Brennan Manning

Experience Rich Mullins's Legacy of Joy and Real Compassion Beloved contemporary Christian musician Rich Mullins lived his life with abandon for God, leaving the spotlight to teach music among a Navajo community. An accident cut his life short in 1997, but his songs and ragamuffin spirit continue to teach many. In honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Rich's homegoing, this edition of Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven delivers an intimate look at the experiences that sparked praise hits and the values behind his Christ-like candor. James Bryan Smith captures just what Rich wished for when he said, "I hope I would leave a legacy of joy—a legacy of real compassion." See the layers of his story through reflections from friends and family, an afterword by Rich's brother David Mullins, and Smith's own bond with him. And in remembrance, be inspired to enjoy God's world as Rich did.

Is an impostor robbing you of God's love?We've bought into the lie that we are worthy of God's love only when our lives are going well. If our families are happy or our jobs are meaningful, life is a success. But when life begins to fall through the cracks and embarrassing sins threaten to reveal our less-than-perfect identity, we scramble to keep up a good front to present to the world--and to God. We hide until we can rearrange the mask of perfection. Sadly, it is then that we wonder why we lack intimate relationships and a passionate faith.All this time God is calling us to take the mask off and come openly to Him. He longs for us to know in the depth of our beings that He loves us and accepts us as we are. When we are our true selves, we can finally claim our identity as God's child--Abba's child--and experience His pure pleasure in who we are. Brennan Manning encourages us to let go of the impostor lifestyle and freely accept our belovedness as a child of the heavenly Father. In Him there is life.

On April 27, 1934, a little boy was born who grew up to become a vagabond evangelist in patchwork pants fiercely daring us to believe a line too good to be true--God loves you as you are and not as you should be. His name was Brennan Manning. He boldly preached of the love of Jesus vast, unmeasured, boundless, and free. And he always faithfully pointed to a tender, elemental fury that blows where it wills; in a word, grace. But before the fame of his ragamuffin gospel, Brennan Manning was a son, brother, soldier, journalist, priest, husband, father, and friend. This is that part of the story, a necessary piece of the larger puzzle of grace. These pages tell the story of a man whose name was not always Brennan.

Completed shortly before Manning's recent death, this book lays out a month of honest prayers to God -- whom Manning affectionately calls "Abba" -- in a devotional format designed to guide and inspire the reader's own prayers. The morning and evening entries each present a Scripture passage, a select excerpt from Manning's contemporary spiritual classics, and a concluding "Dear Abba" prayer.

From the inspirational author of The Ragamuffin Gospel comes a powerful contemporary retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.Jack Chisholm is “the people’s pastor.” He leads a devoted and growing megachurch, has several best-selling books, and a memorable slogan, “We have got to do better.” Jack knows how to preach, and he understands how to chastise people into performing. What he doesn’t know is anything about grace.This year, when it comes time for the Christmas sermon, the congregation at Grace Cathedral will look to the pulpit, and Jack will not be there. Of course, they will have seen plenty of him already—on the news.After an evening of debauchery that leads to an affair with his beautiful assistant, Jack Chisholm finds himself deserted with chilling swiftness. The church elders remove him from his own pulpit. His publisher withholds the royalties from his books. Worst of all, his wife disappears with their eight-year-old daughter.But just as Jack is hitting bottom, hopeless and penniless, drinking his way to oblivion, who should appear but his long-estranged father, imploring his prodigal son: “Come home.”A true companion piece to The Ragamuffin Gospel, The Prodigal illustrates the power of grace through the story of a broken man who finally saw Jesus not because he preached his greatest sermon or wrote his most powerful book, but because he failed miserably. Jack Chisholm lost everything—his church, his family, his respect, and his old way of believing—but he found grace. It’s the same grace that Brennan Manning devoted his life to sharing: profound in nature and coming from a God who loves us just as we are, and not as we should be.“A wonderfully written story that is as entertaining as it is thought provoking.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review“. . . the consummate final tale. What they have created is the Ragamuffin at his best, full of hope, full of love, and finally, full of belief in the goodness of God.” —Phyllis Tickle, founding editor, Religion Department, Publishers Weekly“Brennan Manning’s last work continues the powerful message of grace and forgiveness that has transformed so many lives. The Prodigal will transform you too.” —Mark Batterson, New York Times best-selling author of The Circle Maker

