The Furious Longing of God

The Furious Longing of God

4.26 of 5 stars 4.26  ·  rating details  ·  771 ratings  ·  91 reviews
Imagine a stormy day at sea, your ship yielding to a relentless wind, pummeled by crashing waves, subject to the awesome force of nature. A force that is both fierce and majestic. A power that is nothing short of furious.

Such is God's intense, consuming love for His children. It's a love that knows no limits, and no boundaries. A love that will go to any lengths, and take...more
Hardcover, 144 pages
Published March 1st 2009 by David C. Cook (first published January 1st 2009)
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Robin
Brennan Manning’s recurring theme throughout his 44-year ministry has been that of God seeking intimacy with us. As experienced by Mr. Manning, a recovering alcoholic and former Franciscan priest, that message of grace and love was developed in his earlier books, including The Ragamuffin Gospel.
This newest and very small volume is a sort of love story for the brokenhearted, recounting the tender yet tenacious love of God pursuing us, especially those who feel they can never measure up. It is a s...more
Samuel Kordik
The number of highlights in a book is a good indicator for how much it hits my deep parts, for how profound or forceful I find it. The Furious Longing of God has far more highlights than any other book I've read this year. Over and over again, Manning hits hard and deep, reaching into my heart and fanning the flames of my spirit.

In a sermon I listened to a few months ago, John Piper asserts that holy affections (the passionate emotions reaching out to God) are just important as right theology. (...more
Billy
Encouraging, if not entirely forthright...,

This book, on the whole, is an encouraging and uplifting reminder of what it is that God is; Love. The entire book focuses on the importance of love in all facets of life; our lives, God's, the Church's. It is highly reassuring and supportive in it's use of scripture and Manning's use of 'real-world' examples are accurate, on target.

This is definitely a good read for anyone that is struggling with acceptance as it clearly illustrates, again with scriptu...more
Bart Breen
A Stirring and Focusing Read

Brennan Manning has written a provocative little devotional that will likely comfort the afflicated while afflicting the comfortable. This is a series of short devotional thoughts that should provide fodder for the thoughtful Christian to ruminate over continually.

Brennan is known by manner for his honest stream of consciousness type writing and he doesn't disappoint here. Whether tying the love of God and Christ as evidenced upon the cross back the the furious passio...more
Jim
May 05, 2009 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: own
Having read some other works by Manning, I will start off by saying that this book is very similar in theme to his previous works. Manning’s essential message is the same: God loves you, and if you have to tack on any thing else to that statement then you haven’t quite gotten the gospel message.

Manning’s work is a challenge because we all have a tendency to tack on other things to that basic message. We say: “God loves you BUT…”, “God loves you WHEN”, or “IF you…THEN God will love you.” Far too...more
Crystal
Brennan shares in this volume many of the ideas and stories we have heard when he speaks at conferences and retreats. Here are those “I’ve got to remember what he has said” moments gathered in this small book that is well worth the purchase price. Brennan continues in his long line of spiritually liberating book that share the grace of God, our Abba, better than any other teacher I have heard. Brennan doesn’t pretend to be a spiritual giant but shares with his readers what he’s learned of God’s...more
Ben Zajdel
Brennan Manning's latest work focuses on the yearning of God toward the human condition. Manning fills this book with short anecdotes about the life he has lived, but the stories are not the center of the book.

In this short work, Manning points out our normal stereotypes of God, including some that he has possessed in his past, and shows that the God of the Bible furiously longs to have fellowship with his children. This is not an angry, judgemental God, but one that calls all to love and repen...more
Debbie
Powerful message for such a short book. The theme is easily accessible, and Manning continually reiterates it and illustrates it, which is fine - it is a beautiful message. Distilled, his theme comes from Gal. 5:6 (which he quotes): "the only thing that matters is the faith that expresses itself in love." In practical terms, does the love of God determine everything I do - the why and the how? Have I moved the idea of God's love from my head to my heart and, thus, my actions? I KNOW the concept;...more
Jane
Jun 17, 2012 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: own
Oh my word, what a gem of a little book. This finally arrived on Saturday afternoon, and I'd finished it by bed time. And now, on Monday, I'm halfway through it again. This book will become so tatty and rag-earred, I suspect I will some day have to replace it with a fresh copy. Brennan Manning describes so honestly, so rawly, so tenderly, but so too so confrontingly how intimate, deep, unfathomable and dependable is God's love for us. And so too, the power (which feels like too aggressive a word...more
Holly
Oct 27, 2009 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all
This book was amazing and just what I needed! Sometimes we get so wrapped up in trying to understand God that we forget that He already understands us completely...more than we know ourselves. And we can and should just rest in that. Knowing that He loves me (and you) SO deeply and passionately makes me feel a little wild...In a good way. :)

