It has been over twenty years since the publication of The Ragamuffin Gospel, a book many claim as the shattering of God's grace into their lives. Since that time, Brennan Manning has been dazzlingly faithful in preaching and writing variations on that singular theme, "Yes, Abba is very fond of you!" But today the crowds are gone and the lights are dim, the patches on his knees have faded. If he ever was a ragamuffin, truly it is now. In this his final book, Brennan roves back his past, honoring the lives of the people closest to him, family and friends who've known the saint and the sinner, the boy and the man. Far from some chronological timeline, these memories are witness to the truth of life by one who has lived it.
C2, Zondervan, and World Vision are teaming together on the most ambitious and ecumenical curriculum promoting Christian social responsibility and justice ever conceived. A topic that has been building a great deal of buzz within the ranks of Church leadership, but has not yet ignited as an action based movement among North American Christians. That's 77 million potential Good Samaritans sitting in the pews. And the time is now. The people are ready. The market is ready for the book, START -- becoming a Good Samaritan.
START's headliner curriculum (list attached) brings together topical experts, theologians, mega-church pastors, front-line workers, victims, encouragers, and even 'unknowns' to offer a complete picture of the problem and a practical understanding of how to be a Good Samaritan right now, right where each of us lives.
We are all too painfully aware that the Church today is not known as Good Samaritans. We're known more as the Priest or the Levite from the story -- or worse. Rick Warren put his finger on the aching need for this curriculum and book when he said, 'It's time for a second reformation, not one of theology, but of works.'
