Christian Books

This is a book that I couldn't read slowly enough for fear that it would end.

Wendell Berry--novelist, poet, essayist--has written an unrequited love story and a love letter to the natural world. Jayber Crow revisits Berry's fictional Kentucky town of Port William and peers into the life of the town's barber, the book's namesake, Jayber.

Berry, a well-known environmentalist, has enough skill to render a page-turning story while advocating for the earth. He's one of our greatest living American writers. I highly recommend this book.

This is an amazing story! Vividly written and really makes you think about what is good in the world. The characters stay alive in your mind for months after finishing the story!

This audio version is well narrated and easy to listen to. It's un-abridged, so all the wonderful descriptions of the book are in there.

Wendell Berry is a fantastic author - I can't wait to start the next book.

The book jacket calls this a "beautiful, lyrical love story," and it is. But it is not the romance of a man for a woman but rather the deep, fond emotion that Jayber Crow holds for his community, his friends, and all that has gone into his non-eventful but ultimately pleasant life. Here is a book that can be an antidote for the disillusion and despair we feel when we seem to be lost in the cosmos. As Jayber reminisces,

"I still do belong to Port William. Being here satisfies me. I have no thought of going away. If I knew for sure that I would die here, I would be glad. And yet definite as all this is, it seems surrounded by the indefinite, like a boat in a fog. I can't look back from where I am now and feel that I have been very much in control of my life. Certainly I have lived on the edge of the Port William community, and I am farther than ever out on the edge of it now. But I feel that I have lived on the edge even of my own life. I have made plans enough, but I see now that I have never lived by plan. Any more than if I had been a bystander watching me live my life. I don't feel that I ever have been quite sure what was going on. Nearly everything that has happened to me has happened by surprise. All the important things have happened by surprise. And whatever has been happening usually has already happened before I have had time to expect it. The world doesn't stop because you are in love or in mourning or in need of time to think. And so when I have thought I was in my story or in charge of it, I really have been only on the edge of it, carried along. Is this because we are in an eternal story that is happening partly in time?" (322)

Berry's lyrical prose helps us to enjoy the opportunity to be "on the edge" of Jayber's life, and we are the better for being carried along by it.

Reading Jayber Crow is like spending the weekend listening to your favorite uncle tell family stories. The conversational tone used by Berry could get sappy in the hands of a less skilled writer, but that doesn't happen on the pages of Jayber Crow. Wendall Berry's prose is exquisite. As the story moves slowly through another time and place, Jayber's voice draws you into his private mind. It is a tender place to be. The story is thought-provoking and deeply moving. I hated for this book to end.

I used to read a lot of books and I never felt the need to quantify or compare one book to another. But when I finished Jayber Crow I knew that this was the best book I had ever read.

As other reviews here will testify, it is astounding how Wendell Berry communicates with mere words the beauty of life, the human heart and the love that holds both together.

I've sold most of the books I owned but I doubt that I will ever part with my copy of Jayber Crow.

This book is a great resource that challenges Christians to analyze their lives as followers of Christ. Moreover, Ortberg challenges the business of life which has infiltrated those who follow Christ.

I wish I had read the reviews here before picking up the book. Let me state right off (to prevent the sure-to-happen viscious replies) that this is a well written, thoughtful book. It is, however, written specifically for "serious" Christians.

The cover and title are somewhat misleading. I thought it was going to be geared to a more general audience. I am sure that for those looking to regain touch with their Christianity it is worthwhile reading. But if you're looking for something that is not so centric into 1 belief system, then this isn't the book for you...

I have read several books on spiritual development
/formation and this is "hand-down" the best and most practical I have ever seen. The Author has either been there or has been given devine insight from God (or both). There is no "air" in this book it is hard hitting, accurate and real life. Should be required reading for all.

I just finished The Life You've Always Wanted in about three days. Ortberg is practical, challenging, and honest. I love his insights on some of the less talked about Christian disciplines - like slowing down, regular confession, and servanthood.

