In This Issue: Great Mobilization Media, and Learning from the Life of Rich Mullins
- Calling Out for Great Missions Media
- Rich Mullins – Life of Sacrifice
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.
Calling Out for Great Missions Media
By Shane Bennett
Have you ever been speaking to a group, pouring out your heart about God’s desire to be followed by the nations, and thought, “Wow, what would really go nice right at this point in my talk would be a two-and-a-half-minute-long bit of simply stunning media. Say a video clip or an animation, or maybe a flannel graph.”
No? I do. All the time. So, here’s what I’d like us, the intrepid readership of Missions Catalyst, to put our heads together and do: Let’s develop a list of great tools that we all might be able to use to get our messages across with more lasting punch. Are you game?
Here are the criteria: (Since we are ruled by grace and not by law, slight fudging is allowed!)
1. Quality:
Off the charts. You’d be willing to pitch this to your own pastor to show in your own church on Sunday morning, for example. If you have a specific concern about the item’s quality but otherwise love it, send it in anyway but note your concern.
2. Duration:
Less than three minutes.
3. Content:
The piece must clearly address one or two specific mission-mobilization points, e.g., the importance of prayer, the beauty of culture, the plight of the unreached, etc. It could also highlight a particular unreached people (or city), portraying them in a winsome and compelling way.
4. Medium:
Possibilities include but are not limited to video, audio, PowerPoint, Flash animation, mime, or modeling clay – though let’s skip the flannel graphs!
If you’ve produced, used, or seen something the rest of us might benefit from seeing or using, please send it in. Include the title and a description, your insightful commentary, and a good link for where we can see, download, and/or buy it. I’ll pull them together and if all goes well, the April Practical Mobilization column will be one you’ll want to burn to disk.
To get your brain going, here’s a sample of some effective missions mobilization media: Caleb Project’s Infobytes. [link removed] These are brief Flash animations that each illustrate a key missions concept. I often use these when I teach in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement classes.
Now it’s your turn. Send in your ideas. Please put missions media ideas in the subject line.
Rich Mullins – Life of Sacrifice
A friend just sent me an instant message saying, “What are you giving up for Lent?” Hmmmm, good question. I suspect most of us are from non-liturgical backgrounds, and if it weren’t for Mardi Gras headlines, we might not even know Lent had begun. However, last weekend my wife and I attended an Episcopal wedding. (Congratulations to Caleb Project staff newlyweds Bruce and Deborah!) So now my mind is slightly elevated to more ecclesiastical things.
The idea of sacrifice is not just for Lent, though. In fact, it seems intricately connected to the completion of the Great Commission. Jesus called us to follow one who had no real home (Matthew 8:20) and Paul certainly endured his share of a variety of abuse (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). What are we putting aside to free us for following God’s purposes?
Here is an excerpt from a study for small groups which Caleb Project recently released. It provides a brief glimpse of how songwriter Rich Mullins shaped his life according to his understanding of sacrifice and service.
Rich Mullins: A Reflection of God’s Reality, 1955-1997
As a Christian musician, singer, and songwriter, Rich Mullins ministered to audiences around the world, had more than 90 song recordings, and was nominated for more than ten Dove Awards by the Gospel Music Association. “Awesome God,” one of Rich’s worship songs, is still sung in churches across America. Yet, when fans asked him for his autograph, Rich signed two words – Be God’s. Rich saw himself as a man who tried to point people to God.
Although his singing talent gave him opportunities for wealth, security, and fame, Rich did not focus on making money or advancing his career. He understood that rather than bringing happiness, money and fame often distract Christians from setting their minds on eternal things. Rich could have lived a comfortable lifestyle, but chose instead to live simply, secretly giving away most of his earnings. Rich had few possessions and held loosely to those, believing that they were tools for God’s use.
Rich had a passion for South America, Native Americans, and needy children worldwide. The proceeds from many of his musical tours went to support ministries that served these groups. Rich desired to bless Native American children with the love of God and give them opportunities to explore the arts. Leaving the music scene in Nashville behind, he returned to college to pursue a degree in music education. Rich spent the final two years of his life living among the Navajo in Arizona. He taught music to the children on the reservations and demonstrated the love of God to their families. When he died in a car accident in 1997, some of the children from the reservation attended his funeral. They sang “Jesus Loves Me” in their native language, a song that Rich had taught them.
Rich had a deep love for God and was awed by the lengths to which God had gone to bring sinful humans back into relationship with him. He believed that God desires to use the body of Christ in much the same way that he used Jesus’ incarnation – to reveal and reflect what he is like to the world. Rich was disturbed by the way many American churches pursue prosperity, pleasure, leisure, and security, choosing to reflect the culture at large, rather than Jesus. He believed that churches should focus on building bigger Christians, not bigger buildings. Rich suggested that congregations based their success not on how many people attended services, but on how many believers were sent out of their doors to take the truth of Jesus to a hurting world.
Here are some of Rich’s thoughts on leaving a legacy. “If my life is motivated by an ambition to leave a legacy, what I would probably leave is a legacy of ambition. But, if my life is motivated by the power of God’s Spirit in me and the awareness of the indwelling Christ, if I allow his presence to guide my motives, that’s the only time I think we really leave a great legacy. I hope I would leave a legacy of joy – a legacy of real compassion.” (James Bryan Smith, “Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven.” Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2000, end page.)
SOURCE: Caleb Project, “Eternal Impact – Discover Your Role in God’s Worldwide Purpose.” (Littleton, CO: Caleb Project, 2005, workbook pages 32-33).
Questions? Problems? Submissions? Contact publisher/managing editor Marti Smith.