Hears the Story

I want to thank those of you on our prayer team who were praying for last Tuesday’s event at The Salvation Army's Theatre 315 in Manhattan! I so wished I'd invited you on the NYC list! 

The event went miraculously well, far beyond what I imagined or expected. After a brief introduction, our reading of Genesis 1-4 was 20 minutes, and the rest was discussion! It was rich and robust and led by Holy Spirit! When the director, Christopher Monroe, brought it to a close I was utterly shocked when I discovered we’d gone 90 minutes! It didn't feel that long at all. Time stands still during rich engagement with the Word of God. 

In that performance I played Cain and reprised the role of The Serpent, which I performed in The Beginners Bible: The Story of Creation. Christopher had me take the character in a totally different direction, which elicited some great feedback from the audience, but at the end I snuck in an homage to the original. 

On Session #3 on Tuesday February 7 at 7:00pm for Jacob and the Stolen Birthright I’m cast as Isaac and God. I appreciate your prayers, and if you're in the NYC area you're most welcome to attend! 

It will be live only at The Salvation Army's Theatre 315, 315 West 47th Street, New York, NY. 

Click here for the Eventbrite page if you'd like to reserve your free seat, and click here for the schedule. It shows Grace Hwoang on February 7 and 28. She's writing songs she'll perform based on the passages of Scripture we'll perform on those dates. 

Appreciate prayers as we prepare!

><><><

I played 20 characters in The Beginners Bible videos.

The Power of Remembrance

Yesterday at Westchester Chapel Pastor Jim and Dr. Linda Warren had some outstanding opening comments that weren't recorded, so they gave me permission to summarize them. Pastor Jim referred to the article, "Say Cheese! Galactic Photo Shoot Captures 3 Billion Stars."

I referred to the film The Matter of Life, which is available for free for a limited time. My article about it about it is scheduled to be reposted to www.HeadlinePrayer.org soon.

After my intro Rachel Taylor teaches on 2 Peter 3:1-2.

Here's the footage of the billions of stars: 

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.

><><><

Jonathan Park Episodes Filled with Fiery Miracles!

I've been on a few episodes of Jonathan Park Adventures, but this time I was so blessed to be playing a major character! He is from a nation where my ancestors spent several generations, so that was cool! He is able to witness to an enemy, and a profound miracle happens to him. 

On Monday night there was a scene in which a prayer was answered before the character said, "Amen." Before we began recording we gathered for prayer, as we did every night, and that night I prayed that those who have seen prayer answered as they're praying it would be encouraged, and those who haven't to be encouraged to pray with faith that our prayers can be answered in that instant. While recording that scene one of the actors was having some technical difficulties. We recorded from our home studios over the internet, and he dropped off of our connection. One of the other actors asked me to pray, and before I said, "Amen," our colleague came back online! Don't you know that next take was even more powerful! 

    Watch the film of this on    
my Instagram page.

On the first night I recorded at Hephzibah House, which has a wonderful recording studio they open for projects with Christian themes at no charge. On the way up to record, I rode my bike past this Christmas tree burn pile and it felt prophetic! Having finished this recording window I have to say that the Fire of the Lord lit the way for us, and let's pray hearts and minds are set on fire for the Lord and the expansion of his Kingdom!

I was blessed to create with several folks I've worked with on previous projects. Before recording David Sanborn shared something I hadn't heard or remembered: I was in his production of Judah Ben Hur in Singapore in 2001-2002. He told our group that there were some Muslims in the audience who had been recruited by Al-Qaeda, but after seeing our production they decided not to join! For those too young to remember, Al-Qaeda was the terror organization that attacked America on 9/11. 

Praying this production pulls many away from groups recruiting for the kingdom of darkness and beckons them into the Kingdom of Light!

Stay tuned for release info.

Clockwise: Our assistant director/production manager Allison Francis, our director Nicole Franco (who I've known since the 90s), David Sanborn, Oscar Corral (Wise King Media and Lamplighter Theatre). Some unseen colleagues from past projects: Joseph Narducci (who directed me in some Airship Genesis projects) and Rachel Marley Corral (MasterWorks, Rocky Mountain Filmmakers Camp, Sochi Olympics, Wise King Media, and Lamplighter Theatre).