Here is a non-dry, non-wordy, powerful book that any Christian should read. Takes the "pressure" out of spiritual disciplines and inspires me to focus my pursuit of God. Good stuff! I'll read it again.

First of all, I want to say that some of the material in here is among the most applicable and heart-rendering that I have read in a long, long time. It seems to me that this book is almost two different books. The books reminds me of some movies that I have watched where the first half was so magnetic that I could not stop watching. Then the second half of the movie loses my attention because it goes on a tangent or is just plain uninteresting.

Ortberg's discussion of boundaries resonated within me. He states that Christians use boundaries to dictate who is in their group and who is not. Drinking is a boundary. If you drink, you are outside my group. If you don't drink, you are inside the group. The same applies for smoking, dancing, caffeine, you name it. Ortberg implies that this is how many Christians live their lives. He says that our lives should be marked by a transformation of the heart, not by boundaries. Wow.

Another chapter highlighted the need to be quiet, to take things slow. This, he says, is necessary to hear God speak to us. That really does make sense. Being one who likes to speed (and people in Nashville drive SLOW), I found this chapter to be refreshing.

A lot of the book deals specically with spiritual disciplines in bullet fashion (before reading the Bible, do this, this, and this). That's where it started to get uninteresting. Not that this is not important. Far be it from that. But he starts the book with such fervor on the life we are all looking for as Christians and then moves to a bullet list of what to do. For me, I just found that change too much. But still a good buy.

My 81 year old mother is an avid fan of all Jan Karon's novels including the Mitford Cookbook & Patches of Godlight (all purchased from Amazon). I purchased "Miss Fannie's Hat" from Amazon to give her even though it is really a children's book. The message the book contains is ageless and worth a read, no matter how young or old you are! It is a beautifully illustrated book and one we intend giving to the first great-granddaughter to be born into the family. Regards Glenda from South Australia.

The theme of this book - that we are truly happiest when we give away that which we value most in order to help others, and that we get back what we give away ten times over - touches me each time I read this!

This is an adorable book that is a must for every little girl. It is my daughter's favorite. We have given it as a gift several times. The story is so personal and beautiful. We love to give voices to all the people which makes it even more real. The story is so lovely and the ending is a delight that makes us smile and cry with joy everytime we read it. A perfect story. Thank you!

My granddaughter loved the story and especially following it up with the reuseable stickers and storyboard. She still talks about Miss Fanny every time she puts on a hat for dress-ups.

My grandkids love this book. It teaches the spirit of giving.

This book hit home. One of my best friends gifted me with this book and it has been one of the best gifts ever. I work full time and have a 10 month old daughter. After reading just a chapter I felt relieved to know I am not the only one feeling stressed with all there is to do everyday while maintaining a home, work, relationships,etc. This book gives permission to slow down, and it says it's okay to stop and listen and not do the big birthday parties and attend all the holiday parties and events. Just being and listening and not doing anything together is time well spent.

As others have noted, this book is a series of reflections about motherhood and the importance of slowing down to savor daily life with loved ones.

This book energized me to make several changes in my own life. Part of my motivation for homeschooling this year was a desire to have a more conscious, contemplative, and purposeful life rather than a frantic-mad-dashing here and there life.

In fact, as the holidays approach, many of my friends are feeling "swamped", "overwhelmed", "stressed" - feelings I remember all too well from previous years. While I still have my moments, overall I am much less stressed than last year. The overall tenor of the holidays is much happier and calmer. I have done my best to pare the holidays down to the essentials, to keep things simple and personal, rather than grandly extravagant. Extravagance has its place, but when children are young, I think simplicity makes so much more sense.

I loved this book so much I chose it for my book club of busy suburban SAHMs. I was quite surprised to find only two (out of nine) loved it as I did! Three thought the book had "some good ideas", but they clearly didn't connect with the author.

The other four were quite negative about Mitten Strings. They felt it was too preachy and perfect and Pollyanna-ish, that "real" people couldn't live like the Kenisons without lots of money. But it's not a financial lifestyle she is talking about, it's an internal one, it is simply making a conscious effort to notice, appreciate, prioritize and streamline.

