Last Thursday night, I had the privilege of hearing Washington D.C. Pastor Mark Batterson speak at the ECHO Conference in Dallas, Texas.  Mark is the Lead Pastor of 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.

Pastor Mark is a widely read pioneer blogger (evotional). He’s also one of the very first pastors to add The Digital Sanctuary to his blogroll.

Wild Goose Chase was my airplane reading on my way to ECHO.  I loved it.  Brilliantly basic, crystal clear and cheerfully convicting, Wild Goose Chase is an exploration of the pursuit of the Holy Spirit.  Using a non-scholarly, conversational approach Mark writes the same way he teaches, using fresh parables and simple illustrations. Challenging us to leave behind the cages that obviously hold us captive, Wild Goose Chase is an invitation to freedom and adventure.

Here’s an excerpt from the book’s introduction:

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.”

You can win a free copy of  Wild Goose Chase by telling me what I tweeted (twitter.com/cynthiaware) about National Community Church’s baptism video — the one played at ECHO Conference.

You can also purchase Mark’s other best-selling book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day online.