01282023_LbT_RichMullins

The episode of Living by Thriving discusses the importance of what we do with our lives, rather than just the number of years we live. It focuses on the life and legacy of Christian singer Rich Mullins, who had unique viewpoints on God and chose not to conform to traditional expectations. The episode explores his life, philosophy, and impact through his music. Mullins had a fascination with the poor and questioned the typical American evangelical perspective on God. He also contemplated converting to Catholicism, but never did before his untimely death in a car accident at the age of 41. The episode highlights two of his songs, "Hold Me Jesus" and "Sometimes by Step," which convey themes of faith, surrender, and finding peace in God's presence. The episode concludes by reflecting on Mullins' life and the uncertainty of our own mortality. On today's episode of Living by Thriving, a year, a dash, a year. These represent the lifespan of humans, engraved on nearly every tombstone in the world. While we look to the numerical years to see how long somebody lived, what matters more is what we do within the dash. The dash, regardless of how long or short the years surrounding it may be, is your life, your choices, and your legacy. Today's episode is going to be a little bit different from other episodes published on this podcast. We will be taking a look at the life and legacy of someone whom I hold dear. But before I reveal who this is, the year, the dash, and the year of this person is 1955 to 1997. The man's name, Rich Mullins. If you've never heard of Rich Mullins, he was a Christian contemporary singer. But you can find that with a simple Google search. I want to take a deeper dive into his life, his views, and the songs that he wrote, and how his life has impacted mine, and how it may impact yours as well. So without further ado, let's get right into it. Rich Mullins was born on October 21st, 1955 in Indiana. He began work in the Christian contemporary music industry in 1981. Rich Mullins briefly served as a missionary in Thailand in the late 1980s. But what's interesting about Rich Mullins is some of his viewpoints, as I mentioned earlier. He lost interest in the typical United States evangelical perspective on God, specifically the aspects where ingrained in common expectations and goal settings among American Christians. Settling down at the family, raising kids, but more specifically than that, isolating oneself from the world around us in comfy homes, comfy beds, and comfortable situations. As a result of his philosophy, he never married, he never had a wife, didn't raise a family. While such a decision or such a circumstance may seem unfortunate to listeners, it is interesting to note this, because it diverges from most people's experiences, and from most people's viewpoints, especially those who are listening. I'm neither endorsing nor condemning the fact that he shied away from the traditional American evangelical viewpoint. What I am saying is that it is important to consider this context, as we view his songs, and not just his songs, but his worldview, and his life as well. In July of 1997, just a couple months before his death, Rich Mullins stated the following, which can adequately summarize his life philosophy. He said that, quote, Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved, and Jesus loved the poor, and Jesus loved the broken. And the recording cuts off right there, but it can be implied to say, he loved the broken hearted. And so, because he gained this interest in identifying with the poor, he thought that he would have, quote, more luck finding Christ among the pagan Navajos, end quote, compared to a middle class American perspective on God. So with that philosophy, that is how he lived the last years of his life. Mullins also took a particular interest in the life of St. Francis of Assisi, a Roman Catholic saint. And there was a lot of speculation that Rich Mullins was seriously thinking about converting to Catholicism, although there is no record of him doing so. And at the time of his death, he had not made a formal admission, confession into the Roman Catholic Church. But it is interesting to note that he had struggles, and he also had questions about this different perspective of Christianity, and this different background compared to the typical Protestant viewpoint of Christianity. And I do relate with that, because I went through a similar experience as he did in the past. I also was looking seriously into Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, and really just questioning, just wondering, is this really the fullness of the faith and Protestant beliefs? Or is the fullness of the faith found elsewhere? And while I did eventually settle down in Protestant beliefs, which is what I was raised in, it is still fascinating to see someone else who experienced Christ, who wrote beautiful works of music, which I will share later, also go through this same struggle, this same process, and the same decision to not convert at the end of the day. It's something that I don't really find that often among most people, either in the past or in the present, even from my anecdotal perspective. What I mean by that is that I have seen, personally, people convert from Protestant beliefs to Catholic beliefs, or people who stay steadfast in either or. But I have not really seen others start Protestant, question Catholicism, yet remain Protestant, and question significantly, not just for a day or two, but for days, weeks, months, and even longer than that. I even wondered for a bit if there were any other people who had such a similar experience. While, of course, such an extreme type of thought, of course, is