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Friday, October 31, 2014
October 31, 2014. Eureka Springs, AR.
Tonight it is going to get into the 20's on the top of Magnetic Mountain and tomorrow we will turn the clocks back an hour and have one less hour of sunlight at the end of each day. Hard to believe how fast this year has gone by, how much we have experienced since we left Colorado last December to follow a path which has had many surprises and adventures. The Passion Play is almost closed for the 2014 season, with only a few more tasks needed to winterize the buildings and prepare the grounds for six months relative inactivity except for all the 2015 season planning to be done by a relatively small group of people.
I hate to look too far into the future and miss what is going on in the moment, but if, God willing, we are to be back here for 2015, it can't come soon enough. We haven't left yet, but we miss it already. Tomorrow evening will be the Donor Dinner and many of the people we worked with for the past six months will be there to celebrate what went on here and look forward to what God has in store for the upcoming season. Right now I'm doing our laundry in Cast Room 1 where I spent 77 evenings this year as a member of the cast. It's quiet, but there are many memories in this room and on this set, which I will take with me as we head out of Eureka Springs next week. Only God knows what the future holds for us, and we eagerly look forward and upward for His direction.
I pray for The Great Passion Play, for the staff, volunteers, visitors and all those who touched this place and those who were touched by it. I ask you who are following our wanderings and our ministry to pray for the future of this place. I've said it many times and written about it, that this area needs TGPP and it's message and it needs to reach an even wider audience with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Now, more than ever, there is an urgency to His message for a world desperately in need of it. We all bear the responsibility of being disciples and making disciples that all may hear the message and have the opportunity to receive and accept it. Press in, and press on.
Sent from my iPad
I hate to look too far into the future and miss what is going on in the moment, but if, God willing, we are to be back here for 2015, it can't come soon enough. We haven't left yet, but we miss it already. Tomorrow evening will be the Donor Dinner and many of the people we worked with for the past six months will be there to celebrate what went on here and look forward to what God has in store for the upcoming season. Right now I'm doing our laundry in Cast Room 1 where I spent 77 evenings this year as a member of the cast. It's quiet, but there are many memories in this room and on this set, which I will take with me as we head out of Eureka Springs next week. Only God knows what the future holds for us, and we eagerly look forward and upward for His direction.
I pray for The Great Passion Play, for the staff, volunteers, visitors and all those who touched this place and those who were touched by it. I ask you who are following our wanderings and our ministry to pray for the future of this place. I've said it many times and written about it, that this area needs TGPP and it's message and it needs to reach an even wider audience with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Now, more than ever, there is an urgency to His message for a world desperately in need of it. We all bear the responsibility of being disciples and making disciples that all may hear the message and have the opportunity to receive and accept it. Press in, and press on.
Sent from my iPad
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
October 28, 2014. Eureka Springs, AR. It is Finished.......not really
The Play ended its 2014 season Saturday night, but the work goes on. The Great Passion Play is so much more than a Play, and with so many "departments" there are literally hundreds of tasks to be accomplished before we can truly say our job here is finished. One body, but many parts.....something scriptural about that. Some people have already moved on to other locations, jobs, ministries or just a much-needed rest, but for those of us "left behind" the work will go on for days.
Some of the tasks: inventory, winterizing buildings and vehicles, relocating animals for breeding, sale, return to owners, costume cleaning and repair, securing the set and storing props, accommodating visitors who want to see what they didn't get to see because they got here a few days too late, storing plants for the winter, setting up Christmas displays, making plans for next season, shutting down remote restrooms and water systems, getting ready for the Donor Dinner this Saturday, moving vehicles to protected locations at the shop, making plans to repair and paint The Christ of The Ozarks statue.........and.........and.........
