Primal Book Review

This book was provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah.

Christ gave the greatest commandment that all the others hinged upon.  His call was for us to love God with all of our Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength. Primal is about being part of a movement that gets back to what the heart of the great commandment is all about. While Mark doesn’t recommend a new or better way to fulfill the great commandment

Primal is about reimagining the four elements Jesus so passionately commanded and displayed in his Life and Ministry.

Mark writes in such a way that captivates the imagination and leaves the reader wanting to move into a deeper relationship with God. Primal is packed with biblical truth and re-ignites a passion in your soul to strip back to the bare essentials of the Christian Faith. Throughout reading I was brought back to what it means for me to love God through primal compassion, primal wonder, primal curiosity, and primal energy. If you are like me and dream of being right in the middle of a present day reformation, this book is a must read, I recommend putting it at the top of your 2010 reading list. Click Here To Order!

Have you been able to read Primal yet?  What stood out to you the most?  How has this book challenged and encourged you in you pursuit?

Advertisement

Life Is Not Fair

I know what your thinking, That’s not really that big of a secret. We all have instances in which we feel like somehow we pulled the short straw. Better yet we didn’t even pull it, it wasn’t our choice or our plan but somehow we are stuck in a confused and heartbreaking episode of UNFAIR.

For Example it’s unfair;

That parents have to go through the loss of a child, whether it is a miscarriage or tragic event that takes them from you.

That spouses have to deal with the hurt and distrust of a husband/wife cheating on them and are left picking up the pieces on their own.

That the worker who has spent years and energy with a company finds out that only months before He/She is to retire their position has been cut and they are left wondering the next steps.

Whatever scenario you have witnessed whether one listed or one that has not, we can all come to the realization that. Life is Not Fair. When this happens it leaves us, broke, emotionally spent, waiving our hands in the air hoping it would stop, or maybe pounding our fist on the table in a sense of despiration.

Insert my story. Four years ago my wife and I lost our first Child, due to a miscarriage. We were heartbroken, distrought, and at only 14 weeks pregnant we had our first Son. We were not quite married a year yet and our life had been interrupted by an episode of UNFAIR. We couldn’t understand or fathom why this was happening to us. We were plauged with the thought of, so many parents are having kids and don’t even want them. So many Children are killed each year out of convienience, and our Child is taken from us. Why, How, What Now. I was mad, sad, broken and distrought. Here we were holding our lifeless baby boy, hoping for a heartbeat. Life was unfair.

I was at a loss, I was mad. The emotions that come with loss was raging. Then I received a call from my Pastor at the time and friend. He made the statement that has stuck with me and I want to share with you. He said,

George, I can’t imagine the pain and loss you feel at this very moment. I imagine your emotions are out of control and you can’t begin to understand why this is happening. I am not going to even try and give great words of comfort because I don’t think any words are right at this poing but know this. God cares about you and feels your hurt, it is okay to be angry, and it is even okay to question God and voice your hurt to Him. But just know this. In your anger do not sin.

That statement changed the way I viewed God and my relationship with him. Years of growing up in church, I have never heard anything that spoke so profoundly as to how God wants to interact with me. It let me realize and understand He wants to take my pain. He wants to hear my anger, He wants me to give everything over to Him. His heart breaks when His Children hurt, and he is moved with compassion, when we reach to Him, and He truly helps us cope. I will not say that time has helaled because we are left with a scar, but God has helped us cope. He has also blessed us with two more children since 2005.

Has life been unfair to you? Have you needed to be reminded that God wants to hear whatever is on your heart and mind? He has not only come to save but he binds up the brokenheated, sets at liberty those who are held captive, what situation do you need God to intervene in?

#TigerWoods and My Two Cents

Actually this post is more about you than Tiger Woods. You have clicked this post either from my twitter timeline or search, facebook, or randomly came across it by a google search hoping for the latest news or gossip in the Tiger Saga. You won’t find any of that in this post only a few words to think about and an offer of what we as Christians need to be doing or saying in regards to the headlines that carry the News on Tiger.

First off we all know that Tiger Woods has had some huge failures that have recently come out. Secondly, is it our place to judge? He is a public figure and by no doubt has made huge strides in His career to be at the top of His game and within the sports world. With all of His great accomplisments and determination he also evidently had some huge struggles. Was it money, fame, loss, unhappiness, bigger than life persona that led Him down the path in His personal life that caused him to be found out, that I don’t know. One thing I do know, It is not my place to judge or be a a stumbling block.

As a follower of Christ I hurt for His family, and for Him. The most important thing is His relationship with God and His family. Obviously the relationship with His family has been scared by the decision to Sin. So this is my plea to every individual claiming to follow Christ. I believe this should be our response with all that were hearing.

1 – Pray for Tiger’s relationship with God. Has he accepted Jesus Christ into His life as His personal Savior for the forgivness of Sins. If not Sin is to be expected and should not come as a shock. Pray that he comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

2 – Pray for the restoration of His family. That he would be a man, step up, and seek to repair that relationship before he does anything else at all cost.

3 – Pray for yourself. That we would not get so caught up in power, wealth, and persona that we fail to take care of those things that will so easily bring us down.

In no way am I condoning His sin or excusing it, but it is just that, Sin. When sin is finished, it ultimatly brings death. That could be the death of a relationship but ultimatly a spiritual death apart from a God that Loves us.

What about you, what are you hiding, what am I hiding? What needs to be dealt with and what do we need to Repent over and give to Christ?

Its Unofficially Official

In my post yesterday I asked prayer due to a meeting which I had with the State Overseer of our denomination. I wanted to fill you in just in case you were wondering. Its unofficially Official that I now hold Ministerial Credentials of Exhorter with our denomination. I say unofficially official because I won’t actually get the official paperwork in my hands until after the new year but the official word is that it is on the way. When the paperwork comes in I will then be able to begin the next step in the credentialing process in order to become an Ordained Minister.

By having my credentials it really brings into perspective my legacy so to speak. My Grandfather on my Moms side was a retired Minister within our denomination, and had a big impact on me when I accepted God’s call to ministry. He helped me answer some big questions and really never missed an opportunity to hear me speak if he was within distance to do so. I really feel like he was one of my biggest fans, not to mention mentors. Although, He is gone now, He stood by me at all costs and helped me grow and always, always reiterated to trust in God. Grandpa would tell me, If God called me, He will take care of me, and that he has.

I am totally stoked and am looking up as we continue to pray and seek out an opportunity for full time ministry. The next step is really being open to where God would want us to be and how he wants to use us. For now we will continue with what we are doing until we hear otherwise. Thanks so much for your prayers and support you have shown through this process and please continue to keep us lifted up.

Prayers Please

This morning Chanelle and I are headed to Greenville to meet with the South Carolina State Overseer for the Church of God. Could def use the prayers, for our drive to and from Greenville. Its about 7hrs round trip. And if you have time shoot up a prayer around 10AM. That is when our meeting is scheduled to take place. Will give an update later today on the outcome of the meeting as it relates to ministerial credintials. Thanks again for the prayers and support.

Did Judas Go to Heaven

Sometime in my bible reading I come across some passages that leave me stumped. This verse is one of those passages Matthew 19:28 and it has left me with a few questions about Judas.

If Judas was a disciple and followed Jesus, even though he betrayed Him, and killed himself, will he still be one of the 12 members around the throne. Which I guess ultimately leads me to ask, did Judas go to heaven. What are your thoughts?

Can you help me understand who and what this verse is talking about when Jesus told his disciples that those who have followed him, would sit on 12 thrones to Judge the 12 tribes of Isreal? Also, what part, if any, does Judas play as one of the 12 which initially followed Jesus?