Performances and workshops in almost 40 nations, about 30 films... Invite the Swingles to inspire your audience! Mobile users, our index is on the line below...
Last night, after a series of great dinners with great friends, we watched The Perfect Stranger, which is the ultimate great dinner! A cynical lawyer gets an invitation to dinner at her favorite restaurant with Jesus Christ, and He answers all of her questions, quite profoundly. I highly recommend it!
I posted about the dinners and the movie on social media, and almost immediately my friend Katie Lentz commented: Rich! In The Perfect Stranger, Nikki is played by my friend Pamela! You met her when we saw you in Revelation. Cool connection!
I'll say it's a cool connection! I got to thinking about it, and when Pamela saw Revelation she watched my character interact with Jesus. So, my mind kept going on this. I first saw The Perfect Stranger in the Philippines while performing and teaching some workshops at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, where I just found out our host for one of our dinners had taught a few years before I was there. The man playing Jesus with my character in Revelation was played by a Filipino.
So I had a little whoah moment, but my brain kept noodling. That cool God wink wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been in Revelation, which happened because I "happened" to be at the only combined gathering of Mastermedia and The Hang that I'm aware of. That was where I shared that I do a 1-man play about The Revelation, and the producers later called to see if I'd perform the role of John in their Off-Broadway musical.
But Pamela wouldn't have seen Revelation the Musical if Katie hadn't invited her, and Katie wouldn't be alive if it weren't for a series of extraordinary miracles after an extreme car wreck (main miracles, follow-up).
I wouldn't have seen The Perfect Stranger in the Philippines if I hadn't met the folks who invited me to perform there while I was in Indiana, and I wouldn't have been there if I hadn't been invited to teach for one week... that turned into 16 years at the MasterWorks Festival. I wouldn't have been invited to teach for that week if I hadn't been a member of Christians in Theatre Arts.
And you wouldn't be reading this if I wasn't pondering it hours before I'd planned on getting up for my last work day before leaving town for seven weeks. I felt like the Lord wanted me to take the time to write this up. Maybe it was for you.
If you don't notice the profound things the Lord is doing all around you, I invite you to have dinner with Jesus.
I'm so pleased with the final edit of "The Mountain Contest!" It's the latest episode on Airship Genesis, and I got to reprise my role as Elijah!
For about 20 years I've been doing a short play about Elijah called "Prophet of Fear" (www.RichDrama.com/ShortPieces). In 2005 I got to perform it on Mt. Carmel, where the Airship Genesis story also takes place.
Today is the first day of a Great Experiment, hosted by Christian Union, a campus ministry to the "Ivies," the eight Ivy League universities. You don't have to be a graduate to take part.
One of our commitments is to do a Joshua Faith Challenge, stepping beyond our daily routines to expand the Kingdom of God in a way that is larger than our typical patterns. I've chosen one of their suggestions which is to daily post the Good News that Jesus loves you every day on social media. I'd love to share testimonies from others of how the Lord has changed your life through a relationship with Him. Please post yours below, and I'll share it on my Facebook and Instagram pages.
I got to speak at Christian Union's Ivy League Congress on Faith and Action a few years ago (www.RichDrama.com/IvyLeague), and it gave me great hope for our future to see 500 of our nation's brightest students from all eight Ivies worshipping the Lord with wild abandon and talking about using their world-class degrees to expand the Lord's Kingdom on earth.
I'm tagging them on Facebook and Instagram as #RichSwingleJoshuaFaithChallenge.
The day after I played John the Baptist for the mobile game I was reading through Farm Boy on Times Square, the journal I kept when I first arrived in NYC in 1993, and found this entry:
When John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Christ, he was a voice, cryingin the wilderness.He was for them, a modern-day prophet.The people related tothat image.It was familiar.Society in NYC, and in America in general, is soindividualistic, that it seems to me personal messages are the only ones receivedwell.
What a joy it's been to be a part of Revelation the Musical. I'm half-way through my three weeks of this Off-Broadway run which will run through June 9.
I’ve been performing my own one-man play based on The Revelation for almost 20 years, so I’m just delighted to be playing John in this musical production of the last book of the Bible. Its energy and creativity make it feel like it could become the next Godspell.
If you didn't get the discount code I sent to friends in and near New York City, subscribe at www.RichDrama.com/UpdatesNYC, and I'll get it to you.
This one has different clips, and includes me getting pulled into the air by two of my colleagues.
