Customer Reviews

Liturgy Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band

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Be praised for all Your tenderness
by these works of Your hands.
Suns that rise and rains that fall to
bless and bring to life Your land.
Look down upon this winter wheat
and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color
green that fills Your fields
with praise

It would have to have been something extraordinary and (for me) quite unimaginable to come up with the lyrics that form the song "The Color Green". It reminds me that the Hands that formed more majestic sights of the earth than Ansel Adams ever had the chance to behold through a lense, still receives my prayers and praise with tenderness.

Be praised for all Your tenderness.

I don't think Rich Mullins wrote the song "Hold Me Jesus" just because he thought it would be cute and Christiany. The lyrics,

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,

reveal the fact that Rich was going through some extremely stressful pressure of some sort. But he also leaves the listener with some lyrics of hope when he says

and Your grace rings out so deep
it makes my resistance seem so thin

Whether you refer to it as violent (as Michael Card does), or sufficient (as St. Paul did), or simply amazing (as the writer of "Amazing Grace" did), one thing is for certain: God's grace will always dwarf our resistance to it. Fascinating, isn't it, that instead of writing an elaborate, theological song about prayer or intercession, he simply cries out the one thing that would come most naturally to a child of the Father:

Hold Me Jesus!

There's not a lot I understand about the song "Peace". I'm not sure who he is addressing, and I really don't know if "this feast" represents Christian fellowship or a feast we'll partake of in heaven or what. In the chorus, he sings of "these souls this drought has dried". I wonder what the drought was. Was it a "falling out" he may have had with another believer with whom he still longs to have fellowship with? Or perhaps it was simply the typical complacency and ordinariness that often befalls even the closest of friendships. Whatever his intentions behind the messages of the song, I can't help but feel compelled to make the chorus my prayer.

May peace rain down from Heaven
Like little pieces of the sky

If it was easy to be like Jesus, would I still want to be like Him? Probably not. (Don't be too shocked. It's easy to be complacent when the task is too easy.) I would get too complacent...even more complacent than I already am! I admit I don't stack up too well against Peter and Paul and the apostles. In fact, I don't even stack up too well against the average good midwestern boy.

Indeed it is hard to be like Jesus.

All the rest of the songs on this CD, no less than the ones I just mentioned, are full of the kind of Spirit-anointed messages that may bring a smile to the face, tears to the eyes, or perhaps a shiver down the spine.

"Though we're strangers, still I love you. I love you more than your mask; and you know you have to trust this to be true. And I know that's much to ask-but lay down your fears, come and join this feast. He has called us here, you and me"

These words from the song "Peace" embody everything that is excellent in this recording as well as the very soul of Rich Mullins' message-we are all torn, tattered ragamuffins that are invited to the feast by the King.

"Peace" is probably my favorite song of all time. It not only serves as the communion blessing on the "liturgy" part of this recording, it also illustrates clearly (at least for me) the unconditional, unfailing love of Jesus.

The disc contains a lot of other great songs too: "You gotta get up" catches the wonder of Christmas as seen through the excited eyes of a child. "Creed" is an awesome piece of music. If I have a second favorite song of all time, it must be "Hold Me Jesus".

The whole disc is filled with wisdom, beauty and grace. I urge you-don't take my word. Buy it for yourself. You'll never regret it.

Rich Mullin's "A liturgy, a legacy, and a ragamuffin band" is an incredible piece of work. Many diverse musical styles and themes run through the album, always challenging the listener. The first song, "Here in America", is carried by a lovely melody and lyrics that remind us that "the holy King of Isreal loves me here in America". The album's centerpiece and, in my opinion, the best song Rich has ever done, is called "The Color Green". The song is beautiful. It takes you off to another place while listening to it. It's like standing in the middle of a vast field, looking every which way and seeing the magnificent hand of God on all his creation. I've never heard a song like it. Rich also does a Mark Heard cover ("How to Grow up Big and Strong"), a prime example of a gifted songwriter honouring another. Every track on this album is indispensible. It has depth, humanity, vulnerability, and emotion, and deserves to be ranked among the best albums ever made. It is without a doubt a masterpiece.

