Today is a somber anniversary. The 15th anniversary of the passing of Rich
Mullins. I actually had the pleasure,
scratch that, the privilege of getting to know Rich. Rich used to do praise & worship at
Pro-Life rallies before Operation Rescue National came to Wichita in 1991.
I think it was in the early Spring of 1991 I came to Wichita
for a weekend (I was living in Ingalls, KS) for a weekend of saving babies at
Tillers abortion clinic. We always had
praise, worship, & prayer on the Friday nights before we went out Saturday
mornings to save babies & since Rich lived here in Wichita at the time he
quite often would take time out of his busy schedule to lead our praise &
worship (yes, the praise & worship was extremely Holy Spirit empowered!).
This one Friday night at the end of the service people were
asked to raise their hands if they needed a place to stay as local people
graciously opened their homes for out of towners. I raised mine & Rich invited me to his
place. I found out what a truly humble
man he really was.
Later that year at the conclusion of the Summer of Mercy we hosted
had a weekend long nationwide rally here in Wichita at which I was one of the
two people in charge of VIP security, bodyguard if you will. I shadowed Rich & most other VIP's that
weekend including several very prominent world renowned Christians. I will never forget going out to eat with
Rich & several other musicians after the Friday night concert. Some of the things that Rich said that night
still to this day blow my mind! In fact
some of what Rich said took several years for me to fully comprehend the depth,
complexity, and the insight to what Rich had to say!
Move forward six years.
Rich was scheduled to play a "homecoming" concert at LD
Stadium, here in Rich's adopted home town of Wichita on Saturday, September 20,
1997. In the dark of the previous night
Rich & Mick were heading to Wichita in Rich's Jeep when for an unknown
reason the Jeep lost control, overturned, & Rich was killed. That night LD Stadium sat eerily dark,
silent, & empty. No concert, no
joyful homecoming, just a lot of hugging & crying trying to somehow fit the
misplaced pieces of the end of Rich's life together.
A couple of days later I heard a report that at the time of
Rich's accident and death there was in the sky a very bright and pronounced
shooting star. I still wonder to this
day if Rich went to heaven like Elijah.
2 Kings 2:11 (NLT)
"As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire
appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating
them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven."
Here's a link to a YouTube for Rich's song
"Creed." If you're familiar
with the South-Central Kansas area you'll notice that the first part of the
video was shot out by Eldorado Lake.
Here's the song that made Rich a household name in the
Christian community, "Awesome God."
Please pay attention to what Rich has to say at the start of the
video. Those words will give you a
slight glimpse into to heart of Rich Mullins.
Rich Mullins
October 21, 1955 - September 19,
1997
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