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The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God
Our perception of God makes a difference in every crevice of our character, from our inner anxieties to our public conversations. It determines whether we're trusting or suspicious, whether we're happy or discontent - and whether or not we can rely on God matters mightily on the day of our death. Mark Buchanan's third book continues his penetrating exploration of the God we worship. Bravely and honestly, he poses the direst question of human Can God be trusted?
It's life drunk deeply, lived to the hilt—where we walk with the God who is surprising, dangerous, and mysterious. It's the terrain where God doesn't make sense out of our disasters and our boredom, but keeps meeting us in the thick of them.
But unless we trust in His character, we'll never venture in. We will sit at the stream all day, dying of thirst, but not daring to drink. To follow God is to drink and drink from the stream, even if it means— especially if it means—getting swallowed up.
Let Mark Buchanan show you the entrance to the Holy Wild, where you can live face-to-face with the beautiful, dangerous God of creation.
It's life drunk deeply, lived to the hilt—where we walk with the God who is surprising, dangerous, and mysterious. It's the terrain where God doesn't make sense out of our disasters and our boredom, but keeps meeting us in the thick of them.
But unless we trust in His character, we'll never venture in. We will sit at the stream all day, dying of thirst, but not daring to drink. To follow God is to drink and drink from the stream, even if it means— especially if it means—getting swallowed up.
Let Mark Buchanan show you the entrance to the Holy Wild, where you can live face-to-face with the beautiful, dangerous God of creation.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 8, 2003
36 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
About the author
Mark Buchanan
52 books204 followersMark Buchanan lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife, Cheryl. They have three adult children, Adam, Sarah, and Nicola. He was a longtime pastor, an author of many books, and now serves as a professor at Ambrose University College in Calgary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
January 6, 2018
Buchanan asserts that a clearer understanding of God's character in its specific attributes can give us the peace of mind that nothing else can. He takes these attributes one by one as a prism through which we can look at the world anew and then challenges us to do so. His illustrations are good, and his phrasing is apt, Bible-besotted but original enough that those over-familiar with the sacred Word will not be able to tune him out.
SECOND READING: All of the above, and more. I added the fifth star. If you are a highlighter, you may well end up with more of the book highlighted than not. He has the gift of pith and power.
SECOND READING: All of the above, and more. I added the fifth star. If you are a highlighter, you may well end up with more of the book highlighted than not. He has the gift of pith and power.
April 30, 2022
First of all, I loved his writing! It was like he was in the room telling me a story.
He explored the characteristics of God that we can be confident in from what the Bible says.
It was a really enjoyable read!
He explored the characteristics of God that we can be confident in from what the Bible says.
It was a really enjoyable read!
October 25, 2010
This is my second time through Mark Buchanan’s “The Holy Wild”. The first time that I read this book it was over my vicarage (internship) in Gainesville FL working there with First Lutheran. Even though the book is written by a Baptist pastor, the content is surprisingly Lutheran, it shuffles back and forth between Law and Gospel just like a Lutheran preacher might in a sermon.
The essence of “The Holy Wild” is counter-intuitive to what you might think from the title. This is not a book about “how to be wild” or being a “wild Christian” - at least that’s not its primary consideration. The primary consideration, instead, has to do with how “wild” you think God is.
If your picture of God is some ever-compromising impotent walker-bound grandfather, then you’ll never be able to fully rest in His house. You will instead tire yourself to death keeping all night watches and fighting windmills. If that is you, you will have no energy left to embrace the intoxicating wilderness of His Kingdom. You will, in effect, lose the wilderness in the domestication.
Buchanan reinforces the perplexing wild God that we know from Scripture. This is a God who is good beyond our goodness, victorious through a cross, and wise beyond even the wildest of our imaginations. This is the God whom we can worship. This is the God in whose arms we can rest. This is a God who we can trust when He promises we will be safe if we shut our eyes for a nap.
If you haven’t been risking for God, or if you have gotten tired of taking risks that you thought were God-led; if you haven’t trusted God, or if you feel like the God you’ve been trusting isn’t there —- this is a book for you.
BONUS!! - Click here for the University Lutheran reading guide to read the book in 6 weeks.
The essence of “The Holy Wild” is counter-intuitive to what you might think from the title. This is not a book about “how to be wild” or being a “wild Christian” - at least that’s not its primary consideration. The primary consideration, instead, has to do with how “wild” you think God is.
If your picture of God is some ever-compromising impotent walker-bound grandfather, then you’ll never be able to fully rest in His house. You will instead tire yourself to death keeping all night watches and fighting windmills. If that is you, you will have no energy left to embrace the intoxicating wilderness of His Kingdom. You will, in effect, lose the wilderness in the domestication.
