Since the day that Jesus first appeared on the scene, we have developed vast theological systems, organized world-wide churches, filled libraries with brilliant Christological scholarship, engaged in earthshaking controversies and embarked on crusades, reforms and renewals. Yet there are still precious few of us with sufficient folly to make the mad exchange of everything for [...]
Archive for the ‘Manning, Brennan’ Category
Few have the Confidence to Risk Everything for Christ
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Gospel, Grace, Jesus Christ on June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
What is the Nature of Ultimate Reality?
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Forgiving, Generous, Jesus, Love, Reality on June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
What is the nature of Ultimate Reality? Jesus responds that the Really Real is generous, forgiving, saving love.
- Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, copyright 1990, 2000, page 192
Is Life Absurd or Does It Have a Purpose?
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Gospel, Jesus Christ, Purpose on June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not rise and fall on the issues of corrupt clergy, the exploitation of the poor, the stinginess of multinationals or the irrational fanaticism of modern dictatorships. It deserves to be accepted or rejected for what it is: an answer to the most fundamental questions a person [...]
Seized by the Power of a Great Affliction
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Born-Again, Christian Culture, Jesus Christ on June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Over a hundred years ago in the Deep South, a phrase so common in our Christian culture today, “born again” was seldom or never used. Rather, the phrase used to describe the breakthrough into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was “I was seized by the power of a great affliction.”
- Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin [...]
The Cross We Never Expected and One We Find Hardest to Bear
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Cross, Failure on June 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The readiness to risk failure: Many of us are haunted by our failure to have done with our lives what we longed to accomplish. The disparity between our ideal self and our real self, the grain specter of past infidelities, the awareness that I am not living what I believe, the relentless pressure of conformity, [...]
Youth is Not a Period of Time
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged General Douglass MacArthur, Grace, Unfaithfulness, Youth on June 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The willingness to keep growing: Unfaithfulness is a refusal to become, a rejection of grace, (grace that is inactive is an illusion), and the refusal to be oneself. Long ago I read a prayer composed by the late General Douglass MacArthur: “Youth is not a period of time. It is a state of mind, a [...]
What Does it Mean to Risk Everything on Jesus?
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Abortion, Cross, Faithfulness, God's Word, Gospel, Nuclear Weapons, Prince of Peace, Sins on June 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Risking everything on Jesus: the ragamuffin gospel says we can’t lose, because we have nothing to lose. Faithfulness to Jesus implies that with all our sins, scars and insecurities, we stand with Him; that we are formed and informed by His Word; that we acknowledge that abortion and nuclear weapons are two sides of tame [...]
The Forgiveness of God is Gratuitous Liberation From Guilt
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Guilt, Prodigal Son, Luke 15, Elder Brother, Sinfulness, God's Forgiveness on June 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The forgiveness of God is gratuitous liberation from guilt. Paradoxically, the conviction of personal sinfulness becomes the occassion of encounter with the merciful love of the redeeming God. ”There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents…” (Luke 15:7). In his brokenness, the repentant prodigal knew an intimacy with his father that his [...]
Our Trivialized Lives
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Agnosticism, Jesus, Personal Discipline, Piety, Virtue on June 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Heightened by the agnosticism of inattention – the lack of personal discipline over media bombardment, mind control, sterile conversation, private prayer, and the subjugation of the senses – the presence of Jesus grows more and more remote. Just as the failure to be attentive dissolves confidence and communion in a human relationship,so inattention to the [...]
The Portrait of Peter Speaks to Every Ragamuffin Across the Generations
Posted in Manning, Brennan, tagged Peter, Peter's Denial on June 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The portrait of Peter, the rock who proved to be a sand pile, speaks to every ragamuffin across the generations. Lloyd Olgivie notes: “Peter had built his whole relationship with Jesus Christ on his assumed capacity to be adequate. That’s why he took his denial of the Lord so hard. His strength, loyalty and faithfulness [...]
