Soaking It In

I’ve become a SLOW reader. Why? Because I want to soak up every little bit of literary crafting in order to fully let the words get into my heart and not just my head.  I’ve been plugging my way through Mark Batterson’s new book Primal and needless to say, I’m intrigued.

I so appreciated his reminder that “silence is one of the soul’s love languages” after coming from a place that exudes silence (a farm far from town) and going into a small, but “noisy” city.  I love getting away in the wilderness…

Along with that, I SO needed the following reminder: “But if God is speaking to your heart, don’t let your mind get in the way of what God wants you to do. Sometimes loving God with all your heart simply means listening to your heart instead of your head.” Whoa, so good. When God invades my heart in such a shattering way, I don’t want to get caught up in the silly games my head plays. God completely changed my heart this last year and I’m letting Him come deeper so that my heart can respond with a big “YES” regardless of how it looks to my head.

So, what do you think? Are you looking for a primal faith? Ready to go on a quest for the lost soul of Christianity with Mark? Check out the book here or when I finish my copy, I’ll send it your way!

p.s. Check back tomorrow for another great quote from Primal and some thoughts about what breaks God’s heart…

*This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

A Smattering

“It’s not that you’re doubting that God can do something. You believe in your heart that God can do something.  You just don’t want to accept his timing.  We accept his strength. We don’t want to accept his calendar.” –Pete Wilson

“I tend to live the way that I drive. I’m going to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time and by the easiest route possible, but I’ve come to realize that getting where God wants me to go isn’t nearly as important as becoming who God wants me to become in the process and God seems far less concerned with where I’m going than with who I’m becoming.” –Mark Batterson

What do you need to trust God’s timing with today?

Where are you impatient in God’s timing?

Even now, I find myself straining toward the future.  Toward the next great adventure.  Toward wherever I go next.  Yet, the call is to live in the present.  To be fully present. Right here. Today.  Not living tomorrow. Not looking back, but embracing the now.  Fixing my eyes ahead and putting my hand to the plow.  The road will be tough but He will be right beside me.

“You can’t have it both ways.  You can’t put your hands to the plow and then take a break from the plow and do something else.  If you follow me, you stay on that plow.  There’s no looking back.” –Andy O’Rourke “The Road of Discipleship” Luke 9:57-62.

gazing at the stars

Mark Batterson wrote in “Wild Goose Chase“…

According to the research of Rolf Smith, children ask 125 probing questions per day. Adults, on the other hand, ask only half a dozen probing questions each day. That means somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose 119 questions per day…. Unfortunately, at some point in our lives, most of us stop asking questions and start making assumptions. We stop gazing at the stars and start staring at the ceiling.

FREE BOOK

Tomorrow is the BIG day.  This book goes on sale!  Except the awesome part is that I already have it.  And even better…I have an extra copy thanks to some great marketing!  I’m going to be diving into the book starting tomorrow.  I thought it would be fitting to start on the day it’s released (plus, I just finished Wicked by Gregory Macguire so this will be perfect timing.  So, here’s the deal…I have absolutely no clue if anyone reads this other than my sweet friend Carrie who puts up with me because we both love blogging and talking about blogging.  But I’m going to give this a try anyway.  Plus, I figure the word FREE gets a lot of hits.  So, leave me a comment by Friday, August 22, 2008–I figured I better put the year just in case ;).  Then I’ll use some super technical skills and choose a winner assuming there are comments.  So surprise me and let me send you a book.  Leave your e-mail and we can chat via that on how you’d like to receive the book.  I’ll post updates from my reading as well so check back if you’d like!

Summary:

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.” –from the introduction.

 

Author 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.

 

Cover art:

 

Don’t forget to check this site out too!

No goose, but there was a rabbit!

Yay. I ran 5 miles.  Sorry if the slideshow doesn’t show up unless you click on the view all images. I’m being technologically challenged–boo.

p.s. The title of this post makes sense when you know that I want to read this and review it on my blog!

That’s how fast I run, of course…