Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth: Spiritual Conversations Inspired by the Life and Lyrics of Rich Mullins

I cannot tell you how much I have loved this book! What insight and encouragement and challenging thoughts.... I am telling everyone about it! :)

We live in an age where believers are trying to balance grace with accountability while grasping the truths about relationship and religion and living this out in our lives. Andrew Greer's new book, Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth – Spiritual Conversations Inspired by the Life & Lyrics of Rich Mullins, hits the mark in Christian life books as he and his friends sort out the messiness of life and God’s love, something Rich Mullins did so well in his short time on earth.Andrew is known for his gift of bringing people together to discuss the things of music, Heaven and Earth (CCM Magazine online and soon to be released Dinner Conversations with Mark Lowry and Andrew Greer). In this book, he does this so beautifully as he brings friends of Rich Mullins together and they dive deep to the heart of the gospel Rich so beautifully expressed in his life and music.Among some of my favorites, like Cindy Morgan, Mark Lowry, Brennan Manning, and Jayson Gray, his friends bring depth and more layers to Rich Mullins’ musings, painting a clear picture of how we are more sinful than we can imagine and deeply loved more than we can possibly fathom. Intertwined are Andrew’s thoughts that provide a solid ribbon mixed through a rich tapestry of writing.You will be challenged and encouraged in this book. As Jason Gray says, “Rich’s transparency about his messiness helps me believe that I might be loved in my mess, too.” Andrew and his friends have confirmed how deeply God loves me in my grief and mess of life, inspiring me to take that love outside my four walls.On the practical side, this book is designed in short chapters, making it a perfect daily devotional, which I appreciated as I needed to take one chapter at a time and meditate on it throughout my day.This book will be a keeper and classic, like My Utmost for His Highest, One Thousand Gifts and Jesus Calling, to refer to in months and years to come.

I would give this book ten stars, if I could.In Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth, Andrew Greer and Randy Cox have accumulated a veritable plethora of brief conversations, as noted in the subtitle, "inspired by the life and lyrics of Rich Mullins."People who know me know how much I love the life and work of Rich Mullins. I cannot listen to some of his songs without crying, to this day. It has been over twenty years since he died, and I still almost break down when I think about that day. There has never been another artist, much less human being, who has had such an impact on my life.The book's contributors, besides Andrew Greer and Randy Cox, include such people as Amy Grant, Andrew Peterson, Ashley Cleveland, Brandon Heath, the late Brennan Manning, Cindy Morgan, Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay), Mark Lee (Third Day), Mark Lowry, Carolyn Arends, and many others, whose names may not be quite so recognizable.Sometimes, the book is about Rich, other times, the brief chapters don't speak so much about him, as they do about things that he wrote or said, and how that has inspired the person speaking or writing. The book even includes several song lyrics that were never published.Perhaps the most gut-wrenching statement in the entire book is the first line of Mitch McVicker's chapter. "I have no memory of what happened that night." You see, Mitch was in the car with Rich the night of that tragic accident. He woke up three weeks later, with no memory of that night. His close friend and musical accomplice was gone.Rich Mullins died on September 19, 1997, 41 years old. But his legacy has lived on and will continue to live on, not only in the hearts of those who knew him, but in all of us who have loved his music and the effect it has had on us.I, for one, am forever moved by lyrics such as:"Talk about your miracles,Talk about your faith;My Dad, he could make things growOut of Indiana clay.Mom could make a gourmet meal, out of just cornbread and beansAnd they worked to give faith hands and feetAnd somehow gave it wings. . . .Never picture perfect,Just a plain man and his wifeWho somehow knew the valueOf hard work good love and real life."And then, there's that wonderful little chorus, that Rich didn't even write. If my memory doesn't fail me, which it frequently does, that was written by his close friend, Beaker (I don't know all of Beaker's name)."Oh, God, you are my God,And I will ever ever praise you.Oh, God, you are my God,And I will ever praise you.I will seek you in the morning,And I will learn to follow your ways,And step by step, you'll lead me,And I will follow you all of my days."If you like Rich Mullins, you should read this book.

I don't think one can ever be the same after reading Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth. This is not a biographical book on Rich Mullins but you will learn more about the faith he lived, the hunger he had to know the love of the Lord and his weaknesses. Each chapter is written by someone who knew him or was influenced in their Christian life by Rich's music and words. You'll recognize many of those who contributed and learn more about them along the way. It is truly a story of one man who loved God furiously and sought to learn more as a flawed human being. This book will challenge you, make you cry, make you smile and make you desire to know more of the love of God and the grace He bestows on His children.

I'm giving this book four stars. The book has some pretty major flaws I couldn't shake.The book has no identity. What is it? A devotional? A memoir? A biography? It's all those things. It's a jumbled cornucopia of interviews, thoughts, pictures, and lyrics. But what do they amount too? What sort of insight do they want to point you too? I guess that Rich Mullins was a gifted, flawed, unusual, and beautiful man. That to understand Rich is hard, but that is sort of the point.You get a sense that no one quite knew Rich that he was an enigma to all who met him. That each and every person that encountered him saw a different person or maybe even saw a piece of themselves. This is where the work shines. I especially loved Mark Lowery's story about being trapped on an island with Rich. Deeply funny!Where it fails is in the strange devotional thoughts where every one is tangentially associated with Rich. Most of those chapters have a line in the opening paragraph that says "Rich said," "Rich Believed," and "Rich thought." Every other chapter feels this way, it became a little to much to take. Sure they're thoughtful, but they're Greer and Cox's vision of Rich and give us little insight into who the man was? They're short, sweet, and pretty. They also do a good job of pointing people to Jesus. Honestly Greer should write a devotional book, I'd read it. But as a book about Mullins, they feel more like filler.I also found the Andrew Peterson interview odd because Andrew Peterson is not Rich Mullins nor should he have to defend whether he's closest to Rich's style or not. It's also obvious that this interview was done over e-mail, it's so formal and well written, it sticks out in a book that in other places feels a little more "Ragamuffin". The books dabbles in the "whose the heir apparent to Rich" a lot, and as a fan of Rich, I don't care.The other strange piece to this book are the lyrics to unfinished Rich Mullins poems being printed. Strange 1: because they were completed by other song writers, Strange 2: That for a book that is fairly good about crediting sources, it doesn't share where these two songwriters made contributions, so you're never quite sure where Rich's work ends and these new songwriters work begins, Strange 3: because the book is full of pictures of original handwritten lyrics by Mullins. Wouldn't those suffice? Why must these be here? What point do they serve? and why did other people feel it necessary to finish them?I loved the pictures, the hand written lyrics, the personal stories. But this is not a page turner of a book, reading it front to back is hard. But the Chapters are short, and inspirational, so as a quick "Bathroom" read it's pretty cool. There are many poignant and wonderful passages and for that reason I can recommend it. If you're a fan of Rich and his music there's a lot to devour, if it's a little haphazard. But overall, despite it's flaws, I do appreciate the hard work that has gone into compiling the stories. Greer and Cox have done a great job bringing people together to celebrate Rich's life, and that Rich truly was a great ambassador in leading people to the saving power of Jesus. This book works on that level masterfully, and maybe that's the point. Rich's legacy points people to Christ, this book points people to Christ. I support that.