Pray with Others Live

Neither Joyce nor I was on this week, but my article, "Praise the Lord There Wasn't a Second 9/11," was featured...

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The 20th Anniversary performance of my one-man play Five Bells for 9/11 is available to watch for free through 9/22 at www.RichDrama.com/FiveBells.

Interview on Arts & Entertainment with Deborah Gilbert

I was interviewed on Arts and Entertainment with Deborah Gilbert recently: 

I close by talking about my one-man play Five Bells for 9/11, which is free through tomorrow night (9/22) at www.RichDrama.com/FiveBells. 

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance.

Pray Over Broadway Live: The Hudson Theatre

Praying over the Hudson Theatre and announcing the 20th Anniversary performance of my play Five Bells for 9/11...

A new close to Five Bells for 9/11

 

Some of you may have already seen my play Five Bells for 9/11, but I just posted my 20th Anniversary performance at www.RichDrama.com/FiveBells. It will be available 11 days in September, 9/11-9/22. At the end I told how the cast and crew of What's a Girl to Do? appealed to Heaven and got the great news that the three-year-old boy who was found drowned in a pool, came back from the dead! I got a text the day after this performance letting me know the boy is "100%."

Click here to jump to the new ending.

I released “Pentecost: Beyond the Imagination,” a scene from my one-man play, The Acts, at www.RichDrama.com/Pentecost.

Pray with Others Live: Hope-Filled Stories from 9/11

This week on Pray with Others Live, I share how a little boy came back from the dead after we prayed for him on the set of What's a Girl to Do? 

We also cover an article and interview I did with Ann Van Hine, who gives tours of the 9/11 Memorial: Twenty Years After Our Darkest Day the Light Still Shines. 

Lori Meed shares a story about her friend Gretchen Burkholder being led to the top of the World Trade Center to pray over people. I got to interview Gretchen and will post that interview here soon.

 

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I'll post the 15th anniversary of performance of my one-man play Five Bells for 9/11 from 9/11 to 9/16. You can watch it at www.RichDrama.com/FiveBells. 

Ken Wales went to be with the Lord

I just found out that Ken Wales went to be with the Lord on August 21. The news brought back a flood of memories.

Sometime in 2004 I heard from my friend Sean Gaffney that Ken, who had produced the original Pink Panther films, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Christy, and many others, was interested in producing the rest of the Chariots of Fire story. I was working on Beyond the Chariots, my one-man play that tells that story, at the time, so I was very interested in auditioning for Eric Liddell in the film. 

At the time I knew they were working on Amazing Grace, so I was shocked when Ken called me up. I told him about my play and hoped he could see a reading of it at a Christians in Theatre Arts gathering near him that year, hoping he'd think of me for Liddell. He shocked me again when he mentioned that they didn't have a script yet! 

In 2006 I was back in LA, and I invited him to a performance. He saw it, and took the stage afterward to tell the audience how much he loved it. At a late dinner he invited me to work on the screenplay. 

I invited him to teach at the MasterWorks Festival two different summers, and he always made an effort to meet with each student, to hear their dreams and encourage them. One of the reasons he was so enthusiastic about encouraging the next generation was that Walt Disney invited him to stay in his home when Ken was in high school. Walt wanted to hear from a young person, and Ken's principal recommended him. At the end of the week, Walt took him around Disneyland, which I believe was still in testing mode at the time. On the It's a Small World ride Walt asked Ken what he wanted to do in life. When Ken told him he wanted to make movies, Walt took out his personal checkbook and wrote out a check for Ken's tuition for five years at the University of Southern California film school. 

At MasterWorks and Christians in Theatre Arts, Ken would stay up until the wee hours telling stories of his adventures in Hollywood with students. I remember being shocked once that he beat me to the classroom where he was teaching first thing in the morning after he'd kept many of us up past 2:00 a.m.!

Ken's greatest help with my career was probably when he recommended me for Alone Yet Not Alone, which he was producing. I landed a small role, but it connected me with so many wonderful people that I've worked with over the years. 

Sadly, Ken got dementia before we were able to get our screenplay to market. 

I got to visit Ken once after that. I made him weep as I reminded him of some of the stories he told me and thanked him for his great influence on my life and career. I'll always be glad I was able to spend that time with him. 

Join me in praying for more mentors and producers like Ken to rise up and create films that point people to Christ. 

Here's a great article on the MovieGuide website: 

AMAZING GRACE Producer and Friend of Movieguide® Ken Wales Dies

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

Revel in the Lord!

Joyce invites us to revel in the Lord as she leads us through Isaiah 61:10-11. I read Isaiah 61.

This was a part of this morning's service at Westchester Chapel.

If you want to know more about starting a relationship with Jesus Christ visit www.WestchesterChapel.org/Salvation.

"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" by Joachim Neander, pub. 1680 tr. by Catherine Winkworth, 1863. Performed by the Bethel Choir and used by permission. 

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I play a lead in Providence, which you can bring to your area.

The Story that Connected Rich and Joyce

Dr. Linda Warren tells a story that sets up the story of Joyce and myself. The personal epiphany she explains as she unpacks Isaiah 61:1-4 happened not long before she became Joyce's boss at Sports Illustrated in the early 90s. If what you're about to hear hadn't happened, I might never have met Joyce, or if we would have met we most likely wouldn't have had 23 years of wedded bliss and counting.

Pastor Jim Warren opens the service at Westchester Chapel with Psalm 103. Pastor Rachel Taylor prays over the service. 

 

This service is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

If you want to know more about starting a relationship with Jesus Christ visit www.WestchesterChapel.org/Salvation.

Several from Westchester Chapel visited Nazareth Village while performing and teaching in Jordan and Israel in 2011. They have a synagogue set up as it likely was in Jesus' day, and the scroll of Isaiah is unrolled to Chapter 61. 

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I released “Pentecost: Beyond the Imagination,” a scene from my one-man play, The Acts, at www.RichDrama.com/Pentecost.

Pray Over Broadway Live: The Lyric Theatre (Second Prayer)

From my devotion this morning: 'Who Controls Your Thoughts?'. Check it out here: https://www.bible.com/en/reading-plans/26468 Here’s the full and correct translation: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” ‭‭John‬ ‭8:44‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.8.44.ESV Joyce Swingle’s article on witchcraft can be found at www.RichDrama.com/PrayWithOthersLive (7/13). www.RichDrama.com/WhatsAGirlToDo #PrayOverBroadwayLive

Posted by Rich Swingle on Thursday, August 5, 2021

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I released “Pentecost: Beyond the Imagination,” a scene from my one-man play, The Acts, at www.RichDrama.com/Pentecost.

Pray With Others Live: Praise in Portland and To Vax or not to Vax: Should this Be the Question?

Joyce's article on vaccinations was one of those featured on www.HeadlinePrayer.com that we covered yesterday. Also, having been raised in Oregon, I was glad to lead people in praying over articles on the recent Antifa attacks on Evangelical worshipers, including children and the triumphant praise by Sean Feucht and #LetUsWorship in the same park the next night, planned four months in advance!

Here was my prayer in Downtown Portland last September:

Here's the interview with the Black conservative preacher's son who was attacked by Antifa on August 7:

A young Black child speaks about his experience when antifa violently attacked him & his family at a prayer event on Saturday in downtown Portland. Video by Villain Report. pic.twitter.com/iXuLlZFFJf

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 9, 2021

Joyce and I are featured on Pray with Others Live the second Tuesday of every month, and on other days as relevant. Sign up for alerts and call-in info at www.RichDrama.com/Prayer.

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

Prison Letters

I'm playing a homeless man in the Times Square Church film series Prison Letters. Each one opens with Paul writing from prison, then jumping to the present where the principles are worked out. 