Buchanan reinforces the perplexing wild God that we know from Scripture. This is a God who is good beyond our goodness, victorious through a cross, and wise beyond even the wildest of our imaginations. This is the God whom we can worship. This is the God in whose arms we can rest. This is a God who we can trust when He promises we will be safe if we shut our eyes for a nap.
If you haven’t been risking for God, or if you have gotten tired of taking risks that you thought were God-led; if you haven’t trusted God, or if you feel like the God you’ve been trusting isn’t there —- this is a book for you.
BONUS!! - Click here for the University Lutheran reading guide to read the book in 6 weeks.
August 25, 2023
This book. Buchanan's writing is so colorful and engaging, exploring the edges of language in his pursuit of painting a bit of a picture of the grandeur of the character of God. My favorite chapters were the ones on God's wrath, his holiness, his creativity, and the gift of rest.
August 1, 2024
Starts very strong, great insight interjected throughout. I am not a huge fan of the amount of anecdotal stories used in most books, and this one was especially heavy with those.
May 7, 2021
This book took me a long time to finish as it was one that challenged my thinking and was very thought provoking. I enjoyed the many examples and stories included and seeing how others interpret God’s word.
August 7, 2015
Picked this book up in a thrift store because it looked intriguing. I liked what the author had to say, particularly at the beginning and the end, but I kind of skimmed through the middle. I think it doesn't all apply to my life right now. Here are some quotes I liked:
"...the Lion of Judah, fierce and wild and good." (22)
"...the God whose Spirit broods and dances, the God who topples entire empires..." (23)
*** "The Holy Wild is what life, drunk to the lees, lived to the hilt, is like" (23)
When talking about faithfulness:
"It is the air we breathe, the ground we walk on, the skin we inhabit, the way our insides tick and pulse and spin all on their own, in season and out, whether we sleep or work or play, without asking us or us having to ask. It is these myriad amazing things—toes and eyes, leaf veins and cloudbursts, bedrock and ozone, seed and sap—that by their very constancy and durability have worn familiar or become invisible...dull with the caking of the ordinary." (54)
"Faithfulness bores us." (55) Wow.
"God's faithfulness is one diving characteristic that we rest in so completely that our rest had become apathy." (57)
"So our dilemma: How do we rest in God's faithfulness, but never take it for granted?" (57)
I especially liked the epilogue, "A Took and a Baggins".
Concerning Bagginses: "Bagginses love comfort, protection, routing... They're bereft of wanderlust." (258) May I never be bereft of wanderlust.
Concerning Tooks: "The Tooks have an appetite for danger, a hunger for adventure, a craving for discovery... They want to cast long shadows and strike over the horizon. Anything less is safe and boring." (258) Amen.
To be both Took and Baggins is "an invitation to the Holy Wild, where all who are weary can find rest for their souls—and all who are bored can go holy swashbuckling." (259)
Holy swashbuckling. Now there is a phrase that strikes the soul.
August 7 2015:
Read part of this book again. I was camping this past weekend, spending time with God in nature, and the phrase "The Holy Wild" came to mind, so when I got home I picked up this book again. Kind of disappointed by it. The phrase "The Holy Wild" has something so striking to it, so calling, yet the book doesn't live up to the title. There was a lot of talk about God, but I didn't feel like I connected with God through reading this book. Part of me wanted to read the book, was yearning to figure out what this Holy Wild was, but the other part of me said, "You don't need to read this. You can read this, but you're not connecting with God over it. Pray instead." So I didn't finish this book and I will likely give it away. Although some of the stories were interesting, it was kind of a dull read.
"...the Lion of Judah, fierce and wild and good." (22)
"...the God whose Spirit broods and dances, the God who topples entire empires..." (23)
*** "The Holy Wild is what life, drunk to the lees, lived to the hilt, is like" (23)
When talking about faithfulness:
"It is the air we breathe, the ground we walk on, the skin we inhabit, the way our insides tick and pulse and spin all on their own, in season and out, whether we sleep or work or play, without asking us or us having to ask. It is these myriad amazing things—toes and eyes, leaf veins and cloudbursts, bedrock and ozone, seed and sap—that by their very constancy and durability have worn familiar or become invisible...dull with the caking of the ordinary." (54)
"Faithfulness bores us." (55) Wow.
"God's faithfulness is one diving characteristic that we rest in so completely that our rest had become apathy." (57)
"So our dilemma: How do we rest in God's faithfulness, but never take it for granted?" (57)
I especially liked the epilogue, "A Took and a Baggins".