><><><

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

Celebrate Sanctity of Life Sunday with Our Short Film

I just discovered that this Sunday (January 22) is Sanctity of Life Sunday! What a blessing that such a thing exists! 

We created the film "Mine" to comfort those who took life through abortion. It was also created to be shared in churches, and there's no charge for that. 

I hope you'll pray about sharing it with your pastor/s by forwarding this if you're reading this as an email, or sending them to www.RichDrama.com/ThisIsMyChild.

If you'd like to show it in your church, here's a temporary link for downloading it: Download "Mine." That link will work through January 23. 

Praying this little film will help any who are struggling with past choices.

Their website, with resources for those regretting abortion, is www.ThisIsMyChild.com. I'm particularly blessed by this page because it tells the story of God's love for us through the lens of the film.

><><><

I play a pastor who reconnects with a childhood love interest in Providence.

Eric Liddell would be 121 today

I've been tracking Eric Liddell's birthday ever since the great grandson of Hudson Taylor surprised me with it onstage after performing Beyond the Chariots, my play about Liddell, in Hong Kong. Here's the story: "Happy Birthday, Uncle Eric!"

We're planning to bring Beyond the Chariots to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, a 100 years after Liddell broke the world record in the 400m during the 1924 Paris Olympics. I'll also perform it in the Eric Liddell Centre in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that summer. 

Appreciate your prayer for a venue/s in Paris for the play and for provision if needed for the trip. 

><><><

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. 

Why Joy Matters

On Tuesday Joyce and I each had an article post on www.HeadlinePrayer.org. 

Mine was based on an interview I did with Fred Defoy about his study on joy. His wife, Johanna Defoy, worked with me to coach actors on their French accents for Washington's Armor. She recommended me to Fred as a Joy Exemplar. My article was "Why Joy Matters": 

Lord, during these dark times show us how You want to be our joy! May we be unstoppable in our assigned intercession.

Fred Defoy is looking for “joy exemplars.” While working with Christian ministers, he happened to notice that those who wanted to quit the work of ministry were those who had lost their joy. [Continue reading...]

Here's the interview with Fred:

Joyce's article was "In 2023, Let’s ‘Resolve’ to Pray!":

Lord, help us honor Your Word as we seek You this year. Help us live as You would have us live. In Jesus’ name.

We’re a couple of weeks into 2023, and if you haven’t already tossed the New Year’s resolutions, this may be the week they hit the trash. I gave up on these earnest-but-doomed-to-failure attempts at self-improvement many years ago, but when a new year starts, I do desire to establish benchmarks for what is to come. [Continue reading...]

Later that day Joyce and I covered those articles and others on Headline Prayer Live: 

Then, on Thursday, Joyce's article "Dave Kubal: Truth and Justice in 2023 posted on www.HeadlinePrayer.org": 

Lord, we pray Proverbs 21:15. ”When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous, but terror to the evildoer."

IFA President and CEO Dave Kubal is calling intercessors to pray that 2023 would be the year of truth and justice. Kubal highlighted three situations the Lord used to show him the prophetic prayer direction: the miracle of Twitter and how it now protects free speech; how Twitter’s new policies have revealed proof that there were government agencies that were weaponized against the freedoms of America; and, finally, how this resulted in the spiritual battle for the Speaker of the House. [Continue reading...]

If you'd like to receive email reminders that we'll be on Headline Prayer Live every Tuesday and Thursday, sign up at www.RichDrama.com/Prayer.

><><><

We've changed how we send out email. Check out our new options at www.RichDrama.com/Updates.

The Magi Worship Jesus

Westchester Chapel celebrated Epiphany today, and Joyce calls us to worship as the magi did in this message from Matthew 2:1-12. I have to say, this is a really special message! I know you're going to be blessed!

She shared "The New King" from my Christmas play "Views of the Manger," as filmed at Butler (NJ) Church of the Nazarene. It will be available for one week: 

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.

