9/25/2025
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
Today marks Day 4 of the 10 Days of Awe, and the prayer focus is That None Perish. Tehran, Iran is our focus city, and our 110 cities region is Central Asia, a hotbed of activity and war, persecution for Christians, and the cities named are under-served when it comes to evangelism. Some of the fastest growing underground churches are located in Iran, and Iran is the focal point for the ongoing war with Israel. Their hatred extends to the United States, as the leadership and their proxies chant death to both nations daily. When I hear songs of how Jesus rescued us from our sins, gave Himself, His very life as a ransom for us, I often wonder why! God is Love, Perfect Love, so everything He does, He does in love. For the average person I imagine that idea is a bit difficult to grasp. Love is such an overused word that means very little in our world today, or so it seems. Today many believers in Jesus Christ are being persecuted, and the Muslim nations hate us the most, but yet we continue to pray for every lost soul to find peace, as we have found peace. In John 3:16-17 Jesus told Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." In Luke19:10 Jesus told Zacchaeus "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." And in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus tells the crowd, "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?"
I remember singing a song in church as a child, and the words have followed me all my life. I often sing this melody:
"Rescue the perishing, care for the dying
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save."
The song was written by Fanny J. Crosby, who wrote many of the stirring hymns back in the day. I love the new worship songs by various worship artists, but hymns somehow remain in my head, probably because I remember them from early childhood and my mama and grandma singing them around the house.
Many of the people I most admire have already graduated to their heavenly home, but at least I can read their stories, listen to their music, remember their words. When I think of the messy world I think of Rich Mullins. Rich was a Christian music artist, most famous for Awesome God, but as he pointed out, he did write other songs. Each song was a life story, and it was straight from his heart, so it struck a cord in the life of everyone who heard him. He died way too soon for me, yet God has a way of taking the saints home once they've completed their race here on earth. I can understand, and Rich wouldn't have wanted to wear out his welcome, not that he ever could. A movie was put out in 2014 honoring his torrid and often confusing life called Ragamuffin. The Independent Critic (Richard Propes) critiqued the movie:
“He found the secret, that if you want to find your life, you have to give it away.” - Shane Claiborne
"Raised on a tree farm in Indiana by a man weathered by life and distant in nature, Rich Mullins wrestled his entire life with crippling insecurities, alcohol, depression and more while also being recognized as an artistic genius who rose to Christian music fame and fortune before walking away from it to live on a Navajo reservation and dying at the age 41 in an auto accident.
Ragamuffin: The True Story of Rich Mullins is, indeed, the true story of Mullins, a Jesus freak with a rebellious streak a mile wide who dealt with the weaknesses of his life with an honesty and a transparency that is far too often missing from today's churches and today's artists. He was determined to live into his faith in a way that was transcendent. It wasn't normal, really. Mullins, for example, paid himself a fair salary based upon what the average American made despite having a far greater income from his music.
Instead, he gave it away. He gave it to charities. He gave it to churches.
He strived to make music from his heart and, despite the pressure that comes with becoming a musical success, he steadfastly refused to make music simply to be popular.
Mullins was real. Mullins was honest. Mullins was faithful. Mullins was the kind of guy who'd probably grimace if you even mentioned the idea of making a movie based upon his life, yet his life is exactly the kind of life that deserves to have a movie made of it."
The critic had much more to say regarding the movie and the man who portrayed Rich, but if you really want to know more, watch the movie, and check out videos by Rich on YouTube and the Ragamuffin Archives.
Once, when speaking to a church audience, where the pastor had Bible bashing message of condemnation, when it was his turn to sing, in response to the scolding of the pastor, Rich said that the most profound words he had ever heard were:
"Jesus loves me this I know
for the Bible tells me so."
Maybe I'm feeling nostalgic, but when I think about the length Jesus went to save the world, only to be rejected, I think about people in the Bible whom Jesus loved and who were part of His entourage, along with His disciples. Those who would protect Him and be at his side. In this day, I think about those who have influenced my life, and Rich just happens to be one of them. I can identify with so much he said. Here are some of his quotes that he would share at his concerts - not the usual church or Christian concerts, as he spoke of the cuff as much as he sang, and his songs and message were not the well-guarded type. They were honest and often raw, and often not well-received. I hope my messages in the blogs I write are like that - raw, transparent, sensitive, enough to make someone want to live as Christ inspired us, as opposed to be a couch or pew potato with an occasional, Amen! Preach it!
Rich Mullins
“I grew up hearing everyone tell me 'God loves you'. I would say big deal, God loves everybody. That don't make me special! That just proves that God ain't got no taste. And, I don't think He does. Thank God! Because He takes the junk of our lives and makes the most beautiful art.”
“Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.”
“We were given the Scriptures to humble us into realizing that God is right, and the rest of us are just guessing.”
“The Bible is not a book for the faint of heart -- it is a book full of all the greed and glory and violence and tenderness and sex and betrayal that benefits 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.”
“Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours.”
“So go out and live real good and I promise you'll get beat up real bad. But, in a little while after you're dead, you'll be rotted away anyway. It's not gonna matter if you have a few scars. It will matter if you didn't live.”
A mere few days ago this nation, and the world, lost a dear friend and brother in Christ, a young man I know Rich would have appreciated and embraced as a brother. I'm guessing Charlie would have enjoyed his company as well. But, ya know, right now they're both connecting in a much better place, with the King of Kings as their three-ply-cord for intercession. Two young men who died very young, one at age 41, the other at age 31. Rich never married, but he was loved by so many. Both ran their race here on earth, and although each tread a different path, both converged on the narrow way, I know God is well-pleased with each of them. They loved the lost and lonely, and each, in their unique ways, touched the nations. May we go and do likewise.
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