Ragamuffin

This is about the movie Ragamuffin, which is based on the Contemporary Christian singer Rich Mullins.

I recently watched a movie called Ragamuffin. It was about the Contemporary Christian singer, Rich Mullins, who tragically passed away several years ago. While many of you don't recognize the name, you've most likely heard his biggest song "Awesome God". This song has been played in churches, at concerts, and on the radio for many years. Did you know that the writer of this great song had a serious addiction to alcohol? The movie went to great lengths to portray his struggles as an artist, Christian, and human being. Not only did he struggle with alcoholism, he also dealt with loneliness and rejection. Rather than try to cover up his flaws and frail nature, he acknowledged them because he knew that even though he was weak and small, his Abba Father was Big, Strong, and Great! Rich trusted that he would be used in his little, feeble, human state to demonstrate how great, loving, and merciful God was. This kind of reminded me of of my favorite rappers, Lecrae and Andy Mineo. In his song, "Superhuman", Mineo says:

 

    When we fail, it feels like we fall so far, cuz they put us so high. I am not a star. I'm just a product of grace that's still in the process, and i don't gotta be great because my God is!

 

Amen, right? How true is that! People are always praising me for things I do, either for my grades, Or my writing, or shooting arrows, etc. However, people rarely see the fears, doubts, and sins that I constantly struggle with. Sometimes, I feel like I can barely make it through the day! The amazing thing is despite the fact that I'm totally messed up and continue to mess up, God still loves me and uses me to encourage other people. People might be prone to think these great acts and writings come solely from me. However, all these gifts were given to me by God. Without God, I would only be a sinful, fearful, fragile man who was desperately lost. Now, I'm still sinful, fearful, and fragile but I am no longer lost! Jesus has redeemed me with his precious blood, and now he is creating something beautiful from my jacked up life! I once posed for art students while they drew pictures of me. My favorite picture was one that, in my opinion, depicted me as a man vexed with thoughts of fear and doubt. In this picture, I was on outside surrounded by grass, a sidewalk and ducks. I was also gazing up at the sky. I remember thinking about how beautiful the sky, grass, and ducks were. Then, I started thinking about nature in general. Nature is extravagantly beautiful! It's God's artwork! But you know what, so are human beings! Especially the ones that he chooses to redeem, justify, and conform to the image of his perfect, righteous, and holy Son! Being a Christian isn't about trying to be perfect for God. It's about a perfect God choosing to love the sinful, imperfect creatures he made! Rich Mullins understood and embraced this fact. Our walk with God doesn't depend on how we love him and what we do for him. It depends on his love and what he did for us!