I have always loved Rich Mullins, but, until the 
article found below, I haven't known much about 
him.  Thank you so much for sending here for all to read.

In many ways, I have found that CCM is an 
industry, turning out new bands as fast as they 
can be discovered and polished up.  Our locak 
Christian radio station has gradually become 
boring and all too commercial, advertising things 
which I do NOT believe have any place on such a 
station.  They have grown repetitive and 
predictible, so I have stopped listening and gone 
to the country station instead.  I will check in 
every once in awhile to find out what's new, but 
the music is changing as well.  What happened to 
Third Day anyway? I absolutely love them.  Now 
they have had to make way for the likes of 
different bands, whose genres, I do not like.

Purple Mari



At 01:43 PM 7/1/2007, you wrote:
>I was just scanning through songs randomly and 
>ran across Rich Mullins song entitled Boy Like 
>Me Man Like You. What an honest look at Christ 
>from a human side... I just love that song. 
>Anyway, I got to thinking about Rich. I was just 
>a baby Christian when he was  killed back in 97. 
>I remember feeling such a loss, and I  don't 
>even think  I had one of his CDs then, but  his 
>sincerety just proceeded his music. In our 
>recent talk on things, and how we ought not seek 
>treasure or things in this world, I read this 
>article with genuine envy of this man. I've read 
>this before but it still speaks so loud to me. 
>Here's a bit on Rich. I wish I would have had 
>the opportunity to sit and talk with Rich. I 
>don't know of one Christian artist/writer today 
>who lives as such... some I know have places in 
>Franklin TN, a fancy higher end of Nashville 
>area, quite a different look than Rich's.  The 
>lyrics he sung he took serious for his life. He 
>definitely lived the Matthew scripture I posted 
>the other day. Here is the text...
>
>The following is taken from an interview of Rich 
>Mullins by Brian Quincy Newcomb of CCM Magazine 
>in June of 1992. Ironically, the words to his favorite
>songs say that he wants to "go out like Elijah."
>RM: My favorite song that I've ever written is 
>"Elijah." It was like another breakthrough. I 
>wrote it around the time when John Lennon was shot. He was
>a big hero of mine, and my great-grandma died 
>about the same time. I began thinking about the 
>influence both of those people had on my life, and they were
>dead. These two people would never know the 
>impact they had on me; John Lennon I'm sure 
>wouldn't care to know, but my great-grandma, I never got to tell
>her. But then I realized I don't have to tell 
>her. She didn't do what she did to have some 
>kind of an impact on me, she did what she did because that's
>who she was.
>And I'm going to be dead someday too. That's the 
>first song where I forced myself to dig under a 
>lot of the cliches of the Christian faith. I wrote a song
>that said, "You know, someday I'm going to die, 
>and I wanna die good." Prior to that I would 
>have tended to write, "Someday I'm going to die and I will
>be resurrected," which I also believe.
>Just as Rich talked about the impact of people 
>on his life during that interview, hundreds of 
>people today tell how much Rich meant to them:
>Artist Michael W. Smith speaks about his beloved 
>friend: "[His] life and music impacted me more 
>than anyone I know," said Smith. "He had the ability to
>take the mundane and make it majestic. Nobody on 
>this planet wrote songs like he did, and I feel 
>we've lost one of the only true poets of our industry.
>I love Rich Mullins...and no one will ever know how much I'll miss him."
>Bob Thornton (KTLI Wichita): "Rich used to come 
>into the station quite a bit. He had friends who 
>worked here and all of us knew him, so he would drop in
>when he was in town. He would just walk in the 
>lobby and call out to any staff that was around, 
>'Who wants to go to lunch? I haven't got any money!' That
>was Rich. He never had any money...
>As I got to know him over the years, it was 
>because he literally gave everything away. He 
>really didn't have anything. I've spoken with the lady who was
>house-sitting his Navajo reservation home. She 
>went over on Sunday [after the accident], and 
>she said 'There's nothing here.' Rich just didn't collect
>things. A few musical instruments, a jacket...
>So, Rich was just really about giving himself 
>100% of the time and even when it came down to 
>something simple like, 'I haven't got any money for lunch,'
>it was probably because he had given everything 
>he had to somebody that had needed it the day before.
>Rich was passionate about living life to full 
>and enjoying all of God's blessings. In several 
>of his writings, he has encouraged readers to take the time
>in life to enjoy even the little things, 
>because, everything is from God, whether big or small.
>"Like Thoreau, I love to suck the marrow out of 
>the bones of life," Rich Mullins has said. 
>"People want to know God's will for them. In one of his most
>explicit statements on the subject, Christ said, 
>'I come that you might have life and have it 
>abundantly.' One day it won't make any difference how many
>albums I sold, but I will give account of my 
>life to God. What I think He'll be most pleased 
>with is to see that we truly lived, that we were the person
>He created us to be."
>
>On September 19, 1997, Rich Mullins met face to 
>face with the "Awesome God" he was so desperatly 
>in love with. He was killed in an automobile accident on
>his way to a benefit concert in Kansas. Although 
>Rich Mullins is gone, his music and legacy of 
>compassion and service to others lives on today.
>
>Rich Mullins was born on October 21, 1955 in 
>Richmond, Indiana. He began playing the piano at 
>age four and gradually became proficient on guitar and hammered
>dulcimer, as well. Mullins sang in his high 
>school choir and then went on to attend 
>Cincinatti Bible College. While going to college, he worked in the
>youth ministry at a local church. Rich was 
>"discovered" in the summer of 1981 when he was 
>touring with Zion Ministries, a group that toured the country
>and led praise & worship meetings at many 
>retreats. Amy Grant began recording some of his 
>songs, including "Sing Your Praise to the Lord."
>
>PHOTOS/richmullins-america
>
>Rich released his first solo album, titled Rich 
>Mullins, through Reunion Records in 1986. From 
>there he released eight more albums before his death. During
>his life, Mullins was nominated for twelve Dove 
>awards. His most famous songs include "Awesome 
>God," which in 1989 was voted one of the top three songs
>of the decade by the Christian Research Report, 
>and "Sometimes By Step", in addition to eight other number one songs.
>
>Rich Mullins is known for his beautiful lyrics 
>and emotion-filled music, but to many people, he 
>was so much more than that. He was a man with a deep commitment
>to Christ and a heart for God's people. In 1995, 
>after completing his degree, Rich pursued one of 
>his greatest dreams and moved to Tse Bonito, New Mexico
>to teach music to children on Indian 
>Reservations. He desperatly wanted to bring them 
>the gospel of Christ through music and art and drama. Although he
>was only able to do this for two years, his 
>dream of showing compassion to the Navajo nation 
>lives on today. His family and friends founded The Legacy
>Of A Kid Brother Of St. Frank, which has 
>full-time missionaries, interns, and volunteers 
>serving the Native American youth.
>
>PHOTOS/richmullins-songs
>
>Since his death in 1997, three (3) more albums 
>have been released by Reunion Records:
>
>1) The Jesus Record - In loving tribute, this 
>double CD features a remastered demo tape of 10 
>songs Rich recorded just days before his tragic death. It
>also includes performances of those songs by 
>Rich's Ragamuffin Band, Michael W. Smith, Amy 
>Grant, Phil Keaggy, and more. www.christianitytoday.com/music
>
>
>2) Songs 2
>
>Delve deeper into Rich's impressive catalog of 
>songs. This best-of collection gives greater 
>insight into the theology of a man whose love for Christ was
>boundless. Includes "Where You Are," "The Just 
>Shall Live," "Growing Young," "Brother's 
>Keeper," and more. www.christianitytoday.com/music
>
>3) Rich Mullins: Here in America
>
>After over two years of compiling and assembling 
>a diverse collection of rare audio and video 
>masters, Rich Mullins: Here In America came into being. Featuring
>a 60-minute audio CD and a full-length DVD, Here 
>In America is a virtual scrapbook of sights and 
>sounds that take you beyond the music and into the heart
>of one of Christian music's most interesting and intriguing artists.
>
>"Although he died at a relatively young age, 
>Rich Mullins left behind an incredible legacy in 
>music. But, more than just music, Rich also left us a vast
>treasury of homespun wisdom culled from the 
>scriptures and a lifelong pursuit of God." notes 
>Dean Diehl, sr. vice president/general manager, Reunion Records.
>"Here In America preserves both the words and 
>the songs of a man I believe was in many ways a prophet for our times."
>
>The audio portion includes live recordings taped 
>between 1984 and 1987, during the early days of 
>Rich's career. A highlight of the audio includes Rich teaching
>a crowd "Awesome God" for the first time, 
>written just a few days prior. Here In America 
>includes original BMG song demos such as "The Lord's Prayer" and
>"Never Heard the Music," both of which have 
>never been released and a live version of "None 
>Are Stronger," which has not been released 
>before either. www.christianitytoday.com/music
>
>
>PHOTOS/richmullins-windsofheaven
>
>Albums:
>
>Here in America (2003)
>Songs 2 (1999)
>The Jesus Record (1998)
>Canticle of the Plains (1997)
>Songs (1996)
>Brother's Keeper (1995)
>A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band (1993)
>The World as Best as I Remember It, Vol. 2 (1992)
>The World as Best as I Remember It, Vol. 1 (1991)
>Never Picture Perfect (1989)
>Winds of Heaven … Stuff of Earth (1988)
>Pictures in the Sky (1987)
>Rich Mullins (1986)