This is my second production with TSC, after playing one of Peter's accusers in Three Days Later, which you can watch for free at www.RichDrama.com/ThreeDaysLater. 

It's always a joy to connect with Patricia Mauceri, who reached out to me about this. She and I worked together at the MasterWorks Festival for a decade. I also love working with the director, Pastor David Ham. In the photo below, he and I are messed up after talking about how the Lord is tangibly at work through this production already! 

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

Pray Over Broadway Live clips from Pray with Others Live

Intercessors for America pulled clips from our Pray with Others Live program in which I led prayer over Broadway:

You can see the whole program by clicking here and more prayers over Broadway at www.RichDrama.com/PrayOverBroadwayLive. 

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

Gemma Wenger's Hollywood

I was delighted to do this interview with Gemma Wenger at the International Christian Film and Music Festival. We talked about my work in the film 2nd Chances, which was recently released. 

Joshua Carpenter joins the interview and talks about how he recognized me, and I won't spoil the discovery of why. The world got smaller and the Kingdom bigger that night, when Joshua presented the award for Audience Choice Actor of the Year. 

 

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance.

Pray with Others Live: Facing Cultural Giants through Heartbeats and Humor

My article on Janet Porter was published on www.HeadlinePrayer.org today: "Facing Cultural Giants through Heartbeats and Humor." She's the author of The Heartbeat Bill, saving lives in 14 states and counting, and she's now the showrunner of the upcoming sitcom What's a Girl to Do? 

We start filming tomorrow, and I arrived on set early, so I set up a visit on Pray with Others Live with Janet...

 

Find out more about the project and how you can partner with us to make it happen at www.RichDrama.com/WhatsAGirlToDo.

On the show, our host, Judy McDonough mentioned an amicus brief that Intercessors for America (host of Pray with Others Live) is filing with the supreme court. You can be a part of that here: www.IFAPray.org/appealing-for-life. 

Joyce and I are regular leaders on Pray with Others Live. To get updates when we're on the show, sign up at www.RichDrama.com/Prayer.

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

Lamplighter Guild highlights

We had such a profoundly impacting week at the Lamplighter Guild! 

The students I was working with started with enacted prayers of actual prayer requests. Then we used sociodrama to weave those real prayers into a fictional drama. I was so proud of how we worked together to create a new work tracking a young lady from Salvation to discipleship to presenting the Gospel to a lost soul, paralleling the theme of the week, Foundations to Fulfillment: Fear-less + Faith-full. 

There were many special guests, including Eric Ludy, who challenged us to parkour with joy over the obstacles of life.  Dr. Lew Sterrett broke a wild horse and was riding her in just over an hour, during which he was connecting insights from working with wild horses to raising and discipling teens. Profound! We were also blessed by recording artist Ginny Owens. 

This epiphany after Ginny's concert was the spiritual highlight of the week for me:

Posted by Rich Swingle on Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Here's the short film created by the Filmmaking Department, taught up by Aaron Burns (Washington's Armor, Overcomer, Beyond the Mask) and Paul Anderson (working full time for the Kendrick Brothers): 

This is a recap video:

Here's an interview I did for Lamplighter's podcast, Fastened Like Nails: 

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

The Real Battle: Self vs. Savior

Joyce's latest article for www.HeadlinePrayer.org posted this morning: The Real Battle: Self vs. Savior. 

As Christians, we know Satan is the enemy of Jesus and the ultimate spiritual war is that of evil against God.  And it is true the devil is the first and the final enemy, but the daily battle is “Self v. Savior.”  Yes, sadly, it is our own will that wars most insistently against the Savior’s best for us and for the world.

Who is On The Throne?

There used to be a gospel tract that showed a chair or a throne with a big “S” for self seated on it.  That throne represented a person living without Christ.  The second picture would show a Cross on the seat and the “S” now appropriately before it as if in a posture of kneeling.  This represented the believer who had received Christ as Lord and as Savior.  It was a beautiful and harmonious picture.