OPENING NIGHT
It wrecked me again. Maybe even worse the second time because I know I started weeping earlier this time. Since we saw a pre-release screener in March there was a moment when I knew the inciting incident was imminent. My friend Joseph Holmes was sitting next to me, and after the film was over he said at that point he thought maybe he didn't know the story! He and I both met the pastor of John Smith, who's story Breakthrough tells, last fall at the Hollywood Divine International Film Festival. You can read my notes about that encounter below.
There was a New York Times"Critic's Pick" review of Breakthrough on April 15 that speaks to the quality of the filmmaking, but it ends by saying, "its willingness to let the mystery of the young man’s survival linger enhances the film’s power." When I read that I thought maybe it wasn't as clear as I remembered. Watching it again it is quite clear that John's healing is an absolute miracle. The doctors are floored, and the closing quote as the credits roll is from Dr. Kent Sutterer, who was the attending physician when John's pulse returned: "Boy dies. Mom prays. Boy comes back to life."
If you're interested in knowing Who brought him back to life click here.
PRE-RELEASE SCREENER
Joyce and I got to see a pre-release screener of Breakthrough last month, and we both thought it was so powerful! It tells the true story of how John Smith (played by Marcel Ruiz of One Day at a Time) fell through ice, where he wasn't recovered for a full fifteen minutes. His brain was without oxygen for a full hour.
After the show there was a panel discussion with Chrissy Metz (This Is Us), who plays the mother of John, DeVon Franklin (Miracles from Heaven, Heaven Is for Real) producer, and Roxann Dawson (This Is Us) director. They were interviewed by David DiCerto of the host venue, The Sheen Center, and introduced by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
Dawson said that Joyce Smith, the real mother, told her, "You got it." Though some elements are fictionalized to raise the stakes in the drama, the basic facts of it are absolutely true. Franklin said, "A documentary is the facts, a movie is the truth." Dawson, who expressed great joy in doing a project with a Christian theme said, "Let's use media in the correct way," meaning in ways that point people to the Lord.
HOLLYWOOD DIVINE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SNEAK PEEK
In October I got to perform at the Hollywood Divine International Film Festival, where I was up for Best Comedic Performance for "All God's Children." But the real highlight for me was meeting Jason Noble, who was the pastor of John. Jason (played by Topher Grace of Spider-Man 3) was in the room when John's mother walked through the door, just as the doctor (played by Sam Trammel of This Is Us) was ready to declare her son's time of death. She called on the Lord and her son's pulse came back. You can see that much in the moving trailer below, but the rest of the story is just as dramatic! It's one miracle after the next, no matter how little hope they're given by the specialist (Dennis Haysbert of 24).
Jason has written a companion book to the film, Breakthrough to Your Miracle. I haven't read the book yet, but Jason is very excited about it can encourage people through examples healing from the Bible and the present. He talks about the principles of prayer they learned by walking through the miracles that are helping John graduate from high school this spring!
Jason told how he was being interviewed on a show for TBN, and the guy in the greenroom struck up a conversation with them. On their way out, after the interview the guy said, "Do you know who I am?" They just assumed he was there to make sure they had what they needed before and after the interview, but it was Devon Franklin. He told them he wanted their story to be his next film. You can hear Devon's version of that story here: Christian Movie Made by Major Studio is Full of Miracle Stories: Behind the Scenes of BREAKTHROUGH.
SPOILER ALERT
During the panel discussion in March, Franklin mentioned that John played Ruiz in a 1-on-1 basketball game. Though his actor won, John declared that there will be a rematch! It reminded me of my friend Art Sanborn, who told his medical support team that, though he was a quadriplegic, one day he'd beat them at basketball. After he was healed, he did play basketball against them! To see who won read his book, A Walking Miracle. I was able to tell Franklin about it after the panel, so join me in praying that Art's story will be his next film!
It's now slated for 2,400 screens across America, opening April 17.
Parental warnings: There were a couple of uses of hell as an expletive, and an OMG. Visit www.Dove.org for more details.
We saw a screener of their Fathom Event, which is in theatres tomorrow night: www.NoahEvent.com.
One of my favorite things was that they emphasized the importance of people heeding the warning that judgment was coming, and that they could be saved by getting onboard the vehicle of Salvation the Lord provided. Judgment is promised for our day, too. Thank God that He provided a vehicle of Salvation for us!
Read my review of their production of Moses to see what I thought of their surprisingly impressive production quality. They held to a high bar with Noah, too.
