Performing for Teresiah Njeri

We sponsor Teresiah Njeri through Compassion International, and the photo is of me performing my 1-man play about Jonah for her and her friends because she told us in a letter that Jonah is her favorite story from the Bible. She got tickled and was sharing her joy with one of her friends on the pew behind her. I was translated into Kikuyu, which is the language my mom was learning when she was Teresiah Njeri's age. We picked her because of that, and because her Kikuyu name is the same as the woman who helped raise mom: www.RichDrama.com/Njeri

Pray about sponsoring a child: www.RichDrama.com/Compassion

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For information on my one-man play about Jonah visit www.RichDrama.com/ShortPieces.

Photos from Africa

We took about 3,000 photos on our 26 day trip to Africa, and it's taking us a while to put them all into folders so you don't have to go through them all in one sitting. Click the images below to see the folders we have created so far:

We presented in 7 chapels at ANU. Click here to watch two of them.

We'll put more here as we have time, and you can visit later by going to www.RichDrama.com/Africa.

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I Dreamed I Was Free tells the story of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War.

John Lennox at Carnegie Hall

Joyce and I had a blast at Carnegie Hall hearing Dr. John Lennox say some really intelligent things about Christmas... oh, yes, and his niece and her husband, The Gettys, performed there, too. The whole evening was just really wonderful! They sang their own songs and their arrangements of classics. They were backed up by a very talented band, including of former colleague and friend from MasterWorks, Alana Pritchard, who headed up the strings section. There was also some electrifying Irish dancing mixed in! Many of the songs were carols they directed the audience in joining along, making it the third time I got to perform at Carnegie Hall... from the audience. It's breathtaking to be one of thousands of voices filling some of the most acoustically perfect space on earth with songs celebrating God becoming man and dwelling with us.

But the real highlight for me was when Dr. John Lennox spoke. Kristyn Getty's uncle is professor emeritus of mathematics at Oxford University, where he used to take classes from C. S. Lewis. Dr. Lennox read Scripture and shared a brilliant celebration of Christmas. Dr. Lennox has debated Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, among other atheists. One told him Jesus was just as fictional as Santa Claus. Dr. Lennox asked people in that audience to stand if they came to believe that Santa was real as adults. No one stood. Then he asked people to stand who came to believe in Jesus Christ as their real, living Saviour as an adult, and hundreds stood up. He countered that Jesus is very real, and his Life and Life lived through his students is studied by people with doctorates. There are no PhDs who study Santa Claus as a real, living person. He also pointed out that some say Jesus could not have been born of a virgin because it goes against the laws of nature. Dr. Lennox explained that we go against the laws of nature when we catch a falling apple. For the Creator of all things--including the laws of nature--to step into time by way of a Divine Spermatozoa is completely fitting with Who He is and Who He promised.

If you want to know more about the living Jesus Christ, visit www.RichDrama.com/MyPassion.

Click below to see John Lennox remembering C. S. Lewis. If you're receiving this by email, it's at www.Blog.RichDrama.com (12/20).

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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.

Floored...again

One of three performances this
Season, for pastors on the
Metro NY Church of the Nazarene.

It happens every Advent Season: I get floored by what the Lord did! This year it happened in an unexpected way, as I was preparing to portray Zechariah in Dennis Cole's "Unlikely People." Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist, and in this monologue he's reflecting on how the Angel Gabriel told him he and his barren wife Elizabeth would give birth to the prophet (John the Baptist) who would lead people to the Messiah. Because of Zechariah's disbelief, his ability to speak was taken away. There's a brilliant line in the monologue: "...my thoughts are my prayer to my God, Who would do for my bride Elizabeth what only God can do. Yes. Yes! ....in my silence He can!" After going through the script scores of times as a part of the memorization process it finally dawned on me that his ability to express his doubt to Elizabeth was significantly reduced when his voice was taken away! It made me think of how Jesus could not perform many miracles in his hometown, which led me to this exceptional article about it: "Why Jesus Couldn’t Do Miracles in His Hometown." It’s not our faith that makes God do what we want, or our lack of faith that prevents Him from moving, but the Creator of all things will not move where there is no faith.

Don't wait for God to answer a prayer for something you want before you'll have faith. Pray that He'll give you faith, and then watch the miracles flow! I'm WAY behind on the long list of miracles I've seen that I keep at the bottom of www.RichDrama.com/WarRoom.

If you have no faith, or if you'd like your faith renewed, visit www.RichDrama.com/MyPassion.

