Wish you were here, Joyce!
The Lord is present at Twin Rocks
Reconnected
Enacted prayer
We did a very moving enacted prayer today at George Fox Seminary for a man who has cancer, and most specifically for a meeting with him that happened this afternoon. We're looking forward to a report on how that meeting went.
Out for a walk on the Columbia River
I'm flying over the moon
 |
| From From the air |
Today was actually a great day to be flying. There was a bit of cloud cover after taking off from Newark, but there were clear skies all across the land. I posted a bunch of photos to my From the air album.
I am SO in the mood to ski!
 |
| From From the air |
If all goes well, I'll be hitting the slopes of Mt. Hood some time next week.
Got a window seat!
Thanks for your prayers for my travels.
The Lord is SO good!
Splashing Toward the End Zone
I gave this message at Westchester Chapel this morning.
If you feel yourself sinking, get your eyes on Jesus!
Where John Woolman died
In May of 2000, the days before blogs, I did a 16 city tour of England with A Clear Leading, about early American abolitionist John Woolman. I just stumbled upon a photo of the place where he died, in York, England. The owners at the time let us in. We discovered that the walls of the actual room where he died were painted bright orange, and there were posters of UK rock icons plastering the wall: not how John would have kept it, but I'm sure he'd be glad to know that a young person was there, since he spent a significant amount of his energies reaching them on his many journeys.
The Last Night of Christmas colors
What a blessed Season this was for us!
If you haven't read our Christmas card, scroll down to December 24.
Two sources of inspiration connect on Wesley
I first saw Roger Nelson perform his play The Man from Aldersgate, about John Wesley, the summer before I moved to New York. It was at a Christians in Theatre Arts Conference in Vancouver, BC. I was inspired on a number of levels: It confirmed my leadings to move to NYC, confirmed that Christians could work in the arts professionally, and specifically inspired me to work more on one-man plays.
Not long after that, Irv Brendlinger, now a professor at my alma mater, George Fox University, hired me for one of my first performances of A Clear Leading. Irv was a great fan of the subject of my play, John Woolman, and his enthusiasm was a real catalyst for getting me to the next level in touring the show.
Now that I'm getting A Clear Leading back on its feet, I was delighted to find that Irv has come out with book about John Wesley!
It's fascinating to me to see all of God's connections out there in the world!
Not long after that, Irv Brendlinger, now a professor at my alma mater, George Fox University, hired me for one of my first performances of A Clear Leading. Irv was a great fan of the subject of my play, John Woolman, and his enthusiasm was a real catalyst for getting me to the next level in touring the show.
Now that I'm getting A Clear Leading back on its feet, I was delighted to find that Irv has come out with book about John Wesley!
It's fascinating to me to see all of God's connections out there in the world!
Happy Epiphany
We were delighted to discover that our new apartment honors the Lord's birth through the Three Kings Celebration party, complete with a live band and a great meal! One more reason to praise the Lord for our miraculous home.
We're celebrating many ways that God was at work in our lives in '08. We had about 200 performances, coachings, speaking engagements or workshops in 14 states and four nations (plus a visit to a fifth nation). Thank you so much for your support throughout the year! You can read highlights in our Christmas letter.
Please continue to lift us up as we go into 2009.
Joyce is serving as interim lead pastor while our head pastor, Jim Warren, is taking his first sabbatical after founding our church (WestchesterChapel.org) 20 years ago. She preached her first sermon in this new post last Sunday, and you can hear it online: WestchesterChapel.org/Media/S010409.html. One of her illustrations tells of the miraculously successful operation her sister had to remove a brain tumor.
Rich has performances and other engagements lined up in eight states already. Plans are shaping up for performances in Asia, Australia, the UK and Africa. He's also working on a couple of writing projects.
Applications are now being received for the 2009 MasterWorks Festival, for which Rich is directing the theatre program. He'll be co-directing Thornton Wilder's Our Town with John Kirby, who is considered one of the best acting coaches in Hollywood after working on shows such as The Count of Monte Cristo, Deja Vu and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Bev Holloway, casting director for about 30 films, including Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius and The Ultimate Gift, will return as a master class instructor along with several other quality professionals: MasterWorksFestival.org.
Wheels for the World at Views of the Manger
On December 22 I reported that I had noticed "Wheels for the World" on a wheelchair in Medford, OR, where I was visiting my family for Christmas. Since my friend, Teresa Smith, had been on trips with Wheels for the World I struck up a conversation. Turns out Brent (right) remembered Teresa from one of his six trips to Poland with Wheels for the World. After leaving the restaurant I wished that I would have invited them to my performance of Views of the Manger. I had given them my website and they found my itinerary (RichDrama.com/Itinerary) and came anyway!
Also pictured here is Brent's wife, Rachel, and their son Bryce, who inspired our connection.
Love is not an Accident
Harmony helps lead worship at La Grange Christian Assembly, just outside of Chicago. I performed there last month and Harmony gave me a copy of this CD, which is just fabulous! It's not praise and worship, but the songs are filled with Truth.
What the ESB did
We stayed at home tonight to see if the Empire State Building did anything spectacular at midnight: It stayed lit. It usually goes dark at the stroke of twelve, but I happened to wake at 5:56 am (I'll be going back to sleep, Lord willing) and it's still going.
On the coldest New Year on record for NYC we were content to watch the lights flash off the buildings leading to Times Square, hear the melé from our window, watch the fireworks on the southern tip of Manhattan, and recall days gone by, when we could watch the ball drop from the roof of The Lamb's Church/Theatres, where I was on staff. It's now closed for renovations, but that was where we watched it mark the new millenium.
I did stand on the square the night it turned 1994, which was my eighth day in the city. I think that was the coldest New Year on record at that point, only a few degrees "warmer" than last night's 18. We went out on Times Square at about 2pm.
The next year (actually it was probably the next morning!) I discovered that we could pass through the parking garage next to The Lamb's and get a clear view at 11:55. A few years later a building was torn down and it opened up a clear view from the roof.
Ah, those were the days. We'd play games and drink hot cocoa while we waited. One year I performed The Revelation in front of what was then the largest fireplace in North America.
But last night was quite special in its own way as we thanked God for an amazing year ( http://RichDrama.com/NewsBlog 12/24), especially for the miraculous view that we do have: http://RichDrama.com/MP
And we prayed for the coming year: for our plans and dreams and for those of the world. Lord, give us the grace to praise You every day of 2009, no matter what comes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
