Join the One Year Bible Reading Plan!

In the New Year I've opened up my daily Bible reading through the One Year Bible reading program, and you're welcome to read along! I'm planning to post notes and answer questions as I have time. I'd love to have you join us on the journey. The Blue Lagoon, Iceland:  www.RichDrama.com/EuroTour2018 Here's my first post, inspired by a teaching by my friend, David Sanborn: Jesus is mentioned in the very first verse of the Bible! You just have to understand Hebrew and the Hebraic mindset to see it. This article will help. Hope to see your comments and questions starting tomorrow! Have a blessed New Year, everyone!

Join the One Year Bible Reading Plan

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There are four openings for the 2019 Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

Register for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers and Actors Camp

Greetings from Times Square! ...or at least from a few blocks away in the warmth (and dry) of our apartment. But we were on Times Square last night as they were setting things up for tonight's festivities. I recorded some very exciting news there: Registration is open for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers and Actors Camp! You'll get the main training in video tutorials before arriving, so that as soon as you hit the ground, we'll be running into film production. You'll leave with a short film for your reel, headshots, and (if it's like every year so far) you'll have an opportunity to audition for a live professional project. Also, many projects want you to have taken a film etiquette course if you don't have a certain amount of film projects under your belt. That happens to be one of the film tutorials, so you'll be able to check that box! We opened registration up to alumni first, so two spots are already taken on both sides of the camera. Move swiftly to secure one (or more with friends!) of the other four spots for each program: www.ChristianFilmmakersCamp.com. The intimacy of the program means there's lots of opportunities to grow as an artist and as a Christian. Also, there is an early bird savings of $100 through the end of January, so if you don't have time to register now, be sure to set an alarm.

Register for Film Camp

Where Hope Lives

There are a lot of great lines in Where Hope Lives, written by Marco Santiago (actor in "Colonel Papa Cubano"). My very favorite came after the show by Pastor Carter Conlin, who gave one of the best summations of Christmas I've heard: "Unapproachable Light (1 Timothy 6:16) wrapped Himself in the most fragile form of humanity." Marco and Courtney Menking (Henry Box Brown, Celebrity Confessions) play the parents of an adopted daughter and birth son, who invite two foster kids to live with them.



Patricia ("Colonel Papa Cubano" and Courageous Love) plays Florence, the pre-believing social worker who sets up the foster relationship is astonished at what the help of Jesus achieves.



Mark Steele (Celebrity Confessions) plays the stern principal, who sets up one of the most touching scenes.



Adrienne Breland (helped with the production of Fire Off-Broadway) had a poignant scene in which she plays an admitting counselor at an abortion clinic with a girl played by her granddaughter! The way they resolve the scene is electrifying!



Ronalda (Off West Broadway productions), played the birth mother in a heart-wrenching scene.

Pastor David Ham (who used to perform at The Lamb's Theatre) introduced the production and had a hand in directing it, alongside Marco and Patricia. They've done a great job, especially with the younger actors. The gal who played the protagonist of the story, the foster daughter, had a major character arc and carried it off with brilliant nuances.



Justin Hullinger (who got his start at The Lamb's Church) did a great job with the lighting.



You can watch it online through Sunday at www.TSC.NYC. Click on the image for the 10 AM or 3 PM services.

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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 Christmas Song of the Prophets

For our Christmas Eve Service at Westchester Chapel, Dr. Linda Warren takes us through some key prophecies announcing the coming Messiah and how they were fulfilled:

Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 49:10

Numbers 24:17

Isaiah 9:6-7

Isaiah 11:1-4

Daniel 9:24-26

Luke 1:67-72

Luke 2:1-14

Dr. Linda mentions that there are hundreds of prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Here are more prophecies and how Jesus fulfilled them: Bible Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus.



Between the Scripture readings and Pastor Linda's teaching, we sing carols that celebrate the fulfillment of those prophecies. In the service we sang to modern adaptations of classic carols, but our CCLI license does not allow for sharing recordings of copyrighted material online, so because the carols were such an integral element of the service, I recorded carols that are in the public domain. If you'd like to sing along, click this link for the lyrics.



Pastor Jim Warren opens and closes the service.



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 more about starting a relationship with Jesus Christ visit www.WestchesterChapel.org/Salvation.

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Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp is about to announce that our registration has opened. Sign up so you don't miss it.

The Word Made Flesh Is Hope

This morning at Westchester Chapel, Joyce teaches on Matthew 1:18-25. Matthew, the despised tax collector, lived a life of shame, and he highlighted the great shame Joseph took upon himself by marrying a woman who was already bearing a child not his own. Joyce mentions Views of the Manger, my play, and two stories it portrays: Joseph's choice of obedience (today's main passage) and Abram nearly walking between the cut animals when God promised to be the Covenant Keeper (Genesis 15). She also told the story of her heart failure in 2005. You can visit the blog we kept during that frightening season.



Dr. Linda Warren opens the service, and Melanie Solomon reads Luke 1:30-33.



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's a Billy Graham sermon that reinforces some of the things Joyce teaches...







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

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You can see one story from Views of the Manger as performed just beyond the door to The Manger in Bethlehem at www.RichDrama.com/ViewsOfTheManger.

How EuroTour2018 Began

Joyce and I presented plays and teachings in eight nations throughout Europe in August and September. Later, Harald Sørlie, who produced Rich's performance of I Dreamed I Was Free in Oslo, visited New York City. We met with him and Danielle Campbell, who introduced us to Harald, at the restaurant where it all started.



We talk about that first conversation that blossomed into an eight-nation tour... and about the sounds animals make in Norwegian.



Press the arrow below, or if you're getting this in an email, visit www.Blog.RichDrama.com.

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I Dreamed I Was Free, which Rich performed in Oslo, is available anywhere in the world. It tells the story of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War in America.

The Treasure of the Secret Cove

McKenzie (left) and Rachel on the

set of "Milk and Oranges."

McKenzie Harris and Rachel Marley were my students together at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp (RMCFC) in 2016, where we produced the short film "Milk and Oranges."



This January, McKenzie was in charge of wardrobe on the set of "There," which was written, produced and directed by William and Morgan Willer, two other alumni of RMCFC (2015 and 2016). In the middle of production, McKenzie got a call-back for the lead in the Lamplighter Theatre production of The Treasure of the Secret Cove. As an alumna of RMCFC she received the casting call I sent out to all my former students. The Lamplighter production team listened to over 250 auditions without considering who the actors were. They were shocked to discover McKenzie was also an alumna of the Lamplighter Guild (2017), where I got to teach this summer, as well as Lamplighter Live, where I first worked with her.

Rachel and McKenzie in the

studio for The Treasure

of the Secret Cove.

McKenzie discovered that Rachel was cast as her character's best chum in the production. Our friend and colleague, Nato Jacobson, plays the husband of McKenzie's character. David Sanborn, a friend I've worked with on projects since 2001, plays a mysterious visitor. Nato and Rachel also played smaller roles.



Joyce and I just listened to it, and they all did splendid work! So many nice moments. So much truth spoken so eloquently. It's a wonderful story, based on the classic book of the same title by Amy Le Feuvre. It's about the power of the covenant of marriage, and it's set up in a very creative way! You can order it as a set of CDs or download it now.



I was honored to be a consultant on several elements of preproduction.

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We're about to announce that registration is open for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp. Sign up for the announcement.