I just heard Michael Guillen, PhD, speak this morning at a New York Media Initiative breakfast. He's speaking again tonight at 7PM at 414 W 51st St., New York City, as a part of God Talks NYC.
Dr. Guillen told how he went from being a 7-year-old Mexican kid in East LA who had a dream of being a scientist to a professor at Harvard and the go-to scientist for four shows on ABC, including Good Morning America and 20/20, but now he is really stepping beyond his dream into his destiny. Part of that destiny is sharing the Gospel with a scientific slant on the campuses of major universities. He rattled off a list of big schools including Arizona State. Michigan State is coming up next week.
He encouraged us to dream big, but not put blinders on. Otherwise, you may miss your destiny. When ABC asked him to come on full-time, he seriously hesitated because his dream was to be a scientist, and teaching at Harvard really gave that identity to him. Now he sees that as a pivotal turning point in shifting from dream to destiny.
On the car trip from Ithaca to Cambridge, I stopped off at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. to attend a panel discussion on George Orwell’s novel “1984.” It was moderated by Fred Graham, then the legal correspondent for CBS News.
At the gala reception afterward, I noticed Graham standing alone with his female companion. For no particular reason except that he was famous, I walked up and introduced myself to him.
Upon learning that I was a scientist, Graham said something like, “Maybe you can settle a disagreement I’m having with my producer here.”
“Sure,” I said, “what’s the problem?”
“You know that giant pendulum out in the rotunda?”
“Yeah, it’s called a Foucault pendulum.”
“Right, that’s it. My producer says that once you get it going, you can leave it alone and it’ll never stop swinging. I disagree. I think they need to push it now and then to keep it going.”
This was a no-brainer for me. I explained that there wasn’t much friction to slow down the pendulum – just a little rubbing where the steel cable was attached to the ceiling – but enough so that the pendulum would stop eventually if it weren’t nudged now and then.”
Graham leaped on my explanation, gushing something like, “Would you like to be on television?!”
It took me a moment to grasp what he was asking – that he wasn’t kidding.
He said at another point he sensed the Lord saying, "I'm preparing you for something." Not long after that he was given the money to produce the film Little Red Wagon. He said, "God has a destiny for you that's so much grander than your dreams because it's from Him."
During the Q/A session he was asked about time. He said Hindus and Buddhists believe that time is cyclical, that we'll come back as a better person or worse depending on how we live this life, and some Greek philosophers believed that every moment would be repeated thousands of years later. Dr. Guillen said that Christians were the first to see time as linear because it's an unfolding story.
Afterward he told me that he'd noticed that I'd raised my hand and apologized for not getting to me. I told him my question was about Marcelo Gleiser, the Dartmouth theoretical physicist who was recently awarded the Templeton Prize because of his "exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.” In an interview with Scientific American (By the way Dr. Gleiser counts himself an agnostic. He isn't a Christian...yet.) he said, "There is a difference between 'science' and what we can call 'scientism,' which is the notion that science can solve all problems. To a large extent, it is not science but rather how humanity has used science that has put us in our present difficulties.” John Stonestreet of Breakpoint wrote about Dr. Gleiser's award and said, "Instead of staying humble and curious, proponents of scientism insist that any question we can’t answer in a laboratory isn’t worth asking. In effect, they stand on the little island of knowledge and deny the ocean (of the unknown) lapping at their toes.
I told Dr. Guillen that I'd heard 28% of scientists believe there is a God, and he said he thinks it more like 33-40% of scientists who believe there is a personal God, and when you count those who hold to a more deist position, that God created the universe but is no longer involved, that number goes much higher.
If you're near NYC I hope to see you there tonight!
I wrote this review years ago but never finished it. I came across it while searching for something else.
I have an assignment for any students I've ever had or will have: watch Grace Unplugged! I wanted to teach before I wanted to act. Part of that was fear that I couldn't have a career as an actor. Twenty-four years later I've been blessed and blown away by how unfounded that fear was. But right from the start one of the reasons I wanted to teach was because I never wanted to act to make a name for myself. Not that that hasn't crept up as a temptation along the way, but it was never a driving motivator. Since performing sketches in our high school youth group under the empowerment of our youth pastors Ron and Deb Mulkey I've seen the power of drama to move people's hearts closer to the Lord.
I've always told my students that the Lord calls people into many aspects of entertainment, and not all Christians are called to create art with a Christian message. But I hope I've said enough about how much more grounded in the Lord a Christian needs to be if he or she is entering secular media.
