Brennan Manning

A while back our church staff was invited to attend a "pastor's only" meeting with noted author Brennan Manning. He's written several books, and best known for one called The Ragamuffin Gospel. So, I was expecting the normal author lecture regarding his current work and why he thinks it's important. I've done these deals before and since I like his writing I was looking forward to this.

This one was different, though. He actually decided to teach...in effect, preach a sermon.

Since we come from different theological pedigrees, I was prepared for the natural differences that flared up, but I had an enjoyable time listening to him. He's very passionate.

Anyway, his talk was on developing a meaningful prayer life and focused on the key to doing that was to view God as "Father." The most striking note I got from his lesson was the list of people in the Old Testament, from national leaders to prophets who never got to call God their "Father." Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Moses, etc. No one. They viewed Him as an "unrelenting dependability" or "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Never as "daddy."

And then, when Jesus was asked how to pray by a primarily Jewish 1st century audience, he began by saying, "Our Father..."

What a contrast! That must've rocked that early audience's ears. It rocked mine 2000 years later in the sense of reading that same passage often and never making the connection between a thriving life of prayer and the childlike candor, unbridled trust and youthful abandon that a child would have when interacting with a loving, caring father.

Manning punctuated this reality with the statement about the reality that Jesus referred to God as "Abba" 148 times in the Gospels...a comparative translation from the Hebrew would be "daddy."

I'm thinking Brennan Manning might be on to something there...even if there was some generic-church-from-a-seminar (just follow the formula and you'll have a big church) and some incredibly loud music (which could hardly be called "worship") sandwiched around the main point.

It was a fantastic way to start the day.