This weekend I heard a great message from Mark 5 where Jesus heals the man with a legion of demons in him and cast the demons into a herd of swine and 2000 pigs plunge of a cliff into the lake and they drowned and I was so enthralled by the thought that I’m about to share here that while the message was great I spent more time focusing on this idea and seemed to have forgotten the purpose behind the whole message.

I get engulfed by the idea of counting the cost from time to time, especially when it comes to discipleship (or being a biblical follower of Jesus) and reaching the lost. Thinking about the account in Mark 5 brought it back into the front of my mind on Sunday. I think when we look at Mark 5 and see Jesus cast this group of demons into the pigs we merely glance at it and think the Jews weren’t allowed eat pork nor did they have a high very of swine so not much loss to have the herd drowned in the water. But someone owned the pigs and had to pay for them and probably would have sent them off to market, so for the farmer there was great cost in losing the pigs. I look online to see if I could find what a pig would have cost in the first century and couldn’t find anything so I’ll take some numbers I know and you wrap your mind around those. A kid in my last youth ministry would raise one pig for the county fair each year and this last year we went to fair to see it the night it was judged (pretty interesting actually) and then two nights later there was an auction for the animals at the fair and my friend’s pig went for over $1000. Now if you take the $1000 dollar figure and multiply it times the 2000 pigs you are talking about $2,000,000 dollars.

Jesus place a high value on the soul of the man with thousands of demons in him (to the tune of $2,000,000 dollars today). This man was now free from the bondage of demon possession and went on to further the Kingdom by telling anyone who would listen in the Decapolis on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee.

How many times have we not counted the cost of reaching the lost and what they will do for the Kingdom? The price is way higher than we think or can even imagine?

What do you think?

To many times we’ve made Christianity about us the Christian and how the Bible applies to us and changes us (which it does) but in making that the focus of our journey we miss the true reason the bible applies to us and changes us: for the sole purpose of bringing glory to God because of what Jesus did on the cross. A while back I was listening to a Mark Driscoll sermon and he was talking about placing Jesus where He belongs and that is the exalted position at the right hand of God and every sermon, message, lesson, bible study, small group, etc. should always exalt Jesus in the end.

This last weekend it was kind of weird to hear this statement two different times (Tim Keller podcast and the message at church on Sunday) but I’m glad I did as it reminded me that it all points back to Jesus and so should we in everything we do.

Last night I finished reading Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. After reading “In A Pit With A Lion” a couple of years back, and felt like a lot of others, that the book was speaking directly to me, I can say Wild Goose Chase is again one of those books that speaks directly to you as the Holy Spirit works through Mark’s words.

Wild Goose (An Geadh-Glas) the Celtic name for the Holy Spirit is a name that is full of both “imagery and implications”, as Mark says. If you have ever chased anything wild before or watched someone chase a wild animal you know it is not an easy task. As a young boy my Grandpa would take me to the auction in his town and as a part of the night they would have greased pig chases for the kids. I remember chasing and grabbing the pig just to have it squeeze through my fingers. I’ve never chased a goose before but I can imagine it’s not something you easily conquer. I’ve been chasing “The Wild Goose” for almost half my life now and to look back on the adventures He has lead me on could never have been planned with the human mind.

In Wild Goose Chase, Mark talks about the adventures God wants to send us on to further His Kingdom, but we let things get in the way of those adventures and cage to where we are. Mark works through six cages (responsibility, routine, assumptions, guilt, failure and fear) that keep us from God “writing His-story through your life” (and mine). Working with and along side of people everyday I’ve seen in my life and theirs these cages holding us back from allowing God to use us and change us. Unfortunately the church for the most part has tried to tame the Wild Goose and in doing taming us. In the book Mark shares Biblical accounts of the adventures that God sent His people on and stores of people both past and present who have like the Bible characters did not allow these cages to hold them back from God working through them. I really like how good of a job Mark does of weaving the points he is trying to get across and the stories that make the point jump out at you and resonate deep down in your soul. This is definitely a book everyone will receive encouragement from but if you have feel like you are trapped in one of these cages and seen your interaction with God wane this is a book for you as it was for me.

Here are some great quotes from the book:

We have a primal longing to be uncaged. And the cage opens when we recognize that Jesus didn’t die on the cross to keep us safe. Jesus died to make us dangerous.

Quoting C.T. Studd, “Some people want to live within the sounds of the church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” The church needs more Studds! And you can quote me on that.

Check out www.chasethegoose.com for a sample chapter, a download of Mark’s 10 Steps to Setting Life Goals or to buy the book in bulk. Wild Goose Chase is available in stores or at these places online starting today.

[www.amazon.com](a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590527194?ie=UTF8&tag=fusio07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1590527194)
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.borders.com
www.cbd.com
www.familychristian.com
www.parable.com

Also Mike Kupferer won the contest for the free copy of Wild Goose Chase, thanks to the people Multnomah for second copy to give a way and the opportunity to review the book.

Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson comes out August 19th and right here on FusionLife.org you can win a copy before you can find it in the store. I got a gracious opportunity from Random House Publishing to do a blog review of the book and they also gave me an extra copy to share with one lucky winner.

Summary:
Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect.

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.

Check of the Wild Goose Chase website or if you don’t win you can pre order the book at
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.borders.com
www.cbd.com
www.familychristian.com
www.parable.com

How to win:
Leave a comment here on this post about a time God sent you on a wild goose chase or adventure. God has sent me on my share of wild adventures and I wouldn’t trade any of them for the world and I’m sure I’m not alone. So come and share your store.

Contest Rules:
* Entries must be posted no later than 12:00am (midnight) August 13.
* The winning entry will be announced here at FusionLife.org on August 14.
* One winner will be chosen by a sole expert judge who can not be bribed (my wife!)
* The book will be shipped via USPS Priority mail to U.S. or military mailing addresses only.