unrealistic, because there's always exceptions or always examples, it's still neat to see someone, at least somewhat famous, who went through that exact or very similar process, and yet had the same end result. So I do find that a bit fascinating, personally. So this is something that I also can relate with him more than perhaps other people might. Tragically, on September 19, 1997, Rich Mullins was killed in a car crash. Mullins was only 41 years old. And it pains me, because the music which I'm about to share with you is powerful. And we could have received so much more, had he not been killed in that accident. But at the same time, Rich Mullins was clear in his thinking that he knew that death comes to everyone eventually. In fact, that's even one of the lyrics of his songs. Everybody, each and all, we are going to die eventually. But that song, which is called Be With You, was already addressed in the second episode of my podcast called 2022. So if you want a further analysis on that song, be sure to listen to that episode. But we're going to talk about some of the songs that Mullins wrote in his short life, and also recognize that life is still fragile. And we don't know when the last day of our lives will be. When Rich Mullins got in that car on September 19 of 1997, he had no idea that that would be the end of his time on earth. And we don't know when our time on earth will come to a conclusion as well. But now that Rich Mullins has been in heaven for decades, with Jesus, seeing him face to face, we are comforted by that fact. And we look forward to seeing him and all other believers who have departed in the faith, Lord willing, when he, being Jesus, comes again. life just don't make sense at all. When the mountains look so big, and my faith just seems so small. So hold me Jesus, because I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been king of my glory. Won't you be my Prince of Peace? And I wake up in the night and feel the dark. It's so hot inside my soul. I swear there must be blisters on my heart. So hold me Jesus, because I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been king of my glory. Won't you be my Prince of Peace? Surrender don't come natural to me. I'd rather fight you for something I don't really want than to take what you give that I need. And I beat my head against so many walls. Now I'm falling down. I'm falling on my knees. And the Salvation Army band is playing this hymn. And your grace rings out so deep. It makes my resistance seem so thin. I'm singing hold me Jesus, because I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been king of my glory. Won't you be my Prince of Peace? You have been king of my glory. Won't you be my Prince of Peace? And those are the lyrics to Hold Me Jesus by Rich Mullen. This song is kind of straightforward in lyrics, and it's relatable as well. Our lives sometimes, it seems like there are many challenges that seem insurmountable. And it seems that even if we know that we need to have faith to overcome these challenges in life, it feels like our faith is fickle, or that we don't have enough faith when the true test of faith comes. So we have to rely on Jesus more. We acknowledge him and worship him as our king, but yet we still worry through the night, still have anxiety. So won't he be our Prince of Peace as well? Won't he give us the peace and comfort that he promises to us? And yet even though we know these facts and we know it in our head, it still seems like surrendering to God's will does not come natural to us. We resist it, try to fight against it. And even though he may give us something freely, we may not want it per se. We may think we know better. And thus we fight against what God tries to give us, while trying so hard to obtain this path we view as correct, even if it's not, thinking that perhaps these good things in our lives that we are searching after is God's will. And yet roadblocks come in the way, and in our lives we encounter difficulties. We may not find the job that we're looking for, we may not pass the exam we were hoping to pass, we may not get the opportunities we were seeking, and we may believe that God has abandoned us, or that God does not want us to be happy sometimes. But then if we think really hard about it and look in the past and see how God has guided our lives, the benefit and clarity of hindsight shows us that God was in fact with us all along. He closed the doors for paths that would have led to unforeseen danger and trouble, and opened the doors that we could not have seen initially. That is why he is sovereign, and that is why we trust him. And even though we know all these facts, it may still be difficult to trust him. But Jesus knows that. And so we can run to him, ask him to hold us close, so that we can rely on him fully. So that's the first song that I wanted to talk about today. This second song that I wanted to talk about is called Sometimes by Step. Sometimes by Step is an interesting song because the lyrics have a lot to unpack. So I'm going to say it all once, and then we're going to take a deeper dive into each portion of this song, because I think it's worth the time to do so. The lyrics of Sometimes by Step are as follows. Sometimes the night was beautiful. Sometimes the sky was so far away. Sometimes it seemed to stoop so close. You could touch it, but your heart would break. Sometimes the morning came too soon. Sometimes the day could be so hot. There was so much work left to do, but so much you'd already done. Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you. Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you. I will seek you in the morning. I will learn to walk in your ways. Step by step, you'll lead me. I will follow you all of my days. Sometimes I think of Abraham, how one star he saw had been lit for me. He was a stranger in this land, and I am that, no less than he. And on this road to righteousness, sometimes the climb can be so steep. I may falter in my steps, but never beyond your reach. Oh God, you are my God, and I will 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 walk in your ways. And step by step, you'll lead me, and I will follow you all of my days. And those lyrics repeat a couple more times, and that's the end of the song. So, at first glance, you might think, okay, that's a neat lyric to the song, but it doesn't seem that in-depth, per se. But I want to take a closer look at these lyrics. There is a lot of symbolism to unpack. There are references to the Old Testament. There are references to everyday life. There are references to praising and seeking after God. And I think this first verse, as well, has a lot of symbolism. Let's take a look at it once more. Sometimes the night was beautiful, and sometimes the sky was so far away. We notice off the bat, there is a compare-contrast vibe to the lyrics. The first part is a positive, or a pro. The second part is a negative. The night's beautiful, but the sky is so far away. Setting the scene for creation as the setting for worship. As one person put it, creation is the perfect sanctuary for said worship. However, while Rich wants to touch the night sky, the morning comes too soon. The sky feels so far away. It can symbolize our human weaknesses and our limitations in this life. Trying to aspire to reach the heavens. Trying to reach and connect with God. But always falling short in our own human ability. Never being able to bridge the gap. And without Jesus, that would be a fact. We also see in this comparison and contrast in these verses, especially in the first words, we have a contrast between the night and the day. The night is where we experience God through his creation and the beauty and the awe of seeing the stars at night. But the day is the time of toil and sweat. The day feels so hot because of the jobs and work that we do, which you might feel does not necessarily connect with God as directly as maybe work in ministry or things to do outside of work. Although, of course, as we've talked before, work in itself can certainly glorify God, even if the work we're doing isn't explicitly praying the gospel, even if it's just doing specific tasks. Because we were created to do work. But yeah, looking back at this first verse again, the sky seems to stoop so close. You could try to touch it, but your heart would break. The morning comes too soon. The day feels so hot. There's so much work left to do. And it feels that way in our lives and throughout the busyness of our schedules. It feels endless at times. And it feels like we're never going to be able to finish everything. Or even if we do think we can finish everything to reach our goals, it feels like there's just so much more to do. But then the last line of that first verse, there's so much that God has already done in our lives and so much more that he will do, reminds us of that fact that he is with us. And also encourages us to persevere in our lives and to keep the faith and to continue to trust him and continue to just see how he works throughout creation and in nature per se. This song was written and released, excuse me, released in 1986. Perhaps Rich Mullins wanted to see the night sky even more beautifully than in the cities, than in the suburbs of the United States, with light pollution affecting our view of the stars. Perhaps he wanted to move to a place more isolated in the Navajo tribe. Maybe he wanted to gaze more at God's creation in the night, truly free from the distractions that come from the city-based lifestyle. Without the artificial lighting and the artificial whatever surrounding him, he could truly worship God in those quiet, calm, still nights. Perhaps that is an unspoken reason why he moved, perhaps not. But it would make sense to me, based on these lyrics and the actions that he did later. And now we go into the second verse. Sometimes I think of Abraham, how one star he saw had been lit for me. Wow, even those two lines themselves are powerful, because people who grew up in the church, remember reading the Old Testament passage of Abraham's faith. And Abraham is shown by God, the stars in the sky, and God promises that the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore reflect the numerous and countless descendants of the people of God and the children of God, the children of Israel. But it may not be immediately clear that we are still the children of God, even proceeding from that Old Testament passage into the new. We may think that that just represented the Israelites as God's chosen people. But we have to look at the Bible in both the Old and New Testament contexts and see that Jesus came to fulfill the prophecies of the Old, and they are fulfilled in the New Testament. And thus, we, being Gentiles, those who are not Christian Jews, or Messianic Jews, I should say, we are grafted into the faith. And because of that, we Gentiles are now God's chosen people. And thus, the promise made to Abraham in the Old Testament, all the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore are numerous, countless descendants, we are included in that. And one of those stars were lit for you, and one of those stars were lit for me. It really just brings in the fact of our personal God, even though He is not our personal God, even though He, of course, is vast, and His power is awesome, and He is mighty and holy. He's a personal God who wants a personal relationship with you and me. It's an amazing fact and something that could be