I love books that make you think, evaluate and challenge how you perceive things. This is one of those books for me. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but it...more
Katie Casey
Great inspiring book from one of my favorite authors!

Here's what is most sticking with me right now:

"Is your own personal prayer life characterized by the simplicity, childlike candor, boundless trust, and easy familiarity of a little one crawling up in Daddy's lap? An assured knowing that the daddy doesn't care if the child falls asleep, starts playing with toys, or even starts chatting with little friends, because the daddy knows the child has essentially chosen to be with him for that moment?...more
Bethany
The premise of the book is pretty much summed up in this quote:

God is sheer Being-in-Love and there was never a time when God was not love. The foundation of the furious longing of God is the father who is the originating Lover, the Son who is the full self-expression of that Love, and the Spirit who is the original and inexhaustible activity of that Love, drawing the created universe into itself.

I love this phrase found in a prayer: "I have no sense of myself apart from You."

God the Lover want...more
Mark Andrew
In this the second last of 22 books that Brennan Manning has released, the 77-year-old author doesn't waver from his basic message: God's love for us is intense, relentless, furious, and at the same time gentle and ever tender. Manning, also the author of Abba's Child, Stranger To Self-Hatred, Ruthless Trust,and his most popular book The Ragamuffin Gospel, continues to shatter our images of God as aloof, curmudgeonly, and stingy. What we are left with are words that once again pierce our hearts...more
Sue
Brennan Manning's books focus on the powerful, furious (in the best sense of the word) love of God for all his children. So I'm always glad to have the opportunity to read another one, and was delighted to find this on special offer, free for the Kindle. It's a short book, which enlarges again on the same theme - that Christianity without love offers nothing. That our role is to be submerged in God's love, and to reach out to others.

I didn't find it as mind-blowingly powerful as I did the first...more
Timothy Davis
Short and powerful! Another great read from Brennan Manning. This book continues to reaffirm his life's message: Abba's passionate love for you, not as you should be, but as you are right now. It's so easy for us to move away from this into a performance-based Christianity, feeling good about ourselves when we can check off our to-do list (spent 30 minutes quiet time, mentioned "Jesus" to the guy on the bus, went to the prayer meeting), and feeling guilty when we're not cutting it. None of this...more
Darlene
I'll make this short.

I think everyone should read this book. Everyone. It illustrates the great love God has for you, based on who you are and not who you should be. It is beautiful, honest and simple.

I am sad that Brennan Manning left this earth a couple of weeks ago and I am just now reading his work. I plan to read more. I read this one on my Kindle but it is safe to say I will purchase a hard copy for my shelf.

If I could give it 6 stars I would, just because he writes about The Giving Tree...more
Kristian Kilgore
(note: I've made the decision to supplement my regular reading with a few audio books this year. This is the first in that list. I highly recommend Audible.com for this purpose.)

I've read Brennan Manning before and I will read him again. He unapologetically makes grandiose statements about the love of God. He's notorious for this. He writes about the the embrace of the Father in such sweeping and epic terms that He seems to believe that even if you don't believe you're surrounded by His love you...more
Denise Dykstra
I "read" this by listening to it. It is my first Brennan Manning book and I look forward to reading more.

I also check the book out and I will have to go through and type out some highlights because there are some great nuggets in this book and you hear them, then they are gone.

I recommend reading this book. It's fine to listen to - great really - but I still want to read the book. It's just so packed full.

