The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is
christians
who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
and walk out the door and deny Him
by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds
unbelievable.
[intro track to War of Ages album Fire from the Tomb]
Popularized by the 1995 dc Talk track “What if I stumble?
Brennan Manning
How I treat a brother or sister from day to day,
how I react to the
sin-scarred wino on the street,
how I respond to interruptions from
people I dislike,
how I deal with normal people in their normal
confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for
life
than the antiabortion sticker on the bumper of my car.
Ragamuffin GospelBrennan Manning
In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of
our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our
inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for
others.
[Abba's Child]
Brennan Manning
“When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes.
I believe and
I doubt, I hope and get discouraged,
I love and I hate, I feel bad
about feeling good,
I feel guilty about not feeling guilty.
I am
trusting and suspicious.
I am honest and I still play games.
Aristotle
said I am a rational animal;
I say I am an angel with an incredible
capacity for beer.
Brennan Manning
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light
side and the dark.
In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what
God’s grace means.
As Thomas Merton put it,
‘A saint is not someone who
is good but who experiences the goodness of God.
Brennan Manning
The gospel of grace nullifies our adulation of televangelists,
charismatic superstars, and local church heroes.
It obliterates the
two-class citizenship theory operative in many American churches.
For
grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift.
[The Ragamuffin Gospel]
Brennan Manning
We should be astonished at the goodness of God,
stunned that he should
bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at his love,
bewildered
that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.
Ragamuffin GospelBrennan Manning
Do you realize that in a profoundly human way – the God of
Jesus loves you?
He loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness;
beyond fidelity and infidelity.
He loves you in the morning sun and the
evening rain without caution, regret, boundary or breaking point.
No
matter what’s gone down – He can’t stop loving you!
Brennan Manning
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Brennan Manning (Photo credit: Jordon) |
Last Friday at the age of 79 the author, friar and contemplative Richard Francis Xavier (Brennan) Manning gave his last breath.
He was the man who said Jesus loved the people around him and that his Father was willing to take them all up in His Kingdom if they wanted to come to Him.
In his book
"The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled Beat-Up and Burnt Out" Manning takes aim at those “so-called Christians who
disfigure the face of God, mutilate the gospel of grace, and intimidate
others through fear.” He finds it unthinkable that the church rejects
those who are accepted by Jesus. Jesus loves those whom the Father
loves. If Jesus accepts sinners then
God accepts sinners – and He does.
How can any of us enter the Kingdom except that God accepts us in our
sinful state? (
Romans 5:8)