Winner of a Chicago Book Clinic 2004 Design Award A Fragile Stone explores the dynamic life of the apostle Peter, revisiting well-known passages and revealing unexpected insights. Author Michael Card sketches out Peter's life, showing how the impetuous fisherman of the Gospels was transformed into the pivotal leader of the early church. "The ultimate reason for getting to know Peter," Card explains, "is so together we might better know Jesus. For the story of Peter is the story of Jesus. Perhaps, if you and I do our best, the same will be said of us someday." Peter's life serves as a model for Christian discipleship, offering hope that we likewise can be changed as Jesus calls us to follow him.

Becoming a Christian is not a magical enterprise in which we automatically become better people; a Christian must train to become the person God intended them to be. In this book, Brennan Manning teaches us how to think like Jesus, guiding the reader to discover those subjects on which Jesus did not dwell - security, sensation, and power - and revealing where Jesus focused his thought life - the Father, the disciples, the reign of God, and the world. Coming from the gentle yet compelling voice of Manning, the reader will embrace this call and revel in Manning's provocative exploration of the mind of Christ.

Would you rather watch a movie than read? Do magazines and the Internet draw you in because there's so much catching your eye? Then you'll love The Ragamuffin Gospel, Visual Edition. Brennan Manning's original bestselling message comes to life through the provocative photographs, illustrations, and other attractive images throughout the book. Easy to flip through, toss in a backpack, and share with others, this book helps you experience on a whole new level the tremendous, life-changing truth that God loves you, no matter what you do or do not do. His grace is too great to be summed up in words, best understood when experienced. Respond now to the Father's furious love...it's hot on your trail!

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. Includes a 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

The Signature of Jesus challenges the gospel of "cheap grace" and calls the church to radical discipleship. With passion and boldness, author Brennan Manning invites readers to risk living life as Jesus lived - committed to simplicity, purity of heart, and obedience to the gospel.

Following his work on the unconditional love of God in "The Wisdom of Tenderness," bestselling Christian writer Manning now turns to the life and work of Jesus to find an answer to the pressing spiritual problem of self-hatred.

Bestselling Christian writer Brennan Manning turns to the tenderness of God as a model of spiritual growth.

Is God a wrathful judge? A gentle healer? A father? Brother? Friend?In The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning brings you to a deeper understanding of the true nature of God. Through poignant and unforgettable stories and challenging observations, Manning helps you stretch your mind and reject simplistic explanations of who God really is. With rich insights you'll see how God can at once be a roaring lion, pacing the globe and seeking you out; and simultaneously a tender lamb, there to comfort you in any time of need.A unique experience, this book will forever change the way you think about God.

As Abba's children, we need only to define ourselves through His Son, just as the apostle John did--as one beloved by God. Through this timeless devotional, author and speaker Brennan Manning brings you from a lukewarm, distant faith to being close enough to lean against Jesus--the Great Rabbi--and listen to His heartbeat. Adapted from the best-seller Abba's Child, this daily reminder of the Father's relentless love will help you accept your identity as a child of God as you grow in spiritual formation.

Brennan Manning shares his joyful message in a powerful new way with his first-ever collection of daily devotions. For every day of the year the beloved author of Ragamuffin Gospel and The Boy Who Cried Abba offers a verse of scripture, and each day's mediation is completed with a complementary reading from his own writings. Whether your life has already changed by Brennan Manning's dynamic version of the good news or you are meeting him here for the first time, Reflections for Ragamuffins will open your mind and heart to a profound new experience of God's unconditional love.