Mark Batterson has written an excellent sequel to his book In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, with his latest book entitled Chase The Lion. This book was recommended to me by one of my outstanding, former students, Christy Cull – thanks for the recommendation Christy! May God continue to bless you as you chase those lions!

If you have read any of Mark Batterson’s other books you will recognize his clarion call to get us out of our comfort zone and step into God’s adventure for us. He cautions his readers, “At the end of our lives, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained opportunities we left on the table, the God-given passions we didn’t pursue, and the God-sized dreams we didn’t go after because we let fear dictate our decisions” (p. 4). He examines the life of Benaiah (2 Samuel 23:20) as a lion chaser who didn’t run away from the lion, but he ran toward the roar.

Facing a lion may seem to be an impossible task. What’s an impossible dream that you’re considering? “The size of your dream may be the most accurate measure of the size of your God” (p. 8). Batterson reveals the thesis of this book, “This book is a call to repentance – repent of your small dreams, and your small God. It’s also a dare – dare to go after a dream that is bigger than you are, a dream that is destined t fail without divine intervention” (p. 8). Batterson reminds us, “If your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.”

Batterson challenges his readers to start truly living by pursuing their God given destiny. “I’m not convinced that our true date of death is the date listed on our death certificate. Sadly most people die long before their heart stops beating. We start dying the day we stop dreaming. And ironically, we start living when we discover a dream worth dying for” (p. 20). He builds upon the ideas that were introduced in his book Soul Print which is a helpful book to assist you in discovering your destiny. We see that destiny is usually not revealed in the good times. “It’s revealed when you cross paths with a five-hundred-pound lion” (p. 139).

If you’re looking for a little extra motivation in your spiritual life then you may find Chase the Lion a helpful resource. “We live in a culture that aims at fifteen minutes of fame. We aim too low! Why aim at fame and fortune when eternal reward is on the table?” (p. 190). Here is a link to the book’s website if you would like more information. (I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review).