From Publishers Weekly
The popular Christian song of the title gets fleshed out via personal anecdote and scriptural quotation in this slim character study of Jesus by the author of The Ragamuffin Gospel. Manning, who first experienced transcendence when he was a young Marine, didn't like "chanting psalms in Latin with pantywaist eighteen-year-old postulates" during his seven days of seminary school. But on a last-minute trip around the Stations of the Cross, he says, he heard "a word that is my real name in the mind of God, a name spoken with indescribable tenderness and written on the white stone (Revelation 2:17)." He still left the seminary, but the faith Manning came to feel was a passionate, righteous one. Jesus, Manning says, "sets us free from fear of the Father and dislike of ourselves," shows us how to have "sovereign respect for people's dignity" and "brought a nonviolent revolution." Satan, on the other hand, "seduces us into dwelling on our past sins and stirs the pot of self-hatred." The song lyrics sprinkled without may have inspired this book, but its raison d'etre is Manning's vociferous and motivating cry to his fellow Christians to acknowledge the miracle that is the risen Jesus, to let themselves be loved by him and to let him "run wild in their lives." Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Take the rich lyrics of a Dove award-winning song, add the craftsmanship and wisdom of author Brennan Manning, and you have a book with unlimited possibilities for impact. "Above All," performed by Michael W. Smith, went quickly from its #1 spot on radio playlists to a cherished place in hearts, homes and worship services everywhere. Now the words that millions have been singing will bear fresh fruit as one of Christianity's most insightful and trusted authors personalizes the biblical truths in each phrase of the song. This beautifully crafted book brings the message of Christ's sovereignty and sacrifice alive and will extend the reach of this worshipful song to a new audience.


About the Author
Brennan Manning is the author of 10 books, including the bestsellers The Ragamuffin Gospel and Abba's Child. He leads spiritual retreats in the United States and Europe for people of all ages and backgrounds. He and his family live in New Orleans.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Who do you say that I am?" The question Jesus once asked of Simon Peter has continued to confront men and women through the centuries. Millions have answered with praises; millions have answered with curses -- crying their responses from pews and hospital beds and office cubicles and twenty-yard lines. It's a question that rings as both a challenge and eternal invitation -- and it's one each of us must ultimately ask: Who is this Jesus ... above all? And what ... above all ... does he mean in my life? Michael W. Smith spoke to this soul-searching issue when he performed Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche's award-winning song. "Above All." Brennan Manning now does the same in this thoughtful, passionate meditation on both the song and the Savior.

Manning pulls no punches in indicting our culture for its blindness, the church for its hypocrisy and short-sight-edness, and Christians for their sins -- his own included. But through it all he insists on the primacy and power of divine love, a love which has revolutionized his own life and is constantly, progressively transforming the world. Wise, passionate, beautifully crafted, and heartfelt, this book leads us unapologetically into the central mystery of faith: that the Christ who rules all of creation -- who is truly above all -- loves each of us tenderly and wants, above all, to live in our lives. This book really began in the mid-1950s when a young ex-Marine, having given up on a journalism career and now about to abandon a life in the priesthood, encountered the living Christ in the seminary chapel. The experience of being passionately and completely loved changed

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly