Merge Worship

I got an advance copy of PRIMAL from the good folks at Multnomah Publishing and Random House. I've been reading it as I could during the busyness of the Christmas season in church life. I've made it through a few chapters but figured the release day would be a good day to give you my take so far.

When I started reading it I was a little taken back by the idea that they wanted us to encourage people to make it their first book of the new year. Twenty pages in I realized that that's exactly what it should be. I've found myself challenged and left wanting to be closer to who Jesus calls us to be. Mark's writing style, that I came to know on his blog, speaks clearly in the early part of this book. He has a way of stripping away a lot of the trappings that we use to talk to each other without ever saying anything. When I read him I don't think about his theological bent but about my own heart. I don't find myself just listening to a lot of christianese strung together but really hearing the heart of the matter, and having my heart challenged to change. The one thing I can say succinctly about this book is that I walked away from two parts early in crying to find a place of prayer and reflection.

I can't wait to finish Primal but it's not a quick read for me. It's one of those books that I feel like is reading me. I've been left very dissatisfied after my reading; not with the book, but with the condition of my heart. It's delivering on its promise to "an invitation to rediscover the compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy that turned the world upside down two thousand years ago. It is an invitation to be astonished again."

You can purchase the book on Amazon here: http://ow.ly/OHhL

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I'm honestly taking a bit of a break from blogging. This season of life has been rewarding and revealing and I just need some time to process in my own head before I share it with the world. (or the 100 people who stop by here regularly {and I LOVE you guys and gals!}) I'll leave this post with something I read today that totally resonated with me.

"Love to worship? Pray for Iranian Christians who long to 'shout to the Lord' but usually have to sing quietly and in secret." -From IRAN 30 (http://twitter.com/iran30)

This so speaks to why I work with them and why I respect those who worship Christ in closed environments so much. My heart hurts for their oppression and longs to live with their level of passion.