I do hope all my students past and present will take the effort to watch this film and consider the condition of their hearts before taking one more step in the entertainment industry. I'll never give a grade. But at the end of their lives I want them to hear from One greater than I, "Well done." And that won't be based on IMDb credits, awards won or bank accounts.
I bought a guitar and learned a song so I could audition for the role of the dad, along with one of my former students. We read for each other with her as the daughter. I never dwell on projects I don't get to do, but this is one role I really would have loved to have landed simply because I wish it would have been me my students heard yelling, "You're not ready!" if their hearts aren't in the right place. And it would have been me they would see [SPOILER ALERT] hugging what's left of the sin out of them when their hearts drop into proper alignment with the Lord's view of their gift, whether they consecrate it for direct ministry or for the mission field of the secular entertainment industry. Christians should know * thematic elements (rebellious arguments) * teen drinking * More details at www.Dove.org.
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.
Several of us who knew Gerri from her time at The Lamb's Church of the Nazarene began praying for her, and it was truly miraculous that she was able to stay alive long enough for family and friends to visit and connect. A small group of us who knew her were able to pray over her through a social media call while she was still responsive. I'll always be grateful for that moment!
Please pray for this dear family as they sort through so many mixed feelings right now.
Gerri had a key role to play in my development as a young man. I was granted an internship at The Lamb's Church, but it hadn't been determined where I'd be spending my 15 hours each week. I met with the pastor to share my ministry experience and year at seminary. I met with the social worker and told her that I had a sociology/social work degree. I met with the artistic director to let her know I was working on a masters in theatre. But it was Gerri who took me under her wing... to file papers and run errands. And it was the very best thing that could have happened to me! It reminded me that I was there to serve, and I know that it set my heart in such a way that the rest of the training and experience was all focused on serving others. I've certainly tried to keep that attitude in all of my performing and coaching. I'm eternally grateful for Gerri's influence.
Here's her obituary:
Geraldine Mae Miller Castle, 73, died Monday, March 11, 2019, at Greenville Memorial Hospital in Greenville, SC from injuries sustained during a home invasion. Born November, 21st 1945, in Logan, Ohio, she was the daughter of Wilbur Wilson Miller and Monta Catherine Grim Miller (Walnut Street, Logan, Ohio). Gerri graduated from Logan High School in 1963. She attended Ohio Business College in Columbus, Ohio and Edison State College in Piqua, Ohio. She was an active member of the Church Of The Nazarene in Logan, Ohio, Piqua, Ohio, Clearwater, Florida, and Manhattan, New York. She worked as an Administrative Assistant at Logan Church of the Nazarene and as an early childhood teacher at Piqua Church of the Nazarene. In the 1990s, she was very honored to serve as the Office Manager for the Lambs Manhattan Church of the Nazarene, which housed two Off-Broadway theaters and a mission that served the homeless in Hell’s Kitchen, NY.
Gerri is survived by her daughters, Robin Carol Castle Fountain, and Dee Anna Castle Brown (Eric), as well as 9 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, and a multitude of cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Lois Anne Miller, and her beloved husband, Garrett Dee Castle. A memorial and celebration of life will be held on November 29th, 2019, 4 pm at Lovely Lane Chapel, Epworth By The Sea, in St. Simons, Georgia.
I was working for Gerri while developing I Dreamed I Was Free, which tells the story of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War.
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.
I Dreamed I Was Free tells the story of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War. In his introduction Jim Hullinger mentions knowing me in the days I was writing the second draft.
The Hills performing with Siskiyou Violins at Carnegie Hall
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.
Joyce and I just saw Unplanned on Times Square in AMC Empire 25, where we saw Providence. In that film, released in only seven theaters, Stacey Bradshaw played the teen love interest of my character, who I played as an adult. So Stacey and I were never in a scene together, but we were able to connect on set, one of seven we've been on together. So as we were leaving the theatre seeing her fine performance in Unplanned it brought back fond memories of that opening weekend of Providence.
The difference is that Unplanned is on more than 1,000 screens, and their Friday take puts them at #4 at the box office. The Hollywood Reporter estimates that it will make back its $6M production budget by the end of the weekend!
Joyce and I were so glad we saw it! It's probably the first Rated-R film we've seen (without VidAngel filters in place) since The Passion of the Christ. Its rating seems to have been an attempt to dissuade the folks who typically go out to see PureFlix films, but, aside from a few d--n, h-ll and pi-s words there was nothing in it to give it over a PG rating, and those words may not even have garnered a PG these days. They say it's from bloody graphic images, but if abortion is really just the removal of unwanted tissue, then you can see much worse during network prime time. It seems those on this MPAA panel who gave it the R rating know somewhere in their hearts that abortion is violent to someone other than the mother. You can find more details at www.Dove.org.