Concerning Bagginses: "Bagginses love comfort, protection, routing... They're bereft of wanderlust." (258) May I never be bereft of wanderlust.
Concerning Tooks: "The Tooks have an appetite for danger, a hunger for adventure, a craving for discovery... They want to cast long shadows and strike over the horizon. Anything less is safe and boring." (258) Amen.
To be both Took and Baggins is "an invitation to the Holy Wild, where all who are weary can find rest for their souls—and all who are bored can go holy swashbuckling." (259)
Holy swashbuckling. Now there is a phrase that strikes the soul.
August 7 2015:
Read part of this book again. I was camping this past weekend, spending time with God in nature, and the phrase "The Holy Wild" came to mind, so when I got home I picked up this book again. Kind of disappointed by it. The phrase "The Holy Wild" has something so striking to it, so calling, yet the book doesn't live up to the title. There was a lot of talk about God, but I didn't feel like I connected with God through reading this book. Part of me wanted to read the book, was yearning to figure out what this Holy Wild was, but the other part of me said, "You don't need to read this. You can read this, but you're not connecting with God over it. Pray instead." So I didn't finish this book and I will likely give it away. Although some of the stories were interesting, it was kind of a dull read.
June 11, 2021
Mark Buchanan wrestles with the real and living God of The Bible. Very different from the 'safe' god of moral-therapeutic deism and so much more interesting. Mark continues in the tradition of great North American pastor theologians like Eugene Peterson. By telling important stories from The Bible and his ministry to incarnate answers to life's deep and abiding questions. Our life he shows is 'cruciform': mapped on patterns of life, death and new birth. If we want the glory of God, we have to work with the clay pots we've been given and centre our lives on Him. This means returning to His timing and language: Sabbath and seeing the world through biblical eyes.
April 30, 2018
What a breath of fresh air! I started reading this on a mini vacation and finished it much quicker than most books for me - it was encouraging, beautifully written, and heartfelt.
I expected it to be about experiencing God in nature, but it was actually about finding rest in God's character - illustrated through stories from Scripture and daily life. The "Holy Wild" is actually just a description he uses for God. This book reaches to the heavens with theology, and is grounded in daily reality.
I expected it to be about experiencing God in nature, but it was actually about finding rest in God's character - illustrated through stories from Scripture and daily life. The "Holy Wild" is actually just a description he uses for God. This book reaches to the heavens with theology, and is grounded in daily reality.
March 1, 2013
This book is a very timely reminder that God is not some de-toothed, declawed old cat who has lost His power and whom we can remake into our own image.
Our generation has, in many ways, lost its sense of wonder and awe when it comes to God and this book points out the many facets of the character of God that should cause us to worship HIm in humility and surrender.
Our generation has, in many ways, lost its sense of wonder and awe when it comes to God and this book points out the many facets of the character of God that should cause us to worship HIm in humility and surrender.
January 24, 2016
Started this book in March of last year. It was fantastic at first & then really lost my interest. Picked it up in the new year, determined to finish - chapter 9 is definitely my favorite. Some good nuggets of truth but not as engaging as others.
May 9, 2025
There were a few chapters in this book that I really loved. specifically when he talks about faithfulness and how it is boring so we take it for granted because none of us wake up and rejoice that the sun rose that day. I also loved the chapter on Mercy. how he has to love Mercy because he has the need for it the most.... and how playfully creative God is and all the ways He shows it. I loved his writing style. He's one of the most eloquent authors I've ever read. He had a way of writing that almost felt dreamy if that makes any sense. He reminded me a little of C.S. Lewis.
A few things I didn't love is that I still don't know what the holy wild is. I don't know if I just missed it early on. but it felt like the author talked about it assuming you already knew what it was. but this is the first book I've read by him so I have no idea what it is. he used it a lot and I didn't love the phrase and not just because I don't know what it is. some parts of the book could be a little fluffy, and towards the end it was difficult to finish. it was still good, but I guess I am on the fence of whether I would recommend it or not.
A few things I didn't love is that I still don't know what the holy wild is. I don't know if I just missed it early on. but it felt like the author talked about it assuming you already knew what it was. but this is the first book I've read by him so I have no idea what it is. he used it a lot and I didn't love the phrase and not just because I don't know what it is. some parts of the book could be a little fluffy, and towards the end it was difficult to finish. it was still good, but I guess I am on the fence of whether I would recommend it or not.
