RichDrama - Blog #Scripture in the NightRichDrama - Blog #Scripture in the Nighthttps://www.richdrama.com/blog/tag/Scripture-in-the-NightThu, 16 Apr 2026 07:50:38 -0700http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Dump Anxiety and Sound the Alarm]]>https://www.richdrama.com/blog/post/JonathanParkSoundTheAlarmToday Joyce and I were on Headline Prayer Live, covering our stories and others from www.HeadlinePrayer.org. Here's Joyce's article: Dump Anxiety and Give Him Your ‘Stuff’...]]>

Headline Prayer Live

Today Joyce and I were on Headline Prayer Live, covering our stories and others from www.HeadlinePrayer.org. 

Here's Joyce's article: 

Lord, help us dump our anxiety baggage right where it belongs, at Your feet, so that our prayers will be unhindered and effective. Amen. 

While planning for my third trip across the country in as many weeks to help with an aging parent, I contemplated my luggage. Why, I thought, do I travel with so much stuff? Am I afraid I will run out of some essential item: medicine, hair goop, writing paper? Am I traveling to some hinterland in which I will be unable to buy any missing item?
Here's my story: 

Lord, thank You for audio dramas like "Jonathan Park" that are making our young people aware of Satan’s attacks on our nation and pointing them toward You!

The latest “Jonathan Park" audio drama, “Sound the Alarm,” inspires young people to pray and take action in the face of those who are intentionally trying to destroy America.

Here's the interview with John Fornof, the writer, and Nicole Franco, the director: 

I'm still experimenting with this new system. If you're reading this in an email, and there's no video above or it doesn't play, you can watch it by clicking here.

I performed the roles of General Howe and a sergeant in Sound the Alarm.

Here's today's program:

If you're reading this in an email, and there's no video above or it doesn't play, you can watch it by clicking here.

To get alerts when we're on Headline Prayer Live visit www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/Prayer.


For my birthday this year Facebook offered to raise money for a project I care about. Christian Artist Mentoring Project invited me to teach, 
so I'd love to see them move forward on their fundraising goals. If you sense the Lord prompting you to do so you can give by clicking here.
]]>Tue, 30 May 2023 22:49:44 -0400<![CDATA[Go Through the Gates]]>https://www.richdrama.com/blog/post/go-through-the-gatesStarting on May 17 I’ve felt led to go through Isaiah 62, with more than a million, who are praying for Jerusalem right now. Last night verse 9 placed us in the courts...]]>

Lift Up a Signal Over the Peoples

Since Easter every night I’ve woken in the night and sensed Holy Spirit leading me to a passage of Scripture. I’ve hash-tagged the photos, observations, and prayers that have come from these sweet times of fellowship with the Lord #ScriptureInTheNight on both Facebook and Instagram.


Starting on May 17 I’ve felt led to go through Isaiah 62, with more than a million, who are praying for Jerusalem right now (www.Isaiah62Fast.com). Last night verse 9 placed us in the courts:

Tonight we go through the gates. If memory serves, there were multiple courts in the temple, and certain people were able to get closer to the Lord than others. This was a man-made system, but the tabernacle design was given by the Lord, and there was only one court, and it was for all. In both systems only the priests could enter the Holy Place to minister to the Lord, and only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year.

Before we attended the Asbury Outpouring my favorite time of worship was at the tabernacle in the wilderness of Israel pictured above, in 2005. As we got closer and closer to the Holy of Holies worship got more and more intense, and then we pulled back the veil…or at least we tried! It was stapled shut! I guess the designer didn’t know the actual veil was torn from top to bottom like a father ripping his shirt when his son died, opening the way for all who receive what He did for us to enter the Holy of Holies.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.

Matthew 27:51, ESV


As we join our prayers with more than a million for Israel, let’s pray that many enter into the presence of the Father through the Son!




The 21 day fast for Jerusalem ends on May 28, which is Pentecost this year. Here's my portrayal of what happened from my one-man play 
]]>Thu, 25 May 2023 02:40:17 -0400<![CDATA[Interpreting the Times]]>https://www.richdrama.com/blog/post/InterpretingTheTimes

Interpreting the Times

On the Eve of Resurrection Day I woke up and sensed the Lord was directing me to look at the time. I knew He was directing me to a chapter and verse, and I knew what book they were in. That’s happened every night since. I haven’t always posted them in the night or at all, but every time I’ve sensed Holy Spirit speaking into my soul in some specific way. Each time I’ve been so excited to look at the time and seek the Lord, in part because I can’t wait to spend time in intimate communion with the Holy One, and partly because in this season I’m working on a musical with Timothy J. Mercaldo telling the stories of the Welsh and Asbury Revivals. The Welsh Revival was preceded by Evan Roberts waking in the night, spending intimate times with the Lord, and praying for the miraculous! I feel a commissioning every time! 

