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.

I just got some amazing news from my friends @Iran30. They just announced that Maryam and Mazrieh were released after 259 days in prison. I’ve been overwhelmed and amazed at the response from twitter and facebook friends. People have really responded and it has shown me that people are indeed praying for those being persecuted for their faith. God is indeed good. All the time.

You can check the entire article here:

http://elam.com/articles/Released/

This is worth 15 minutes of your time. Check it out and bring your kleenex.

Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.

{stepping onto the soap box}

Yesterday’s phone call wasn’t the one I wanted to get. I love getting the calls about exciting things happening in ministry. Even the calls about life crises are welcome because they force me closer to Christ. This was one of those calls. The friend who had to move. Not because they’d done anything wrong but because someone else trashed them. Ruined their reputation. Tried to destroy their life and ruin their marriage.

I know this friend pretty well. Not perfect, but honest. I was sickened that the pain they’ve experienced (tragic loss, personal sickness) was multiplied by their church family. Petty disagreements led to personal assault and what was once fun and games became life or death.

The accusations being thrown around had almost destroyed a family. I was reminded in that conversation that accusation of the brothers was somebody else’s job.

Revelations 12:10–

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.

Some people close to my friend have been doing the devil’s dirty work and I wish they’d stop.

{stepping off of soap box}