This album, which introduces the Ragamuffin Band that was to become yet another of Rich Mullins' great legacies, is one of Rich's best albums. Only The Jesus Record and the Songs anthology CD are better, in my opinion. Fittingly enough, the album begins with Rick Elias making the disclaimer that he isn't ready to start recording but that they should begin anyway. With that statement, Elias has captured the Ragamuffin spirit by putting the matter in God's hands and letting Him lead the way. The album itself is arranged so that the opening track (the beautiful ballad "Here In America") is followed by "The Liturgy," 5 songs that express the themes of proclamation, praise, confession of sin, affirmation of faith, and celebration of grace. The songs "The Color Green" (praise) and "Creed" (affirmation of faith) are two of Rich's most popular songs, and deservedly so. "The Liturgy" is followed by "The Legacy," 6 songs that speak of how our beliefs and ideals play out in a secular society. The songs within "The Legacy" all describe normal scenes from our lives, such as children dragging their parents out of bed on Christmas morning ("You Gotta Get Up"); and they also remind us that our stay here on Earth is only temporary ("Land Of My Sojourn") and that something better awaits us. It's ironic that the Ragamuffins (the word refers to anything that is disorderly or ragged) would be introduced in an album that is so beautifully structured and organized. What I like the most about this CD, however (as with all of Rich's other albums), is the humility and down-to-earth tones that these songs carry. I think the spirit of this album - and the message that Rich most wanted to convey to us - can be found in the refrain from "Creed" - "...I believe that what I believe is what makes me what I am. I did not make it, no it is making me. It is the very Truth of God and not the invention of any man..." - This one is definitely a must-have for any Rich Mullins fan.

Common opinion holds this album to be the best of Rich's superlative body of work. I have to disagree, although it comes close; I'll give The World as Best as I Remember It Volume 1 higher marks and argue that Canticle of the Plains nips on this album's heels. Nonetheless, no other album in his collection shows Rich to be more of a ... well, a modern troubador. No other album except for Canticle of the Plains shows Rich to be so haunted with questions of worship and liturgy; the question of whether to become Roman Catholic, which he had been wrestling with for some time and would continue to play out internally up to his death, seemingly is bubbling under the surface here. And, best of all, no other album contains so many works of sheer poetic genius: "The Color Green," "Peace," and "Land of My Sojourn" are his most poetic works.

Rich's high ambition this time around is for the album to look at life through two prisms: liturgy and legacy. After an introduction ("Here in America") that arguably could have been transported to the legacy section, we move into the liturgy for tracks 2 through 6. Tracks 7 through 12 then constitute the legacy section of the album.

For my money, it's the liturgy section where the album really shines. Rich patterned this section after a liturgical worship service, with proclamation ("52:10"), praise ("The Color Green"), confession ("Hold Me Jesus"), creed ("Creed"), and communion/Eucharistic invitation ("Peace"). The order of service follows the order of a Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox/Anglican mass with one exception: the creed should come before the confession rather than the other way around. For this absentminded change, we have to thank Reunion Records, who switched the order of "Creed" and "Hold Me Jesus" without Rich's knowledge and against his wishes. (If the order had been as Rich planned, we would have had the wonderful touch of "Hold Me Jesus'" last line, "Won't you be my prince of peace," leading directly into a song about the peace that Christ gives through the Eucharist. Memo to Reunion Records: Is there any way you can go back and correct your mistake?)

