All Is Grace

Brennan Manning’s Ragamuffin Gospel profoundly impacted me when I was in college.  Manning’s honesty was refreshing and his emphasis on grace was life-changing.  In almost every Brennan Manning book I’ve read over the years, his message is the same: ”God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”

I came across a review of his most recent book – All Is Grace – last night, and wanted to share an excerpt from that review.  I’m very excited to read this book and be surprised again at just how great the grace of God really is.

Regarding Manning…  Per Mark Yaconelli

An abusive mother, an alcoholic father, a friendless childhood, a life-long addiction to alcohol—all help to hollow out Brennan’s soul with a gaping yearning to be loved, to be liked, to be known and accepted. This primal ache drives him into the military, the Catholic priesthood, communities of prayer and poverty, marriage, and life as a celebrated speaker and author, yet none of these settings answers the deep ache to be known. It’s only what Brennan calls the “vulgar” grace of God that from time to time relieves him of his endless hunger for approval.

The book is sparse and at times dark. This seems to have caused great discomfort and anxiety for the publishers who felt compelled to stuff the opening and ending pages with testimonies from friends and appreciative Christian celebrities, asserting Brennan’s gift as a spiritual leader. I’m not sure why the publishers felt it necessary to collect and print these letters. Was it to extend the book’s page count? Was it to counter Brennan’s confessions of sin? For me, these testimonials read like a kind of cover-up that only detracts from the central message of the book, which Brennan states as, “God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”