One of our volunteers asked me if I heard the audience’s reaction when the curtain opened. I was a moment late getting into the auditorium, so I’d missed it. She said it was like a collective gasp. I loved that, because we worked hard on this set, just hoping to come close to matching the stark beauty of the first one, back in January, 2009. I think we did.

The first time we did the play, my brother, Glenn, played Judas. I also wondered if Michael Williams could come close to his riveting performance. Well, along with everyone in that audience, I was absolutely blown away. Moved to tears.

Michael hadn’t let his wife, Kristen, go to any of the rehearsals, hear him practicing his lines, or even read the play at home. He’d wanted her to experience it just like everyone else in the audience. Afterwards, it was the sweetest thing to see her arms around his neck, just sobbing into his shoulder, lifting her head to look at him, shaking her head in wonder and burying her face  in his shoulder again. She was so moved, and so proud of his remarkable depiction of the most enigmatic, most difficult to understand of all the apostles.

I heard a lady say as she was leaving, “I don’t think I even breathed for that whole play.”

It is a role that requires of the actor, two very distinct portrayals. The play takes place while Jesus is still alive, but on the cross. When Judas first appears, Satan has possessed him fully, and he uses Judas to gloat in arrogance before God about what he believes is his victory over Jesus. Later in the play, Satan discards Judas, and we see a completely different personality, revealing the shell of a man he has become.

Our hope is that every play we produce will convey some aspect or perspective on the Gospel in a way that people don’t normally hear or see, in the hope that the person and the promise of Jesus will be revealed in a fresh and compelling way. I agree with the lady’s comment…it is a breathtaking experience.

Michael isn’t the only outstanding actor on the stage in this show. Mikey Gonzales, who has been in several Ragtown productions, and always brings such authenticity and heart to his roles, plays Levi, the tax collector who has attempted to befriend Judas. Mikey’s challenges in doing this role have been beyond anyone’s ability to overcome, apart from absolute dependency on Christ. In the middle of rehearsals, Mikey lost his last surviving member of his immediate family, when his younger brother, Patrick, passed away.

His courage and determination to continue on in spite of such a heartbreaking loss has been inspirational beyond words. He believes, as all of us do, that these productions are so much more than entertainment. That they are worth the time and commitment. The Lord uses them to touch people in ways that perhaps nothing else can. Such a heart this young man has.

As I said earlier, we had an audience of 36 people last Saturday, and given the times we’re living in, we were so grateful for every one of them. But watching those profoundly committed young men on that stage, so utterly devoting the talents God has blessed them with, to making the very most of that opportunity to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with absolutely no compensation for their great work, apart from the words of appreciation from the audience, and their assurance from within that they are doing what God would have them do—those 300 unoccupied seats never looked so empty.

I hope you’ll choose a Saturday in March or April to come and meet these extraordinary men, as they bring Judas Iscariot and his loyal friend, Levi, to life on the Ragtown stage in Judas the Lost Apostle. You will be so glad you did.

I’m in the fourth quarter, and as any football or basketball fan knows, that’s when you win or lose. Of course, the game is rigged in my favor. Even if I come out way behind, I get the trophy anyway. Grace isn’t fair. Thank you, Lord! And now I think I’ve wrung more than enough out of that metaphor.

Like the former Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel once said, You never want to let a serious crisis go to waste, so I’ve taken all that above mentioned angst and have been pouring it into a new book. And just in case the Siliconati are watching (and I am definitely taking credit for inventing that word, which appears in the aforementioned new book) let it be recorded that I took advice from Rahm Emanuel. That should satisfy the fact-checkers.

See how I just veered right off the rails? I’m about halfway through the first draft of the new book, which I think is going to end up being a three or four book series. I have quite a bit written on two of the other books in the series. One is just a title: Revelation. I know, it’s been used, but I like it.

When I’ve not been writing, I’ve been busy working, along with our ever faithful volunteers, on the set for Judas the Lost Apostle. We’re opening live on February 27th, and we’ll be open Saturdays in March and April, with the exception of Easter weekend. Of the thirty sum-odd plays I’ve written, this one is the one that got under my skin the most. I mean that I found myself thinking about it long after I finished writing, and longer still after we first staged it in 2009. We’ve had a lot of plays that were described as thought-provoking, engaging, or compelling, but Judas is absolutely riveting, and that has everything to do with how believable the actor portraying Judas Iscariot is.

