This book was like eating chicken nuggets when I was hoping for a chicken sandwich...

It was good (like Chick-fil-a nuggets!), I’d recommend it to my Christian friends (but not my friends who refuse to buy from Chick-fil-a), it had some special sauce that added to the flavor (like stories of the author’s mentee-mentor relationship with Eugene Peterson), and it was an all-around pleasant fill that didn’t have me racing from cover-to-cover but didn’t have me constantly checking to see if it was almost over, either.

As with most CFA meals, it was well-prepared (i.e., well-written) but I wanted more meat when I was finished. The book contained some interesting stories and good advice, but I can’t say that it revealed much I didn’t already know, aside from the author’s personal contexts. Rather, it left me wanting more, as it started down several interesting roads that I would’ve loved to have seen resolved (how did the author actually cope with and survive his church’s tragedies? how does he resolve Eugene Peterson’s disdain for westernized mega churches when he - the author - grew up in and currently works for a mega church? what wisdom has the author actually learned from sages - besides “read the dead people” - that isn’t already contained in Scripture?).

My preference for deeper, more revelatory or challenging reading aside, I do think Chasing Wisdom is a good book for the right audience. It seems to me that the right audience is probably those who are either young or young in their faith, or those approaching “sage age” who could use a nudge to invest in the lives of some younger folks around them. I don’t fit any of those categories, but nevertheless, this is a book worth having on the shelf for times when I could use some good, quick nuggets.

Chasing Wisdom is such a timely book for the world we live in.  

Pastor Daniel inspires us to create the daily practice of pursuing wisdom in body, soul, and spirit so we can stay squarely linked to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith -- even in the toughest times we face in life. 

We often forget that life is hard. Clinging to wisdom helps ground us in truth despite the challenges life throws our way. Instead of seeking shiny objects and dopamine hits that the world tells us we need, we are inspired to practice the presence of God and anchor ourselves in the truth of the wisdom that precedes us in the scriptures and from the authors who've shared their wisdom before us. 

As we embrace wisdom, we find the overcoming strength of resting, sabbath, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and practicing his presence. Rather than rushing to achieve and finding ourselves overwhelmed with life because of pursuing, achieving, and striving, Pastor Daniel inspires us to embrace the wisdom in rest so we don't have to take a vacation from life, but welcome down time as the blessing it is.  Wisdom inspires us to incorporate rest into everything we do while embracing the type of active life Jesus modeled. 

Through the wisdom of taking naps while storms rage on, we remember that Jesus is not frenzied and never in a hurry.  Withdrawing to lonely places to pray, Jesus exemplified healthy living - mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually.  He inspires us to rest no matter how many needs seem to clamor for our attention, while actively and intentionally pursuing purpose and calling as we run the race marked out for each of us. Pastor Daniel encourages us to find ways to be gentle with ourselves, prioritize healthy self-care, and not to measure ourselves by the trends found in outside influences, but via the wisdom of living within appropriate boundaries and balance. 

The art of living quietly, loving scripture, and pursuing the wisdom of the great cloud of witnesses and leaders in the faith is so counter-culture today.  A life of wisdom inspires us to "Lay our life down" - the world teaches us to crave attention from the masses.  We're reminded how it takes great faith to live small - a practice so beautifully modeled by Pastor Daniel's friendship with the late Eugene Peterson. Stressing the power of living our wisdom through both words and physical deeds, Pastor Daniel ignites a passion for creating community and connection as motivators for being mentally, spiritually, physically, and socially healthy followers of Christ. 

Using the perfect example of Jesus, Pastor Daniel stresses the wisdom of healthy lament and sharing the truth of our struggles with the Lord.  He demonstrates the importance of inviting Jesus into our hurting humanity to hear the cries of our hearts as a way of fortifying deeper communion with the one who created all our emotions. Using the wisdom found in our relationship with the Lord, we display our vulnerability and we honestly expose our inner being to the one who knows our cries before we utter them.  Speaking to God from our place of brokenness deepens our connection to the safest place for us to be authentic so we can model what real community and connection looks like among humanity.  That's wisdom we need more than ever.

You must read this beautiful reminder about the importance of building our lives on a foundation of wisdom, how to absorb the wisdom of those around us, and opening our lives to share our wisdom with those who surround us.  Thank you for sharing so powerfully and lighting a path for all of us to chase wisdom!

Chasing Wisdom is a thoughtful and practical guide to asking for and applying wisdom received from those that are ahead of us in the marathon called life.  Daniel Grothe make this goal not only accesible, but provides helpful and relational examples of gathering wisdom from mature saints that have gone before us and ways of applying that useful wisdom in our personal lives.  The writing invites us in, holds us close and then sends us out with edification, exhortation and the comfort of knowing when we ask for wisdom, we shall receive.

"'Chasing Wisdom"  by   Daniel Grothe is a non fiction Christian book.  Daniel Grothe is  the teaching pastor  for New Life  Church in  Colorado Springs, Colorado.    This book guides us in how to get  wisdom to help us  face   our daily challenges.  He   approaches  his  book with   these topics: how to ask for help,
loving Scripture,
going to Church,
living quietly,
and, above all, seeking those who are themselves wise.He   ties all  of the topics into  scripture. He  also   uses  wisdom  with each   topic  from Eugene Peterson who was his mentor.  Eugene's  insights are also  very helpful. The book is very personal and practical.  It is    rich in guiding us how to live our lives .  The book helps us in our decision making.  and life choices.    A book  like  this is  so needed in our  challenging world. These opinions are my own.  Thank you to netgalley, the author , the publisher  for allowing me to read and review this book.  It is an excellent book and very personal.

Chasing Wisdom is a book that was written to help Christians learn to be wise.  The author is a pastor who had a crisis a few years ago when his church went through a number of traumatic events.  Grothe states "Wisdom is found in seeking God; wisdom is acquired in face-to-face encounters with the sages".  I very much agree with this quote.  The book recounts wisdom from numerous Biblical passages as well as quoting a number of great thinkers from the past.  There are a number of great ideas in the book, but for me, it did not hold together as a unified work.  This book is more like the Proverbs: each chapter seems not to be connected to the others.  
Readers may be able to get some information from this book, but they likely could be better off reading the works that the author cites.  
I received a complementary copy of this book via NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.