A God you can know 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 I read these honest, grace-saturated, humbly iconoclastic, distinctly un-sugarcoated but still somehow gentle words, I could taste familiar water, living water that only people who are thirsty for life can enjoy. Read it--and hope again!" --from the foreword by Larry Crabb Brennan Manning is a former Franciscan priest and author of a dozen books including the best-selling The Ragamuffin Gospel. He has lived a faithful life of service to others and to God and shares his intellect and love through the words found in this book.

Following his work on the unconditional love of God, bestselling Christian writer Brennan Manning now turns to the life and work of Jesus to find an answer to the most pressing spiritual problem of our age: self-hatred. Manning shows how this problem is rooted in "a script" founded in a faulty understanding of the nature of divine love and a lack of clear understanding of the person and message of Jesus. He helps us to re-write this script of self-hatred by gaining a clearer glimpse of the nature of Jesus: his healing work, stories of deliverance, liberating prayer, integrity of self-acceptance, and all-encompassing compassion.
"This little book pretends to be no more than the title claims: a glimpse of Jesus. That is all I have. It is written for myself and anyone else who has been tyrannized by self-hatred. I envision a wide reading audience because self-hatred is the most persistent and prevalent spiritual problem I have encountered in my many years as a vagabond evangelist." --Brennan Manning, from the foreword.

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.

Brennan Manning writes that all changes in the quality of a person's life must grow out of a change in that person's vision of reality. He argues that by relating to God as the heart of tenderness, we can begin to develop a spiritual life that lets go of worry, stops organizing everything as means to an end, and begins to live fully in the awareness of God's infinite grace and mercy in each moment. By accepting the tenderness of God, our hearts will begin to open, our minds can discern truth, and we can more readily see the divine in others.
Manning calls into question the prevailing vision of God as a remote overlord who alternately purveys judgment and blessings to his creatures below. He shows how this distorted image of God leads to a spirituality that is shallow and how it is ultimately in conflict with the message of the Gospel.
Rooted in his compelling grasp of God as a loving parent, Manning gently invites us to embrace the unfathomable mercy, grace, and love of God. A profound exploration of the challenges of Christian living, The Wisdom of Tenderness leads

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."

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.

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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.
"As a radical alternative this book is offered to Christians who want to live by faith and not by mere "religion," for those who recognize that many of the burning theological issues in the church today are neither burning nor theological; who see Christianity neither as a moral code or a belief system but as a love affair; who have not forgotten that they are followers of a crucified Christ; who know that following him means living dangerously; who want to live the gospel without compromise; who have no greater desire than to have his signature written on the pages of their lives. "
"Behold," Jesus proclaims, "I stand at the door and knock." You may have already met him at the door...but do you truly "know" him? Have you been transformed by His furious, passionate, unexplainable love? Join Brennan Manning, the bestselling author of "The Ragamuffin Gospel, "on a personal journey to experience Christ's love and live with His passion.

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.

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