I honestly didn’t know if anyone other than my brother could ever be able to do it, but I promise you, Michael Williams is going to bring Judas to life on our stage in a way you will never forget. It is going to be a powerful portrayal, which ironically, may be the most unvarnished presentation of the Gospel you’ve ever experienced.  I really encourage you not to miss this special opportunity to see an extraordinary actor in a role I think he may have been born to play.

Some time ago I was horsing around with Michael on the set of another play. We were shooting some video promos, and it struck me that Michael, with his hair long and a full beard, looked just a little like Charles Manson. I said that on the interview we were taping and he just stopped and stared at me in a way that actually just gave me a chill recalling it. Just for that moment this incredibly sweet young guy was…scary. He’s bringing all that and more to this role. Don’t miss it!

Another fine actor, Mikey Gonzales, who you should well remember as John the Baptist in Gates of Paradise among other Ragtown productions, will play the role of the Apostle Mathew Levi the tax collector. Glenn is back in the saddle as director, sandwiching rehearsals between physical therapy rehab sessions, as he continues to recover from his successful back surgery.

We’re working on a concert I think you’ll like too, so start making plans, and come help us celebrate still having the freedom to open our doors and proclaim the  Good News…the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We can’t wait to see you coming through those doors.

What A Day Of Rejoicing That Will Be!

There’s a line near the end of Say Nicklaus, where Nicklaus Elliffe says to Cornelius Houchen, “I don’t believe God is quite finished here…just yet.”

We’re not going anywhere, because we have seen God working in and through this place and the precious people He gathers here time and time again. If ever there was a time when God’s children desperately needed a place of joyful sanctuary, where the glory of the Truth, the One and Only Way, and the absolute assurance that complete and irrevocable love, approval, and eternal Life has been poured into us by our Lord Jesus Christ…it is now.

Very few people who have ever been to Ragtown think that all we do is put on shows. Well, maybe that is all we do…but God does something else entirely. We’ve had 45 productions since 2007…around 500 concerts and 500 performances of plays. I don’t know how many times I’ve had people tell me that they’ve done everything they know to do to get people to come to Ragtown, but they won’t. And I can’t count the number of times people have come for the first time and told me that they can’t believe they’ve missed all those wonderful opportunities to experience that thing that none of us can explain.

We’ve had the most amazing word of mouth advertising anyone could ask for, and we are so grateful for that. I’ve never known of a theater, a church, a business or organization of any kind that has such a devoted group of people who were willing to tell anyone who would listen about how great they believe this place is. We’re going to need that more than ever in the months ahead.

We’ve been busy making plans, trying to figure out what we’re going to need to do, not only to survive, but to flourish in the face of continuing challenges. As you can imagine, for 2020, our attendance ended up at about a third of what it normally would be, and donations have fallen off similarly.

Over the next weeks we’ll be letting you know about our future plans, but for now, we just wanted to thank all of you who attended this year, and to assure you that we’re not giving up. And to those of you who love Ragtown, but were unable to attend, we are hopeful to see you again…hopeful that this season of fear is over soon. The desire of our hearts remains to joyfully convey the person and promise of Jesus Christ in word and music, and we’re not about to quit when we believe with all our heart that God’s not quite finished here…not even close.

Have a joyful Christmas, and think on this…how fortunate we are that we are the generation of God’s children who were specifically appointed to be here in this place at this time, infused with the victorious Spirit of His Only Begotten Son. Why is that?  So we may convey, to the lost and to the terrified, the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Jesus, evidenced by our calm assurance, by our certainty that God is, in these circumstances, in this moment, working all things together for our good.

Blessed Assurance!

Our 45th production, our joyful Christmas classic, Say Nicklaus! will be different from all those that have come before it. It will be the first Ragtown production that Glenn Polk has entrusted to another director. Christopher Smith, well known to Ragtown audiences, having filled major roles in six productions since 2014, is not only directing, but will be returning to his role as the irascible school headmaster, Cornelius Houchen.

