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In his last book, In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson encouraged us to chase the lion and turn our greatest problems into our greatest opportunities.

In his latest book, Wild Goose Chase, Mark explains that “real life and real adventure begin the moment you are born of the Spirit and begin chasing the Wild Goose.”  The Wild Goose being the Holy Spirit.

The book presents the six cages that “keep us from roaming free with the Wild Goose and living the spiritual adventure God destined us to.

1)  the cage of responsibility

2)  the cage of routine

3)  the cage of assumptions

4)  the cage of guilt

5)  the cage of failure

6)  the cage of fear

Mark cleverly describes the six cages by using a mix of…….

- fresh looks at Bible stories.

- interesting tidbits of history.

- personal stories from Mark’s life and the life of National Community Church.

- terminology and concepts from the world of science

And just like In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day and his blog, evotional.com, Mark fills the pages with simple yet powerful and memorable one-liners and short paragraphs like these……

Boredom isn’t just boring; boredome is wrong.  You cannot simultaneously live by faith and be bored.  Faith and boredom are antithetical.

Faith is not logical.  But it isn’t illogical either.  Faith is theological.  It does not ignore reality; it just adds God into the equation.

In my experience, it is much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one.

There is no greater moment and no greater feeling than all of our guilt meeting all of God’s grace.

If we are going to fulfill our ancient commission, we need to get out of the comfortable confines of our Christian ghettos and invade some hellholes with the light and love of Christ.

Another great book from one of my favorite authors.  I hope you will get your copy soon so we can chase the Wild Goose together.

Mark Batterson teaches me and challenges me daily with his blog.

He taught me and challenged me with his books, In A Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day and ID: The True You.

His latest offering, Wild Goose Chase, is no different.  I have been reading through an early copy of the book and I am already counting it as one of my favorites.  Check back soon for a complete review of the book.

Here is a summary of the book from Mark…..

Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect.

Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit-An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….

Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.

If you are not yet familiar with Mark Batterson, here is a short bio…..

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National Community Church, widely recognized as one of America’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (www.markbatterson.com). He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and their three children.

The book officially releases today and you have a few options…..

- Visit www.chasethegoose.com to download a free sample chapter and Mark’s 10 Steps to Setting Life Goals.

- Visit amazon.com and purchase a copy.

- Win a free copy of the book.  Here are the rules:  Leave a comment on this blog post with at least one recommendation of a blog that I should check out (not your own and not already on my blogroll) or a book that I should read.  Be sure to leave your email address so I can get a hold of you if you win.  Tell your friends. What kind of friend would you be if you don’t tell your friends about a chance to win a free book? ;-)  On Friday, 8/22 or maybe another day of my choosing, I will enter all of the commenters in a hat and have my 4 year old son draw the winner.