The Life and Legacy of Contemporary Christian Musician Rich Mullins

In contemporary Christian music, few artists have been met with both the commercial success and the spiritual influence that greeted Rich Mullins almost immediately when his first songwriting efforts made it to Nashville.

Mullins grew up in a working-class, farm family in Indiana. He was one of five children in a Quaker family. He pays tribute to his family on his "While the Nations Rage" CD: "Talk about your miracles, talk about your faith. My dad could make things grow out of Indiana clay. Mom could make a gourmet meal out of just corn bread and beans. And they worked to give faith hands and feet and somehow gave it wings."

His songwriting efforts landed him a recording contact in almost no time. Why? Those first songs included Amy Grant's first major worship song, "Sing Your Praise to the Lord." This song was named one of the top ten CCM songs of all time in a recent survey by CCM Magazine. Almost every artist has done a cover of this song and its open strands will still launch a stadium into swaying praise, 20 years after its first song.

Mullins' self-titled Cd met with some success, but he really came into his own as a vocalist (and, for many, an emissary from God) with his third CD, "Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth." In one line he caught the battle faced by many Christians: "Stuff of Earth Competes for the Allegiance I Owe Only to the Giver of All Good Things."

This CD also contained what will forever be known as Mullin's signature song, "Awesome God." In this ultimate praise song, now song by probably 75 percent of the youth choirs in America, Mullins reminds us of the power of our God without the usually fear that accompanies discussions about God's ultimate strength.

His albums then became deeper. Beginning with "The World As Best As I Can Remember It Vol. 1 and 2," Mullins concentrates on delivering the encouragement, the wisdom and the inspiration in a package, with one song connecting to the other, often without even a break. This stage of Mullin's life includes his own tale of a prodigal, "Growing Young" and a very moving "Creed," plus the call to obedience "Sometimes by Steps."