There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are. — BrennanManning

Uncritical acceptance of any party line is an idolatrous abdication of one’s core identity as Abba’s child. Neither liberal fairy dust nor conservative hardball addresses human dignity, which is often dressed in rags. - #BrennanManning

“Unless the church of the Lord Jesus creates a counter-current to the drift of materialism, self-indulgence, and nationalism, Christians will merely adapt to the secular environment in a tragic distortion of the gospel...” — #BrennanManning

Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer. To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. — Brennan Manning

If you know you are Beloved of God, you can live with an enormous amount of success and an enormous amount of failure without losing your identity, because your identity is that you are the Beloved. — henrinouwen

”To live is to change,” wrote John Henry Newman, “and to have lived well is to have changed often.” But the fear of failure prevents any surprise by the Spirit...In the lives of many Christians, apprehensions about making mistakes stunts growth, stifles the Spirit... — B. Manning

Life driven by our desire for security, pleasure and power dims the Light within us and introduces unnecessary mental and emotional sufferings, which are often misconstrued as spiritual trials...This is erroneous discernment.They are born of our will, not the will of God.—Manning

The journey to transparency requires that we humbly acknowledge, before God that we are inordinately preocupoied with security, pleasure, and power. (1/2)

It requires genuine compassion for others when we see them acting out their addictions and emotion-backed demands; it is our inner solidarity in darkness that reduces self-righteousness and irritability and makes compassion possible. (2/2) —Brennan Manning

A life of integrity has prophetic clout even with cynics. — Brennan Manning

God is love. Jesus is God. If Jesus ceased loving, He would cease being God. — Brennan Manning

The meaning of our lives emerges in the surrender of ourselves to an adventure of becoming who we are not yet. — Brennan Manning

Anti-Semitism is spit on the face of our Jewish Savior. To our shame much of it is Christian spit. — Brennan Manning

Accepting the reality of our sinfulness means accepting our authentic self. — Brennan Manning

“...when I draw life and meaning from any source other than my belovedness, I am spiritually dead...Our identity rests in God’s relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.” — Brennan Manning

“Here is the essence of perfect sincerity in conduct—to care for nothing but God’s judgement on our actions, not to vary our attitude to suit the company we’re in...sincerity means trying to make the outward man more and more like the inner man...” — Brennan Manning

Scripture is not about the transmission of inert ideas. It is a call to love, and love that does not lead to action is not love. — Brennan Manning

The tone of the Christ of God is not always sweet and consoling. The gospel is the Good News of gratuitous salvation, but does not promise a picnic on a green lawn. — Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish

Peace and joy go a-begging when the heart of a Christian longs for one sign after another of God’s merciful love...The troubled eyes and furrowed brow of a believer are the symptoms of a heart where trust has not found a home. — Brennan Manning

In the lives of many Christians, apprehension about making mistakes stunts growth, stifles the Spirit, and ensures the progressive narrowing of their personalities. — Brennan Manning