James Bryan Smith - Rich Mullins

I don't know if God wept at Moses funeral. I don't know who will bury me.But I look back over the moments of my life and see the hands that carried Moses to his grave lifting me out of mine.

RICH MULLINS

Rich Mullins rose to fame and fortune in the music industry and then gave it all away to live in obscurity among Native Americans on a reservation in New Mexico, teaching children the joy of music and the hope of the gospel. Then his life, so full of promise, came to a tragic end in an auto accident.

During his life, Rich Mullins challenged the sensibilities of what it means to follow Jesus in today's world, and now in his death, he challenges all to build upon his legacy of joy, compassion, brokenness, unblinking honesty, and wonder of an Awesome God.

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JAMES BRYAN SMITH teaches theology at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. His previous books include Embracing the Love of God, A Spiritual Formation Workbook, and Devotional Classics (coedited with Richard Foster).

Jim's deep friendship developed with Rich Mullins over the last seven years of Mullins's life. While Mullins attended Friends University, he lived in an attic apartment in the Smiths home for two years.

Jim describes this book as a devotional biography, giving readers an insight into Rich's life but, more importantly, allowing the readers to learn what was most important to Rich: urging people to draw near to God.

The years I spent inordinate amounts of time with Rich, from 1991 till his passing, were filled with a constant sense of wonder with what God had prepared for us, His children. I'll never regret the time we had to enjoy the journey. This book will give the reader a glimpse into that world.

Jimmy Abegg, Singer/Songwriter/Artist, A Ragamuffin Band

An Arrow Pointing to Heaven gives us an intimate and honest picture of Rich, but even more importantly, the book gives us a passionate, powerful picture of the God Rich loved. Read with caution: This is a dangerously challenging work about a life lived in pursuit of God's own heart. You will not make it to the final chapter unchanged.

Carolyn Arends, Recording Artist/Author

Rich Mullins was a pilgrim. He passed through here, sank into his own humanity, and rose to heights of sacredness through grace. His irreverent spirituality touched many, confused some, and gave hope to many more. In this book one can reach into the inside of this man. This is not the spiritual climb of an aesthetic, but the dusty road of a pilgrim. Rich did not rise to meet God; God came and got himand much too soon for the rest of us. Thanks to Jim Smith for helping us be guided by Rich's sensitivities between these pages.

John Fischer, Author/Speaker/Musician/Columnist for CCM Magazine. Books include Real Christians Don't Dance, 12 Steps for the Recovering Pharisee (like me), and his latest, Fearless Faith.

In An Arrow Pointing to Heaven, James Bryan Smith writes fondly of his friend Richard Mullins. Even more, he shares the spirit of devotion that characterized Rich's life. Even more still, he points us to that great reservoir of devotion that has sustained followers of Jesus Christ throughout the centuries.

Richard J. Foster, Author of numerous books, including Celebration of Discipline and Streams of Living Water

I don't know many people who have died and left so many people saying, I need what Rich Mullins's life brought to the table, and I don't know where else to find it except in looking at his life and listening to what he had to say.'

Amy Grant, Singer/Songwriter/Recording Artist

Many of us have been touched and moved by the life, music, and message of our dear brother Rich Mullins. I came to know Rich only a little, more toward the end of his sojourn here on earth. Fortunately, I was able to get a closer look into his life and what made Rich the man he was because of this touching and real story by Jim Smith. We can all see a little of ourselves in these pages. As C. S. Lewis said, We meet no ordinary people in our lives, and Rich was no exceptionhis life was and still is an extraordinary example of God's grace and mercy to us all.

Phil Keaggy, Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter

Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven is the most powerful book I have read in the last five years. It is the purest echo of the gospel I have read in a long, long time.

Brennan Manning, Author of The Ragamuffin Gospel

[James Bryan Smith] did with [Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven] what Rich did with his life. He was able to tell a story about a man but really tell a story about God.

David Mullins, Speaker/Minister, Brother of Rich Mullins

Writing a book about someone who meant so much to so many is a daunting task but one that James Bryan Smith has accomplished with a great deal of passion and wisdom. This book is a gift to all of us who miss having Rich in this world, and will be a treasure to those who are just discovering who he was.

Andrew Peterson, Singer/Songwriter/Recording Artist

The privileged times I got to spend with Rich Mullins are but a few small specks on the timeline of my life, but they are big big moments that I never forget and sometimes still remember for the first time. He encouraged me to be free, in Christ, from the people that many of us look over our shoulders to please both inside and outside of Church. He taught me never to settle for being good, a nice behavioral respectability that the devil would more than settle for. He inspired me to be God's. That's a whole different thing. This book reveals a man with failing and foibles and quirks like the rest of us attempting to stumble toward being God's with all the energy he could muster. His life is an inspiration, and James Bryan Smith catches that life well.

Steve Stockman, Author of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U 2

This book is a moving reminder of the man that Rich Mullins was, in all of his beauty and imperfection. Whether you knew Rich personally or knew him only through his songs, we all knew him the same. He offered no more to some than he was willing to give to all, and that was everything. I thank God for this book and every time I remember Rich Mullins.

Derek Webb, Singer/Songwriter, Caedmon's Call

To

John and Neva Mullins,
who gave faith hands
and feet and wings

FOREWORD

J esus of Nazareth ruined Rich Mullins's life. And out of the ruins He recreated a ragamuffin of startling originality; no human being who has crossed my path even remotely resembles him.

Our first meeting took place in a ramshackle restaurant in Wichita, Kansas. We sat for three hours wolfing down drop-dead delicious profiteroles (chocolate pastries stuffed with vanilla ice cream). With a candor, humility, and raw honesty that reminded me of the tax collector in the temple, he laid out his life story with all the sin and failure that had scarred his soul, as well as the personal and professional successes that had established his reputation.

As he spoke I thought to myself, This man knows the real Jesus. Only someone who has experienced the forgiveness and mercy of the redeeming Christ could dare to be so open about his brokenness.