We prayed that the Lord would keep the bad weather away from Times Square so we could perform our play there as we planned, but He answered our prayer in an unexpected way: We performed it in the beautiful sanctuary of Holy Cross Church, and the Facebook Live recording of it is MUCH better than it would have been on Times Square, and we wouldn't have done a Facebook Live without broadcasting the images of strangers without their permission. So it's a miracle that you can watch it now:

Part 1 (Starts at 1:40. If you click 1:40 in the comments it will take you right to it.)

Part 2

Have a blessed Christmas Season!

We were blown away by the creativity of our Creator while we were in Africa a month ago! We saw the wonders of his love everywhere we looked, and we can be sure that Heaven will be better than the best of earth... and without sin! Wow!

The only snow we saw in Africa was
atop Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest
mountain on earth that is not a part
of a mountain range.

On the first Sunday of Advent our service was canceled by the threat of snow, sleet and freezing rain. I told one of our friends we made in Africa, and he texted, "Snow 🤔🤔." Our church gathered via conference call to share praise and prayer and hear Pastor Jim Warren share briefly on the Christmas Season. Because of the poor audio quality we didn't record it, as we usually do, but now I wish I would have. Pastor Jim made a keen observation: Just before Jesus was born the world was yearning for the Messiah to come. So many missed Him because they were looking for what they wanted Him to be. Now we who know Him are eagerly awaiting the return of the Messiah to deliver us from the mess we've made. Just as He came as a Babe in a manger, He will assuredly return as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Be ready to worship Him!

Serving Him has taken us far and wide this year. I've been able to teach and perform in 15 states, Kenya and Tanzania, and Joyce joined me in leading seven chapel services at Africa Nazarene University in Kenya.

Here are some highlights:

January
Joyce and I worked on the short film "Reflection," produced and directed by alumni of the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp, where Rich teaches and coaches each summer. Later that month Rich performed the role of Elijah for an Airship Genesis episode.

February
Rich performed I Dreamed I Was Free at the Westfield Friends School, where he also visited classrooms as John Woolman, the Quaker abolitionist featured in the play.

March

Rich read Scripture and led hymns at the Memorial Service of Roger Nelson in Pasadena, CA. Roger was one of Rich's mentors and colleagues in one-man plays.

April
Rich recorded the voice of John the Baptist for Airship Genesis Mobile Game.

May
Rich played John the Apostle in the Off-Broadway production of Revelation. He shared the role with Jonathan Blair, who played Jesus in the Sight and Sound production of Jesus, which we enjoyed with one of our greatest supporters over the decades, Cindy Sebring.

June
Rich taught and coached at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp. He also played the father in this year's short film, "Loneliness."

July
Rich performed in two short films ("The Ledger" and "Mine") in Canada near Calgary. They were produced by an alumnus of the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

August
Several bookings linked together, along with a trip with Rich's parents, which set up episodes of Treasure Seekers between Denver and Rhinebeck, NY.

September
Rich played Alan in the feature film Second Chances in Northern Idaho. Then Rich taught an Actors Bootcamp and performed at Content 19 Film Festival and Media Summit in Fort Worth, TX.

October
Rich performed and taught at the Hollywood Divine International Film Festival, near Harrisburg, PA. Then Joyce and Rich led seven chapel services at the two campuses of Africa Nazarene University in late October and early November. You can watch two of those chapels at www.RichDrama.com/Africa.

November
We went on safari in Tanzania, where we filmed several episodes of Treasure Seekers. We'll be posting more photos at www.RichDrama.com/Africa.

December
Joyce and I portrayed Elizabeth and Zechariah in Dennis Cole's "Unlikely People" at three events.

Praying the warmth of the Son shines on you throughout this Holy Season.

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I Dreamed I Was Free tells the story of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War.

The Advent of the Radical Life

Swingles in Tanzania.

Joyce continues Westchester Chapel's Radical Advent series teaching on John 15:7-17. I open with stories and a song from Africa. Dr. Linda Warren prays refreshment for us after our trip.

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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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.

Oshkosh and the Log in Sharky Man's Eye

In this episode of Treasure Seekers, Sharky Man tries to get a speck out of Trevor the Treasure Seeker's eye while he has a log in his own. We'll see why Jesus said that's a really bad idea in Matthew 7:1-6. We'll also see interviews with pilots at the Oshkosh AirVenture, the largest airshow on earth and hear how they welcome people into the Family of God.

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There are still three openings for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp next summer, where I'll be teaching acting for film and coaching students in a short film.