Some people think their struggles end when they become Christians. They think the addictions, shame, and insecurities that have plagued them will become fleeting memories in the past. Brennan Manning, author of All is Grace, is a first hand witness to just the opposite. Yes, Christ breaks our chains, but we are not incapable of running right back to the prison cell.
In his personal memoirs, Manning recounts various paths he took in life. “Honorable” paths such as Marine, Franciscan priest, public speaker, and painful paths that reveal his humanity such as ex-husband and alcoholic. Famous for other books like The Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning recounts in All is Grace that despite his encounters with his Abba Father, he still repeatedly relapsed into alcoholism because “justification by grace through faith means I have been set in a right relationship with God, not made the equivalent of a patient etherized on a table.”
Chapter by chapter, Manning pulls back the curtain to reveal the great and terrible Oz. He lets us into the hurt of his childhood, namely with his mother. He journeys with us through revelations and decisions (some good and some not good) to share the unending and incomprehensible love of God and His relentless grace. He’s real, he’s open, he’s honest (how refreshing), and he’s authentic. My heart strings were tugged with the notion this book included his last “sermon” for readers, and I was reminded how difficult it is to judge a man once you know his past and hear his heart.
This book was an quicker read in terms of length, language, and style. A perfect weekend read for that person who needs a reminder that a) we are not alone in stumbling; b) God loves us exactly as we are; and c) we cannot outrun God’s grace. The book shares pages of personal photos so you can put a face with a name and story. Between the opening foreward and the compilation of letters at the end written by friend’s of Manning, it’s evident that despite himself, Manning touched more lives than he could know. This is evidence that God does “work all things for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.”