><><><

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

Two articles posted to Headline Prayer

This morning two of Joyce's articles posted to www.HeadlinePrayer.org:

"Biden’s Weakness on Israel: Obama 2.0?": America’s current administration is on shaky ground in the Middle East, according to journalist Bill Koenig, publisher of Koenig – World Watch Daily. Koenig was interviewed by IFA President and CEO Dave Kubal at IFA’s Policy & Prayer Summit, in late October. [Read the full article.]

"Contending for Life Continues in 2023": At IFA’s Policy & Prayer Summit, in late October, Dr. Ralph Reed and Dr. Alveda King, both seasoned veterans of the fight for life, encouraged intercessors to persevere in the battle. Reed, founder and chairman of Faith & Freedom Coalition; and King, founder of Alveda King Ministries, spoke on a panel moderated by Mark Zelden, senior adviser of the Center for American Values at the America First Policy Institute. [Read the full article.]

Thank you for keeping us and our nation in your prayers!

><><><

Looks like this is going to stay up through Epiphany, January 6:

Kirk Cameron's Story Time

Joyce's article on www.HeadlinePrayer.org, "We’re Being Groomed for the Antichrist," made "IFA’s Most Popular Articles in 2022."

Joyce and I covered Kirk Cameron's book reading at the Scarsdale Public Library, just north of NYC: 'Kirk Cameron: “There’s More of Us than We Thought.”'

We prayed onsite before the event began, and here are some interviews we did, starting an hour before the first reading: 

Here's footage of the entire event: 

Here are interviews I did with some folks before the event began:

Here's the first part of the article: 

Lord, thank you for Kirk Cameron and his boldness to bring Your love and witness to America through these library readings. Multiply his efforts to embolden the millions who desire America to return to You.

An overflow crowd showed up for Kirk Cameron’s reading of his children’s book As You Grow at the Scarsdale (NY) public library on Friday, Dec. 30. Other public libraries had refused to allow Cameron to read his book.

In Scarsdale more than 400 people were turned away, although Cameron and a team of staffers from publisher Brave Books held two sessions of 170 people each in the room they had rented.

Read the full article here.

><><><

The Farmer and the Belle on Peacock!

The Farmer and the Belle: Saving Santaland is now on Peacock!

Praying this wonderful story about how magnificent we are in the Lord's eyes is seen -- and the message received -- by multitudes! 

I was a NYC producer and play the manager of Belle, and we've been blessed with permission to share a promo code for merchandise on www.TheFarmerAndTheBelle.net: SWINGLE. That will get you a 15% off coupon. 

Here's info on a Young Adult book they released two weeks ago:

Here's the Peacock trailer: 

><><><

I play a lead in Providence. Jenn Gotzon Chandler, producer and star of The Farmer and the Belle, has a cameo. 

Looking back in gratitude and forward in challenge

For our last Headline Prayer Live of the year Intercessors for America reran our Thanksgiving episode, in which Joyce and I were on a team of intercessors reporting on answered prayer for the year.

This morning IFA posted a blog post I've been updating since 2012: "Take this Challenge in 2023." It includes several plans to read through the whole Bible in a year, and an invitation to join Joyce and I in reading through the C.S. Lewis Bible. Click for more details. 

Pray that the program empowers the prayers of many and that the article inspires many to read through the whole Bible again or for the first time. 

><><><

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. 

Jonathan Park: Sound the Alarm

I was so thrilled to be a part of this 20th installment of the Jonathan Park audio drama! Here's the description: 

In just one year, the government outlawed all school-led prayer (1962) and banned school-sponsored Bible reading (1963). 17 years later, the public display of the Ten Commandments in schools was prohibited. The attacks are now accelerating against the values our country was founded upon. As Jonathan Park discovers, we don’t need to wring our hands in despair, we need to join our hands in prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 provides an answer. If we will humble ourselves and pray, God can heal our land.

This series takes you on a cross-country tour to discover the importance and power of prayer and repentance.

I play General Howe and a Sergeant. 

Pray this wakes many young people up to the dark forces behind much of the unrest in the world these days!