In trying to figure out the mixed response to this book in my book club, I came up with a couple of ideas. I think the crux of liking the book has to do with the following:

First, it depends on whether you are at a point in your life where you actually consider rushing madly to be a negative thing, rather than proof you are productive. Some people feel empowered and energized by rushing and being busy!

Second, it depends on how contemplative you are feeling when you read the book. The more contemplative you feel, the more likely you might enjoy the book.

Finally, it depends on whether you enjoy visual and poetic language. The author writes with a heartfelt, genuine sentimentality that, while I enjoyed it tremendously, can apparently be off-putting to people with more pragmatic sensibilities.

One reviewer said they would not give this book to a parent of an autistic child, or one with Down's Syndrome. I actually think this book has considerable merit for families with special needs children - the key is knowing WHEN to give the book. I have a child who was diagnosed with autism at 3, and when he was younger and we were rushing around madly from therapy to therapy, ransacking our home to make it an engaging learning environment, etc..., I would not have been in the frame of mind to appreciate it.

In fact, according to my three criteria above: the mad rushing was proof I was doing everything I could to help him; who has time to be contemplative when you are trying to save your child from autism; and poetic musings about the wonderful lives of families with typically developing children would have been quite upsetting.

NOW I see things differently. I think the ideas in the book have even MORE relevance for children with special needs, who often thrive in calm, centered environments. I think children with special needs deserve to have their progress, however slow or small, deeply savored and appreciated.

Well anyway. This is not a book that EVERYONE is necessarily going to love, in spite of the steady parade of 5 star reviews. Nevertheless, I join the parade and give this book 5 stars based on my own incredibly positive experience reading it.

I truly enjoyed this book. It is not a religious book (despite the title) nor a parenting guide; it is a deeply spiritual look at what it means to be a family.

Mitten Strings touched me in such a way that I felt like I was reading a letter from a good friend. There was a sense of peace reading it and imagining my family in her book. Her basic premise is to slow down, notice the details of your children's lives and be present with your family. But the book goes so much further than that. We all know to slow down...but to be reminded how magical it can be, with illustrations that are so tender is even better. I highly recommend this book and in fact purchased seven more to give to my friends as a special gift. I'd love to meet the author (Katrina) and sit over a cup of something on the front porch while our children run circles around the house!

It is rare to say but so true. It was given to me by an older woman and it truely changed the way I parent my two boys, see life and helped me create a summer that I will treasure. A must read for those who want to slow down and get off the "treadmill" of life.

There are prayers for everything you could possible face in your life! I, first, received this book as a gift from my mother when I was facing an illness. I let my friend borrow mine, who was facing loneliness, and she loved the many other prayers so I bought her the book. My husband and I are expecting a baby and we pray the prayer for our unborn child very often. This is a great gift to give and receive!

This book has beautiful prayers for every area of life. I find this book a great help in meeting my specific prayer needs. These prayers help usher you into the presence of God. A great prayer book.

This book is very helpful in learning how to pray. Actually praying is just speaking to God and then I find it very helpful to actually go to the Bible in the Psalms and find a Psalm that is a praise & worship prayer to our Father in heaven. By the way, this is the 3rd book that I have purchased and given away to friends in need of prayer - they do not know how to pray. I like this book very much. It is a great help to get started with prayer. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I do.

This books shows you how to pray God's word over any situation you are going through. I always felt God's presence when I reminded Him of what His word said about the sitatuation. I have learned to pray more boldly and with confidence when I learned to pray according to His Word.

My friend let me borrow hers because I was going through some things at work. I want to buy my whole family one now.

I almost gave this book a perfect 5. It really could have been a wonderful book. It was full of insight into breast cancer and it's survivors. It had great friends and an absolutely beautiful romance but I got hung up on one thing that really colored the rest of the book for me. The main character and her girlfriends were avid fans of (in my opinion) a very raunchy, long running sitcom. After learning that and afterwards, the references to the sitcom, the book just kind of lost steam for me...

