Requested: Ragamuffin Gospel
Since I finished reading Soar by Kenny Luck, it’s time to request another review book from Blogging for Books. By the way, if you blog and enjoy reading, you should definitely sign up for this program. There is not cost to join (and, no, I don’t get anything if you join either), and they send you free books to review.
I’ve decided to review The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. The book was first published in 1990, but I’ve never read it. (I’m not sure why it is available for review now, but I’m glad that it is. I guess this is a new edition of the book.)
Here is part of the publisher’s blurb about the book:
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.â€
I like the focus on grace, so I’m looking forward to reading it.
Have you ever read The Ragamuffin Gospel? If so, what did you think about it?
I’m really looking forward to your review. I have not read the book but have thought about buying the book a few times in the past. What has piqued my curiosity about the book is the fact that Brennan Manning played in Rich Mullins’ Ragamuffin Band and I’m a big fan or Rich Mullins music, its message and his way of life even though it unsettles me. 🙂
I read it a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t necessarily agree with everything Manning says, but his emphasis on God’s grace and love was huge in helping me understand and begin to live in that grace.
Hutch,
I’m a big fan of Rich Mullin’s music also. I didn’t know Manning played in his band; I just thought he was influential.
Fred,
Thanks for the info. I’m looking forward to reading it.
-Alan
Oops my bad Alan, you are correct, I mistook Mcvicker for Manning, wow…thanks for correcting me! Doh!
Hutch,
I honestly wasn’t sure.
-Alan
The Ragamuffin Gospel played a significant role in helping me to understand an event in my life in 1994.
During fall of ’94 I thought I lost my faith. I was studying and working at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I had been very involved in the Catholic Student Center there, but suddenly I didn’t know if I believed in God anymore. I could not honestly say in the depth of my heart if God even existed. It came as a huge shock to me.
After nearly a month of agonizing struggle with my rudderless, drifting soul I received a special Grace. Jesus touched my heart in an overwhelmingly powerful way. I once again knew He was real and I knew He was my Higher Power.
Last year, 2010, I read the Ragamuffin Gospel and by the end of the year I disovered that my dark night of the soul in 1994 was God’s way of stripping away all of my silly personal beliefs. It was a run through the desert. When Jesus reached back into my soul, I received a genuine Gift of Faith. I had to lose MY beliefs in order to receive Real Faith and since then, that Faith as reshaped and molded my new personal beliefs. That includes Brennan’s central theme of the radically crazy Love of a God who was willing to die so that sin would not prevent me from living in paradise with Him for eternity once I die.
– Brian
Brian,
Thank you for sharing part of your story with us. My copy of the Ragamuffin Gospel shipped today. I’m looking forward to reading it.
-Alan