><><><

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

The Christmas Story

I got to read part of the Christmas story (Luke 1:26-35 and Luke 2:1-7) to Westchester Chapel this morning, just before Dr. Linda Warren brought the Christmas message -- Make Room for the Lord -- from Luke 2:1-7. 

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.

><><><

Emmanuel and My Father's World

A blessed Christmas to you! 

Here's a brickfilm in which I played the priest and -- for a brief moment -- Harvey Silverstein from my one-man play, Views of the Manger, and my buddy Mac Nelson's monologue named after the character. Hope your whole family enjoys "Emmanuel": 

And here's a link to an audio book in which I play Marcus Weber and Rev. Rutledge: My Father's World. It was produced by one of my students at the Lamplighter Guild for Creative Disciplines, Lael Lawless Goodrich, and she cast many of her classmates.

I'm cast in Book Two, so we're praying it does well enough for us to move forward. 

Hope you enjoy all twelve days of Christmas!

><><><

A Blessed Christmas!

A couple of years ago I did a photoshoot via video conference for Melissa Thomsen, who was working on an Advent series, so it was a delight to finally meet her in person at the Christian Worldview Film Festival with one of the paintings she did!

It's quite a remarkable story found in Luke 2:8-20. The Great King of Heaven is born on earth, and the announcement is made to livestock managers who live outdoors. He was born in a manger, a feeding trough for cows, so that no one can say He doesn't understand their poverty. 

It was pretty easy for me to imagine seeing those angels, because I was able to draw from Joyce's wonderful piece, "The Shepherd's Daughter," which she performed in the Shepherd's Cave in Bethlehem:

Joyce and I are in charge of our Christmas Eve service. We're excited about doing a readers theatre performance with folks from our church of The Unlikely Wise Man. I'll play Robert Redfern, the unlikely Wise Man, who is a Scrooge-like character. Joyce will play the six-year-old Toddle. 

It will be at 7 p.m. Eastern, live and over video conference only. Click here for video conference link. If you're in the area it will be at the Sonesta Hotel, 66 Hale Ave, White Plains, NY 10601.

You can hear the professional recording we did two years ago for free for a limited time.

It's been a full and amazing year, with performances and/or journalism assignments for Intercessors for America in 14 states, plus Washington, D.C.: OR, NY, ID, WA, NC, CO, FL, MS, LA, TX, MO, GA, KS, NJ. 

Here are a few highlights...

January: Preached in Pakistan (via video conference) and coached dialects for Washington's Armor. 

February: Recorded voices of Rev. Rutledge and Marcus Weber for My Father's World. 

March: Co-led annual workshop at Princeton University (via video conference). Played Mr. Alphabet in Lamplighter Theatre's audio drama Crown of Success and several voices on the podcast Famous Last Words. 

April: Performed The Revelation, Big Fish Little Worm, and Journey to the Garden throughout the Pacific Northwest.

May: Posted "Lies of the Left," one of my most popular articles on www.HeadlinePrayer.org.

June: Toured with The Hiding Place Musical. 

July: Portrayed John the Baptist and Lazarus telling wedding at Cana for the 80th birthday of best man at our wedding in Pascagoula, MS.

August: Rich and Joyce both presented at Christ Over Career National Kickoff in NYC.

September: Won Best Justice - Prayer at Content2022 Film Festival and Media Summit and Honorary Actor at Great Lakes Christian Film Festival. 

October: Performed I Dreamed I Was Free at The Brown Grand Opera House, which I'm calling the Carnegie Hall of Kansas. Joyce and Rich covered the Let Us Worship and IFA Policy & Prayer Summit in Washington, D.C.

November: Christ Over Career Houston.

December: Views of the Manger and the Unlikely Wise Man near NYC.

You can see the recording of Views of the Manger below through Christmas Day.

We're so very grateful for your prayers and support throughout the year! If you're interested in praying for the work we do we encourage you to sign up for the More Frequent Updates at www.RichDrama.com/Updates. Some of you are getting those, and we're so grateful for your prayers! We send out those updates from one to five times a week. Keep scrolling for recent posts to that list.

 

><><><

Available to watch through Christmas Day: Views of the Manger.

Subtitles in Spanish was only available for the live performance.