Sarah Smith has been assisting her husband in casting this year’s production. Nine children are in the show, their ages ranging from 6 to 16, but finding the first two was easy— the eldest two of Chris and Sarah’s four boys. Sarah will also return to her role as Ula Goiterflaven, Headmaster Houchen’s long-suffering, utterly smitten assistant. When Sarah last played Ula, in our 2017 production of Say Nicklaus, the audience was unaware that she was seven months along with their third boy, Cohen—who we’re confident will be cast when we stage it again in 2027. Michael Williams, another veteran of numerous Ragtown shows, most recently portraying Cooney in Ragtown the Musical, is also assisting Chris and is part of the cast as well.

Another change—the roles of Nicklaus and Meena Elliffe this year will be played by Travis Burge and Hope Sisemore. Travis, who has extensive credentials on the stage, including being the understudy for David Gaschen in Phantom of the Opera, absolutely captivated the Ragtown audience as Satan in our 2018 production of Bethlehem. We are delighted by the addition of Hope Sisemore to a Ragtown cast for the fist time. She teaches Theater Arts at Trinity High School.

Glenn Polk is extremely grateful for the commitment of each of these gifted people who are stepping into roles he and Twila would normally fill, giving him sufficient time for rehab and recovery after he undergoes an extensive spinal operation scheduled for early November. As most who attend our shows know, Glenn has had several back procedures over the course of the past several years. His condition has continued to deteriorate, and he was ultimately referred to a surgeon in Dallas who is confident that the procedure he has recommended will give Glenn a good chance of recovering his mobility and reducing, if not eliminating his pain, which has been chronic and severe for years.

We are praying for that outcome, and ask you to join us in that. Those of us who realized the discomfort he was in have been amazed by Glenn’s determination to do the work he was called to do. Watching him dancing in Elijah, Clash of the Prophets, or cavorting on the roof of the Commissary in Ragtown the Musical you might not have realized what a testimony of dependence on the Lord that was. I’m confident that his determination, his devotion to the Lord, and his love for the people who attend our shows will bring him roaring back to stage in no time.

Of course, this remains a disquieting time for the whole country, but with this additional challenge and trepidation, your prayers and your support are so deeply appreciated. God has been amazing in the many ways He has preserved this unique ministry time after time. Even in this, we are able to see a path revealed, not only through this present uncertainty, but beyond, into the future of the ministry of Ragtown Gospel Theater. Splendidly gifted young people whose hearts are united with ours in the mission of this theater have been placed around us just when we needed them. We are so thankful.

Please start making your plans to come see this beautiful and heart-warming production. Chris and his cast are working very hard to make it surpass your highest expectations. I know they will. I don’t believe we’ve ever had as many extraordinarily talented people in a musical. I guarantee you’re going to love it.

Oh, and we couldn’t have a production at Ragtown Gospel Theater without at least one Polk in the cast. Our grandson, Nixon, will be stepping up to handle that responsibility as one of the children at State Home for Children #13. It won’t be the first time Nixon has had his name in the credits of a Ragtown production. He was the voice of the baby Jesus in every production of Bethlehem, and in Rhapsody of Angels. We recorded him crying when he was just a few days old, and that little cry, coming just at the moment of the birth of Jesus, remains one of the most memorable and touching parts of any Ragtown production.

Of course, I’ll be joined by some special people for a Christmas concert to start things off. Please keep praying for us! We’ll be praying for you. We’ll be looking forward to seeing you come through the doors at Ragtown for this wonderful play.

What A Day Of Rejoicing That Will Be!

However, there is a very special part of this production that no one will ever see, and I wanted you to know the story. The original plan was to produce Ragtown! in an outdoor amphitheater with the Caprock canyon wall east of the Gospel Theater as its backdrop. We envisioned an opening historical tableau of a Comanche war party streaking along the rim of the Cap, followed by cowboys herding Longhorns along the edge, and then a family traveling in a covered wagon that would eventually end up pulling onto the stage to begin the show.

To that end, we acquired a small herd of Longhorn breeding stock, complete with the infamous bull, Jorge. We also went about building a small remuda of horses, and set about herding the Longhorns, with the profoundly mistaken notion that those wily and headstrong beasts were capable of being trained to follow the path of our choosing.