This book was just awful. There was not one character that I had sympathy for. Natalie was a brat and then she learned about the cancer and became even a bigger one. All the chracters were either one dimensional or stereotypical, and you saw what was coming with them a mile away. The token black woman in the book, I cannot believe the dialogue that was coming out of her mouth, and this woman was to be a lawyer. The only one of the trio of girlfriend that knew of any real work or independence was Merritt and she was the only one that and person can relate to. I guess when you are from an affluent, religious upper middle class family that is how you are suppose to act. This book deserved no stars at all.

I am not obsessed with breasts. Well, I have a pair, you know. Have for almost 39 years, though they have changed over the years. From small, to perky, to, let's just say, larger, to sagging to my knees after 4 pregnancies, 48 months of breast feeding (12 per child ONLY...), and let's just call a spade a spade - a few too many pounds added on here and there.

On the up side, I have not named them, my breasts that is, I have indeed named my kids. And I do not ever refer to them in the third person, again, my breasts.

I have also been blessed not to have ever been diagnosed with breast cancer. At least not yet, though none of us ever know what path lies ahead of us.

So I wasn't sure what I was going to think of Laura Jensen Walker's latest fiction book Reconstructing Natalie since it was about a main character, Natalie, who is diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoes a mastectomy.

Let me just say outright that THIS IS TRULY ONE OF THE MOST UPLIFTING, HUMOROUS, AND ROMANTIC STPRIES I HAVE READ.

Reconstructing Natalie is full of humor and honesty, friendship and faith, and yes, even romance.

This pink book packs a punch of joy - and you should get your hands on Reconstructing Natalie and see for yourself what Cherries boobilee!

Trish Berg
Author, Book Reviewer, Mother, and most days, Sanity Seeker!
www.trishberg.com


The Great American Supper Swap - Solving the Busy Woman's Family Dinnertime Dilemma

Rattled: Surviving Your Baby's First Year Without Losing Your Cool

Natalie has never really paid much attention to boobs before until she finds out that she may lose her own. Only 27 years old, she hears the dreaded words from her doctor that she has breast cancer. Determined to not let this get the best of her, Natalie prepares for what will be a life changing journey. Along with the support of her friends and family, she goes through the process of having to adapt to a world where survival means everything.

I have been extremely fortunate that I have not lost anyone close to me to breast cancer. However I know that there are thousands of people in the world who are affected by this and are suffering. This book perfectly balances the seriousness of the issue with lightheartedness to not make the story a downer. The writing is fun with lots of pop trivia sprinkled in, and is written in a chick lit tone of voice. I loved Natalie as a character. I admired her strength and her courage to be able to handle her situation with such grace and dignity. Some people would have seen how this affected her at such a young age as a death wish and given up hope for survival. She however, with her friends, is able to take everything one day at a time and enjoy life to the fullest. I loved the party her friends gave her before the surgery, especially the boob-cake. I was thinking this may be the one and only time I've read a Christian book that used the words boobs and breasts on every other page! I think it might also be one of the very few books where the main character gets topless of her own free will! This book showed how breast cancer affects not just the person with the cancer but everyone around them as well. I learned a lot from reading this book. I enjoyed the support group that Natalie attended especially the "show" she got from her first meeting! I was glad to read the information that men are also candidates for breast cancer as many people are unaware of this. This book is a book I would recommend every women to read. Not only is it informative but the story is engaging as well. This could happen to anyone and it's best to be aware and be knowledgeable in case the unthinkable happens.

I love the way Ms. Walker intertwined Natalie's physical reconstruction with her emotional and spiritual reconstruction. It was a fabulous story. I loved the ending where . . . What! Did you think I was going to ruin it for you? Nah, I wouldn't do that to you. If you've read any of Ms. Walker's other novels you'll like "Reconstructing Natalie"

A fast-paced romantic adventure that reads like a thriller. Deb Raney's novel, Remember to Forget, had me flipping the pages with eager anticipation...reading just one more chapter. And then...just one more!