And the liturgy itself produces a plethora of emotions in the listener. "52:10" loudly proclaims God's holiness; it leaves you awestruck and even fearful. "The Color Green," one of the most wonderful pieces of poetry ever put to music, leaves you lost in awe and wonder at your creator and all that he has made. "Hold Me Jesus" invites you to lay down all of your pretensions and to see yourself as the ragamuffin you really are. (And, as others have noted, the ragamuffin analogy in the band's title refers to Brennan Manning's book The Ragamuffin Gospel. Manning's message of grace pervades this album from start to finish.) "Creed" is a joyful proclamation of belief, or better yet, a joyful proclamation of an experience of God received through belief. In this song, Rich demonstrates clearly that theology is not antithetical to experience, nor vice versa. Finally, "Peace" is an incredibly moving poem of reconciliation and forgiveness as offered by Christ as his children prepare to take communion.

The legacy section never reaches the heights of the liturgy section, to my mind, but to be fair, it's not supposed to do so. If the dominant theme of tracks two through six is worship, the dominant theme of the remaining tracks is the difficulty of being caught between two worlds, earth and heaven. After a brief instrumental devoted to a childhood locale ("78 Eatonwood Green"), Rich gets directly to his main point with "Hard." This song has a curious mixture of straighforward confession and irony; you can read the speaker as either being humble or self-deceptive and proud. Most likely, Rich intends us to see the speaker as a combination of both. The need for strength continues as a theme in "I'll Carry On," which has a speaker on the edge of adulthood. A complete contrast is given to us in "You Gotta Get Up," which looks at Christmas from a child's perspective. We once more shift back to the opposite tack in the heavily ironic and even prophetic "How to Grow Up Big and Strong," a Mark Heard tune about the false American ideals of what it means to be described with those two adjectives.

The closing song, "Land of My Sojourn," is the most complicated piece of poetry that Rich ever wrote and very Bruce Springsteen-esque. It serves as both the closing track for the legacy section of the album and, as it hearkens back to some of the themes from "Here in America" (the album's opening track), the entire album. It gives us an America of highway construction workers, lonely singles, oppressed immigrants, praying monks, and a conflicted narrator, all in one four-minute tune. It presents an America that hurts its citizens as much as it helps them, but despite that, it's still a country that the speaker calls home. At the same time, he realizes that America is not his ultimate home and wishes that he could take her with him to the far country of heaven. In the verses, difficulties and unfulfilled yearnings are contrasted with beauties and ideals. The center of the song, at least as it relates to the album as a whole, can be found in its contrast of immigrants impoverished in a nation that rewards greed with praying monks who've taken a vow of poverty. In this juxtaposition, liturgy meets legacy.

Musically, this was Rich's first album with his Ragamuffin Band and his last one with producer Reed Arvin (although Arvin produced the new songs on Mullins' later greatest hits collection). The album is lush and beautiful; unlike on The World as Best as I Remember It Volume 2, Arvin hits just the right note with the strings this time. They always complement the songs and never are overdone. About the Ragamuffin Band -- well, what can you say? They are arguably the most overlooked band in contemporary Christian music, full of talent and great accompaniment to Rich. Supposedly, their version of the album before the strings were added was incredible in its own right. Still, I can't imagine the album without the strings.

The reason why I can't conclude this album to be Rich's best is because the legacy section still seems greatly inferior to the liturgy section, in my opinion. Nonetheless, Rich is just about at the top of his game here. A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band is a classic album period (not just of contemporary Christian music). Anyone who appreciates excellent artistry should love it.

I was channel surfing one Saturday afternoon prior to a Notre Dame Football game when I came across a music video of a guy playing some strange instrument in the middle of a field. My wife pointed out that the insturment was a hammered dulicimer, and asked me not to flip the station. Not knowing what a hammered dulicimer was, and more importantly, not wanting to upset my bride, I set the remote control down. (Besides, it was only the pre-game show.)

The driving beat of the song captured my attention as the familiar words of the Apostles' Creed were brought back to my memory. (If only this song were available as I went through catechism!) After one listen, I was hooked. I decided I had to find the CD.

