Recommended Read: Wild Goose Chase, Mark Batterson

What can I say? I'm a fan of Mark Batterson.

 I actually hadn't planned on reading this book but one of my awesome clients said, "I read a book you may enjoy.  It's called Wild Goose Chase"

I told her that I am a big fan of Mark Batterson and so she graciously lent me a copy

Holy Spirit = Wild Goose 

According to Mark Batterson, Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit the Wild Goose.  This makes sense because as Mark Batterson says when you follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit you often feel as if you are on a Wild Goose Chase.

I can testify to that because there have  been so many times on This Sacred Journey that I have felt like I was on a Wild Goose Chase.  One moment I was thinking "This is It" and then something totally different happens.

While I was reading this book, I had an experience I can only summarize as a Wild Goose Chase.  I have no clue what it was about other than something felt sacred about it...so who knows?

What's keeping you caged?

When you grow up with legalism, there is no excitement.  It's all about rules and so rigid that there is no exciting wild goose chases.  It's beyond boring and very focused on shallow matters like whether or not you can clap during a song.

No Wild Goose Chases for the Legalists!

You know what's sad about that?  No Wild Goose Chases = No Miracles and no chances for God to receive the glory.  Even worse, why would people believe in God when there's no exciting stories or legacies that testify to his faithfulness.  If God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or think, then we need to be able to have some testimonies glorifying Him!

You rob people of that  experience when you stay caged AND you also rob God of receiving the Glory!

People want to see some receipts.  The reason why I'm not agnostic is because I began to hear stories of God's power and I started experiencing it for myself.

In the book Mark Batterson writes about six cages that keep us stuck 

The Cage of Responsibility

The Cage of Routine

The Cage of Assumptions

The Cage of Guilt
The Cage of Failure
The Cage of Fear

Full of anecdotes and stories that Glorify God

I have to tell you that one of the things that keeps me encouraged is reading about other people's stories.  Reading about how faithful God is and how he orchestrates events down to the right second, keeps me going in those times when I'm like, "This is all a giant waste of time".

One of the reasons I love Mark Batterson's books is that he is transparent about having those experiences too.  It's not the sanitized version.  It's the "I used to hate opening my eyes when we first started our church because it was so depressing that we only had 8 people"  Some of these ministers like to sanitize events but not Mark.  He also talks about some of his epic fails!

Definitely a Recommended Read