There are more stories about our cowboy misadventures than we have room here to print. One involves the surprising revelation that Texas Longhorns have the ability to climb straight up a vertical canyon wall, and a good horse is perfectly willing to follow. For the sake of the real cowboys riding alongside us, Glenn, being the actor brother, managed to pretend it was something he’d done all his life. As for me, before we reached the top of the canyon wall, I was eye-to-eye with my horse. I won by a nose when he finally leapt up over the rim and tore out after the fleeing cattle, with me trying to climb back down his neck and get my boots back in the stirrups. At least that’s the way I remember it.

In the play, the Rainmaker, the character Glenn portrays, has a companion—a donkey named Pickle. The donkey was going to have to be trained to follow Glenn, and stay with him during the Rainmaker’s scenes. Pickle is the only one, other than C.W. Post, who ever sees the Rainmaker. And because the Rainmaker is an enigma who appears at a variety of unexpected places during the course of the play, Pickle would have to be willing to follow Glenn’s lead.

Thinking like a casting director, back in 2003, Glenn began searching for just the right-looking donkey, and when he found her, there was no doubt. She had the longest ears of any donkey he’d ever seen, and was chock-full of character. He set about training her to lead, and to come to him when he whistled. It wasn’t easy. The stubbornness of donkeys is the stuff of legend, and Pickle lived up to the reputation. But Pickle and Glenn became attached over time, and eventually, she even allowed him to saddle and ride her, a notable feat documented on a TV spot we taped to promote Post tourism. Of course, she tossed him off when she’d had enough of being a TV star. She had a reputation to protect.

As time passed, and building the amphitheater in the foreseeable future seemed less and less likely, we got rid of the cattle and most of the horses, but Glenn continued to dote on Pickle. So when she developed Founder, an excruciatingly painful and incurable hoof condition that resulted in the recommendation that Pickle should be put down, it was heartbreaking for him. He chose to do it himself, and by himself, he buried her in the field near the three crosses you see south of our entrance road.

When we made the decision to re-write the musical, paring it down for indoor production, there was no way to leave Pickle out. We talked about a few options, but in the end, decided that since the Rainmaker is sort of a mysterious fellow that some have speculated might even be an angel, then his companion, Pickle, could be invisible to the audience, but not to the Rainmaker.

And of course…she isn’t.

It’s no secret that I like to cook, and most of the family seems to think the best thing I make is my cornbread. I bake it in a cast iron skillet, and watch it like a hawk while it’s cooking. As that puddle of mush I pour into the skillet starts to bubble, rise, and brown, the aroma starts to fill the kitchen…sort of like magic. The anticipation of that first bite is a delightful thing.

Watching Ragtown come together is something like that. I gave Glenn a big puddle of paper…about a hundred pages of mush, but all the ingredients were there. Now the set is just about finished, the cast is rehearsing in costume, the music and parts are getting better with every rehearsal, and the place is buzzing with anticipation.

You’ve probably read all about how long it’s taken us to finally stage this play. It’s hard to believe that we’re actually going to see it happen, but I’m actually glad it was delayed. It needed to come at this particular point in time.

Americans have been reeling, feeling like we’ve been attacked on several fronts, and we have been. The enemy of God and man has been busy. All of us could do with a little encouragement, and I believe Ragtown will provide that—the answer to all the fear and division we’re experiencing right now.

There’s a line from the play that has struck me every time I’ve heard Deborah Hobbs say it. Deborah is an amazing lady who has been part of our Ragtown family for some time. This is her first speaking role on the stage, and she’s just going to knock you out. She plays Sister Pearl Talley, the daughter of slaves, the widow of a traveling preacher, who has taken on her husband’s ministry on her own.

The father of one of the settlers is a disabled Confederate veteran. He has lived a long, embittered life because of the loss of an arm in the war, and the loss of his land to carpetbaggers. In part of a big, moving speech to him, Sister Pearl tells him that because they are both children of God, through faith in Jesus, they are blood relatives, brother and sister, and she doesn’t want to see her brother hurting anymore. It is a poignant part of an otherwise humorous, rollicking musical.

Deborah and I talked openly about those lines, touching on the recent events that I had no way of anticipating when I wrote them twenty years ago. I’m so touched and grateful that she was not only willing, but felt led to step far outside anything she had ever done before, in order to give Sister Pearl the heart of a genuine warrior for God.

