My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God
came not from exegesis, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting
still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me
understand with my head and heart His written Word. Sheer scholarship alone
cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of
books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of "knowing" Jesus
Christ personally and directly.
When the religious views of others interpose between us and
the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and
unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never
visited.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