I loved visiting the little town of Clayburn with its mostly charming inhabitants, meeting Wren and Trevor, and rooting for Maggie as she struck out on what became a quest for freedom. Filled with both tense and tender moments, Remember to Forget is a delight to the heart.

From the moment I grabbed Remember to Forget from my mailbox until the moment I closed the book I was transported to another place.

Long a fan of anything written by Deborah Raney I was so looking forward to getting this book. As always, Raney weaves a plot rich with tangible characters we love to hurt for and love to rejoice with as they conquer whatever mountains Raney has set in front of them.

The main character in Remember to Forget, Maggie Anderson, has been a victim of both mental and physical abuse for too long, since she's lived under the thumb of her controlling boyfriend for nearly two years. One day while on a liquor run for him, she's carjacked. For some this would be both frightening and devastating. For Maggie, who's wished for a way out for a long time, she sees the turn of events as the key to her freedom.

Maggie begins a journey cross-country and ends up in Clayburn Kansas. A sleepy little town seemingly lost in the past.

Trevor Ashlock is barely existing as he gets through the days dealing with the grief of his own past. He's surrounded by many painful memories of love and laughter that he wishes he could just block from his memory. Though Trevor has lost a great deal in his life he continues to seek God and try to find his way.

When a beautiful young woman named Meg turns up in his town, he's forced to face those old memories and contemplate if he's ready to move forward with his life.

Just as "Meg" is beginning to feel safe and released from her own tortured past, her chance for happiness seems to slip from her hands as a nearly forgotten enemy shows up on her doorstep.

Without spoiling the ending, I will say that Ms. Raney, as always, configured a beautiful, believable and satisfying ending. I only wish I could have stayed for a little longer with these memorable characters.
Remember to Forget (Clayburn Novels Series #1)

From the first chapter you envision Maggie as frightened, trapped girl who finds herself facing a life-changing decision in an unexpected moment.
As she runs from her past she enounters new people who seem kind, yet she cannot trust the motives of these strangers. It is only when she lands in the small town of Clayburn that she even dares to hope that there may be a future for her...but what will her new friends think when they find out the truth about her past? This story paints a clear picture of the unfortunately all too common abusive relationships in which women become trapped. It goes on to paint the oh-so-clear picture of the scope of God's mercy and grace, and how when we come to trust Him for everything, our past is as far as the East from the West.

An excellent book to pass on if you know anyone in a relationship where they are beaten down instead of lifted up.

This story hits home with a reality that so many can relate too. Maggie a women trapped in an unhealthy relationship with no way to escape. Then God steps into her life and offers her a way out. You are with Maggie the whole journey as she travels farther and farther from her past. Maggie is such an awesome character I was rooting for her the whole way through the book!

A woman's worst nightmare turns into an opportunity for freedom for Maggie Anderson. Her spirit has been crushed by an abusive boyfriend and when a carjacking provides her with an escape, Maggie grabs it and finds herself in the small town of Clayburn, Kansas.

Clayburn is a close knit town but its inhabitants have their own struggles especially grieving widower, Trevor Ashlock and the kindhearted Bart and Wren Johanssen, owners of Wren's Nest B & B. Maggie is welcomed by these people but will she ever find a home when the truth of her deception is revealed?

Deborah Raney has written a compelling story of Maggie's efforts to escape her broken past as she struggles with fear and anxiety trying to create a life she feels is undeserved. The pacing of the book is gentle and the story develops slowly creating a small town feel and contrasting with Maggie's frantic city life. Trevor's grief is palpable and the growth of both main characters is authentic and moving. Remember to Forget is a beautiful story of friendship, hope and love and is highly recommended. I am looking forward to the release of the sequel, Leaving November, which releases in March, 2008 from Howard Books/Simon & Schuster.