October 29, 2019
Mark Buchanan describes the Holy Wild as "a life where we walk with the God who is surprising, dangerous, mysterious, alongside us though w fail to recognize Him, then disappearing the minute we do. It is the terrain where God doesn't always make sense of our sad or bland lives, our calamities and banalities, but who keeps meeting us in the thick and thin of these lives." (p. 23) With the subtitle: Trusting in the Character of God, Buchanan challenges the reader to completely rest in God's goodness, to give His love away, to fall into the hands of the Lord, and to dare to display His glory in our lives. The Holy Wild is both refreshing and exhorting!
August 11, 2025
Like all of Buchanan's work, the prose of The Holy Wild is lively and engaging. He makes ideas come to live through his highly visual and visceral style.
The book was enjoyable, though I wasn't struck by its profoundness nearly as much as in The Rest of God. Still, a worthwhile, refreshing read.
The book was enjoyable, though I wasn't struck by its profoundness nearly as much as in The Rest of God. Still, a worthwhile, refreshing read.
May 25, 2018
I think this book is full of truths that I probably have not fully grasped. It is a challenge to think a bit more like Mark Buchanan and delve and plumb into his type of writing. I certainly appreciated all the character traits of God he explored. I will read more of him.
February 2, 2020
Mark Buchanan takes the reader on a wild romp into the character of God. Instead of a stoic rendering of who God is Mark encourages the reader to delight in the wild and incredible aspects of our God.
April 23, 2020
Artfully written, and well researched, while being deeply personal and real.
This book looks at the character of God throughout scripture and the relationship
that He calls us to and makes a way for!
Powerful book that deserves a second read, some thoughtful meditating and personal response.
This book looks at the character of God throughout scripture and the relationship
that He calls us to and makes a way for!
Powerful book that deserves a second read, some thoughtful meditating and personal response.
September 18, 2024
Buchanan delivers his customary poetic approach to the various aspects of God. It was insightful and drew me to better appreciate certain aspects of God. While not as congruous and gripping as his "The Rest of God," I found it to be well worth my time.
March 31, 2020
Enjoyable and inspiring.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis I thought this would be a good read. It was and more. I heartily recommend this book.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis I thought this would be a good read. It was and more. I heartily recommend this book.
September 5, 2020
Another book I’ve read a second time through. I will read anything Mark Buchanan has written.
March 19, 2025
Really, really good
August 24, 2025
I can't get enough of Mark Buchanan right now. He delivers wisdom in such a balanced way. Leaves me contemplating God with a new sense of awe and wonder.
August 28, 2025
Faith vis a vis trust. We too often try and separate them and we sell short what God is wanting to do in our lives. We want a contract, some guarantees from God. He offers us life, if we trust Him.
July 4, 2012
Buchanan has a very engaging writing style. He paints word pictures with his use of multiple descriptive words for the same subject or thought - almost to excess - but it is very effective. His illustrations help to bring the subject matter down to earth and into our everyday lives.
He brings out the terrifying beauty of the God we serve. He is not to be toyed with but to be obeyed. This is the underlying theme for whole book - God is the Holy Wild. Our life lived in the wonder of his grace is not to be taken for granted. We are to be attentive followers - even in our tendency to fall so short of his glory.
His explanation and application of Scripture is well done but I have to confess, he lost me on his interpretation of the Good Samaritan. I think his theological position colored his interpretation. He abandoned the plain explanation for Jesus application and the Scribe's question. Is his interpretation possible? Maybe. But, it is not the most probable explanation.
Overall, it was a good read and some of the chapters were just what I needed to hear given the things going on in my life at this moment. The way God brings together our circumstances and someone to speak God's truth into our lives is really cool.
He brings out the terrifying beauty of the God we serve. He is not to be toyed with but to be obeyed. This is the underlying theme for whole book - God is the Holy Wild. Our life lived in the wonder of his grace is not to be taken for granted. We are to be attentive followers - even in our tendency to fall so short of his glory.
His explanation and application of Scripture is well done but I have to confess, he lost me on his interpretation of the Good Samaritan. I think his theological position colored his interpretation. He abandoned the plain explanation for Jesus application and the Scribe's question. Is his interpretation possible? Maybe. But, it is not the most probable explanation.
Overall, it was a good read and some of the chapters were just what I needed to hear given the things going on in my life at this moment. The way God brings together our circumstances and someone to speak God's truth into our lives is really cool.
June 27, 2013
When a writer is transparent about the mystery and mess that accompany the spiritual journey I'm drawn in. Even better, Buchanan presents his ideas with thoughtful prose -- the sort of writing that seems effortless but really requires skill and heaps of work.