Deborah is just one among a great cast of some very gifted people Glenn has assembled for this special production. I’m just praying that people will be willing to venture out to see it. We so need your attendance and support right now. We’ll be taking all the precautions and placing our trust in the Lord to make it a safe experience for everyone. We’ll be looking forward to seeing you walk through our doors again.

What A Day Of Rejoicing That Will Be!

I am so appalled by the wedge being driven between Christian brothers and sisters by both the mask controversy surrounding the Covid virus, and the Black Lives Matter movement. It is a double pronged attack by the enemy of God and man, who is so exquisitely good at using whatever tool we allow him to use.

Can you imagine how Satan loves Facebook and Twitter? Of course, it isn’t Facebook or Twitter that’s the problem. Using either is like driving a vehicle. The car doesn’t create road rage…it’s the driver.

We live in a small lakeside community. One of our neighbors is a successful and highly respected professional, who on occasion will be leaving to drive in to her office just as we pass by her house on our way into town. She’s a gracious and pleasant person to talk to, and very well thought of––by anyone who hasn’t had the misfortune of sharing the road with her.

Behind the wheel she is a reckless menace. She drives like a banshee, always speeding, then tailgating slower cars she runs up on, then she’ll whip around, ignoring oncoming cars, occasionally all but forcing the car she’s passing to the shoulder to keep her from killing her fool self.

And what is the predictable result? Road Rage!  Other nice people that lady leaves in her wake (like me) are all of the sudden absolutely livid. In my case, the gentle Spirit upon whom I depend to counsel and direct my paths is left in a noxious cloud of exhaust, as I grip the wheel and floorboard it to try and catch that idiot to mete out a little eye–for–an–eye. Thankfully, both my wife and the Holy Spirit are saying the same thing–––Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Just slow down! It’s like shame in stereo.

The lady? She is unaware and unconcerned that she has ruined my otherwise pleasant and reflective drive into town, and given God and everybody occasion to wonder if I’m worthy to claim to be a minister of the gospel.

I suppose what happened is a phrase that affects me a lot like being tailgated –––we just chose to disagree. The lady chose to drive without consideration of how it would affect me, and I had to choose to sit there and take it, rather than go run her reckless behind off the road, possibly causing an pile up on the highway in the process. More than once I’ve chosen to just take it, but it still makes my blood pressure go up to think about it.

The Information Superhighway, as they called the Internet in the early days, is filled with reckless, thoughtless drivers who are leaving outrage in their wake.

The insulation of being behind the wheel in your car, or sitting at home in front of your laptop makes it easy to forget that those people out there are real. It depersonalizes them. Would I call my neighbor a fool woman, or idiot to her face? Never in a million years, because she’s a nice lady that I wave and speak to when we’re out walking. She’s kind and sociable. It’s only behind the wheel that she behaves like a tool of Satan.

We need to be able to give each other some grace. Maybe a little self–directed humor is in order. Nothing is better at bringing the blood pressure down.

As we’re working on the set for the production of the musical, Ragtown, I’ve found myself dwelling on some of the things people are taking the liberty of posting lately–––embers of a fire the enemy loves to stoke. According to things I’ve read on Facebook, I’m an uncaring, disrespectful murderer.  Oh yeah…and a racist bigot. And those are the opinions of people who know and supposedly love me. I don’t think I have many enemies, but who needs those when I have Facebook friends like these?

We’ve become an uncivil, faceless society in more ways than one. When we are separated, as we have been, it’s so easy to forget that face–to–face, we actually love and respect each other.

I, of all people, believe in freedom of expression.  After all, I write plays, songs, and books for a living. I live and work in the arena of Christianity, an arena within which there are extremely diverse and opposing points of view. And I have very definite positions, based on the way I presently understand the Bible.

Others read and study the very same Bible, and can disagree completely with my conclusions. We can disagree, and yet still respect one another and our respective positions. We can still delight in each other’s company, and even love each other. Christians have been doing that for over two thousand years.

However, in our present uncivil war––and that is what we’re are in––anyone who might disagree with my position on…let’s say for example, baptism…might well decide to post on Facebook that all people who believe as I do are heretics who are dishonoring God and are going to cause people to spend eternity in hell.

Stating your own personal belief is a far cry from disparaging the people who believe differently.

Facebook posts of people standing in judgement of us because of our opinions, tend to play over and over in our heads, and we imagine more and more hateful motives as we plummet deeper down that rabbit hole.