Where do I begin? I admit, when i started the book, i really had a hard time and almost put it down. It took about 10 pages in and I was hooked. This book is a very moving and tender story of a woman made bitter by tragedies in her life and who is shown love later in life by a very unlikely source who transforms her spiritually and helps her find God. It is a Christian novel but not your typical soft and sugary kind. It really touched my heart. Another great thing about it is that the main character is an avid reader and references many books throughout, some i have read and others i bought after checking them out on line.

Get this book - it will strengthen your faith

"Some Wildflower in my Heart" is a wonderful book. It was recommended to me by one of my daughters, so I bought the book and began reading it. It grabbed my attention from the very first sentence, but I found it very hard to identify with the main character at first. She speaks in a very stilted, formal tone and words. But as I got into the story, I realized that this was not the author's writing style. Instead, it was the voice she had given her character, Margaret -- the voice of a woman who had educated herself via public libraries.

Margaret's painful life begins to change when she meets Birdie Freeman. This book was a revelation to me of how a committed Christian, just living her ordinary life to the glory of God, can impact those around her. It challenged me -- am I living my life in a way that impacts others for good?

Highly recommended!

Margaret Tuttle lives a life filled with secrets. She guards her secrets well, even from the man she married. And then her life changes drastically when an elfin woman appears alongside her, to ease her burdens and show her the way to a much fuller life.

Birdie Freeman is open and kind. She seems to not have a care in the world as she extends the hand of friendship to those around her. Margaret discovers that Birdie has secrets so deep, they could have torn the fabric of Birdie's life apart.

Birdie's offering is that of unconditional love. As Margaret's heart begins to trust and hope once again, suffering descends. Will Margaret be strong enough to withstand the latest attack? Will love heal even in the midst of suffering?

Armchair Interviews says: Author Jane Langston Turner's writing style is unique. Take the challenge; delve into lessons of faith and friendship.

This book is my all time favorite contemporary Christian fiction! Real life, real situation, real solutions! A convincing lesson of Christian love bringing someone to Christ and His healing graces. I've read "Wildflower" three times, and each time I vow to be just a bit like Birdie. If we all tried to be like Birdie, the world would be a much better place!

a friend recommended this book to me and i loved it from the beginning. i then recommended it to my book club. many loved it and a few really didn't, however we still talk about birdie and margaret 2 years later. so even if you don't like the book, you will never forget it! i love reading all jamie turner's books since she keeps them all generally in the same location and you get to "see" friends from other books that you have already read! if you have read this one once, read it again! it gets better every time!

[[ASIN:084991311X The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While K
Keeping Your Clothes On]]
There is so much true enlightenment and wisdom packed into this little book, that could only come from experience. I want to thank Dawn Eden for
her candor and genuine concern for others that she expresses so nicely in this book. I think all singles should read this book. I am a mother of 11 children and I plan on buying several more copies for my older kids. Her personal stories are charming and her rubber-band ball theory is hysterical. READ IT!

Dawn Eden's book is a breath of fresh air, for men and women alike. While she writes from a female perspective, guys have plenty to learn from this book as well.

Dawn shows how chastity is a better path to happiness and sexual fulfillment for women, but guys who read the book can gain an additional insight: they can learn something about the feminine heart and what the (right kind of) girl is looking for in a relationship.

Now I don't mean to sound self-serving - Dawn's book is most definitely not a "dating tips" compendium. In fact, one of her best points is that chastity teaches guys and girls how to treat one another not as objects to be used, but as mysteries to truly love.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has done the dating thing and found it frustrating (which is probably most of us), and is looking for something more. Whether you're a guy or girl, Dawn has something important and beautiful to say to you!

