88 books like The Ragamuffin Gospel

By Brennan Manning,

Here are 88 books that The Ragamuffin Gospel fans have personally recommended if you like The Ragamuffin Gospel. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God

Harry Kraus Author Of Could I Have This Dance?

From my list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a practicing board-certified general surgeon and my writing reflects the medical authenticity of an “insider.” I have divided my professional life between practice in America, and also in East Africa, serving as a surgeon and instructor. I am also a man of grace, who has sought to fight against a legalistic Christianity of my youth. We experience life in story, and fiction is the perfect way to teach the heart concepts of love, and perhaps stir within the reader a longing for something more.

Harry's book list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more

Harry Kraus Why did Harry love this book?

This book presents Christianity the way it was intended to be, but is rarely experienced: a love relationship initiated by our Heavenly Father who has pursued us with a quiet, lifelong haunting. 

By Brent Curtis, John Eldredge,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sacred Romance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

If you're feeling lost, disconnected, or longing for something more, join bestselling authors John Eldredge and Brent Curtis as they explore the greatest love of our lives: our faith. The Sacred Romance invites us to find the peace and purpose we crave by slowing down, asking questions, and deepening our relationship with God.

Eldredge and Curtis believe that modern Christians have lost touch with our hearts. We've left that essential part of ourselves behind in the pursuit of efficiency, success, and the busyness of our lives.

The Sacred Romance will guide you through a journey to getting to know yourself…


Book cover of The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life

Harry Kraus Author Of Could I Have This Dance?

From my list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a practicing board-certified general surgeon and my writing reflects the medical authenticity of an “insider.” I have divided my professional life between practice in America, and also in East Africa, serving as a surgeon and instructor. I am also a man of grace, who has sought to fight against a legalistic Christianity of my youth. We experience life in story, and fiction is the perfect way to teach the heart concepts of love, and perhaps stir within the reader a longing for something more.

Harry's book list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more

Harry Kraus Why did Harry love this book?

This Christian classic opened my heart to the concept that the Christian life is to be lived out of carefree trust and not anxious duty. She deals with the honest struggles and gives practical advice on dealing with temptations, failures, and doubts. If you find yourself anxious over life’s pressure, this is a must-read.

By Hannah Whitall Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Every person experiences doubts. What keeps someone together in these times is a firm foundation in God's faithfulness, rather than allowing their lives to be moved on a roller coaster of emotions. The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life has stood the test of time, and helped millions understand how to have full and complete assurance in God alone. Personal reflection questions help the reader to remember that this is not just a classic to be enjoyed, but also a journey to walked.


Book cover of Intimacy with the Almighty

Harry Kraus Author Of Could I Have This Dance?

From my list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a practicing board-certified general surgeon and my writing reflects the medical authenticity of an “insider.” I have divided my professional life between practice in America, and also in East Africa, serving as a surgeon and instructor. I am also a man of grace, who has sought to fight against a legalistic Christianity of my youth. We experience life in story, and fiction is the perfect way to teach the heart concepts of love, and perhaps stir within the reader a longing for something more.

Harry's book list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more

Harry Kraus Why did Harry love this book?

This little book prods us to silence and solitude to recapture the intimacy that we crave but few experience. I have reread this little book many times and it gently reminds me of what is so easily lost in the hurry of modern life. Our present society has pushed these disciplines, not just off the front burner, but off the stove entirely. When solitude and silence are recaptured, we find ourselves at rest, enjoying the presence of our loving Father.

By Charles Swindoll,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Intimacy with the Almighty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Noise and words and frenzied, hectic schedules dull our senses, closing our ears to His still, small voice and making us numb to His touch.

Charles Swindoll offers all new insights from his own journal to guide people on a journey of intimacy with God. This keepsake book includes pages in Swindoll's handwriting collected in an embossed, antique-looking cover.


Book cover of What's So Amazing About Grace?

Harry Kraus Author Of Could I Have This Dance?

From my list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a practicing board-certified general surgeon and my writing reflects the medical authenticity of an “insider.” I have divided my professional life between practice in America, and also in East Africa, serving as a surgeon and instructor. I am also a man of grace, who has sought to fight against a legalistic Christianity of my youth. We experience life in story, and fiction is the perfect way to teach the heart concepts of love, and perhaps stir within the reader a longing for something more.

Harry's book list on Christians who feel like there has to be something more

Harry Kraus Why did Harry love this book?

We sing the song, but few of us are touched by the magnitude of the mystery. God’s love is offered to the underserved not because they earn it, but just because he’s chosen to gift us with it. Much of my fiction touches on this topic as stressed-out, dutiful servants are upended by grace.