I went into that theater, thinking there was NOTHING that could go onto that screen that would make me question myself and I was wrong. What I saw DID make me question myself and my beliefs and I believe that EVERYONE should go and test themselves as I did.
The film is top shelf in its writing, acting and production values. When I was taking a homiletics course we were taught to ride the twin horses of intellect and emotion, and this film does that as evenhandedly as any film I've seen. Some of the lines will stay with me a very long time.
The lead role of Abby is played passionately by Ashley Bratcher, who I performed with in Princess Cut, so I was delighted to see this marvelous interview with her about the project on Fox and Friends:
Knowing Ashley's story makes her performance that much more profound. There's a moment when she's speaking to the children who her character aborted that has much greater depth, knowing her connection to that moment was so personal.
We gathered a group outside the theatre to pray. By that point I knew that it was #4 on opening day at the box office, and some of the others were shocked to hear that! "You wouldn't have guessed it by this turnout." Praise the Lord there are people in other states that care about the pre-born! We also prayed for healing in those who have had abortions, for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, for the nation's mind to change about when life begins, and for coast to coast REVIVAL!!!
The author, Jason Scott Jones, points out how Uncle Tom's Cabin became the book that turned people against slavery in America.
I wrote a sketch in college that linked abortion to slavery. It focused on the fact that our forebears could rationalize owning slaves by calling them property, as people rationalize abortion by calling preborn babies fetuses and tissue. The sketch was never performed because it was too controversial, even at a Christian college in the early 1990s. It had two parallel scenes: A slave with his master, and a mother and her preborn child. I had the slave cry out when being whipped, and the preborn child cry out when she was being aborted. I guess my sketch got an R-rating, like Unplanned. Of course a preborn baby gets oxygen from her mother, so she couldn't really scream, but it's the silent scream of the aborted child that changes the mind of Abby, at that time the youngest director in Planned Parenthood's history. After overseeing the death of about 22,000 preborn babies, Johnson is now a pro-life activist. I'm praying Unplanned changes millions of minds.
I was thrilled to discover it was Ethan and Ashley Ledden, who created the image that changed Abby's mind. They've worked on five films I was a part of.
I went on to write a one-man play on an abolitionist who helped spearhead the largest movement against slavery at that time... 1758, 103 years before the Civil War: I Dreamed I Was Free. Toward the end of the play the abolitionist, John Woolman, says, "God has reminded us that they are mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, sisters and brothers. They are fellow human beings, and is that not reason enough to live without owning them. You all know somewhere in your hearts that slavery is wrong. Can't you feel the lash on your hearts? Can't you feel the chains on your souls? We are the ones in bondage because we will not release our slaves!"
I do a hot seat after the play, staying in character to answer questions. After a performance last week, abortion came up, and John Woolman pointed out that slavery was rationalized by not recognizing slaves as human and then observed, "My generation left a mark upon yours. Do what you can to save the lives of the unborn. Do not leave a mark upon those of future generations."
Em Green of Variety said:
I've heard alllll the arguments, and I've had allllll the logical rebuttals, but to actually SEE it? It just made it indefensible, and it cut the legs out from under me. ... As a woman, I cannot ever again claim to be pro-woman and stand in favor of abortion. I'm out.
Variety has the kind of audience that can help push this film toward becoming the Uncle Tom's Cabin of our day, and hopefully there will be more reviews like that, but Jones points out:
Historians credit Uncle Tom’s Cabin with spurring the anti-slavery movement to victory. But that credit extends beyond its author. It also goes to those who published, promoted, and simply bought and read the book.
Don't let the MPAA keep you from supporting this film and doing your part to make it the Uncle Tom's Cabin of our generation!
Ken Ham of The Creation Museum and The Ark Encounter recommends Unplanned for children as young as 15.
Pastor Jim Warren continues our series on The Word is Marching On with a message from Luke 5:1-11 showing how Obedience to the Word transforms not only the doer of the Word, but those whose lives are affected by that act of obedience. He uses a diagram of the impact of Dr. Linda Warren's obedience to receive salvation. Among the many influenced, Pastor Jim cites our ministries and refers to a story from Corrie ten Boom's book, The Hiding Place.
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.
I play a lead in Providence, which you can bring to your area or watch at home.
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