A few pieces of “The Paper” will show up on the blog. Since I had to cut off so much of it to fit the maximum number of pages, you may get the unedited version from time to time.

For now, I’d like to leave everyone with a few thoughts from the Acknowledgments section of the project:

I cannot begin to thank all the people in my community or a part of the church I currently serve or the churches, communities, and ministries I have served in the past. It has been a privilege to serve you as I serve Christ and try to live out the gospel, following Paul’s model of sharing the gospel and my life (1 Thess. 2:8). Thanks for putting up with the drafts of this project. You may not have read them, but you heard them in my preaching, leadership coaching, Bible studies, small group meetings, and countless conversations over coffee.

Most of all, I thank God, who not only created me, giving me the intellect and will to pursue education, but transformed my life. An encounter with the life-giving grace offered through Jesus changed my heart, mind, and career plans. It has been an unmerited privilege to follow and serve Him in ministry while being molded, shaped, and led by the Holy Spirit.

Nobody sets out to live a life full of regrets—never fulfilling their God-given dreams. Although a life following Jesus begins with excitement, it often becomes routine for many believers. Mark Batterson identifies the “cages” that keep people from living fully and experiencing the unpredictable adventure for which they are destined. Throughout the book, he encourages believers to pursue their God-given dreams, passions and goals—while giving practical advice to finding and discerning God’s will within those dreams and goals.

Much like his preaching, Batterson has a knack for writing in a thoughtful, clear, entertaining style. He authors a narrative filled with real life examples of people chasing the Wild Goose, living dangerously and finding fulfillment as they fulfill God’s purpose for their lives—contrasting examples of those who didn’t.

Buy this book for: college students/young adults looking for direction, those going through the quarter-life crisis, people craving a life of adventure—and yourself. Leave assumptions behind, unleash the Spirit within you and become dangerous to the enemy as you recapture the adventure of a life following the Holy Spirit! As Batterson says, “chase the Wild Goose, He will take you places you never could have imagined going by paths you never knew existed.”

Check out the book’s website for more info and “Mark’s 10 Steps to Setting Life Goals” (free download after your purchase)…and, since the publisher was nice enough to send me 2 copies, be the first to leave a comment or facebook me if you want my extra copy.

Summary:
“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’s 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.

Adding a favicon to your wordpress website…
(What is a favicon? It’s that little image that shows up in your browser tab.)

STEP 1: Create a favicon.
There are many sites out there that help you create one. I used the favicon generator at dynamic drive, but not their code to display the favicon. (If you’re working on a non-wordpress website, use their code and directions.)

STEP 2: Upload the favicon to your website
Once your favicon is created, using your FTP program (Try Fire FTP or Cyberduck if you don’t have one.), upload it to your site within your current theme. (It’s the file where you’ll see the files: page.php, header.php, style.css, etc.) Place it in the theme folder–not the images folder within the theme.

STEP 3: Modify the Theme
Between the <head> and </head> tags in the header.php file of your current theme, add this code from the wordpress codex:
<link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/favicon.ico” />

You can do this in a few ways:
1. From your wordpress admin panel, click the “design” tab, then the “theme editor” tab. Then click on and open up your header (header.php) file. Insert the above code.

2. Use a text editor or program like Dreamweaver to edit your theme’s header.php file and then upload and replace it within your current theme.

STEP 4: Repeat
Remember, since this is done by modifying your theme in wordpress, if you change themes, you’ll have to repeat this whole process again!