If you were around Christian music in the late 80′s and early 90′s then you know the name Rich Mullins. If you went to almost any protestant church in last 30 years then you know or have heard one or both of these two songs…”Awesome God” and “Step by Step“. Rich was an insightful songwriter and a wonderful musician who’s life was tragically cut short by a car wreck in September 1997. Rich lived what he believed and that is what has drawn me back to him these past couple of months.  I ran across this video of him on YouTube. I keep going back to it and listening to what he says in it. Funny part is it is not him singing…it’s him talking. I find that I keep going back to it and playing it again. I want to invite you to listen to it and see if it touches your heart too. It was shot at a concert of his in Lufkin, Texas shortly before he passed. It is about a 9 minute video…if you don’t have 9 minutes then come back later when you do…it’s worth it. 

This is the part I can’t get loose from…

“Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think.

That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor.

This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. 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 a 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….”

Do you believe that?

If you believe it do you live like you do?

There are a few words that are very deep for me. What I would like to do here is to post a word and talk about it a little and then ask you to add your thoughts and comments about the word.

MERCY

With the earthquake in Haiti a few weeks ago, and some of the things God has put on my heart the last few months…the word mercy seems  to keep coming to the forefront of my mind and to the tip of my tongue as I pray.

As a boy growing up there was this game we would play as we wrestled with each other. The stronger would eventually pin down the weaker and force them to say uncle or mercy MERCY. So mercy to me was a sign of weakness. I have always defined it from the perspective of being weak or hurting. It was wrong for me as a strong American male to need mercy. Then when we had our first daughter who struggled at life for only a week…I found a whole new  meaning for mercy. I found that the hurting position required intense strength and incomprehensible perseverance. That is what I see in the eyes of the Haitian people.  

It also required faith in a God that could provide the mercy I so needed. Because you see, the MERCY giver acts out of a clear position of strength too. Just how much compassionate strength does it take to save the world? That is the mercy I want to understand. That is the mercy I want to flow through me!

What does mercy mean to you?…please leave your thoughts in the comments below…