Thursday, September 11, 2008

Wild Goose Chase

As most of you know, my oldest daughter and her family are spending a year in Washington, D.C. working on the staff of the National Community Church, where Mark Batterson is the lead pastor. I am so excited about this opportunity for them as Mark Batterson is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors.

I am currently reading his lastest book, "Wild Goose Chase". I would recommend it to everyone. It is an EXCELLENT read! I also enjoyed his other book, "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". A few weeks ago I shared his "Chase the Lion Manifesto". He has "tweaked" it and come up with "Chase the Goose".....so I share it with you here:


Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Don't let fear dictate your decisions. Don't take the easy way out. Don't maintain the status quo. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing not to lose and start playing to win. Expand your horizons. Create some margins. Take off your sandals. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live today like it is the first day and the last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Challenge old assumptions. Blaze new trails. Don't stop making mistakes. Celebrate your failures. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Don't make a living. Make a life. Quit making excuses. Quit playing defense. And quit putting eight-foot ceilings on what God can do. CHASE THE GOOSE!

Blessings!

Pastor Rusty

2 comments:

DeniseB said...

Pastor Rusty,

I printed your "Chase the Lion Manifesto" to read daily as a reminder of what challenges should be set before us. Hopefully I will take each to heart & see some significant positive changes in my life. I've enjoyed & been challenged by your messages from Sunday. I'm looking forward to this week's sermon on bitterness.

Anonymous said...

I AM UPLIFTED BY THE CHALLENGE TO CHASE THE GOOSE. IT WILL HELP ME TO FOCUS TOTALLY ON GOD AND CHALLENGE ME IN MY LIFE AT THIS TIME TO BE A BETTER PERSON FOR GOD.GOD'S TIMING FOR DIFFERENT MESSAGES TO ENCOURAGE ME HAS BEEN SO AWESOME FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS..WHY AM I SURPRISED?