There was a third picture, though... [Click to read more.]

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance.  

Comfort and Return

Joyce and I bring a theatrical look at Isaiah 40:1-5:

This service is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

If you want to know more about starting a relationship with Jesus Christ visit www.WestchesterChapel.org/Salvation.

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance.

Pray with Others Live: Joyce Leads the Charge Against Witchcraft

On Tuesday, Joyce's article, "WARRING AGAINST WITCHCRAFT: CUTTING THE DEMONIC CORDS," was posted on www.HeadlinePrayer.com, and she led prayer over that and several other articles, many targeted on New York, where we live, on the program Pray with Others Live. 

I'm so proud of my bride!

As I'm posting this, over 19,635 people have clicked through to read the article. It's been shared 493 times, and between Intercessors for America's YouTube and Facebook accounts, that episode of Pray with Others Live has been viewed over 3,000 times. 

At the same time, I was performing in the upcoming film, The Diary of Perpetua, filming in Salem, Massachusetts. I’d been praying for a moment to pray downtown and blow the ram’s horn, inviting the Lord’s presence. As only Holy Spirit could direct it, on our day of rest we stopped for boba tea, and we were literally steps away from the Memorial for the Salem Witch Trials. While the number of people reading Joyce’s article and watching the Pray with Others Live episode, which both addressed witchcraft, were still climbing, I prayed on that site to invite the Lord to break the real witchcraft which has risen up across the street and around the town where dozens were falsely accused of witchcraft in the late 17th c. You can watch my prayer at the Salem Witch Trials Memorial by clicking here. 

You can sign up to receive emails when Joyce and/or I will be on Pray with Others Live at www.RichDrama.com/Prayer.

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I released “Pentecost: Beyond the Imagination,” a scene from my one-man play, The Acts, at www.RichDrama.com/Pentecost.

Pray Over Broadway Live: St. James Theatre

Click the image below to join me as I pray over the St. James Theatre, tell one of my favorite Broadway stories and discuss joy!

    

Frederic Defoy is looking for the most joyful people on earth. You can contact him via LinkedIn to nominate someone you think is unusually joyful:  

The guy I was trying to think of during this live recording, the fellow who recorded thousands of answered prayers was George Mueller. 

www.RichDrama.com/Schedule 

www.RichDrama.com/WarRoom

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I Dreamed I Was Free tells the story of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War.

Pray Over Broadway Live: Music Box Theatre

Praying for the Lamplighter Guild as well: www.LamplighterGuild.com.

www.RichDrama.com/Schedule www.RichDrama.com/TheDiaryOfPerpetua www.LamplighterGuild.com www.RichDrama.com/WhatsAGirlToDo

Posted by Rich Swingle on Wednesday, July 7, 2021

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There are still openings for the Lamplighter Guild, where I'll be teaching and directing theatre.

Two Seneca Nominations

So blessed to be up for a couple of Seneca awards for Camsis in Wise King Media's The Adventum, Volume 3, and Robert Redfern in Lamplighter Ministries Theatre production of The Unlikely Wise Man.

I encourage you to read the About section on www.TheSenecas.org. It's quite fascinating! The awards are named after the father of radio dramas, but you'll never guess when he lived!

The complete list of categories and nominees can be found at www.TheSenecas.org. The winners will be announced in a live stream broadcast on Friday, July 30th, 2021 at 7 pm Pacific Time.

#ATCSenecaAwards

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There are still openings for the Lamplighter Guild, where I'll be teaching and directing theatre.

Pure Flix Is Getting Attention

I posted this in 2017, but I just updated the list of films I'm in that PureFlix has, so I'm reposting...

The New York Times did an article about PureFlix that ran on the front page of the SundayStyles section: Seeing, and Streaming, Is Believing. Though the title of the article is having fun with the subject, the article is quite fair-minded. 

