I have always wondered what would happen if a professional basketball team just went back to the basics. If they paired up against another talented team, but instead of all the show and glitter that you see now, they just played it straight by the fundamentals. I really believe that that team would surprise and astonish the other team so much that it would be a landslide. The fundamental team would walk away with a victory.

In short, I believe that is what Mark Batterson is saying throughout his new book Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. He is taking us back to our roots, back to what matters most, back to what will help us win the game. He takes us back to the basis of who we are to be and what we are to do as Christians. We are to love the LORD our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength (Mark 12:30).

As he breaks down this verse bit by bit, I continued to see the importance of stripping off everything I have learned, and re-explore what my faith is founded on. One of the hardest things in my Christian walk has been the fact of growing up in church. Not that I would trade that for anything, but it has been hard to strip off the stuff that I have learned that has truly covered up the fundamental relationship I am to have with my God.

All throughout his book, Mark continually draws from scripture, thoughts from people throughout history as well as insightful stories from his own life. The use of these means to help draw a conclusion is not new, but the fresh thinking that Mark puts to these means certainly is. His continual re-thinking thinking, his desire to understand ways of doing church that have never been thought of, his pursuit of a real, personal and working relationship with God (not just one of static) and his way of seeing scripture in a much deeper multi-faceted way is felt on each page.

If your desire is to come back to the basics of living in a new and active relationship with God, this has got to be the book you start 2010 with! I believe it is time for us to strip off the layers of stuff that we have piled up on our life with Him, come back to the fundamentals of the game, and truly love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. I believe that Primal is the book to help us do that.

Order a book today at www.randomhouse.com. You will be glad you did.