The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Multnomah, 2005. ISBN: 1590525027
A man walked into a doctor's office and said, 'Doctor, I have this awful headache that never leaves me. Could you give me something for it?'
'I will,' said the doctor, 'but I want to check a few things out first. Tell me, do you drink a lot of liquor?'
'Liquor?' said the man indignantly, 'I never touch the filthy stuff.'
'How about smoking?'
'I think smoking is disgusting. I`ve never in my life touched tobacco.'
'I`m a bit embarrassed to say this but-you know the way some men are - do you do any running around at night?'
'Of course not. What do you take me for? I'm in bed by ten o'clock every night by the latest.'
'Tell me,' said the doctor, 'the pain in your head you speak of, is it a sharp shooting kind of pain?'
'Yes,' said the man, 'that's it - a sharp shooting kind of pain.'
'Simple my dear fellow! Your trouble is you have your halo on too tight. All we have to do is loosen it a bit.'
Brennan Manning's book, 'The Ragamuffin Gospel', is filled with stories, quotes and paraphrases from authors and theologians such as C.S. Lewis and Martin Luther. They help the reader understand that God's Grace is for the bedraggled, the beat up and burnt out, for the misfits, outcasts, delinquents and rejects.
If you enjoyed Phillip Yancey's 'What’s So Amazing About Grace', this book will help you on your journey, accepting God's grace through faith and living a life according to and reflecting that grace. The author uses the ragamuffin as an example of someone who knows that they cannot save themselves; that they cannot make themselves presentable or lovable. They have no sense of security from their good works or scrupulous observances of God's law. They are not too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace.
One such ragamuffin is the author himself! Brennan Manning has taken a journey from Franciscan Priesthood and academic achievement to a career in the marines, through to collapse into alcoholism. He has a wealth of personal knowledge and experience of what it means to sit at God's feet and ask for forgiveness.
In a nutshell the book emphasizes GRACE over JUDGEMENT. 'Have you learned to think of the Father as the spy, the disciplinarian, the punisher? If you think that way you are wrong. God is love.'
If you look up reviews of 'The Ragamuffin Gospel' on the internet you will find many people go as far as to say the book changed their Christian lives in a profound way. Interestingly there are also some pretty bad reviews where some Christians tear the author apart concerning some of his comments. Ironically, in my opinion, some of those bad reviews go a long way in supporting everything Brennan Manning is trying to say! So here's a challenge.......read the reviews......read the book ........let us know what you think.
http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/beware-ragamuffingospel.html http://www.psychoheresy aware.org/ragmuffin114.html http://www.cultlink.com/sentinel/multnomah.htm
Karen Smith