A friend let me know that the movie Ragamuffin, the story of Christian singer/song writer Rich Mullins life was on Netflix. I was so excited and quickly watched it. The movie is deep, moving, a bit sad, but full of big truths. I learned many things about Rich's life that I did not know. He was a BROKEN man that struggled greatly with fears, loneliness and alcoholism, most of which I did not know.
Some of my fondest college memories are of listening to Rich Mullins songs over and over and over... Then when Rich died in a car accident I remember crying and being truly sad about the death of someone I'd never met. Not long after his death I sat in my church's parking lot listening to 20 the Countdown Magazine's special called Rich Mullins Tribute Special. They played many of his songs and excerpts of interviews they had done with him. Rich Mullins had a very unique way of making huge biblical truths look small and simple.
After thinking on the movie for a few days it dawned on me that God really does use our brokenness, when we allow Him to, to bring beauty from it. He can use it to point ourselves and others to Him. Most importantly though I realized in a new way that, "For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) It doesn't say that He sent His Son for the perfect. Nope. It says in Romans 5:8 that, "But God demonstrates His own LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us." When this really sinks in...Wow! Amazing. Humbling.
Some of my fondest college memories are of listening to Rich Mullins songs over and over and over... Then when Rich died in a car accident I remember crying and being truly sad about the death of someone I'd never met. Not long after his death I sat in my church's parking lot listening to 20 the Countdown Magazine's special called Rich Mullins Tribute Special. They played many of his songs and excerpts of interviews they had done with him. Rich Mullins had a very unique way of making huge biblical truths look small and simple.
After thinking on the movie for a few days it dawned on me that God really does use our brokenness, when we allow Him to, to bring beauty from it. He can use it to point ourselves and others to Him. Most importantly though I realized in a new way that, "For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) It doesn't say that He sent His Son for the perfect. Nope. It says in Romans 5:8 that, "But God demonstrates His own LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us." When this really sinks in...Wow! Amazing. Humbling.
Below are some of my favorite quotes of Rich's:
"A spiritual thing is folding your clothes at the end of the day. A spiritual thing is making your bed. A spiritual thing is taking cookies to your neighbor that is shut in or raking their front lawn because they are too old to do it. That's spirituality. Getting a warm, oozy feeling about God is an emotional thing - there is nothing wrong with it-I think there more practical than real spirituality."
"A spiritual thing is folding your clothes at the end of the day. A spiritual thing is making your bed. A spiritual thing is taking cookies to your neighbor that is shut in or raking their front lawn because they are too old to do it. That's spirituality. Getting a warm, oozy feeling about God is an emotional thing - there is nothing wrong with it-I think there more practical than real spirituality."
"It's OK to be lonely as long as your free..."
"The Bible is not a book for the faint of heart-it is a book full of greed and glory and violence and tenderness and sex and betrayal that befits mankind. It is not the collection of pretty little anecdotes mouthed by pious little church mice-it does not so much nibble at our shoe leather as it cuts to the heart and splits the marrow from the bone. It does not give us answers fitted to our small -minded questions, but truth that goes beyond what we even know to ask."
"Jesus loved the poor, and the broken."
I love you,
Momma
***Watch RAGAMUFFIN on Netflix or buy in stores. Here are the director, David Leo Schutz, words on how the movie came about. Learn More about Kid Brothers of St. Frank. Read about how Rich Mullins brother, David Mullins, who was also co-producer of Ragamuffin, is carrying on the legacy of Rich. Lastly consider listening to the Rich Mullins a Tribute Special mentioned above, produced by 20 the Countdown Magazine. It is something I could (and have) listened to time and time again over the years.
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