By Philip Yancey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What's So Amazing About Grace? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD!

Discover grace as you've never known it before: the most powerful force in the universe and our only hope for love and forgiveness.

Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else--for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world.

In What's So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its…


Book cover of Jesus Showed Us!

Jared Neusch and Connor Shram Author Of Jesus vs. the Bad Guys

From my list on Christian children’s books on peacemaking.

Why we are passionate about this?

We are two dads, both with three kids, who are on a journey of trying our best to raise our kids in the way of Jesus. Of particular interest to us both is exploring how Jesus overcomes evil. Does He beat up the bad guys like superheroes do? Does He drop bombs on them, like nations do? With all the struggles kids experience at school—and everything they hear about evil occurring around the world—we think it’s important for kids to learn how Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, even from the earliest ages.

Jared and Connor's book list on Christian children’s books on peacemaking

Jared Neusch and Connor Shram Why did Jared and Connor love this book?

We believe that at the heart of Christian theology is the truth that God has chosen to reveal himself definitively in Jesus Christ. This is how we know what God is like!

We don’t just love our enemies as an abstract ethic that we hope will work. In looking at Jesus, we now know that this is also what God is like. This book is a beautiful introduction to the theological truth that Jesus really is the image and nature of God. 

By Bradley Jersak, Shari-Anne Vis (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jesus Showed Us! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

What is God like?

The answer depends on the imagination of those we ask. Some of those answers are not very healthy--especially for children! Many ideas and images of God are harmful, such as the angry God who threatens us. Or the distant God who is not there when we need him. Or the magical God who will grant our wishes if we are good enough or beg hard enough. Such ideas of God make it hard for us to love God with our whole heart or to let God love us.

God noticed this problem. God wanted us to…


Book cover of Mentoring Made Real: The Power of Authentic Connection

Cheri Swalwell Author Of Sisters in Christ: Defeat the Enemy One Powerful Prayer At a Time

From my list on how to build a Sister in Christ relationship (and why you want one!).

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve had other Sisters in Christ, but it wasn’t until God introduced me to an amazing woman that I truly started to understand what it meant to be a Sister in Christ. A Sister in Christ is someone who encourages you, speaks the truth in love, and always points you back to God’s truths. She laughs with you, cries with you, and simply loves to do life with you. Sisters in Christ was born from this amazing friendship. To have this type of relationship is truly a blessing from God that needs to be shared in a community of fellow believers. 

Cheri's book list on how to build a Sister in Christ relationship (and why you want one!)

Cheri Swalwell Why did Cheri love this book?

I really resonated with this book. It reminded me a lot of the Sisters in Christ book where in a mentoring relationship it’s not necessarily defined as a discipleship relationship but more friend/friend.

You aren’t there to lecture, teach, criticize the other person. You both are seeking a relationship with the Lord separately and then your times of coming together are that much sweeter and you grow more in your own personal relationship with Jesus by living life side by side someone else who loves Jesus with all their heart. It’s a give and take, which is exactly what a Sister in Christ relationship is all about.

Lastly, and most importantly, is the prayer aspect. Anyone can “live life together,” but it's when you pray together that God moves mountains.

By Nancy Lindgren,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mentoring Made Real as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Becoming a Disciple Maker: The Pursuit of Level 5 Disciple Making

Cory Hartman Author Of Future Church: Seven Laws of Real Church Growth

From my list on making disciples today the way Jesus did.

Why am I passionate about this?

Cory Hartman (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) collaboratively crafts practical tools, interactive processes, and breakthrough content for the Future Church Company, three interconnected organizations that exist to help the church embody the movement Jesus founded. I previously served as a pastor for thirteen years and founded Fulcrum Content, a gospel communication training organization.

Cory's book list on making disciples today the way Jesus did

Cory Hartman Why did Cory love this book?

What are the stages of a disciple’s optimal development? The theoretical path starts with a person not following Jesus and ends with that person helping their own disciples make disciples of Jesus. Having a reliable model that traces the course of a disciple’s development benefits a disciple maker practically, because people have different capacities, needs, and challenges at different stages as they grow.

The most persuasive and useful model yet proposed might be found in this brief book by Harrington and Wiens, who adapt to individuals the Exponential organization’s five-level typology of churches.

By Greg Wiens, Bobby Harrington,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Becoming a Disciple Maker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Becoming a Level 5 Disciple Maker is an introduction to the five levels of disciple making with a focus on how to become a Level 5 disciple maker like Jesus. The authors discuss why we should pursue Level 5 disciple making, how we can pursue it, and what we can do to assess our progress along the way.

