In his latest book Soulprint, author Mark Batterson asks the question we all must ask, "Who am I?". He states that you cannot fulfill your destiny if you don't know who you are, and you won't know who you are until you know who God is. Who we are is revealed by what he calls our "soulprint". A fingerprint uniquely identifies us, but this record is only skin deep. A soulprint is what identifies you in God's view. It's not just who you are at present, it's who you are from your past experiences and who you are destined to become in the future. Soulprint was written as a celebration of who we are as individuals and how our uniqueness is a joy to God. Each of us brings something special and individual to worship.Mark Batterson is a regular blogger and I follow his posts because he has a perspective on living as a Christian that encourages me. Last summer he and I shared a comment exchange on his blog about his first published book called ID: The True You. It is interesting that even though this book was published before he became more widely known, he tends to downplay it and avoids mentioning it. I have a sense he is not fully satisfied with it. However, that book really was the seed for all of his books since that point, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Wild Goose Chase, and Primal. While the theme of each of these books is contained in ID: The True You, each also stands apart. However, Soulprint is really a parallel to his first book. In fact, the cover art is essentially the same and the book starts off with the same paragraph. Even though his new book stands on its own strengths, I really think that those who enjoy Batterson's works, will really find a treasure in his first book. It is written in a different style, and while it is not as polished as his "mainstream" books, it really allows you to see his vision and how he has maintained a consistent message. Of course, it is also interesting to see how he has progressed in his writing abilities and his skills for illustrating and accentuating his key points.
However, this post is supposed to be about his most current work Soulprint, which turns out to be the least weighty of his books (only 150 pages long and a very quick read). While it does not have anything new or earth shattering to tell us that I have not encountered before in other books, it still was a joy for me to read and absorb. I now look forward to his next book that will be called The Circle Maker.
