Printer
Friendly page - click here
Book Review – Abba's Child |
|
by Brennan Manning
Review by Tom Gilbert
A secure child has a sense of being loved.
This is one of the key concepts in Abba’s
Child by Brennan Manning (NavPress). The idea that
God truly loves each of us, just for who we are, without
condition and continuously despite our many mistakes,
failings and hang-ups, is something that you might struggle
with. I do. Certainly the author does, as he relates so
honestly in this updated edition.
Everyone goes through spiritual dry spells. Often out
of the desert experience we grow in our intimacy with
God. Achieving real intimacy is the heart of this book.
How else can we use the term “Abba”? This
endearing name for our heavenly Father, literally “Daddy”,
is not one we will use as long as we are afraid and
insecure in our relationship to the Divine.
In the chapter the book takes its name from, Manning
relates an experience from a self-directed retreat.
He was into day five of this 8-day excursion into the
soul and feeling disoriented, scattered and bored. He
was dried up. Finally he went to the chapel and remained
there, unmoving and alert, in a straight-backed chair
for thirteen hours! His “great stare” meditation
ended with a phrase ringing in his head and heart: “live
in the wisdom of accepted tenderness”.
The difficulty of writing this type of book must be
the constant tension between knowing and accepting that
God loves you personally, and trying to convey that
same truth to the reader. We all probably want to accept
this truth. We simply cannot just because someone else
has. It must be experienced. Yet, we can be nudged closer
to opening ourselves to the truth. Here is the power
and beauty of “Abba’s Child”. Manning
exhorts us to trust that we are loved tenderly by God.
We, too, can cry out “Abba!” when we let
go of the false self (he names it the “Imposter”)
and become childlike in our heartfelt wonder for God’s
unconditional loving.
There can be no room for legalism, prejudice and spiritual
pride. As we progress on our path the tendency will
be towards these dark traits. No wonder that Jesus
had such sharp words for the Pharisees. Manning reminds
us to look at our own tendencies to judge, to be like
a Pharisee, and that we must continually root out this
sin.
It can seem like a never ending circle. When will the
imposter finally exit? This book tackles the hard questions
and leads us, shining the light of personal experience
in the hopes that we will follow and emerge from our
shadows.
Not only must we emerge from our shadows and expose
the imposter for the imitator he is, we must also firmly
come to grips with our true self. The real you, good
and bad…and God loving you in spite of, even because
of, your nature (both good and bad). Only a truly loving
father can love this way. Only the honest realization
that we are Abba’s children will allow us to accept
it.
Take this message together with a resurrected Messiah,
the first of many to call God “Abba”, and
you witness the real power of God’s plan. This
is precisely why Jesus is the way. The message of Christianity
is Christ is risen! God becomes our father, mother,
brother and sister. Manning lays this out as the center
piece in the chapter “Present Risenness”.
After building the case of our need to be Abba’s
child in the previous chapters he exclaims this great
news. Indeed, it is the Good News proclaimed in the
New Testament. We experience, through faith, the risen
Christ.
Once we experience this present risenness of Christ we
become convinced that life is not, and cannot be, meaningless.
A keen insight is seeing that Christ is risen
and present now in our lives. Not just an event in the
past, or a glorious future occurrence (the second coming).
This is crucial, because it changes how we view our savior.
“Here and now” is more powerful and more relevant
to our daily living. Or, as the author put it, “faith
in the present risenness of Jesus carries with it life-changing
implications for the gritty routine of daily life”.
For in seeing Jesus resurrected and alive in our lives,
even this very day, reminds us that God is truly with
us.
Ultimately, this book strives to awaken in each of
us the knowledge and acceptance that we are beloved
in the very same way as the apostle John. If you can
get there, you too, will rest your head on the breast
of Jesus. What a beautiful image. Put that together
with images of Jesus putting his arms around children,
and you get a much needed perspective of our place in
the family of God.
This book is not one to be speed read. Take your time
with it. Perhaps you will also utilize the study guide
in the back. It is a challenge, but definitely worth
taking.
|
Go
here for more reviews on Christian
books, movies, music and other products!
Visit our Featured Authors
section
|
 |
| |
Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
You'll
also receive Practical Biblical Solutions for life's
challenges with our free e-zine |
| |
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
"Travel"
along on our spiritual journey - visit our
Journal |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We
have more than 120,000 Christian books,
bibles, music,gifts, video, software and
more!
It's easy to find what you're looking for
by using our BROWSE feature to search for
your favorite type of
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
 |