Eventually I started tagging my posts about these verses #ScriptureInTheNight. 

If you’re tired of the humanistic claptrap spewed out by the world lately, and you want to join our journey of discovering what the Lord is up to today by exploring what He’s done in our recent past, sign up at www.SongsOfRevivalLive.com.*

Tonight’s passage is particularly exciting to me because it’s from the first passage I’ve ever performed that was interpreted: a scene from my one-man play The Acts. It’s the conclusion of this passage the scene was portraying:
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
The performance was at a coffee house in Jerusalem. I overheard someone asking the guy who set up the performance if he should interpret me, but I didn’t hear the answer. I figured he would have asked me, and since he didn’t I assumed he felt the same way I did: Interpretation would throw off the rhythm of the performance. When my first line came back in Hebrew -- after my initial shock -- I realized it actually set up the natural rhythm of a dialogue! 

Some international trips are stirring, so that’s another reason waking to this passage is particularly exciting!!!

I appreciate your prayers as we continue to work on Songs of Revival and planning for these international trips!

*If you're on our Prayer Team you won't miss these updates, but we've started a new list just for things about Songs of the Revival: www.SongsOfRevivalLive.com.


I wish that scene in Jerusalem was recorded, but here's another scene from The Acts: www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/Pentecost.
]]>Sun, 30 Apr 2023 03:42:16 -0400<![CDATA[Pray with Others Live: The Matter of Life]]>https://www.richdrama.com/blog/post/pray-with-others-live-matter-of-lifeJoyce and I typically are on Pray with Others Live (now Headline Prayer Live) on the second and fifth Tuesdays of the month, but last week, Joyce was traveling to Washington DC to be an onsite intercessor during the Supreme Court hearings on Dobbs...]]>
Joyce on the steps of the
Supreme Court with Greg Hood and 
Dutch Sheets. This connection with
Dutch was a specific answer to prayer.
Joyce and I typically are on Pray with Others Live (now Headline Prayer Live) on the second and fifth Tuesdays of the month, but last week, Joyce was traveling to Washington DC to be an onsite intercessor during the Supreme Court hearings on Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health, which could overturn Roe v. Wade, and I was working on the sitcom by Janet Porter, architect of the Heartbeat Bill (www.RichDrama.com/WhatsAGirlToDo). 

 I reviewed Tracy Robinson's documentary,  The Matter of Life, and Tracy was able to take my place on the program.  

 Judy McDonough, who hosts the program, read from a prayer Joyce submitted by our pastors, Jim and Dr. Linda Warren.  

You can watch the program by clicking the image below:


Here's the interview I did with Tracy Robinson: 


 Joyce also wrote an article based on interviews she did with the two men who drafted the amicus brief filed with the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health. It's on the second page of the December issue of The Connector.  

 Dutch Sheets (in the photo above) read another article by Joyce (The Heart Behind Mississippi's Abortion Law) on his program Give Him 15. 

 While in DC, Joyce attended an event where intercessors prayerfully listened to the opening oral arguments in the Supreme Court. If you haven't heard them yet, you can listen here. The arguments begin at 32m 13s.  

 I posted it earlier, but because it fits the theme for the battle for life, here again is the link to Joyce's article The Lord Is Calling the Supreme Court Back. 

To get reminders of when we'll be on Pray with Others Live in the future, sign up at www.RichDrama.com/blog/post/Prayer.
 
I Dreamed I Was Free tells the story of Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War. 


]]>Wed, 08 Dec 2021 20:47:00 -0500<![CDATA[Mkulunqanda: The Great Beginner]]>https://www.richdrama.com/blog/post/GreatBeginner
This piece is about Harmon Schmelzenbach, the first Nazarene missionary in Swaziland. The video is put together from my performances at the Metro New York District Assembly and at Westchester Chapel Church of the Nazarene. 
Here's the rest of the service at Westchester Chapel: Dependence on the Lord Alone.

With Joyce playing Harmon's wife, Lula Schmelzenbach, we performed this at Africa Nazarene University's 25th anniversary chapel.

In 2007 I portrayed CB Jernigan, who founded our District: From the Prairie Schooner in Texas to a City Flat in New York.

Swazi (siSwati) translations for "Mkulunqanda: The Great Beginner" by Mfundisi Sir Nkhosi, Swaziland (now The Kingdom of eSwatini).

Based on The Missionary Prospector by Lula Schmelzenbach (no copyright), and other research.

Copyright © 2015 by Rich Swingle. All Rights Reserved.
To play for a group of 15 or more, please make arrangements or schedule a live performance.
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