Performances and workshops in almost 40 nations, about 30 films... Invite the Swingles to inspire your audience! Mobile users, our index is on the line below...
One of my heroes passed away today. Ravi Zacharias was a profound apologist for the Gospel. He was always so gentle, always honored those asking questions, but he was always as sharp as a tack. Having been raised Hindu, his observations of how Christianity compares to other faiths was always insightful. He said:
Outside of the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no hope in this world. That cross and resurrection at the core of the Gospel is the only hope for humanity. Wherever you go, ask God for wisdom on how to get that Gospel in, even in the toughest situations of life.
I've posted his videos of his talks at Ivy League universities on this blog several times. You can find them at www.RichDrama.com/Ravi
Whenever I hear people say all religions are the same I think of all the religious practices we've come across on our journeys to six continents and about 40 nations, living in NYC where every nation on earth is represented, and just observing the world:
• In Israel we encountered the Druze. Their male leaders wear baggy pants in case they give birth to the messiah.
• In Singapore there was a Hindu worship practice that was so gruesome it's illegal in India: The practitioners carry a metal home for their god over their heads with hooks digging into their flesh.
• We have a friend, Kara M, who partnered in ministry with a Christian couple in India who adopt the children who are conceived when men "worship" their goddess with temple prostitutes. Hear her story by clicking here.
• Some Hindus worship rats.
• Animists worship everything.
• When I was working on my master's thesis, a gentleman in the drug rehabilitation center, where I was teaching sociodrama, told me that his higher power was Mickey Mouse.
• After performing a piece that addressed witch doctors while we were in Africa we were told many there still go to witch doctors even after becoming Christians.
These religions are obviously not all alike!
So when I saw a Ravi Zacharias talk entitled "How do you know that Christianity is the one true worldview?" I passed it by because I have so many reasons to know that it's true and all other religions are counterfeits. I finally took the 9.5 minutes to watch the video, and I was surprised to discover so many things I hadn't heard before.
If you're a Christian, this will really encourage you.
If you're not a Christian, and you're honestly seeking truth I really encourage you to watch with an open mind.
Click the arrow below, or if you're reading this in an email, visit www.Blog.RichDrama.com to watch.
And Dr. Zacharias addresses a similar question here:
Joyce and I saw a screener of the film and really loved it! Our friend and colleague, Bev Holloway (Beyond the Mask, I Can Only Imagine, Mom's Night Out) was the casting director, and she put together a great family. Shari plays Gladys Staines opposite Stephen Baldwin (105 credits on IMDb). Both do a brilliant job of bringing this couple to life and showing their peace in the presence of persecution. The screenwriter has framed the atrocity at the heart of the film in a very intriguing way. We see it unfold through the eyes of a journalist who is trying to find evidence that supports his viewpoint. So it feels relevant in an era of fake news. This important story is being told in theaters February 1 with a special showing January 31. Find a theater near you: www.TheLeastOfThese.movie.
Shari's talk for NYMI was outstanding! She shared some personal trials she and her family have gone through, and she said as Christians we shouldn't cringe when we face battles because it's an opportunity to take ground for the Lord. She said we are created and called to take ground for the Kingdom of God, and Jesus the Warrior is by our side when we walk in obedience. She shared that in the midst of her family's trials she heard a sermon on Joshua leading the Israelites to circle the city of Jericho six times, and on the seventh they blew their trumpets and the walls came down. I've personally seen those crumbled walls, and archeologists have found the corner where Rahab's home was kept secure. But that day Shari didn't want to hear another sermon on Joshua. The Lord urged her not to just look at the march and the fall, but to look at what led up to it. She remembered Joshua's obedience to speak an honest report about the Promised Land in the face of the majority of the spies who were cowards. He was obedient to take over when Moses died. He was obedient to lead the way across the stopped-up Jordan River. And when the Lord appeared to him in human form (one of many evidences of the Trinity), Joshua worshipped Him. It was Joshua's life of obedience that paved the way for the miraculous wall fall.
Shari's obedience was to go back to her beginnings. She charted a map of all the connections that got her where she is today, starting back to her childhood. When she looked at the map it was so clear to her that the Lord had a hand in it all! She urged us not to get wrapped up in doing projects that make us famous. Every December she prays for stories to tell in the coming year that will make Jesus Christ famous. When we operate in obedience to his call on our lives the walls will fall, and He will get the glory.
Pray that many see The Least of These and that the Lord will get the glory!
The Fathom Event
I watched the Fathom Event on January 31, and I was moved all over again! It was followed by an interview with Shari and world-renowned apologist, Ravi Zacharias.
Shari talked about working in the presence of real lepers in one of the actual Leper Homes the Staines had run. She said that when one of them raised her foot for Shari to work on it the smell of death was in the room. She ran off camera to her husband, who encouraged her. They prayed, and when she went back to the set she smelled a fragrant aroma she knew was the Holy Spirit. Others on set commented on it, too.
Shari loved working with the three Australian children, who were actually siblings in real life! She was grateful that they were helping her with her accent!
When the interviewer, Krish Dhanam, asked Shari what she would say if Gladys Staines was in the room, Shari broke down weeping. She said she would thank Gladys for such a profound act of forgiveness.
Ravi thanked the filmmakers for shining the light on the good that Christians are doing in India, and have been doing for hundreds of years. He said that the story of forgiveness is a picture of what Christ did. All forgiveness requires sacrifice, and we saw that so profoundly through this story, but Jesus Christ forgave all of humanity. What a price! What a reward! All who call on Him will be saved.
I got to perform in For the Glory and The Screenwriters with Jason Burkey, who performed in October Baby with Shari. The photo shows us in our 1940's duds covered up for a meal on the set of The Screenwriters.
We live in a post-truth culture. Abdu Murray defined that as "a culture that elevates feelings and preferences over facts and truth." He and Ravi Zacharias engaged the Yale campus in a lively discussion about truth.
When Joyce and I were staying near the Yale campus a couple of years ago Joyce got me a T-shirt with the university's emblem. A few months ago a young man asked me what the letters were. Turns out they spell Urim v'Thummim, the stones the high priest would carry behind the breastplate to seek the Lord's direction. The Hebrew phrase was added to the Yale seal by Rev. Ezra Stiles, the university's president from 1778 to 1795, who also required freshmen to study Hebrew. It was only required of upperclassmen at Harvard. Urim vThummim is translated into their Latin motto, Lux et veritas, Light and Truth. How appropriate that these world-class speakers were brought there to discuss how our culture's approach to truth pales in the Light of Truth:
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. 
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