Before I bring this series to a close, I just want to share one more believer who “fathered me” into a deeper experience of the unconditional Father love of my God…Brennan Manning. I’m reposting the blog I wrote just after this dear brother went home to his Abba. It is entitled,
Welcome Home, Brennan: Abba’s Child April 2013
I’ve always been a worker bee…a religious, spiritual worker bee…but sincerely so. A God who was straight-faced, hardly cracking a smile, was the One I served. Despite that, I still loved Him, but I wanted Him to smile upon me. My journey took me through the “do & don’t” list of my “birth church” to a convent for several years to evangelical Christianity, all the while exchanging one “do & don’t” list for another…sincerely so, “born-again” so,…but working, ever working, not for my salvation, but for my sanctification…but sincerely so! Then after a health breakdown and all, I got to know the Living God…the great I AM! And you know what? He was smiling at me! Why? Because of Jesus and the love of His Abba and MINE!!!!
So when I discovered Brennan Manning’s books, way back when, they were pure joy and delight! They were like the sweetest of “fertilizer” for the young plant just beginning to grow of “being loved and embraced by my Abba” no matter what! So I am grateful to God for this “fellow runner” in the “race of faith.” He has been one in the magnificent “cloud of witnesses” surrounding me. Hebrews 11-12
I’ve quoted Manning several times over the past ten-plus years at a branch in the Vine. I’d like to share one of my favorites with my congratulations to a dear brother on his graduation to Glory! You will be missed, dear brother, but we know you would never want to come back!
We are not cowed into timidity by death and life. Were we forced to rely on our own shabby resources we would be pitiful people indeed. But the awareness of Christ’s present risenness persuades us that we are buoyed up and carried on by a life greater than our own.
The Christ within who is our hope of glory is not a matter of theological debate or philosophical speculation. He is not a hobby, a part-time project, a good theme for a book, or a last resort when all human effort fails. He is our life, the most real fact about us. He is the power and wisdom of God dwelling within us.The Rabbi’s Heartbeat, Brennan Manning
A CD by Rich Mullins was playing in my car this week. I thought it would be appropriate to share this song of his (one of my favorites) in memory of Rich’s mentor, Brennan Manning. Rich had named his band the Ragamuffin Band after Manning’s classic book Ragamuffin Gospel. Both Rich and Brennan are now in heaven, “getting caught up!” Enjoy!
If I Stand Rich Mullins
There’s more that rises in the morning
Than the sun
And more that shines in the night
Than just the moon
It’s more than just this fire here
That keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger
Than this room
And there’s a loyalty that’s deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver
Of all good things
Chorus:
So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can’t, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
There’s more that dances on the prairies
Than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean
Than the tide
There’s a love that is fiercer
Than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother’s
When her baby’s at her side
And there’s a loyalty that’s deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver
Of all good things
And if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can’t let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
View Brennan’s obituary and video tribute on his website:
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on A Branch in the Vine
Featured Image by cocoparisienne from Pixabay