During Christmas break, my wife and I went to a Christian Bookstore owned by her best friend's in-laws. (I only entered Christian bookstores on Christmas Eve as a holiday tradition.) I asked the clerk if he knew what CD had a song that was essentially the Apostle's Creed set to music. To my surprise, the clerk immediately brought me a copy of this CD.

I pretty much expected the album to consist of cheesy Christian music , with perhaps the one good song. I was pleasantly mistakened.

Prior to listening to this album, I typically thought of CCM artists to be the equivalent of design imposter fragrances - "If you like *NSYNC, you'll love Plus One" - they actually still market some of the stuff that way. But Rich Mullins and a Ragamuffin Band are unlike anything I'd ever heard played on the radio. This album opened me up to the possibility that contemporary Christian music (CCM) could actually be well-crafted artistic masterpieces.

This album became my favorite album in 1994, and I have yet to discover anything that compares to it. In a collection of over 1,000 CDs, most of which are "secular" CDS, it remains my absolute favorite.

Rich Mullins quickly became one of my favorite musicians. I soon collected all of his music. I saw him in concert and read his writings in Release magazine. He inspired me to deepen my relationship with Christ. He opened me up to the possibility that CCM might not always (...).

Even if you have already purchased his greatest hit collections (Songs 1 and Songs 2), I would strongly encourage you to get this CD, Rich Mullins' true legacy. Every song on this CD is a masterpiece.

"A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band" is by far the best album Rich ever recorded, a true masterpiece. I believe that this album communicates Rich's passionate love for God more than any other. If you enjoy his music, this CD is a must-have. Also, those who especially enjoy the songs in which Rich plays his hammer dulcimer have got to get this CD because the song "Creed" is one of the best songs he ever performed with this instrument. My advice for people considering purchasing this album is DO IT, and then go buy the music video as well!

Another one of his great works. The concept for the liturgy just shows his role as a church reformer and cuts through a lot of that fluff we hear in 'christian music'. sometimes i'll just listen to the liturgy and worship God. It just showed me more aspects of what worship is about.

the first song made me feel how blessed we're to be living in this wonderful land despite all the chaos and decaying morals. 52:10 and Eatonwood Green reminded me of Phil Keaggy's Beyond Nature. The Color Green is a powerful song that reveals how the entire earth including the rocks and fields are praising God. Hold me Jesus has one of my favorite lyrics of Rich: "I'd rather fight for something i don't really want than to take what you give that i need". It shows the vulnerablility and humility that we need when we come before Jesus. Creed is a great proclaimation of our faith and the idea that the gospel is 'making us' instead of human inspiration is one way to look at the argument that christianity is just mere make believe.

It did take awhile to appreciate the legacy part of the album, but the christmas song brings back all the nostalgic memories when i was a kid and waiting for utter anticipation when we get to open our gifts.

Overall, it's a fantastic example of Rich's brilliant songwriting and musically talents.

I had never heard of Rich Mullins when a friend lent me this CD. It took me a little while to get into the music, as it does for me with every new artist I try. The difference with this one was the depth to the music. So many artists crank out "music," but many of them lack true conviction in the songs. I have not found this with any of Rich's songs.

The two I like most on this CD are:

1) "Hold me Jesus" I play this song on especially hard days as a prayer to the Lord. It is genuinely up lifting and a blessing on any day, not just the hard ones!

2) "Peace" Holy Communion has always meant so much to me. This song talks about laying down our masks and coming to God with each other at Communion. When we do, we gain Peace from our Heavenly Father and He reaches down, touches our lives, and sets us free! A very powerful and moving song.

I highly recommend this CD. It is outstanding!

What can you say when you're reviewing a disc like this? Rich Mullins, while he was amongst us, was--hands down, one of the greatest song writers to ever walk the earth. A Liturgy, A Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band is one of his stronger albums. Songs like Hold Me Jesus, Peace, The Color Green, and The Land of My Sojourn...geesh! Just get the CD. I promise its worth the money.