Quick listen/read - two days worth of folding clothes.
Jonathan
No one tells better true stories than Brennan Manning. Like each of his books, if you have a heart this one will bring tears to your eyes. While "Furious" is not perhaps as brilliant or profound as "Ragamuffin Gospel" or "Abba's Child," it is a worthy read and will remind you indeed of God's furious longing for you. Manning challenges you and me to take the grace we have been given and to extend it in love to one another. This, he revisits, is what sets apart a true disciple.
Amberlee Bixler
This is the first book by Brennan Manning I've read, and he is such a simply beautiful gift. The book is not long, it is not filled with haunting, romantic language; it is simply, staggeringly, hauntingly true. The theme, found in the title, resonates that God's love for each of us rages in its ferocity like a storm at sea, and we have the option of hiding in what is known and familiar, or thrusting ourselves fully into the raging, cleansing, extravagant love of God.
Terri
I love when people write books about their longing and learning of God in "real language". The way they speak, not to sound like someone they are not. It seems to me that when a book is written in that manner that it is really from the heart. I believe Brennan writes from the heart, not just the mind as to sound theologically wise and learned. It's a good God book, it offers a lot to think about.... and smile about. It makes me say, Thank You Jesus!
Lauren
Loved this book and a quick read. My favorite part is from John 13:22-24 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” I love how Brennan notices John resting his head on Jesus's shoulder and the closeness he feels to Him. How I finally get portions of that concept! I have always enjoyed John and crack up wh...more
Gary Patton
You would be wise to read Brennan's "The Furious Longing of God" as well as his ''Ragamuffin Gospel".

When you do, a Jesus Follower will better understand who they really are "in Messiah".

A Non-Follower will discover Whom God really is and what you're missing not knowing Him through Jesus, "God, The One & Only"!

Enjoy and blessings,

GaryFPatton (gfp '42™)
Giedra
This is the simplest of Manning's books. I read it on the heels of 2 of his longer, more dense books, so it seemed almost too simplistic by comparison. However, I think that a lot of readers would prefer this book to Manning's others because it IS simpler and more straightforward.

I love Brennan Manning in any form. His raw honesty about his journey getting to know God and falling away and coming back again (repeatedly) is encouraging to me, and I like his ecumenical perspective.
Diana
The scariest part of this book was how difficult I found it to believe. This perhaps says more of my current state that Manning's writing. As I finished, I felt like a little girl singing "Jesus Loves Me," alternating between yearning and defiance. Jesus loves me? Jesus loves me!
 Gloria Maria  Vazquez
This is my first read by author, Brennan Manning. I absolutely loved the book. It is a very short book, just a little over 100 pages, but the size of the book does not match its depth. Brennan dives deeply into the radical concept of God's furious love for each one of us. He loves us just as we are, not as we should be.
Steffi Greeff
I loved this book. It breaks away from over-theoretical and theological interpretations, to take a more practical and simple approach to God's relationship to man. Rather than trying to justify or judge man's weakness, it shifts the focus not on our sinfulness, but on God's love and the upmost necessity of our unity with God.
Ryan Adair
This was a wonderful book. Manning is so real, authentic, and reveals the love of God in a unique way. I love the relatable style he writes in, causing the reader to think and meditate on what he is saying. A wonderful book that I'll read again.
Anna Salahub
Too much emphasis on love, love is not the only God's attribute, and some people might interpret what the author talks about in a very wrong way. So I wish Brennan could address the downturns of what he discusses. However, it still encourages a lot and helps to remember how God is enough.
Janelle
Wow! This book really spoke to me.
The journey of attempting to comprehend the depth of God's love for me is one that I am currently on, and the stories Brennan Manning shared, both from his own life and others, resonated loudly. I am Abba's.
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The Furious Longing of God (Kindle Edition)
Het onstuimige verlangen van God... naar jou (Paperback)
The Furious Longing of God (Paperback)
The Furious Longing of God (ebook)
The Furious Longing of God (Audio CD)

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Richard Francis Xavier Manning, known as Brennan Manning (April 27, 1934 – April 12, 2013)was an American author, friar, priest, contemplative and speaker.Born and raised in Depression-era New York City, Manning finished high school, enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and fought in the Korean War. After returning to the United States, he enrolled at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania....more
More about Brennan Manning...
The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin's Path to God All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir The Signature of Jesus: The Call to a Life Marked by Holy Passion and Relentless Faith

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“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.” 90 people liked it
“There is the "you" that people see and then there is the "rest of you". Take some time and craft a picture of the "rest of you." This could be a drawing, in words, even a song. Just remember that the chances are good it will be full of paradox and contradictions. ” 31 people liked it
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