Monday, November 2, 2020

Fragments of Truth

I've seen the fragment of the Book of John which is used in the poster when I was in Manchester, UK. The film shows we can trust the accuracy of the Bible we have today. 
At www.Faithlife.com/fragments-of-truth you can order a DVD, stream it online, arrange for your church to watch it together and order discussion guides. It also comes with a subscription to FaithlifeTV

Watch the trailer below, or if you're getting this in an email, visit www.RichDrama.com/FragmentsOfTruth.




I worked with the director, Reuben Evans on The Farmer and The Belle - Christmas Comedy Movie and with John Rhys Davies on The Dragon and the Raven and Beyond the Mask Movie.




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.



Saturday, October 31, 2020

Hallelujah Service


I put this prayer (Ask for
the peace of Jerusalem) in the
Wailing Wall of Jerusalem in
2011.
Rachel Taylor led our Hallelujah Service today, based on Psalm 122. We didn't record the actual service because it was so interacted, but Rachel recorded a summary.     Dr. Linda Warren prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, and I prayed for peace in America.


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.


 

Here are participants from Let Us Worship singing to the Lord and to each other across the tracks: 





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 Actsat www.RichDrama.com/Pentecost.









Monday, October 26, 2020

Enacted Prayer Featured in Headline Prayer


Joyce and I were interviewed Gloria Robles for this article in Headline Prayer about our work with enacted prayer: 
For more on enacted prayer visit www.RichDrama.com/Workshops.






To see more enacted prayers visit www.RichDrama.com/EnactedPrayer.

We were recently in Washington, DC, and did an enacted prayer on the Lincoln Memorial:

Here are more prayers we did on that trip:









Sunday, October 25, 2020

The Church Advances through Power


Joyce teaches on Acts 16:16-40, when Paul and Silas' worship service led to a prison breakout. At the opening she refers to a sketch I helped my students at the Salvation Army Territorial Arts Ministry Conservatory devise through sociodrama. Click here, and then move the time to 39:25 to watch the sketch.


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



 


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 Actsat www.RichDrama.com/Pentecost.



Wednesday, September 23, 2020

The Fulton Street Revival


On this day in 1857 Jeremiah Lamphier held his first lunch-time prayer meeting in Lower Manhattan. Within six months there were 10,000 meeting daily to pray during their lunch hour in Manhattan and by 1859 there were about a million people across the country praying together over lunch. 

Yesterday I played Jeremiah Lamphier in a short film for the Redigging the Wells of Revival conference being held on Azusa Street, the epicenter of a 1903 revival that birthed our denomination, the Church of the Nazarene, among many others. 

The short film was the idea of Silas Titus of Wall Street Prayer, who interviews Lamphier in the film.

You can see our short film as a part of the Redigging the Wells of Revival event, which included videos from many locations where revivals broke out. it's over nine hours of footage. 

You can also watch ours alone below:

To watch it in your home we suggest a donation of $2 (www.RichDrama.com/Donate)

To download it to show for a group and to stream it as a part of a service (please do not post it online on its own) we suggest a donation of $20 (www.RichDrama.com/Donate).

Once you've made a donation, click this link. Praying it blesses you and/or your whole congregation! To show in churches, look for the download button below the video on this page.



Rather than sharing the link above, please send others to www.RichDrama.com/FultonStreetRevival.


This sculpture of Jeremiah Lamphier was on the sidewalk
outside the American Bible Society until they moved to 
Philadelphia. It's now in the lobby of King's College.




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









Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Hope in Resurrection for Today


One of the fires sweeping the West Coast destroyed Talent, Oregon, where I attended junior high, and Phoenix, Oregon, where I attended elementary and high school. I know several classmates and family members who lost their homes, and their loss has been so heavy on my heart and in my prayers. One night I woke with a deep prayer burden and saw some of the imagery of the smoke and flames and heard the worship song, "Psalm 46 (Lord of Hosts)." I started putting together a worship video with those images as a prayer exercise in the wee hours of the night. Then Melanie Solomon taught on the story of Lazarus for Westchester Chapel from John 11, and I decided to pair the video with Melanie's teaching. 

I pray that video and message of hope and resurrection will bless those who lost their homes, and give prayer direction for all who need hope in these weighty days. 

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




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

If you feel led to contribute to those who have lost their homes, there are links to give directly to those families at www.RichDrama.com/SouthernOregonFire.





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



Friday, September 11, 2020

Five Bells for 9/11 for 2020

Five Bells for 9/11
Earlier this week, a wildfire ripped through Talent and Phoenix, Oregon, where our family has lived since my great grandparents moved there in a covered wagon. The fire passed between our family's farm and Phoenix High School, and it's only a ten-minute drive between them. I praise the Lord my parents are fine, except that they're without power or running water. Fire came close to several of our friends but their property was spared. I was grieved, however, to discover that two of my friends lost everything, and we're praying for the thousands like them.

This tragedy inspired us to share my one-man play Five Bells for 9/11 throughout this weekend.

We're praying that sharing this play now is a good way to honor our first responders on September 11, 2001, when our nation was attacked by terrorists, and we also want it to honor our first responders who are fighting to protect our citizens today. 

The play tells the stories of three people who were directly impacted: Bruce Van Hine, a fire fighter for Squad 41; Lana Ho Shing, a mutual funds specialist for Morgan Stanley, and Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest at the Church of St. Francis.


I wrote this piece in such a way as to leave the audience with new, healing memories linked to those that still wound some of us. Ann Van Hine, the wife of Bruce, the firefighter in the play, said, "We shouldn't be coping, we should be hoping." You'll see her speak after the play.

It is my deepest desire that this play will bring hope and healing.

Click the image below to watch.
Performed in NYC just before the 15th anniversary of 9/11.
Feel free to forward this email or share this link on social media: www.RichDrama.com/FiveBells2020

The recording of the performance will be available through Sunday night, September 13.  

The song, "I Will Respond," was written for the play by Dom Crincoli.
Donate to the international ministry of Rich and Joyce Swingle
Photos from Five Bells for 9/11 courtesy of Ken Bizzigotti of Times Herald-Register.

A Prophet's Life: Prayer

Pastor Joyce Swingle continues our series on "A Prophet’s Life: Lessons Learned From Those Called to Communicate God’s Truth” with a me...