According to Wikipedia.org: “A Ragamuffin Band is a musical
group founded by Rich Mullins in 1993, when he gathered friends from other
bands to back his A LITURGY, A LEGACY & A RAGUMUFFIN BAND album. The band continued to record and tour with
Mullins, and even carried on after his 1997 death”. In his book ‘The Ragamuffin Gospel’ (1990),
Brennan Manning defined ‘ragamuffins’ as “the burdened, the wobbly and
weak-kneed, the inconsistent, unsteady disciples...the smart people who know
they are stupid...the honest disciples who admit they are scalawags”. In 1999 the album PRAYERS OF A RAGAMUFFIN
(Myrrh) came out. Band members at the
time were: Rick Elias, Mark Robertson, Jimmy Abegg, and Aaron Smith.
‘Make Me an Instrument’ is a prayerful adult contemporary
ballad: “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace/Where there’s hatred let me
show love/And where there is injury, pardon/And where there is doubt, then
faith/And where there’s despair, then hope.../Let the blood of Your Son cover
me/Touching my spirit/Seizing my soul”.
‘Nothing You Don’t Know’ is one of two songs written by Mark
Robertson. This one is an adult rock
song that declares total dependence on God: “I can’t live without the passion
of the One who shaped it all/Created the heavens and the earth, yet saved my
soul/But that’s nothing You don’t know”.
Next up is ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon’ a cheery pop song:
“Little children are a wonder/Life pure witness to the Maker/There’s nothing
finer than the innocence we’re born in/To the glory of the King/Brother sun,
sister moon/Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”
‘Faith, Hope, Love’ is a great confessional rock song: “Hear this
ragamuffin’s prayer/Cuz I got nothing else/I don’t need nothing but faith to
make me strong/I don’t need nothing but hope to keep moving on/But most of all
love/I don’t need nothing this world ever claimed to give/Throw the old man
away and let the new man live/And all that he’ll need to rise above/Is faith,
hope, and love”.
‘Help Thou My Unbelief’ is one of three songs written by
Rick Elias. It’s a moving ballad that
cries out to God for help: “Tempted by shadows and scourged by the night/I long
for the warmth of the sun/Exposing my weaknesses/Revealing all lies/Finish the
work You’ve begun/For I am undone/Help Thou my unbelief/Lest I fall away/And
give my heart wings/With visions and dreams/The world cannot steal away”. Rich Mullins co-wrote ‘My Heart Already
Knows’. It’s about grasping truth: “If I
ever learn what my heart already knows/And not feel the hurt that I wear on my
sleeve/But the laughter that burns inside my soul/Let the child come alive, and
drive away these ghosts/You know my head ain’t even close to what my heart
already knows/Lord, I’m asking for this sign/Light my heart up with my mind”.
‘Bouncing off the Ceiling’ is a catchy adult rock song about
prayer: “Sometimes I get the feeling my prayers bounce right off the
ceiling/And they spin around the room with me and they never get to You/And
though my head is reeling I will still go on believing/They’ll fly like holy
missiles and tear a hole right through the roof/My one wish is to break
through, when I try to get to You/My one fear is a deaf ear/Please tell me it
ain’t true”. ‘God Grant me Tears’ includes
these words desiring purification: “God grant me tears/Enough to wash these
sins away/Away from my heart today/And forever/Let the wild wind blow/Let it
drive them to a barren place/Scatter them without a trace/God grant me tears I
pray”.
Aaron Smith wrote ‘Shout’, a bluesy rocker of determination:
“I’m gonna shout, gonna shout, cause I feel alright/I’m gonna shout with the
rocks crying out tonight/I’m gonna shout til my soul finds sweet relief/I’m
gonna find a secret place and get down on my knees/I’m crying to the Lord,
saying/’Please, please, please!’” ‘We’ll
Be Together Again’ is one of two songs penned by Jimmy Abegg. It’s a pretty song of anticipation on which
Jim Hoke plays the pennywhistle: “We’ve been the beggars who ride wishes
horses/Living like dreamers, I won’t deny/All of our dreaming was only a
moment/But we’ll be together again/You’re standing beside me, laughing out
loud/I’m standing beside you, a laugh and a prayer/You’re standing beside
me/Arms stretching wide/Singing your freedom/We’ll be together again”.
PRAYERS OF A RAGAMUFFIN is a very solid album. Other talented personnel on the album are:
the now late Tom Howard, Eric Darken, Phil Madeira, Neil Rosengarden, Linda
Elias (background vocals), The Ragamuffin Choir, and the Nashville String
Machine. Piano, percussion, organ, and
horns all add flavor here. It is clear
that the Ragamuffin Band wants to be pure and used by God for good things while
on this earth. There are also songs here
about being in love with God and being grateful for who He is and what He has
done. In addition, there are a few songs
about doubt, which is something we all struggle with at one time or
another. I’m rating this album 86% and
recommending it to fans of Bruce Springsteen and Big Tent Revival. For more info connect with the band members
on Facebook.