Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5359 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-28
• Released on: 2005-06-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Amazon.com
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

From AudioFile
Manning's work comes with a foreword and a testimony, both evidence of its power. That's a heavy load, but the book largely lives up to it. Scott Brick's delivery helps; it may even be better read aloud than silently because Manning writes so much for the ear. Sounding like an educated but folksy minister--he is pitching his account to the "ragamuffins" of the world, after all--Manning piles image upon vivid image. Brick picks up this cadence and pounds away at Manning's message of an all-embracing love that emphasizes grace over judgment, perhaps grace even over dogma. Brick's voice is both dramatic and reassuring. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Ingram
"I found deep comfort in realizing that Jesus loves even me, a ragamuffin, just as I am and not as I should be, that he accepts me, though I am most unacceptable. I came to this book hungry; I tasted and saw afresh that our God truly is good and that he is, after all, for us".-----Michael Card, Musican.

Customer Reviews

The true Gospel message: not rules or laws but love & grace
I loved this book! It is written in an easy going, conversational style. While I love that type of writing because it captivates and draws me in, others expecting a more "academic" approach may not. Brennan writes as though he is writing just to ME, and the message he is sending has even more impact as a result. The message presented here is a simple, clear statement of love and grace given freely. The author makes references to AA meetings, a place where grace abounds due to the truthful honest reality of failure. The truth shall set you free. That truth is the reality of who we are, with all the posturing, image, and carefully crafted exteriors blown away, and the reality that it is that truth that God loves, accepts and embraces. In a particularly impactful segment, Brennan describes the heartbreaking and shocking process of a man's illusions being shattered, and the freedom and change that comes as a result of accepting God's love and grace from that place of true honesty. This book will shatter the illusions of many Christians guided by rituals, laws, and all the unfortunate illusions that keep us from seeing what is right in front of us - God's free gift of grace and acceptance, as we are, who we are. Many previous reviewers of this book have mentioned that it seemed that Brennan's continued message of grace might constitute some sort of absolvance of responsibility for behavior. I did not see this presented here. There is no one who has much trouble with behaving in ways they wish they didn't, however most of us have considerable trouble in accepting ourselves and loving ourselves as God does in spite of those lapses. We are who we are. And God loves and freely extends grace to us where we are, who we are. This is a great book! I thank my friend Craig for giving it to me, and will pass it on to others. What a difference it would make if I truly lived with the daily assurance of this message, in place of the fear and works based faith that so often creeps in.

It's a good book
I've met Brennan several times and read his books. He's rough around the edges, but isn't that the point? We're all rough around the edges - ragamuffins, every one. And yet God loves us anyway.

Some people sin in public, some in private. If you don't believe in the concept of sin, you probably won't like this book. If you don't believe in God, you probably won't like this book. If you believe that you have to 'behave' in order for God to love you - well, I think that's why Brennan wrote this book.

It seems to me that Brennan isn't saying we shouldn't behave. Of course we should behave. But we don't have to behave in order for God to love us. If you have children, you know exactly what he means.

Ragamuffin Gospel
Fresh, poignant and critical... liked the vantage point and suggest all Christians get a hold of it and read it !