Man Builds Some Houses -- Wins Palace in Paradise!

Millard Fuller passed away last night. This should be a bigger deal to the world than Elvis or John Lennon. However, much like the passing of Mother Theresa was an afterthought to the splash of our collective grief for the people's princess, Millard's life will be celebrated and his internment completed at Koinonia Farm in Millard style -- with lots of love and devotion and fewer loud horns and clanging symbols.

Millard didn't enter his mission for the people's glory -- if he'd wished, he could have stayed in mail order business and his passing might be splashed across the Wall Street Journal today, "The Passing of a Great Tycoon." Millard as a luminary was not so much the splash of big city lights as the glow of the moon over Georgia.

His reach was across the oceans and over seas. Kirk Lyman Barner and Ryan Iafigliola report from the Fuller Center for Housing headquarters in Georgia that their phones have been literally ringing off the hook with calls the world over.

Ed and I never got to meet Millard Fuller -- we've never met Kirk, Ryan, Cori or Glen from the Fuller Center in real life, though we feel like they are dear friends through phone calls, email and the connection of Facebook. Yet Millard's touch (he was at times accused of reaching out and touching excessively, though his longtime friend, President Jimmy Carter, attributes this to the combination of Millard's purely loving heart and his deep southern roots) through his courageous, insightful and spirit-led words guided Ed to a real purpose, a life's work, a vocation he can find passion and meaning through -- something he has never, ever had.

Millard, how do we go on without you? How do we talk to an angel? You'll always be with us -- not only in the glow of the Georgia moon but in the Armenian sunset, the tropical rains of Peru, the bright afternoon sun of India and the dawn of a new day in Australia. But without you here, how do we define the coming path?

"We may disagree on all sorts of other things ... but we can agree on the idea of building homes with God's people in need, and in doing so using biblical economics: no profit and no interest." -- Millard Fuller's Theology of the Hammer.

Hebrews 11:1 “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Matthew 17:20 “I tell you the truth, if you have faith that grows like a
mustard tree, even if it begins insignificantly small, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Millard, you showed us that we can show mountains how big our God is, with a soft, southern drawl. Not all of us are southern, but we can all pick up a hammer and get back to work.

Thank you, Millard Fuller. Praise God for your life. The race is won, amazing servant.

The work of the Fuller Center Iowa Lakes will go on because the eternal goes on and the truth is we need to be hands and feet, arms and minds and hearts until we've finished the race.

Today's video is Casting Crowns, "The Voice of Truth." Listen to the story of the Voice of Truth. Don't be afraid. We'll remember whose glory this is for, we'll move on in courage, in dedication, in love.

As we finish off the house in Terril for Lisa and her daughters, Millard will cheer our victory from above and the choirs of heaven will sing and cheer us.