In an age where anything goes - especially when it comes to sex, serial dating and mating has become the standard M.O. among young singles... In "The Thrill of the Chaste...) Dawn Eden exposes the "Sex in the City" lifestyle, beyond any morality issues, for what it really is...an exercise in futility guaranteed to leave those who embrace it lonely, emotionally empty/numb, and moving away, rather than closer, to any hopes of marriage. And that's the upside...the downside is contracting an incurable and/or fatal STD!
This book is "must read" for anyone who has ever questioned whether "sleeping around" in pursuit of physical pleasure will lead to happiness! This is also a good read for parents who were sexually active before marriage/children. These parents tend to teach their kids about the dangers of alcohol, drugs, tobacco but not sex! Many feel that since they survived their own sexual exploits that there's no need to encourage abstinence before marriage (i.e. chastity)... Hmmm... Well think again! When teens experiment with sex they are risking their health and possibly their lives.
Kudos to Dawn Eden for promoting the virtue of chastity, a practice that is guaranteed to lead to an increase in the number of successful marriages, a reduction in the number of unwanted pregnacies and containment of the spread of STDs. Now who's not for that!!!

Love it! A book for women who can finally see through all the false theories the media and popular culture feed to us.

Remarkably well written. Dawn Eden's The Thrill of the Chaste is a breath of fresh air that is much needed in today's world of smothering sexuality. For anyone who has been in an unsatisfying relationship, called a prude, a tease, or has been ridiculed for being a good girl; this book shines light on the beauty and grace of women who respect themselves enough to resist the temporary ecstasy of a few moments of fleeting sexual pleasure in order to empower themselves to see beyond the superficial exterior of the typical dating world and enable them to attract the kind of man that is worthy of one day being their husband. Beautifully written, mature and honest, Eden doesn't force anything on the reader. She will make you smile, sigh, and shake your head as she shares her own experiences. This book makes the reader take a look at their own past and offers some tools in being proactive about the way they approach meeting, dating, and carrying on potential future relationships. Loses a little momentum near the very end, but finishes beautifully. For both virgins and the not-so-virgin, this book is guaranteed to make you think.

Mark Batterson is an incredible author. His previous book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" quickly became one of my all time favorite books. He set a high standard with that one, which he succeeds in achieving with "Wild Goose Chase" as well. It is an extremely insightful (Scripturally and psychologically) guide on discovering God's purposes and path for our lives. I would highly recommend it to anyone. The book started a little slow for me, but took off in chapter 3 on. Check it out!

When you read the title of this book, what comes to your mind? Like many, my thought was of chasing after something that cannot be attained. In actuality Wild Goose Chase points us toward reclaiming the adventure of pursuing God. According to Mark Batterson the Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit An Geadh-Glas, or "the Wild Goose." Now, does that change your thought about the book title? It did for me.
I found this book to be very thought-provoking and challenging to the way I live my Christian life. Am I on a Wild Goose chase? Am I following after the Holy Spirit's guidance in my life? Am I living out my faith or living in my faith?
There were a few things in the book that I'd like to share. The first was the observation that is easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. We can play the part, but our reaction reveals who we really are. Second, if you want to impact someone's life, love them when they least expect it and least deserve it. We could impact their lives forever. You may think they don't deserve it, but that's the point. Do you deserve the grace of God? Next, just as they were for Paul, shipwrecks are scary and snakebites are painful, but they help shape us into who were today (you'll have to read Chapter 6 to fully understand this one). And finally, you can't do the will of God is you don't have the heart of God. We have to know God personally to do His will.
I would highly recommend Wild Goose Chase. Mark Batterson not only writes from his heart, but he uses scripture to confirm our need to reclaim the adventure of pursuing God.

Mark Batterson
Multnomah, 2008
ISBN: 9781590527191
4 Stars
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourbook.com, 08/08
Wild Goose Chase is an amazing book that focuses on the Holy Spirit. If I put the plot in a nutshell, it would be "Submit to the Spirit." When we totally submit, we follow wherever the Spirit leads. We have no idea where that will be; we just follow, willingly with faith.
Wild Goose Chase's target audience is Christians. This book assumes there is a Biblical, Spiritual background. Mark Batterson's writing style is conversational and easy to understand. I see this book as a call for Spiritual Revival. All Christians would benefit from reading Wild Goose Chase.

