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Experience Rich Mullins's Legacy of Joy and Real Compassion Beloved contemporary Christian musician Rich Mullins lived his life with abandon for God, leaving the spotlight to teach music among a Navajo community. An accident cut his life short in 1997, but his songs and ragamuffin spirit continue to teach many. In honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Rich's homegoing, this edition of Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven delivers an intimate look at the experiences that sparked praise hits and the values behind his Christ-like candor. James Bryan Smith captures just what Rich wished for when he said, "I hope I would leave a legacy of joy-a legacy of real compassion." See the layers of his story through reflections from friends and family, an afterword by Rich's brother David Mullins, and Smith's own bond with him. And in remembrance, be inspired to enjoy God's world as Rich did.… (more)
User reviews
The author, a trusted personal friend of Mullins, has done a fine job with the research, sifting through Mullins' private and published writings and
This is all good in theory, but I found the book a chore to trudge through. The author has a bad habit of overexplaining all things theological, even to the point of paraphrasing Mullins' words immediately after quoting them. The thing is, Mullins wasn't speaking in arcane terms requiring translation; he used the plainest of plain English. Mullins' life was an exceptional example of simplicity in action. His biography could have benefited from the application of the same principle. A good editor could've really made this book shine, but the publisher failed in this and other respects. (If you're a person who cares about things like graphic design and typeface choices, get ready to cringe a lot when you pick up this book.)
Despite its limitations, this is the only authorized biography of Mullins we are likely to get - and his life and faith are well worth knowing about. The book contains a fair amount of info that even his more loyal fans aren't likely to know, as well as a couple of his writings not published elsewhere. In the afterword, Mullins' brother speaks of the many who "have been touched and brought closer to God by this book," and at least one other LT reviewer says it's changed their life. Thanks be to God, who uses flawed people and flawed books for divine purposes.
Rich was different that most people. Like the prophets, his vision
In this "Devotional Biography," James Bryan Smith gives us a close picture of Rich's life that challenges readers to reevaluate our own lives. Rich Mullins was far from perfect—a point he made often, confessing his own sins openly and (at times) uncomfortably. Far from disqualifying him, this humility and openness is refreshing in an age of carefully-crafted Facebook selfies.
Rich was, truly, An Arrow Pointing to Heaven. We would do well to consider his life, then look up.