Manning, Brennan - The Signature of Jesus

[BobHunt]

that I am reading right now, called "The Signature of Jesus". I will post more when I get further into it, but I know already you would really enjoy! I bought it on Amazon, saved a few dollars.

[Hans Deventer]

Looking forward to your review, Bob!

[Hans Deventer]

I ordered it today. Will I beat you to the review?

[Wilson L. Deaton]

Greetings!

This book is not new. It is nearly 20 years old.

I don't remember details well enough to "review" it here but I can say that it was awesome!

Wilson

P.S. Could I make a request. It would be nice for this particular forum if everyone would follow the "title" guidelines that were suggested. It's convenient to be able to scan down the list and see, "Author, Title." Could one of you Moderators "fix" the titles here that don't?

[Hans Deventer]

P.S. Could I make a request. It would be nice for this particular forum if everyone would follow the "title" guidelines that were suggested. It's convenient to be able to scan down the list and see, "Author, Title." Could one of you Moderators "fix" the titles here that don't?

Sure!

[BobHunt]

The signature of Jesus, the Cross, is the ultimate expression of God's love for the world. The church is the church of the crucified, risen Christ only when it is stamped with his signature; only when it faces outward and moves with Him along the way of the Cross. Turned inward upon itself in bickering and theological hairsplitting, the church loses its identity and mission.
To be a Christian is to be like Christ. Somehow we must lose our own life in order to find it. Christianity preaches not only a crucified God but also crucified men and women.
I think that this book is a call to experience the crucified life, the deeper life. The Gospel of the Cross is no Pollyanna tale for the neutral--it is a cutting knife, rolling thunder and a convulsive earthquake in the human spirit. The world should force us to reasess the entire direction of our lives.
As the back cover reads, this book is for those who recognize that many of the burning theological issues in the church today are neither burning or 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.
He talks in another chapter of how we as Christians ought to be idnetified to the world and to each other. Jesus said that the sign of discipleship would be our love for one another. He says "We would be known as his followers not because we are chaste, celibate, honest, sober, or respectable; not because we are church-going, Bible totting, or Psalm-singing. Rather, we would be recognized as disciples primarily by OUR DEEP AND DELICATE RESPECT FOR ONE ANOTHER, OUR CORDIAL LOVE IMPREGNATED WITH REVERENCE FOR THE SACRED DIMENSION OF THE HUMAN PERSONALITY. (Whoops...I had caps on there lol)
But that line really hit home. Does deep and delicate respect for one another even exist any more????That is the question. Sometimes I think people pride themselves in how arrogant they can be, thinking that they know better than some others, who if they were a little smarter and did a little more work woould know better themselves.
Could it be that Manning is saying that our whole Christianity is not wrapped up and completed in doctrines and dogmas, in priding ourselves that we dont believe the false way of the Calvinists or the Wesleyans or the Catholics, but in reality, our whole Christian life is a love affair with Jesus, an affair that continues the rest of our life, ever growing closer and sweeter every day? A love affair so strong and vital that it instills within our very soul a desire to have His stamp and signature on our hearts? I am reminded of the old hymn that we used to sing and the words of the chorus that said "stamp thy own image deep on my heart."
He quotes Henri Nouwen in another place, as he speaks about our responding to God's love through adoration.
When Henri Nouwen asked his spiritual guide, "how do I live a life in which Jesus is truely the center?" the reply came:
"This word makes it clear that all my attention must be on Jesus, not on myself. To adore is to be drawn away from my own preoccupations into the presence of Jesus. It means letting go of what I want, desire, or have planned, and fully trusting Jesus and His love."
In other words, He can do with me what He wants.

I did not realize this, but Manning has spoken in some of the Praise Gatherings right here in Indianapolis, I suppose with the Gaithers. I dont know about others, but after reading this, I feel as though I have not even begun to touch the real Christian living that is given in the Word.
Maybe God has some real living planned ahead for me....maybe for you....the question is...will we allow Him to lead us into it...even if it upsets our applecarts and and turns our spiritual homes upside down. This love affair is radical....many people would call it extreme or going off the deep end.....but thats what Jesus calls us to.
Hans, if you are reading this...I hope you add your own review here..

[Hans Deventer]

I dont know about others, but after reading this, I feel as though I have not even begun to touch the real Christian living that is given in the Word.
Maybe God has some real living planned ahead for me....maybe for you....the question is...will we allow Him to lead us into it...even if it upsets our applecarts and and turns our spiritual homes upside down. This love affair is radical....many people would call it extreme or going off the deep end.....but thats what Jesus calls us to.
Hans, if you are reading this...I hope you add your own review here..

I will and I very much recognize what you are writing here, Bob. Especially the first sentence quoted above. Thank you for sharing!!!

