Rich Mullins - Homeless Man: The Restless Heart Of Rich Mullins

Tuesday 1st June 1999
Rich Mullins - Homeless Man: The Restless Heart Of Rich Mullins
Rich Mullins - Homeless Man: The Restless Heart Of Rich Mullins
VHS

STYLE: Biography and Autobiography
RATING 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 13115-VHS36
LABEL: Myrrh
FORMAT: VHS video Documentary

Reviewed by Dougie Adam

No matter how extensive your vocabulary is, words will ultimately fail to do justice to a piece of work like this. I haven't seen any Christian video, which has been this well, produced and I haven't been moved by any secular film or video in the way that this video touched me. This is truly inspirational stuff. For those of you who don't know, Rich Mullins was one of CCM's finest songwriters and performers throughout the '80s and '90s. He was killed in a road accident in September 1997. This video features contributions from many of the top stars in Christian music industry insiders who go some way to explain why Mullins was such an original, unique and important talent. But this isn't really a video about music, which is often just kept in the background. Instead this is a film about the life of one on fire Christian. This life affected people deeply across umpteen American states where he lived and worked. And beyond. Several contributions stem from the UK but the most hard hitting originate in Sucre, Colombia where Rich was involved in a Compassion International project with street children. Some of the children who danced around him in sequences for the 'Creed' video came to faith through the project and clearly remember him and testify to his influence in their lives. Rich Mullins' life and music had an international impact overcoming barriers of race, language and more. It's hard to summarise how well made this is, but I'll try anyway. The editing is fast moving, usually each contribution lasts for a sentence or two before we cut to another person in a different state or country saying the same kind of thing about Rich. At times it's almost like these are actors reading from a script, it flows that successfully. And then just to add to this ring of truth effect, we have footage from Rich in concert four weeks before his tragic death. Here again his words and demeanour tie in with what the previous person has just finished saying. It's well shot, you get a sense of the landscapes that were the backdrops in many of his songs. Despite the tragedy involved, and despite there being points where I cried, it's not a sad video to watch. Those who lived and worked with the man seem to have accepted the accident as serving a bigger purpose in God's plans. At several points Rich's humour in his song introductions can't fail to crack you up with laughter. At times his jokes have real bite; "I think that if we were given the Scriptures it was not so that we could prove we are right about everything. If we were given the Scriptures it was to humble us into realising that God is right and the rest of us are just guessing!" In one of his last concerts he also adds, "Sooner or later life's gonna kill us all. So you might as well go out doing something you love to do."

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Reader Comments

Posted by Joseph in Charlottesville, VA @ 23:49 on Oct 28 2017

Try Amazon for that VHS, maybe?
https://www.amazon.com/Homeless-Man-Restless-Heart-Mullins/ dp/8015356695



Posted by jeff in waco texas @ 03:43 on Jun 16 2008

Lookinig for a VHS copy of the Homeless Man. I saw it once and bought it in 99', let someone borrow it and have never seen it since.



The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

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