"Yawning Angels"

Here are a few thoughts from chapter 1 in Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson.

Mark is convinced "many, if not most, Christians are bored with their faith." (pg. 8)

Mark claims "Jesus didn't die on the cross to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous." (pg. 6)

Marks asks when have we prayed for God to make us dangerous? Then he says when he prays the benediction at the end of each church service, "I would like to think . . . I am sending dangerous people back into their natural habitat to wreak havoc on the Enemy."


This leads me to list the six cages Mark believes most of us are in. Later chapters discuss these in more detail. They are the cages of responsibility, routine, assumption, guilt, failure and fear.

The "fear" cage reminds me of Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ which I read earlier this year. Brother Andrew reminded us that Jesus told us to go. He never said we would come back. And Mark said this challenging thing: "We need to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Instead we need to start playing offense with our lives. The world needs more daring people with daring plans. Why not you?" (pg. 13) Love that!!! Yes, why not be daring! C'mon, Susanne!

I am tired of being bored and am ready for the adventure of chasing the Wild Goose! Oh, in case you were wondering about this Wild Goose, let me explain. The Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit "An Geadh-Glas, or ' the Wild Goose.' . . . The name hints at the mysterious nature of the Holy Spirit. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger and an air of unpredictability surround Him. . . . I wonder if we [institutional Christianity] have clipped the wings of the Wild Goose and settled for something less -- much less -- than what God originally intended for us" (pg. 1).

Isn't that good? I'll end this post with this quote which spoke to me so strongly as I read it last night. Remember I started this book just as I'd been complaining about my purposeless life.

"[W]e have a primal longing to be uncaged." (pg. 6)