Bobby and Greg introduce and explore the pathway to becoming a disciple maker by using this five-level framework. Focusing on helping individuals identify where they are on the disciple-making scale (levels 1 to 5) and what is needed to become a Level…


Book cover of Don't Forget to Remember

Natalee Creech Author Of Nothing: Nothing Can Separate You from God's Love!

From my list on children’s books about God’s love.

Why am I passionate about this?

“I am loved and forgiven. What a wonderful thing! I’m adopted as God’s own. I’m a child of the King!” I am an author who wants to help parents write important truths on their children’s hearts. Nothing is a book I wish I had written sooner, and would have loved to have read with my own children when they were little enough to hold in my lap. I hope these book recommendations help you share God’s love with your little ones, so that when they grow up they are sure of the promise that nothing can ever separate them from God’s love.

Natalee's book list on children’s books about God’s love

Natalee Creech Why did Natalee love this book?

With gentle rhyming verse, Ellie Holcomb’s Don’t Forget to Remember tells how all creation reminds us of God’s love. Kayla Harren’s beautiful illustrations are more detailed than what is typical in a board book. I also recommend listening to Ellie Holcomb's song by the same title. Be warned though; you may find yourself singing it at any given moment. 

By Ellie Holcomb, Kayla Harren (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Don't Forget to Remember as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Do you ever forget to remember what's true? 

Sometimes remembering is hard to do! But in this lyrical tale, Ellie Holcomb celebrates creation’s reminders of God’s love, which surrounds us from sunrise to sunset, even on our most forgetful of days.

Visit the Lifeway Brand Store for more inspirational products.
 


Book cover of God's Always Loving You

Natalee Creech Author Of Nothing: Nothing Can Separate You from God's Love!

From my list on children’s books about God’s love.

Why am I passionate about this?

“I am loved and forgiven. What a wonderful thing! I’m adopted as God’s own. I’m a child of the King!” I am an author who wants to help parents write important truths on their children’s hearts. Nothing is a book I wish I had written sooner, and would have loved to have read with my own children when they were little enough to hold in my lap. I hope these book recommendations help you share God’s love with your little ones, so that when they grow up they are sure of the promise that nothing can ever separate them from God’s love.

Natalee's book list on children’s books about God’s love

Natalee Creech Why did Natalee love this book?

God’s Always Loving You lets children know that God is with them in every situation, whether joyous, frightening, or frustrating. Most of all, he is loving them and working to make things new. The meter is flawless, and the stanzas are sprinkled with just the right amount of alliteration to make it pleasing to read, but not a tongue twister. Toddlers will love to join in on the answer to the question posed in each scenario: God, that’s who! 

By Janna Matthies, Airin O'Callaghan (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked God's Always Loving You as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Remind little ones that God will always be there to love, support, and comfort them--no matter the situation--with this uplifting, reassuring board book.

This powerful little book is filled to the brim with hope and comfort. Simple, child-friendly verse outlines relatable moments of crisis, uncertainty, and fear common to a child's life, and asks who helps us in each of those scenarios. "God, that's who" is the reliable answer, forming a pattern kids will quickly pick up on. Each answer reinforces the book's deeply comforting message: God is always there for us. He loves us, He knows us, and He…


Book cover of Swan: Poems and Prose Poems

Jennifer Read Hawthorne Author Of Life As a Prayer: Poems

From my list on poems about love, nature, and God.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love words! As a child, I learned the power of stories from my father, a master storyteller and creator of 480 original Brer Rabbit stories. I began writing myself at the age of seven, majored in journalism, and enjoyed a career that included everything from technical writing to several of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul books. But only through poetry did I discover the beauty of getting to the essence of experience. I love how poetry takes both the writer and the reader to a deeper place, creating intimacy, giving us “ah-ha” moments, and touching heart and spirit.

Jennifer's book list on poems about love, nature, and God

Jennifer Read Hawthorne Why did Jennifer love this book?

I would own this book for Mary Oliver’s poem “How I Go to the Woods” alone! Oliver’s love of nature, the way she notices the details of her surroundings, and the language she uses to describe her experiences are breathtaking. It’s easy to see why Mary Oliver won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

By Mary Oliver,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Swan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Joy is not made to be a crumb,” writes Mary Oliver, and certainly joy abounds in her new book of poetry and prose poems. Swan, her twentieth volume, shows us that, though we may be “made out of the dust of stars,” we are of the world she captures here so vividly. Swan is Oliver’s tribute to “the mortal way” of desiring and living in the world, to which the poet is renowned for having always been “totally loyal.”


5 book lists we think you will like!

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