[Ron Davis]

I will and I very much recognize what you are writing here, Bob. Especially the first sentence quoted above. Thank you for sharing!!!

I too recognize what Bob is writing. After reading Manning and Nouwen I get the sense that we Nazarenes are missing the point much of the time. On the one side we have a Compassionate Ministries organization that is as good as any. Our commitment to missions is wonderful. But at the district and local level the focus seems to be bodies, budgets, and buildings. I have even found it difficult personally to get away from that focus. I get discouraged when no one shows up for our Sunday evening teen service. I worry about the finances. It is so easy to become consumed by these issues.

Other than Naznet I even find it difficult to discuss things like infant baptism and children at communion because there are few who will discuss with any consideration at all for another point of view. Personal beliefs are held as if they were hand delivered by God to them.

[BobHunt]

very sorry I used the word "new", I meant it was new to me.

[Hans Deventer]

Bob, first of all, I want to thank you very much for introducing me to this writer. It is wonderful to see the purpose of this forum come back to myself as a blessing as well.

Second, I just finished the book today but in no way am I able to review it yet. It requires a second reading, if not a third and a fourth. Actually, it requires living with the Signature of Jesus. But perhaps the last paragraph of the book (on page 228) does it some justice:

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 nor 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.

[BobHunt]

Hans, there is a scripture somewhere (and this might be the old KJV) of it, and it goes like this "in whom we have not seen, but love..." and this has to be the basis of the whole Christian journey.
Glad you enjoyed the book, I am reading it still, but taking my time....trying to get some more of it im my mind.

[Edith K. Thurmond]

Bob, first of all, I want to thank you very much for introducing me to this writer. It is wonderful to see the purpose of this forum come back to myself as a blessing as well.

Second, I just finished the book today but in no way am I able to review it yet. It requires a second reading, if not a third and a fourth. Actually, it requires living with the Signature of Jesus. But perhaps the last paragraph of the book (on page 228) does it some justice:

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 nor 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.

Hans, I agree with you and others that Brennan Manning has much to teach us.

Recently, I had dinner with several friends and our conversation covered many topics - one of them being Brennan Manning and his work. One person relayed that Brennan Manning was scheduled to speak at his fairly large Nazarene church about 10 years ago and when people arrived and found out that he was a Catholic, they left in droves. He was an usher and his best estimate was that about 500 actually left and did not hear the sermon. Of the ones who remained, they were definitely most blessed.

Clerical collar was not worn by the speaker that day. He was in turquoise sweats and Nike sport shoes and the pulpit had been removed from the platform. He spoke for an hour, without any notes, and quoted Bible passages and then amplified on them. Everything he said came from inside his heart and these friends said that the 'glory of God' was just hovering over him and radiating from inside him. One of the ladies even said that, in his quiet way, he enabled the audience to actually connect with God in a transformational way. Enough good words could not be said about what his ministry had meant to them that particular day. And what a blessing was missed by all the people who left!

There has been a thread previously on Naznet about people and their "sacred cows." Perhaps, listening to and learning from others outside our own faith community is one of those "sacred cows" that has been surrendered and released. I think I will now go and listen to a Fr. John Michael Talbot music CD - one of my favorites.

Blessings and smiles,

[Hans Deventer]

Edith, it reminds me of the words of Jesus:

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

Way too often, prejudices make us blind to what Wesley preached about quite frequently: "the time of thy visitation" and what to do with that time!

[BobHunt]

I sure can tell that he connected to God in a special way through his writings! They have been a very special blessing to me and have caused a hunger inside of me to know more of God. How the Lord would want a Ragmuffin like me I dont know, but Manning helps us see what God can do with that sort of person!

[Hans Deventer]

Strange, only today I really saw what the cover of the book displayed: water turning into wine.

[William Hunter]

I have a new home bible study group that will start on the 21st of May in the evening (we do not have Sunday evening services, rather small group ministries). They won't be using this book you mention as a base, but Manning's book, The Ragamuffin Gospel." Their goal is to outreach to unchurched young couples.

I've read most of Manning's stuff and find it wonderful and challenging reading. When my youngest daughter was in ONU they had Mannning come and speak. She let me know and I drove up to hear him. He is even better in person. I would drive some distance to hear this man.




that I am reading right now, called "The Signature of Jesus". I will post more when I get further into it, but I know already you would really enjoy! I bought it on Amazon, saved a few dollars.

[Hans Deventer]

that I am reading right now, called "The Signature of Jesus". I will post more when I get further into it, but I know already you would really enjoy! I bought it on Amazon, saved a few dollars.

Bob, the Dutch translation is out since a couple of months. I got it today and we'll be using it in our Bible Study group from September on. I'm looking forward to it!