79 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
How then do we live???, November 14, 2000
Most people who are aquainted with Brennan Manning have read The Ragamuffin Gospel. The Ragamuffin Gospel showers us with the love of God, in ways that most of us have never experienced before. In the Ragamuffin Gospel, we begin to accept ourselves, but more importantly, to accept that God truly does love and accept us as we are.
But then what? I know that I am loved by God, and I am beginning to love myself a little because of that fact. But what do I do when darkness overtakes my life, when unjust things happen, or when I become apathetic about the Christian life? This book sends us deeper into the world of a loving God, deeper into the involvement of that God in our lives. One of the main lessons I have taken from it is that if I am to trust God when things get difficult, I need to focus on His attributes daily when things are going well. The Word tells us in so many ways that God loves, protects, and sustains us, that He is attentive and aware of our needs and hardships. This book will get you thinking more about the attributes of your God.
Manning writes that we cannot will ourselves to trust God. Trusting God comes from years of learning of Him, of seeing Him act, and of reading His Word. This kind of trust is ruthless, because we begin to trust God even when the storms overtake us. It's ruthless because it appears to be crazy, and we may even feel crazy when we trust God radically.
It took me a while to get into this book. Some points seem overemphasized and go on for pages, but they are effective in the end. The concepts in this book will ring true in your spirit. You probably know them, but have never put them into words. Most of us have never been challenged to develop this kind of trust, but we have been slowly developing it as a result of our relationship with God. This book shows us what it looks like to have a living, active trust in loving Abba. It challenges us to grow faster and deeper towards abandon to that "reckless raging fury" of which Rich Mullins sings.
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Manning's Best, November 13, 2003
Brennan Manning writes in Ruthless Trust that "trust is our gift back to God." Throughout the book, he identifies reasons why we may have problems trusting God and many more reasons why God is completely trustworthy.
Through autobiographical accounts, stories, quotes, and by drawing from his extensive learning and his tried and tested relationship with God, Manning targets the reader's relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Manning drives the point home that we are loved unconditionally and enormously by God. He emphasizes that we are loved as we are today with all of our weaknesses, imperfections and mistakes. He writes that what gives God pleasure more than anything in creation is a believer trusting that he or she is loved.
Manning's thrust encourages the reader to experience the presence of the Lord in the present. He affirms to us that we do not need to worry about the past or fret the future because our Soul's Sufficiency is with us in the now.
One of the obstacles to trusting God that people face, says Manning, is that we have a distorted perception of God. In this book, he presents a true image of the welcoming, gentle God who died on the cross to be with us.
Manning attacks some of the false images of God that have been presented by the religious over the years. At one point in the book, he summarizes his belief regarding this distortion of God's image:
Thirty-seven years of pastoral experience with Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelicals, fundamentalists, Seventh Day Adventists, blacks, whites, Asians, and Hispanics tell me unmistakably that many a believer's perception of God is radically wrong. (72)
Manning effectively leads the reader to comprehension of a true image of our God. The God Manning writes about draws us into his presence daily with love and kindness.
Another problem that Manning addresses is the plague of low self-esteem among Christians. He argues that low self-esteem keeps Christians wallowing in guilt and shame and prevents the full acceptance of Christ's redemption. Manning also decries the tone of low self-esteem and insecurity that often underlies religious messages. He shares how such messages condemn listeners and push them from intimacy with the Lord:
From personal experience I can testify that the language of low self-esteem is harsh and demanding; it abuses, accuses, rejects, finds fault, blames, condemns, reproaches, and scolds in a monologue of impatience and chastisement. (16)
Unfortunately, many Christians, like Manning, have been the object of such assaults that lead to self-analysis and doubt in our righteousness in Christ. Manning writes that such messages are in sharp contrast to the words of life continually coming from God.
Manning doesn't imply that Christians should ignore sins; rather, he strives to help us acknowledge our flaws and brokenness, so that we can confess our sins and accept ourselves as Christ does-without condemnation or accusation but with gladness of heart.
He points out that in too many cases in the North American church our obsession with self has led to self-hatred. His words in this book lead us from self-consciousness to God-consciousness. As we turn to God and gain an accurate image of him, we learn that we can trust him through joy and through trials.
I think for all earnest readers, the end result of reading Ruthless Trust will be a stronger willingness and desire to trust God. Through the process of reading the book, readers will find themselves being drawn into the intimacy of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that is an outcome to be celebrated.
Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays
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