The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
by Brennan Manning
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Book Summary Information
Author: Brennan ManningEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-06-28
ISBN: 1590525027
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Book Reviews of The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
Book Review: A Word of Grace for Church Folks
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been a fan of Rich Mullins, the Christian singer and songwriter, for a long time. I only discovered later that Mullins named his Ragamuffin Band in honor of Brennan Manning's book. After reading the book (including a testimony by Rich Mullins) I realize that the author and the musician are kindred spirits.
In an afterword, Brennan Manning claims that his book has led to his criticism. His detractors have clucked that Manning is "a heretic, schismatic, universalist, and cockeyed optimist." Frankly, he has committed only one sin which has been the proclamation of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. One critic claims that he has "out-Luthered Luther." In a world of Christian books which promote spiritual laws, principles, and action plans, a book on God's grace is extremely refreshing.
We are saved by God's grace alone. Accepting that grace leads to lives of gratitude and humility. The enemy of grace is the self-satisfied. These folks can be satisfied with their own righteousness or even their own sin. Relying on the love found in Jesus Christ leads to lives of gratitude and humility. When we reject the nominal for the deeper, we begin to follow God's calling in our lives.
Although Manning has disagreements with the Roman Catholic church (he is a former priest), he is greatly influenced by its history and teaching. He also is influenced by the twelve step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. The book is filled with great illustrations from church history, literature, and his personal experiences. The appeal he makes to his readers is passionate. He makes strides to show the goodness of the gospel. He plays especially on the emotions of the reader. He also intends the book to be read devotionally. One of the last chapters actually has prayer exercises for the reader.
I loved the book. Of course, I am not a hostile audience. I know that my life depends on the manna of God's grace. To the person just beginning in faith, I don't know if I would recommend this book. Manning understands himself simply as a redeemed sinner, but many ragamuffins that I know would still feel out of place here. They would probably long for the earthiness and colorful language of Anne Lamott. Whether intentional or not, Manning's audience appears to be church folks who finally get it. They realize that they are really ragamuffins in the hands of a merciful God.
Finally, the book is a bit dated. Some of the illustrations which were current in the 1980s when the book was written don't read well in 2008. Nonetheless, I heartily recommend this book.
Summary of The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
A Furious Love Is Hot on Your Trail!Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. In this newly repackaged edition?now with full appendix, study questions, and the author?s own epilogue, ?Ragamuffin Ten Years Later,? Brennan Manning reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. The Father beckons us to Himself with a ?furious love? that burns brightly and constantly. Only when we truly embrace God?s grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of His flock?the ?ragamuffins.?
Are you bedraggled, beat-up, burnt-out?
Most of us believe in God?s grace?in theory. But somehow we can?t seem to apply it in our daily lives. We continue to see Him as a small-minded bookkeeper, tallying our failures and successes on a score sheet.
Yet God gives us His grace, willingly, no matter what we?ve done. We come to Him as ragamuffins?dirty, bedraggled, and beat-up. And when we sit at His feet, He smiles upon us, the chosen objects of His ?furious love.?
Brennan Manning ?s now-classic meditation on grace and what it takes to access it?simple honesty?has changed thousands of lives. Now with a Ragamuffin?s thirty-day spiritual journey guide, it will change yours, too.
Starburst:
Includes New 30-Day
Spiritual Journey Guide
****
? Brennan Manning does a masterful job of blowing the dust off of shop-worn theology and allowing God?s grace to do what only God?s grace can do?amaze.?
Max Lucado
Bestselling author of The Gift for All People
?I found deep comfort in realizing that Jesus loves even me, a ragamuffin, just as I am.?
Michael Card
Musician, recording artist, and author of A Violent Grace
?This is a zestful and accurate portrayal that tells us unmistakably that the gospel is good, dazzlingly good.?
Eugene Peterson
Author of The Message
Story Behind the Book
The world assigns value to people using measurable standards. Someone is a successful student if she receives As. Someone is a strong athlete if he runs five miles a day. The Lord, however, knows nothing of standards. The Ragamuffin Gospel was inspired by Brennan Manning after he discovered firsthand what it means to live by grace instead of performance. His words bring new life and sweet refreshment to Christians who are tired of never measuring up.
Brennan Manning wrote The Ragamuffin Gospel "for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out," the marginalized folks to whom Jesus ministered: the children, the ill, the tax collectors, the women. In other words, the ragamuffins. Manning understands better than most that behind our facades of order and self-assurance are inadequacies that can find healing only in Jesus. While the powerful and religious elite challenged him, Jesus embraced and healed and fed the needs of the ragamuffins. Jesus delivered love, healing, and, most of all, grace.
Grace is defined as "the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God." But, as Manning points out, we have "twisted the gospel of grace into religious bondage and distorted the image of God into an eternal, small-minded bookkeeper." In reality, God offers us grace immeasurable. Brennan Manning gently encourages us to embrace that grace in the face of our greatest needs. And Manning certainly knows whereof he speaks, having taken a journey from priesthood and academic achievement through a collapse into alcoholism. Manning came face to face with his need, finally abandoning himself to grace. And he invites us now to join him in a life of grace.
Manning is without doubt one of the most eloquent writers on the subject of grace because he openly shares his own pain and struggle to help readers deal with failure and inadequacy. And he sweetly challenges them to do the same. --Patricia Klein
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