easy to skip over or quick to glance over if we don't read it carefully. And even if we do, we might still miss that connection. But this song reminds us of that fact, a very comforting fact to cherish. Abraham is a stranger in this land, and I am that no less than he. Again, we see the parallels between Abraham's journey of faith and our journey of faith. We may feel or think that the characters of the Bible are distant, and that we cannot relate to them. But the more that we read the word and read the scriptures, the more we understand their struggles are similar to our struggles, the fact of being human. And when we realize that these characters were and are real human beings, the more we realize the commonalities of our struggles in life. Thus we sojourn in this world, which is not our true home. It is a temporary residence before we enter our true home in eternity. Thus we are strangers in this land. The world will never love the true believer, just as the true believer should never love the sinful ways of the world. And in the next two lines, on this road to righteousness, sometimes the climb can be so steep. And I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Christianity is not one instant you're terrible, and the next instant every problem in your life has been resolved. While it is true that for salvation we transition from death to life in an instant, it is not the case for sanctification, which I believe is what he's referring to here. This road to righteousness through sanctification is a climb, and it can feel so steep at times we have to count the cost before we live the Christian life and the Christian walk. And this climb is not easy. We definitely cannot do it on our own. It's only possible through Jesus and through God's help. Again, Hold Me, Jesus, right? By Rich Mullen. We may falter in our steps. That's why sanctification has ups and downs. It's not just a smooth, easy path. There's ups and downs, but we're never beyond God's reach. We continually go up overall, closer to him. As we continue to grow in righteousness and faith, and in trust and in hope and in love and in charity, we're never beyond God's reach when we stumble and fall. And that fact, again, is comforting. It can be both sobering and comforting to know the whole picture, but it is better to know the whole picture and realize this will not be easy than to enter Christianity deluded and come out of it discouraged because we did not understand the full truth, because it was not communicated properly. And yeah, those two verses, those verses symbolize all these things that we see in the Old Testament, that we see in our lives. You can interpret it literally as well. Maybe you just want to stand out in the middle of the night, look at the stars in the sky that feel so far away. You can symbolize it, perhaps, as mentioned earlier, as our spiritual walk or people who try to reach God on their own. The sky feels so close when you look up to it, but you can never reach it. You can try to touch it with your hands, but your heart breaks because you never can actually be fulfilled through trying to reach for him. But then again, we remember we rely on God, and he is with us, and he sustains us all the way through. And despite the ups and downs that we go through, we follow God all of our days, both the good days and the bad days, the days when we feel great and the days when we feel terrible. The circumstance may change our mood and outlook on life, but it should never change our eternal perspective in God's providence. That's another interesting concept that we need to consider, not to just be caught up in praising God when things are good only, but in all circumstances, both the good and the bad. And I'm sure there's even more analysis that you can read about this song. I'm going to even include an article where I got some of these interpretations of this song lyric. But I'll leave that to you if you want to look it up some more. This song is powerful, and we still have more songs to go through as well, so stay tuned. The next one I wanted to bring up is somewhat connected to the previous one, sometimes by step. This one is called, very straightforwardly, We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are. And I'll read the lyrics now. Well, it took the hand of God Almighty to part the waters of the sea, but it only took one little lie to separate you and me, oh, we are not as strong as we think we are. And they say that one day Joshua made the sun stand still in the sky, but I can't even keep these thoughts of you from passing by, oh, we are not as strong as we think we are. We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, forged in the fires of human passion, choking on the fumes of selfish rage. And with these our hells and our heavens, so few inches apart, we must be awfully small and not as strong as we think we are. And the master said their faith was gonna make them mountains move, but me, I tremble like a hill on a fault line, just at the thought of how I lost you, oh, we are not as strong as we think we are. We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, forged in the fires of human passion, choking on the fumes of selfish rage. And with these our hells and our heavens, so few inches apart, we must be awfully small and not as strong as we think we are. And if you make me laugh, I know I can make you like me, because when I laugh, I can be a lot of fun, but we can't do that, I know that it is frightening. What I don't know is why we can't hold on, why we can't hold on. Why we can't hold on. When you love, you walk on the water, just don't stumble on the waves. We all want to go there, something awful, but to stand there, it takes some grace. So