PureFlix.com is carrying the following titles in which I've performed:

Princess Cut
Polycarp
Beyond the Mask
For the Glory
A Christmas Snow
The Farmer and the Belle 
Skydog
The King's Messengers
The Screenwriters
Pawn's Move

If I missed one please post it in a comment below. Thanks!

I play a lead in Providence, though it's not yet on PureFlix.com you can bring to your area.

What's a Girl to Do?

I'm just thrilled to be a part of the upcoming sitcom, What's a Girl to Do? It's written and produced by Janet Folger Porter, president of Faith2Action and the author of the Heartbeat Bill, which is now saving lives in 14 states and counting! Janet understands that politics are downstream of culture, and it's her heart to turn the nation back to the Lord by making us laugh.

The sitcom is based on her book, What's a Girl to Do While Waiting for Mister Right? It tells the story of Janet Folger (played by Janet Folger Porter), who is navigating the single world as a Christian, highlighting the joys, sorrows, disappointments, surprises, and of course the humor. 

I play Wesley, a nerd, who only had a moment of obtuse selfishness in the first draft of the pilot (you can see that scene in the video below), but the team liked the character so much, he was written into a party scene, and now there's a whole episode called "Wesley the Waiter!" Glory to God! When I tell my students there are no small roles, now I've got a story to prove it! 

The show features Robert Davi (The Goonies, Die Hard, The Expendables 3), Rusty Joiner (Dodgeball, Melrose Place, Voiceless), Chris Routhe (Chicago Fire, Empire, Chicago PD), Matthew Moore (Homeless for the Holidays), George Kokkoris (Android Cop, Burn Notice), and many other accomplished actors.

We're still in the fundraising process, so I hope you'll consider partnering with us to bring Light through laughter! Today our team is fasting and praying, so we're expecting the Lord to move in power.

Click here for our fundraising page.

Here's an interview I did with Janet in preparation for an upcoming article I'm going to write about her and this sitcom for www.HeadlinePrayer.org:

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I play a lead in Providence, which you can bring to your area.

Be a Praise Evangelist!

The Last Judgement
By Joos Van Cleve
ca. 1525-30
Public Domain

Joyce teaches at Westchester Chapel on Isaiah 12. Opening by Dr. Linda Warren. 

Click the arrow below, or if you're reading this in an email you can click this link, to play the service:

This service is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

If you want to know more about starting a relationship with Jesus Christ visit www.WestchesterChapel.org/Salvation.

Photo courtesy of NicolettiPhoto.com.

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

Joyce's Testimony on Pray with Others Live

I was just delighted to hear my bride's testimony again, and to see how it folded into this week's articles from www.HeadlinePrayer.com, especially in light of answered prayer! 

Join us on Tuesdays. You can sign up to get reminders at www.RichDrama.com/Prayer.

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I play a lead in Providence, which you can bring to your area.

Pray Over Broadway Live: The Neil Simon Theatre

I'm in Florida, but I pre-recorded some Pray Over Broadway Live prayers before leaving the city.

#prayoverbroadwaylive

Posted by Rich Swingle on Monday, May 10, 2021

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance. 

Pray Over Broadway Live: The Broadhurst Theatre

I recorded this prayer a couple of weeks ago, so I could post it on the road (www.RichDrama.com/Schedule)...

Pray Over Broadway Live: The Broadhurst Theatre

Praying over the theatre that hosted Godspell for the first Broadway production in 1977. #prayoverbroadwaylive www.RichDrama.com/WashingtonsArmor

Posted by Rich Swingle on Monday, May 10, 2021

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I play a lead in Providence, which you can bring to your area.

Actor of the Year

This completely blew me away...

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I was so stunned that I didn't have an acceptance speech prepared! You can see what I came up with in the moment on www.24Flix.com by clicking here. It starts at 1hr, 17m, 18s. Bottom line, I received it as acknowledgement that choosing #ChristOverCareer is worth it!

I also thought I should give a prepared speech...

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance.