The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

Excepting the bible itself, this is the most highly regarded and oft recommended book I have ever had the priveledge of reading. I have given away three copies, and will continue to do so whenever possible. I was brought up in the church, my father was a minister and a very loving person, and I became a follower of Christ at the age of 18, yet I never had the slightest understanding of the much-touted "grace of God" until I read this book. I felt like Paul on the road to Damascus - blinded by the light. For the first time, I understood what it meant to be loved by God; to be UNABLE to make God hate me or give up on me (he won't...ever)! I cannot truly describe the feeling - it felt like Oxygen to a drowning man. I was finally free to love and forgive. To understand love is to understand grace - and vice versa. If you have ever felt your life to be a "grave disappointment to God", please, please, PLEASE do yourself the kindness of buying this book. Let yourself know the real God who wants to make you his child. from one Ragamuffin to all you other ones, Peace.

I read the original version of this book over 4 years ago and it changed my life. I am so excited to see this book reissued.The message of Manning's book is The Gospel, pure and undefiled...God loves you, no strings attached. Not only does God love you but He is pleased with you and His saving grace is always there for you.The book helped me out greatly because I was in a spiritually abusive situation at the time I read this it and it helped me to realize that there was nothing I could do to earn God's love. Many Christians accept God's Grace freely when they first dedicate their lives to Him. They then spend the rest of their spiritual walk trying earn that love and forgiveness (which we can never do).Brother Manning's book is a refreshing Oasis in a Christian world full of works-oriented deserts. Even if you think you completely understand what Grace and Love are all about there will be something for you in this book. This book will challenge the very way you look at God.Included in this book is a foreward by Contemporary Christian Music giant, Michael W. Smith, plus a 10 year's after update by Manning, a study guide.If you have yet to read this book, what are you waiting for? If you read this book a long time ago, now is the time to re-read it.

I was raised a Catholic and am now a United Methodist. Never have I been told the material that resides in this book. I picked it up because I wanted to understand the reference Rich Mullins used in naming his Ragamuffin Band. It did far more for me that I can explain. I have spent my life listening to how God would "strike me down" with every sin and that my fate would be hell if I could not keep myself sinless. This impossible task drove me away from the church and nearly kept me away. Manning's message of grace was a shot in the arm to my faith. Never have I felt closer to God than after reading this book. I no longer doubt my destination.

I would recommend reading this book over and over, and over. Leave it alone for a while, and then if you're truly bored with life, read it again! Brennan Manning captures the real message about the wonderful grace and unconditional love of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Open your heart to what Brennan presents to us and look at what Jesus gives us in a whole new light. But, of course, don't substitute what is contained in this book for what is so well-established in the Bible, God's Holy Word. The truth does set us free!

"The tendency in legalistic religion is to mistrust God, to mistrust others, and consequently to mistrust ourselves. Allow me to become personal for a moment. Do you really believe that the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is gracious, that he cares about you? Do you really believe that he is always, unfailingly, present to you as companion and support? Do you really believe that God is love?"With these words Brennan Manning challenges us to ask ourselves if we really believe. Are we willing to cast aside our action steps, our striving human effort, and make room for the God who is present, gracious, and who does care for us? Read this book and find out why you should.