Satan loves all that. We just need to listen, so we can hear that still small voice. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Slow down!

We’ll be doing shows every Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 throughout the month of June. I’m so thankful that we are able to stage this funny and uplifting play. As you probably know, we had only three performances before the shut-down. Since most of our audience tends to wait until the last few dates to attend, very few people had gotten to see it, and that just broke our hearts.

But, we’re back now, and the best way we could think of to offer as many opportunities as possible for you to come, was to open both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Our wonderful cast and volunteers were willing to throw in to make this possible.

I think everyone was feeling a little trepidation at first, just like when we all attended church for the first time a few weeks ago. It’s a little strange having the audience spaced here and there throughout the theater, but I think people were generally comfortable and cautiously respectful of one another’s space. We’ve always done reserved seating, so it was no big deal to leave every other row empty and space groups by a couple of seats.

After three months of this emotional roller-coaster we’ve all been on— loneliness, helplessness, confusion, outrage—it was so good to remember who we are. And to remind ourselves that none of this took the Lord by surprise.

“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

The news and social media will take that beautiful assurance away in a heartbeat, so we need to hold fast to it. Remind ourselves of it. Encourage one another to remember it. Having been prevented from gathering to do that, when it was the very thing we needed most, I have to admit that I have felt a lot more outrage than good cheer over these past three months, seeing the empty parking lots of church after church on Sunday mornings, while there were cars filling the lots at Walmart.

I joked at the theater over the weekend that if anyone had said we couldn’t open, we were going to claim the right to open as a grocery store, because after all, we do sell Holy Land Spices. Doesn’t that make us essential too?

I try, although sometimes unsuccessfully, to keep a tight rein on my political opinions here and at the theater. I know everyone gets more than enough of that on TV and online. However, it is not political to assert that there is only one true Way to effect real and lasting change in individual lives—and thereby, in families, neighborhoods, cities, states, the nation, and the world: The Way…The Truth…and The Life.

(It is here that I edited out a rather long, admittedly political rant about prohibiting Christians from gathering to worship together.)

We never envisioned Ragtown Gospel Theater as merely a live entertainment venue. We built it to be a place where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerfully conveyed in every concert and drama we present, and I believe we have remained committed to that mission for fourteen years. It is obvious that there are more tumultuous times ahead. We intend to continue to remain open, spreading the glorious, healing, uniting message of salvation through faith, by the grace of God, in Jesus Christ.

We hope you will feel comfortable to come see Sweet Sixteen. It will be good for you to laugh, and hear a full measure of reassurance presented in a very surprising and entertaining way. If you are more comfortable wearing a mask, then by all means do that. Everyone should take whatever precautions you need to take in order to feel safe venturing out.

Give us a ring at 877-RAGTOWN (877-724-8696) to make reservations, or if you want to get your tickets online now, just click right here.

We’d love to hear from you!  Feel free to leave a comment below, or just say “hi.”   We’ll be hoping to see you soon.

What A Day of Rejoicing That Will Be!

Looking at the news, not much has changed in 2000 years.

This is a sobering time, but it’s also such an opportunity, for those of us who know the Lord, to demonstrate what living from faith in Jesus looks like.

Since the moment Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s deception, this has remained a fallen world. Fallen right into the hands of the enemy of angels, God, and man. There has been no event in recorded history that has so clearly illustrated how fragile—how non-existent man’s control of the world actually is. The mighty nations of the world have been brought to their knees…by a bug.

But isn’t on our knees the right place to be?

Robin and I were talking just yesterday about things being out of control, and she made the point that things are always out of control. In a heartbeat, our illusion of control can go right out the window. A car swerves into our lane, a doctor delivers a diagnosis we never wanted to hear, a thief steals a credit card number,  an adored grandchild posts something appalling on Facebook or Instagram…and the list goes on and on.

The point being, this is nothing new. We never had control over the world. The only thing different now, is that all at the same time, everyone on the planet’s life has fallen off that tightrope we’re all walking.

But here’s something we can control. We who are in Christ do have, according to Galatians 5:22-23, self-control. In fact, one translation of that passage from 2 Timothy, the phrase a sound mind is interpreted self-control. And we have the further promise that we can count on the Spirit to be continually renewing our mind, restoring our self-control, because it is continually under assault.

