Trust is that rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father.
Brennan ManningRead
The kingdom is not an exclusive, well-trimmed suburb with snobbish rules about who can live there. No, it is for a larger, homelier, less self-conscious caste of people who understand they are sinners because they have experienced the yaw and pitch of moral struggle.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that the kingdom is open to all individuals who acknowledge their imperfections and moral challenges.
Brennan Manning's quote suggests that the concept of the kingdom is not limited to a select elite but is inclusive of those who recognize their own flaws and have endured moral struggles. It highlights the value of humility and authenticity over societal expectations or superficial judgments, inviting a broader and more accepting understanding of community and belonging.
In practice
During a community gathering, you could use this quote to challenge perceptions of who belongs in a community.
Trust is that rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father.
The sinners to whom Jesus directed His messianic ministry were not those who skipped morning devotions or Sunday church. His ministry was to those whom society considered real sinners. They had done nothing to merit salvation. Yet they opened themselves to the gift that was offered them. On the other hand, the self-righteous placed their trust in the works of the Law and closed their hearts to the message of grace.
There is the "you" that people see and then there is the "rest of you". Take some time and craft a picture of the "rest of you." This could be a drawing, in words, even a song. Just remember that the chances are good it will be full of paradox and contradictions.
Do you honestly believe God likes you, not just loves you because theologically God has to love you?
Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey, but the Kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors. No evil can resist grace forever.
For Ragamuffins, God's name is Mercy. We see our darkness as a prized possession because it drives us into the heart of God. Without mercy our darkness would plunge us into despair - for some, self-destruction. Time alone with God reveals the unfathomable depths of the poverty of the spirit. We are so poor that even our poverty is not our own: It belongs to the mysterium tremendum of a loving God.
The rich are always advising the poor, but the poor seldom return the compliment.
Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.
The Christian "doctrines" are translations into our concepts and ideas of that which God has already expressed in language more adequate, namely the actual incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection
Luck is like an atheistic word for God.
In the philosophic sense, observation shows and experiment teaches.
God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.
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