New Website for Providence

Providence, an upcoming film in which I play the adult version of the lead male, just launched their website: www.ProvidenceMovie.com.

You can read about my involvement at www.RichDrama.com/Providence.

Now taking sign-ups for Rio Ready.

Touching the Soul

I attended the Swahili service here this morning with Alice Wamboi Maina, whose mother helped raise my mom and aunt in Kenya. It was such an incredible, exuberant expression of love, joy and faith! At one point the pastor prayed that a tsunami of the Lord's love would flood the hearts of terrorists. I thanked him after the service, and he said love is the strategy that will triumph over all that is wrong in the world.

Another pastor recognized me from my performance of Lazarus there in 2007. He gave me a couple of minutes to speak, and I was so deeply moved by the worship I told them that people go after all sorts of things so their souls will be touched, but many of those things damage their souls, but worshipping the Lord can touch our souls at the deepest levels and there are no bad side effects, only eternal blessings.

Then I asked them to pray for The Dragon and the Raven as we record it this coming week.

One of the pastors mentioned my tribute to Alice's mum, which can be found here: www.RichDrama.com/Njeri.

Now taking sign-ups for Rio Ready.

Headshots from The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp

One of the great blessings of The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp this year was that Paul Leavitt was on hand to do headshots for everyone at no additional charge! I had a beard at the beginning of the camp, and then I shaved it off strategically. Not all of the stages are finished, but here are couple.

I highly recommend Paul for any of your photography needs. He does more than just headshots, as you can see from his site: PaulLeavittPhotography.com.

Here are some of the other headshots he did...

I had an amazing time being the official photographer for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp in Colorado. The...
Posted by Paul Leavitt Photography on Saturday, June 20, 2015

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The War Within Trumps Inside Out

We just got back from a pre-release screening of Inside Out, Pixar's look inside our minds. We enjoyed it very much, just not as much as Brett Varvel's The War Within, which took numerous awards last year, looking instead into our souls.

My preference lies mainly in the fact that, according to Inside Out our emotions are running the show. In The War Within, Emotion is just one of the six main characters that govern our thought-life. He's joined by Mind, Memory, Will, Conscience, and Heart. These elements all come into play in Inside Out, but they're not the decision makers.

Also, The War Within has a fantastic faith component, which is completely missing from Inside Out.

That being said, Inside Out does have a wonderful Christ moment, and the whole film is certainly enjoyable. It also has some deep insights into who we are. It was interesting to look into various people's minds and see who was running the show: Eleven-year-old Riley, whose mind is the set for most of the main plot, is run by Joy from birth. For her mother it's Sadness. For her Father it's Anger.  I'm glad we're not run by our emotions since "The heart is deceitful above all things..." But I do like the picture of choosing which emotion takes the lead.

If you like Inside Out, I highly recommend that you order the one that came first: The War Within.

Christians should know:
* Cartoon violence
* Anger wants to use a curse word, but, thankfully, never gets to do that

 

The Antidote to Anxiety

Pastor Joyce Swingle preaches on Exodus 20:8-11 and Genesis 1:26-2:3. Opening, prayer, and announcements by Pastor Jim Warren. Prayer by Sandy R. I introduced the song "Beautiful."



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

If you've been blessed by the ministry of Westchester Chapel we'd be blessed by any contribution, which could help us continue our work for the Lord.

Other Options



During Bible Study Sandy R. introduced "Deeper Still" by Kimberly and Alberta Rivera.

Photo courtesy of NicolettiPhoto.com.

Now taking sign-ups for Rio Ready.

The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp

I got to reprise my role of the Slave Trader from Polycarp for this intro
to Zack Lawrence's review of the film.

I just got back from a great two weeks at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp, where we produced five short films, got an IMDb credit for all of our students when they performed in an opening sequence for film instructor Zack Lawrence's Indy Christian Review, and coached them all in auditions for an upcoming feature film. To make the most of our time together we uploaded teaching modules the students watched in advance so they could hit the ground running. Once on site we made the whole process as close to professional production as possibly, while teaching principles along the way.

We also had Emmy Award-winning writer John Fornof with us for a few days. He's directed actors for his radio dramas who have performed in Narnia, The Lord of the Rings and Downton Abbey, and he directed our students on voice-over pieces. 

Before Film Camp began we had a conference call with Bev Holloway. She fielded questions and shared from her wealth of experience casting nearly 60 feature films.

During both weeks of Film Camp actor/filmmaker/casting director Rebekah Cook gave an over-the-phone workshop on creating an actor website. She shared some outstanding insights, and then Zack and Ken Lawrence gave a student-only offer to create their sites for an incredibly reasonable rate.

You can hear my report on the Film Camp for our church, Westchester Chapel Church of the Nazarene by clicking here.

Pray about joining us next year: www.ChristianFilmmakersCamp.com.

Jesus Is Your Sabbath Rest

Pastor Randy Solomon preaches on Exodus 20:8-11. Pastor Jim Warren opens with a sketch with Rich Swingle, who later reported on his performance as Jesus in The Messenger's Box and his work as teacher and coach at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp. Pastor Jim also led the congregation in creative worship. Pastor Joyce Swingle shared announcements and prayer.



The following week Rich introduced the song "Beautiful," one of the songs they sang at the Christian Filmmakers Camp.





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've been blessed by the ministry of Westchester Chapel we'd be blessed by any contribution, which could help us continue our work for the Lord.

Other Options

Photo courtesy of NicolettiPhoto.com.

Now taking sign-ups for Rio Ready.