseverspoken_kef_0220_01

Below is the summary from the publisher:

Summary:
In The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, Scott guides readers in a step-by-step application of the life-changing principles, skills, and methods that Jesus used throughout his earthly life. Although believers may spend a lifetime learning from Jesus’ teachings, it’s easy to overlook the powerful lessons demonstrated in His life. But when these incomparable lessons are learned and put to use, they enable ordinary people to achieve extraordinary success and happiness.

From Jesus’ earthly life readers will learn:

How to break through the barriers that prevent them from achieving extraordinary success at work and relational success at home.

How to experience a level of happiness and fulfillment that nothing the world offers can duplicate.

How to use adversity and opposition as a springboard for greater success.

How to love others in a way that increases their love as well.

No matter what a person’s area of expertise and in what setting a person influences others, living by the principles of Jesus’ life on earth produces extraordinary success, unprecedented achievements, personal fulfillment, and blessings for others.

Author Bio:
Steven K. Scott is the best-selling author of The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, The Greatest Words Ever Spoken, and Mentored by a Millionaire. After failing in nine jobs, he started reading a chapter of Proverbs every day—and the wisdom of Scripture changed his life. Scott and his business partners have built more than a dozen multimillion-dollar companies from scratch, achieving billions of dollars in sales. He is the co-founder of Max International, Total Gym Fitness, and The American Telecast Corporation. He is a popular international speaker on the subjects of personal and professional achievement and the application of biblical wisdom to every area of life.