again, stuff to unpack from this song. We saw sometimes by step the climb to righteousness seemed so steep. And this song as well, you can interpret it as being written either to a different person, or even as a cry to God. But however you interpret it, the point is straightforward. It's in the title. We're not as strong as we think we are. We tend to view, we can view ourselves more highly than we ought to view ourselves, whether by ego, by pride, by selfishness, by delusion, however you want to call it. But when we realize our frailty in our sin, and we also realize that human beings are capable of doing terrible things in addition to great things, we really are not as strong as we think we are. And we know that without God's grace, we would not be doing the good things. Or even if we did good things, it wouldn't be for perfect intentions. It would be for selfish gain. And so thus, in our selfish rage, we even perform acts that look good just to gain the admiration of others, and thus prove our hearts as wicked, and thus reveal our intentions as impure. And so even though we view ourselves highly, lots of times, we must realize that it's not the case. This is a sobering reminder to ourselves, remember our perspective, and remember God's place in our lives. Remember how easy it is for a few simple, tiny decisions to totally destroy our lives. It is very simple, very easy for that to occur. This world is fallen, there are accidents and tragedies every day, and some setbacks are self-inflicted. And we know the precarious situation of our lives and the lives of those around us, how eternities hang in the balance, how each conversation with someone is one conversation closer to your last, or their last, or both. And so as the clock is ticking, we also realize the magnitude of our decisions becomes more amplified, and thus we, when we rely on ourselves instead of God, further depart from His will and make decisions that could have eternal consequences, one way or the other. So remain humble and realize we're not as strong as we think we are, continuing to remind ourselves our need of God, and God's reminder to us as well, that He can and will provide for our needs in Christ Jesus, even if the needs are not our wants. Another song I wanted to talk about today by Rich Mullins is called, If I Stand. And this one, I will admit, is a little bit straightforward, but I still think that despite it being straightforward and not as difficult to interpret, the lyrics are still comprehensive to listen to. And so the lyrics for If I Stand by Rich Mullins go as follows. There's more that rises in the morning than the sun, and more that shines in the night than just the moon. It's more than just this fire here that keeps me warm, in a shelter that is larger than this room. And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiments, and a music higher than the songs that I can sing. The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the giver of all good things. So if I stand, let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through. And if I can't, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to you. And if I sing, let me sing for the joy that is born in me these songs. And if I weep, let it be as a man who is longing for his home. There's more that dances on the prairies than the wind, more that pulses in the ocean than the tide. There's a love that is fiercer than the love between friends, more gentle than a mother's when her baby's at her side. And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiments, and a music higher than the songs that I can sing. The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the giver of all good things. So if I stand, let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through. And if I can't, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to you. And if I sing, let me sing for the joy that is born in me these songs. And if I weep, let it be as a man who is longing for his home. Let it be as a man who is longing for his home. Worldview is an interesting word because it defines how we perceive the things around us. The first lines of this song address the merely scientific worldview that many have. The sun rises in the morning. The moon shines in the night. Fire produces warmth. Shelter is a room. And a room is composed of various things that keep the room cold or hot depending on the climate surrounding it. And of course, scientific inquiries and thoughts are not necessarily bad. But they are bad if they intentionally omit the creator of those things. There is more than rises in the morning than just the sun. The night is more than just the moon. These are all aspects of God's creation. The warmth of a fire, shelter, heat, food, water, etc. These basic essentials to life are given by the giver of all good things. But it's not just the scientific only view that Rich Mullins addresses. He also addresses human sentiments and human feelings apart from God and the things that it lacks. Sentiments, things you sing, anything that belongs to earth that we idolize or swear our allegiances to. But there is loyalty that's deeper than just the sentiment. And music that is higher than the songs that we sing on the earth, pointing to the divine, pointing to the Lord, our God, the giver of all good things. The things of this earth reflect what is to come in heaven. Whether it is the basic essentials, whether it is these sentiments or intangibles. But regardless, we can't forget that God is the giver of these things and thus make the fatal flaw of worshipping the creation instead of the creator. And so thus, it's a helpful reminder to us that even with the things we see, the things we feel, and the things we go through, we know that