Insanely good book

I am reading a book called The Signature of Jesus by Bennan Manning. He is pretty radical and edgy and intense but he also has some incredible stuff to say about the reality of "the Christian life" the American Dream, and what being a disciple of Jesus really means. I urge you to pick up the book but be prepared to read some tough stuff. it's really challenging but so honest.

some excepts...

"The greatest need for our time is for the church to become what is has seldom been: the body of Christ with its face to the world, loving others regardless of religion or culture, pouring itself out in a life of service, offering hope to a frightened world, and presenting itself as a real alternative to the existing arrangement"

"Only the one who has experienced is can know what the love of Jesus Christ is. Once you have experienced it, nothing else in the world will seem more beautiful or desirable"

"If indeed we lived a life in imitation of his, our witness would be irresistable. If we dared to live beyond our self-concern; if we refused to shrink from being vulnerable; if we took nothing but a compassionate attitude toward the world; if we were a counterculture to our nation's lunatic list for pride of place, power, and posessions; if we preferred to be faithful rather than successful, the walls of indifference to Jesus Christ would crumble. A handful of us could be ignored by society, but hundreds, thousands, millions of such servants would overwhelm the world. Christians filled with the authenticity, commitment, and generosity of Jesus would be the most spectacular sign in the history of the human race. The call of Jesus is revolutionary. If we implemented it, we would change the world in a few months."

"Simplicity, purity, and obedience to the Word will leave us weak and powerless in the world's eyes because we no longer can call upon our possessions and privileged positions as security. We will be subject to derision and outrage becaue authentic discipleship is a life of sublime madness."

I am chewing on a lot of this stuff. Knowing that I am far from living life in some of these ways, but desiring to be closer to God. He makes some really interesting and radical points that are making me think today.