"[T]here is a self-satisfaction that, rightfully embraced, is the opposite of pride." 152
From the chapter "Where the Stones Sing"
After describing a walk on the beach: "All this God makes for the sheer joy of making tings, most of it for HIs eyes only, and then goes off and makes something else."
"One of the strongest evidences that we are not resting in God or risking much for God is the lowly state of the arts among Christians."
"Let's talk about trying too hard. Christians are generally driven by a desire to edify. We want what we do to have a meaning, a moral, a message. ... Our poems teach, our paintings proclaim, our stories make points. To a certain extent, this is good. But just walking from the front door to the sidewalk, I get the impression that God isn't overburdened with the same impulse. He just likes making things...like an eccentric inventor who creates for the sheer quirky joy of it..."
"[T]here is a self-satisfaction that, rightfully embraced, is the opposite of pride." 152
From the chapter "Where the Stones Sing"
After describing a walk on the beach: "All this God makes for the sheer joy of making tings, most of it for HIs eyes only, and then goes off and makes something else."
"One of the strongest evidences that we are not resting in God or risking much for God is the lowly state of the arts among Christians."
"Let's talk about trying too hard. Christians are generally driven by a desire to edify. We want what we do to have a meaning, a moral, a message. ... Our poems teach, our paintings proclaim, our stories make points. To a certain extent, this is good. But just walking from the front door to the sidewalk, I get the impression that God isn't overburdened with the same impulse. He just likes making things...like an eccentric inventor who creates for the sheer quirky joy of it..."
January 17, 2013
The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God
by Canadian author, Mark A. Buchanan
A book of challenging thought, provoking reflection and contemplation. Take your time savouring the new and unique flavours captured in expositions of the Good Samaritan, Shabbat ‘rest’, ‘faithlessness’, etc. Time well spent and well rewarded.
I was captivated by unusual insights into our own natures such as:
“The pleasure of treasure hunting is a quirk of instinct. God wired us for this, that the simple act of searching out hidden things --- would stir our deepest blood... to risk, to dare...”
“..be holy..to be whole..healthy to the marrow, without the sour breath of envy, the..stunting in our limbs that greed or suspicion causes. Free. Unburdened by those many things that, promising to fulfil us, only betray us.”
Instructional endnotes and references to works used in research, support and aid further personal review.
by Canadian author, Mark A. Buchanan
A book of challenging thought, provoking reflection and contemplation. Take your time savouring the new and unique flavours captured in expositions of the Good Samaritan, Shabbat ‘rest’, ‘faithlessness’, etc. Time well spent and well rewarded.
I was captivated by unusual insights into our own natures such as:
“The pleasure of treasure hunting is a quirk of instinct. God wired us for this, that the simple act of searching out hidden things --- would stir our deepest blood... to risk, to dare...”
“..be holy..to be whole..healthy to the marrow, without the sour breath of envy, the..stunting in our limbs that greed or suspicion causes. Free. Unburdened by those many things that, promising to fulfil us, only betray us.”
Instructional endnotes and references to works used in research, support and aid further personal review.
March 13, 2014
my gleanings:
God doesn't change, but how we think about Him does. It is hard for us to rest in God, because it is hard for us to trust.
God's wrath in its worst and fullest form, is God turning us over. It's God letting us have our own way. It's God leaving us alone. Hell is God's way of letting us have our own way in His absence for all eternity. The lost, C S Lewis said, "enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded."
Faithlessness is not unbelief. Faithlessness is the refusal to trust.
God doesn't change, but how we think about Him does. It is hard for us to rest in God, because it is hard for us to trust.
God's wrath in its worst and fullest form, is God turning us over. It's God letting us have our own way. It's God leaving us alone. Hell is God's way of letting us have our own way in His absence for all eternity. The lost, C S Lewis said, "enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded."
Faithlessness is not unbelief. Faithlessness is the refusal to trust.
October 13, 2013
I've read a number of books that address the disconnect that happens between the world as we experience it (and that always comes down to suffering) and the challenge to believe in a Holy Good God. I think this is one of the best at dealing with this issue.
There is one chapter (I think it might be Where The Stones Sing) that I felt was a bit meandering and not quite as targeted as the rest. Other than that, this is one for the referral list.
There is one chapter (I think it might be Where The Stones Sing) that I felt was a bit meandering and not quite as targeted as the rest. Other than that, this is one for the referral list.
March 19, 2008
Preferred Your God Is Too Safe.
April 25, 2008
Has some pretty memorable anecdotes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews