AWESOME GOD

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO I was traveling with some of the youth of our church to play wallyball when I heard the news.  A friend called to tell me Rich Mullins had been in an auto accident in the Chicago area just after a concert.  He didn't make it.  

IT WAS A SHOCK!  Rich Mullins was a prolific song-writer.  He was an amazing musician. We was a college classmate.  He was a bright light in a dark world. And suddenly he was in heaven.

RICH MULLINS, successful as he was, died with very little this world has to offer.  He made his home on an Indian reservation (Oklahoma I believe).  He gave away whatever he could to help the poor and under-privliged.  That's who he was.  He didn't live in the Middle-Class evangelical Christian box that so many of us find ourselves in.  No, he took God's Word literally (a great idea!) and he applied it to his life the best he could.

ONE OF HIS MOST published quotes is from when he said, "Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world wehr eyou 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 broken... This, I know, will go against the teaching of all the popular evangelical preachers. But theyu're wrong. They are not bad, they're just wrong."

RICH MULLINS wasn't the guy who would find a church that would offer him everything he was looking for in a church (great singing, great preaching, lots of friends for himself and his kids, lots of singles to meet, lots of outings to join).  No. Rich Mullins was the type of guy that would lead by example, who would serve, who would create and who would give everything he had to make a difference.

IF YOU HAVEN'T listend to his music, look some up on Youtube.  He wrote some greats like "Step By Step,", "If I Stand", "Why Do The Nation's Rage" and many more.  Some of his lyrics were unbelievably deep. Others were more simple and just reminded of us of awesome truths of God.    For example, Awesome God.

RICH DIDN'T OFTEN conform to some of the more finite rules of Bible College.  And, though well-loved by students and professors alike, there were some professors that just couldn't get past his slight rebellion.  One of those was his music professor.  It was hard for Rich to get a good grade in his music courses at Cincinnati Bible College!  For one class project he wrote a song.  He only got a "C" for it in class, but the world gave it an A+. The song made it to number 1 on the Christian Charts and is still enjoyed by many of us a quarter century later.

When He rolls up His sleeves He ain’t just putting on the ritz                                                  Our God is an awesome God                                                                                                There’s thunder in His footsteps and lightning in His fists                                                        Our God is an awesome God                                                                                                      And the Lord wasn’t joking when He kicked them out of Eden                                                    It wasn’t for no reason that He shed His blood                                                                           His return is very close and so you better be believing                                                            That our God is an awesome God  

Our God is an awesome God                                                                                                       He reigns from Heaven above                                                                                                 With wisdom, power and love                                                                                                   Our God is an awesome God  

And when the sky was starless in the void of the night                                                              Our God is an awesome God                                                                                                       He spoke into the darkness and created the light                                                                      Our God is an awesome God                                                                                              Judgment and wrath He poured out on Sodom                                                                        Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross                                                                                        I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten                                                                           That Our God is an awesome God  

AS A SUBNOTE Rich Mullins once sang at our church!  Years ago our congregation, under the leadership of Jim Lemmons, used to host a huge state-wide winter event called "Winter Carnival."  It was a very successful program. Rich was a featured guest at one of those events and sang at our church.

GOD IS INDEED AN AWESOME GOD.    Now, let's rely on His awesome faith, and in faith do something great for His Kingdom!