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of the innovative National Community Church in Washington, D.C. He's the author of the best-selling book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day (which I confess I have not yet read for some reason, but now I am itching to read it). And he's one of my favorite bloggers with the widely-read Evotional.com.

His sequel of sorts to In a Pit is a highly readable and engaging look at how the Holy Spirit leads us into adventure, and even danger.

Batterson says that there are six self-imposed cages that keep us from living the life of spiritual adventure that God designed for us. They are:

* The cage of responsibility. "Over the course of our lifetime, God-ordained passions tend to get buried beneath day-to-day responsibilities."
* The cage of routine. "Once a routine becomes routine, we need to disrupt the routine."
* The cage of assumptions. We "stop believing and start assuming" and "we put eight-foot ceilings on what God can do."
* The cage of guilt. "As long as you are focused on what you've done wrong in the past, you won't have energy left to dream kingdom dreams."
* The cage of failure. Sometimes "our plans have to fail in order for God's plans to succeed."
* The cage of fear. "We need to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death."

Batterson develops the book around the idea of these six cages, taking a chapter for each. Each chapter ends with a section called "Your Chase," with some questions that lead you in applying the material to your own life.

I love Mark's to-the-point writing style. It's similar to his blogging, but obviously more developed. It's very well-written and a quick read, although you'll probably want to go back through the book again to apply to your life in a more in-depth fashion. I read it in about five days--very busy days I might add. I can see how you could probably read right through it in an afternoon. But again, if you read it that fast, you'll want to go back and savor some parts.

In some ways, the book is confrontational, but not in an obnoxious way. It just really makes you think about the direction in which your life is headed. And it makes you think about your life goals in light of God's grand plan for your life.

I especially got a lot out of the chapter on the cage of failure. Being in ministry myself, I so identified with Mark's journey of heading out to do one thing, finding failure, and being led into another thing. That has happened so many times in my life personally, and I was so glad to hear a minister address this and turn it around into a positive!

All in all, a great read--5 stars. I highly recommend it not only to those in full-time ministry, but to anyone who realizes there is more to life than just punching a clock and getting a paycheck. This book will expand your horizons!

Check out the website for the book at www.chasethegoose.com. Among other things, you can read a free sample chapter or download a free pdf supplement to the book called "10 Steps to Setting Life Goals."

Let me tell you, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Once again, Mark has managed to communicate some incredible spiritual truths in a manner that is simple and easy to understand - which is a really good thing for me.

The book explores six cages that can "keep us from roaming free with the Wild Goose...."

Cage of Responsibility
Cage of Routine
Cage of Assumptions
Cage of Guilt
Cage of Failure
Cage of Fear

What is particularly interesting to me is that God has already been at work in the timing of this book's release. In the past two weeks, I've had two specific conversations that echo the longing we have to experience more in our relationship with Jesus Christ. And in one conversation, four of the six cages explored in this book were brought up as areas of frustration in the life & spiritual growth of this individual. I'm excited to share this new resource and to watch how God will move in the lives of real men & women longing for a real relationship with their Savior.

Let me share a couple quick quotes that stuck out to me:

"I don't want to do things I am capable of doing. Why? Because then I can take credit for them. I want to see God do things in me and through me that I am absolutely incapable of so I can't possibly take credit for them."

"If you want to impact someone's life, love them when they least expect it and least deserve it."

"Logic questions God. Faith questions assumptions. And at the end of the day, faith is trusting God more than you trust your own assumptions."
The holy ground wasn't the Promised Land. It was right where Moses was standing. Don't wait to worship God till you get to the Promised Land; you've got to worship along the way. This is holy ground. This is a holy moment. Take off your sandals.

"I'm not convince that your date of death is the date carved on your tombstone. Most people die long before that. We start dying when we have nothing worth living for. And we don't really start living until we find something worth dying for."

"If you feel like you're stuck in a tragedy, here's my advice: give Jesus complete editorial control over your life. You have to quit trying to write your own story....allow Him to begin writing His-story through your life, it'll give the tragedy a fairy-tale ending."

I highly recommend that you purchase this book.