This is easily one of my all time favorite books. Ragman and Other Cries of Faith is a small collections of stories, speeches and essays that tell of the maturity of a young pastor’s faith as he dives into his first ministry. Wangerin is an extraordinary author because of his use of extremely powerful metaphors and raw, honest storytelling. He dose not hold back his view of the immensity of God’s grace nor the depth of his lessons in humility. I would read some of the metaphor based stories like Ragman and see Jesus’ sacrifice for me in a new light. Yet as I read Wangerin’s stories of God placing him in the roughest of relationships in order to smooth off his edges I can’t help but think “I hope God doesn’t expect that of me!”
This short, easy read will leave you appreciating Wangerin’s open window into one portion of His path with the Lord and easily re-examining your own. Don’t miss this one!