there is more to it than just the life that we live here. I would go as far, maybe not what Rich Mullins was intending, but I would go further in saying in the spiritual warfare that occurs in our lives and the lives of those around us is more than just what we see, hear, feel, and think. We know that the world is an ongoing spiritual battle between the forces of God and the forces of the evil one. It's a battle for souls and it happens every single day. While the war is already won by God, the battles still rage on. Be aware and be vigilant of spiritual attacks and stay firm in God. But jumping back to the song for a little bit, if we stand on anything, what should we stand upon? We stand upon God's promises that he pulls us through any situation. And even if we cannot stand, if we stumble and fall, then we fall into God's grace, the grace he first extended to us, that brought us to God. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still in active rebellion against God, God loved us. We remember the context of God's love and it becomes more unfathomable the more we think about it. If we shed tears, we shouldn't shed tears for selfish purposes, but it is normal and natural to shed tears, whether internally or externally, as we long for our home, as again, we are sojourners in this world. We are going home, but we are not home yet. And the next verse is again more of the same as the previous one, but again, interesting examples that he chooses. More that dances on the prairies than just the wind. More that pulses in the ocean than just the tide. Again, more than just the scientific knowledge. And then more than just human sentiments or even the biggest human element of all, love. There's a love that is fiercer than the love between friends. And again, we look back at the scriptures and say, greater love has no man than this, than a man laid down his life for his friends. And we also see in scripture that the friendship, camaraderie love between friends can be fiercer than familial brothers or something along those lines. But yet again, there is a love that is still yet fiercer than that type of love. And that fiercer love is the love of God. And yet, not a contradiction, but merely just showing all aspects of it, his love is more gentle than a mother's when her baby's at her side. Just showing the awesomeness of God's love. How fierce and yet gentle. Seeming contradictions, but only showing the comprehensive vastness and completeness of his love for us. So, looking through the rest of these verses, that seems like the last verse in that, that's not the chorus. I hope you enjoyed this analysis and this look into some of his songs. There are more songs that he wrote than just these four, but I thought it important to not only inform about these songs, but also take a look at the lyrics. I also encourage you, the listener, to listen to these songs as well. I personally think sometimes by steps, introductory music is some of the most beautiful Christian contemporary music I've ever heard. And I also think that the lyrics to these songs are so in-depth compared to some songs that maybe repeat things 5, 10, 15 times or whatnot, not to detract from more modern Christian contemporary music. But I do think that these songs will continue to stand the test of time, even if they may not be the most popular. I do think these lyrics are timeless lyrics. God really did bless Rich Mullins with a gift to write these songs. Throughout his intriguing life and interesting personal decisions that he made that people may or may not fully agree with. Yet despite that, or because of that even, he was able to be inspired by God to write these songs to encourage, uplift, and remind us today. And once again, I express sadness that his life was cut short due to that car accident. But again, we hope in the resurrection that we know that he is in a better place because of his faith in Jesus. And we pray, Lord willing, that we will soon one day go home to be with God as well and to reunite with loved ones and meet Christians whom we have never met on this earth, such as Rich Mullins. I can confidently say that Rich Mullins made the most of his dash. As we go back to the beginning of this episode, a year, a dash, and a year is on our tombstones, but the dash defines our legacies. Despite only living 40-ish years, he's left behind a legacy with these songs. We look at our own lives and we see the struggles that we go through, and we're encouraged by Rich Mullins and reminded of God's promises through these songs. And we realize we, too, are living through our dashes, and one day there will be a date engraved at the end of that dash, signaling when we are called home. While God knows that time, we may not, and we do not. Thus, while we are still in the dash, let's make the most of our opportunities in our lives. Let's leave behind a legacy that brings glory to God and encourages one another, winning souls to the kingdom of God and continuing to uplift those who need encouragement, to show love to all those around us and care and compassion for those in most need. Let's not live a life merely of comfort and happiness that is temporary, and a life that is shallow, but instead a life that is fully enriched in God's mercy and love. A life that we may not expect, a life that we may not plan for, a life that others may call foolish or wasted, but a life that we know is fully in the will of God and fully blessed by God. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast today. I hope each of you have a great day. And remember, our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God. Once again, composed by Rich Mullen, inspired by the good Lord above. Thank you for listening. Have a great day.