So we children of God are the ones with the real answers here. Certainly not the experts in government, on TV, or the internet. Which is not to say we can utter the right words, in the right order, with the right frame of mind and with enough faith…and no one we love is going to get sick. But knowing who we are in Christ, we can forge on through this time without fear, using our heads, being prudent, reaching out in love to anyone we may can help, and letting the Lord see the power of the One who is living in and through us. The power to allow us to calmly go about doing the things we need to do, the power to be generous when we have the opportunity, and consoling, wise, and loving. And the power to stand up to the fear all around us, and refuse to give into it. Or to give in to the outrage being fueled by the strident voices of godless political opportunists.

We know who we are, and we know that God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son up to be crucified for us. What more does He have to do to convince us that He is for us?

All of us are being affected by this…perhaps by the virus itself, but far more certainly, by the economic damage being inflicted upon us because of it.  God is not standing by, twiddling His thumbs on the sidelines. We may not can imagine how He will do it, but Romans 8:28 says, unequivocally, that God is causing all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose.

That would be…us.

Be confident. Yes, we are entering a season of pruning, but just beyond that, I believe that we are going to witness this decade truly become the Roaring Twenties, as the great silent majority, the bedrock of this nation, the men and women of faith in Christ, the people of integrity, principle, and virtue, who are the legitimate heirs to the legacy of Freedom, at long last…awaken.

What a Day of Rejoicing That Will Be!

Yesterday, two years to the day later, I found myself sitting in the very same spot, fighting back those same thoughts. Looking out at those empty seats in the theater, having just visited with Glenn on the phone, and together making the decision to cancel performances of Sweet Sixteen for the rest of March, I was grappling with what we need to do. The uncertainty isn’t going to be over in a couple of hours this time, but I’m believing that the answer could be just as miraculous. There’s a song I wrote five or six years ago that we’ve been singing again during this show. It’s called You Can’t Have Faith Without Tribulation. Here’s a link to a video we did of that song that we shot back in 2016. Brenda Rhoades and Jay Young were singing with me at the time.

That’s a fun song to sing, but I think there’s a lot of truth in it. You have no reason to exercise faith if you don’t face tribulation. Even the Son of God had to face tribulation in order to exhibit faith in His Father.  And that’s a crucial point that I think gets left out of a lot of teaching and preaching. It isn’t the quality or quantity of our faith that’s important. What matters is who our faith is in…who we’re counting on to lead us through the fire.

Strangely enough, there’s another song we’re also performing during this show that makes that point. It’s called Get Out’a That Boat, and again, it’s a sort of humorous song, but there’s this one line about when Jesus was walking on the water in the middle of the Sea of Galilee and Peter got out of the boat to walk toward Him. The lyrics are: Peter stepped out on that water. He stepped out on solid faith, and when he lost his footing, Jesus caught him in a strong embrace. And you know what Jesus asked him? He asked him, “Where was his faith?” Was Peter’s faith in Jesus, or Peter’s faith in Peter’s faith? 

During that same video shoot with Jay and Brenda, we taped Get Out’a That Boat.

This time we’re all facing a time of tribulation together. Nothing exactly like this has ever happened before. In this situation, instead of purposely stepping out of the boat, I have to admit that it feels a little more like getting tossed overboard into a storm, but the answer is still the same, just like it says in the song…

You can trust Him! You can trust Him! In the fire and in the flood. You can trust Him! You can trust Him! You were purchased with His Blood. You can trust Him! You can trust Him! He can see what we can’t see, and He works it out for our own good, cause Jesus loves you and me!

All morning the cast of Sweet Sixteen has been commiserating with each other in texts about canceling these next two performances. It is touching to me to read their comments to each other and see their commitment to presenting this sweet, funny story. They are all so sad…as am I, because they all love it and believe, as I do, that it conveys a message people need so badly to hear.

So we’re trusting that we’ll be back on the Ragtown stage soon, and when we are, that you’ll be right there with us. Hey, we’re American Children of God…and we’re not inclined to hunker down for a minute longer than is absolutely necessary, right? In the meantime, over the next few days I’m going to be sending a few special things out to the folks on our email list. If you’re not on that list, and you’d like to be, here’s one more link. 

O Victory In Jesus!