Missing Brennan
I’ve decided that the blog this week will be a memorial to people that have greatly influenced me—specifically to those who’ve already gone home.
Brennan Manning (1934-2013). I am certain that, if you ever heard Brennan speak or read one of his books, you are simply nodding your head right now as to why he’s on my list. What Rich Mullins was to music, Brennan was to books. I think that perhaps Brennan Manning understood true grace as well as anyone who has every lived. He understood what it’s like to simply be loved by God—and to quit trying so hard to love God.
His writing changed my life. . . no kidding. The Ragamuffin Gospel was a game-changer for me in my college days (and is the book title that inspired Rich Mullins to name his group “The Ragamuffin Band.”) The Signature of Jesus, Abba’s Child, and Ruthless Trust also rocked my world. Then Lion and Lamb changed everything for me. If you have time and want to read THE excerpt that changed the course of my life in September of 1992, click here. for a PDF about Pioneer and Settler Theology (2 pages long).
If all of his writings were to be summarized in one sentence it would probably be, as others have said, “Yes, Abba is very fond of you.” No, I’m not talking about the band. Abba is the Aramaic term for “Daddy” and is used in the New Testament. Brennan Manning, like Rich Mullins, had an intimate relationship with his Abba based not on religion but based on being rescued—something we don’t like to think of ourselves as needing. He helped me understand that when I was grasping for clarity in my college days—and beyond.
I can’t wait to see Brennan again. He’s probably with Rich trading stories, reciting poetry, and being with the One who is very fond of them. And me. And you.
"In contemporary Christianity there is an essential difference between belief and faith. Our religious beliefs are the visible expression of our faith, our personal commitment to the person of Jesus. However, if the Christian beliefs inherited from our family and passed on to us by our church tradition are not grounded in a shattering, life-changing experience of Jesus as the Christ, then the chasm between our credal statements and our faith-experience widens and our witness is worthless. The gospel will persuade no one unless it has so convinced us that we are transformed by it.” —The Signature of Jesus
“Do you believe that the God of Jesus loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness? Beyond fidelity and infidelity? That He loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain. That He loves you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse is, your whole being rejects it? Do you believe that God loves without condition or reservation and loves you this moment as you are and not as you should be?”
If you’ve read this far and want to see a minute and a half long video that was played at Brennan’s funeral, click here. It has some video of him toward the end of his life as well as video of what I remember him being like when I heard him speak several times in the late 80’s and early 90’s.