Our friends Hugh and LaVon left today and will be heading to our next ministry opportunity in Madison, Georgia. We'll be leaving here in a week to join them there and if that is where God wants us we'll be there for.........and then off to Jacksonville, FL and a return visit with Phil and Sharon from mid-January to mid-February. We've reserved space at NAS Jax but hope to be able to revisit Mayport and King's Bay where we "wintered" earlier this year and met some wonderful people. With a car in tow this year, we'll be more flexible and able to explore those areas a little more. We find it hard to believe how fast the time is passing and we sometimes bemoan what we have missed, rather than be joyful that there is something far better in our future and we will soon be able to say "it is finished", but .........not really, it will only be the start. We really do serve an awesome God.
Sent from my iPad
Some of the tasks: inventory, winterizing buildings and vehicles, relocating animals for breeding, sale, return to owners, costume cleaning and repair, securing the set and storing props, accommodating visitors who want to see what they didn't get to see because they got here a few days too late, storing plants for the winter, setting up Christmas displays, making plans for next season, shutting down remote restrooms and water systems, getting ready for the Donor Dinner this Saturday, moving vehicles to protected locations at the shop, making plans to repair and paint The Christ of The Ozarks statue.........and.........and.........
Our friends Hugh and LaVon left today and will be heading to our next ministry opportunity in Madison, Georgia. We'll be leaving here in a week to join them there and if that is where God wants us we'll be there for.........and then off to Jacksonville, FL and a return visit with Phil and Sharon from mid-January to mid-February. We've reserved space at NAS Jax but hope to be able to revisit Mayport and King's Bay where we "wintered" earlier this year and met some wonderful people. With a car in tow this year, we'll be more flexible and able to explore those areas a little more. We find it hard to believe how fast the time is passing and we sometimes bemoan what we have missed, rather than be joyful that there is something far better in our future and we will soon be able to say "it is finished", but .........not really, it will only be the start. We really do serve an awesome God.
Sent from my iPad
Saturday, October 25, 2014
October 25, 2014. Eureka Springs, AR. One More Time
We will finish The 2014 Great Passion Play season in a little over five hours with our 84th performance. Right now, at 4pm, it is 82 degrees and no chance of rain or inclement weather for the evening. There have been no weather cancellations this season and only once did we have to "evacuate" the Holy Land for an hour due to lightening in the area. It has been a good six months at TGPP and we are making plans to return next Spring for the 47th season of the Play.
It will be bitter-sweet to walk over the hill with Jesus and the other disciples for the final performance, but it has been a wonderful experience and we have not regretted the six months we have been in Arkansas. We're glad someone at the sub base at King's Bay, GA mentioned that the Passion Play needed volunteers and was offering free RV space in return for 30 hours a week of volunteer service. We have made some wonderful friends, learned new skills and been blessed by the whole experience, the public relations aspects of this ministry and met many vets that we could minister to and encourage. God gave us a home away from home in a movable home, and a ministry within a ministry. As we have been blessed, so we have sought to bless others. God is Good.
Tomorrow we begin the winterizing of the facility and sometime around November 3, or so, we will begin the trek to Madison, GA and our next volunteer adventure. When the cloud says move, we will move and know that we are serving an awesome, gracious God who continues to provide, protect, love us and assure us that the best is yet to come. Thank You, Lord.
Sent from my iPad
It will be bitter-sweet to walk over the hill with Jesus and the other disciples for the final performance, but it has been a wonderful experience and we have not regretted the six months we have been in Arkansas. We're glad someone at the sub base at King's Bay, GA mentioned that the Passion Play needed volunteers and was offering free RV space in return for 30 hours a week of volunteer service. We have made some wonderful friends, learned new skills and been blessed by the whole experience, the public relations aspects of this ministry and met many vets that we could minister to and encourage. God gave us a home away from home in a movable home, and a ministry within a ministry. As we have been blessed, so we have sought to bless others. God is Good.
Tomorrow we begin the winterizing of the facility and sometime around November 3, or so, we will begin the trek to Madison, GA and our next volunteer adventure. When the cloud says move, we will move and know that we are serving an awesome, gracious God who continues to provide, protect, love us and assure us that the best is yet to come. Thank You, Lord.
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
October 22, 2014. Eureka Springs, AR. More Like Jesus
The Church in America is fractured and in need of more than duct tape to put it back together. As we travel the country and visit various churches and get involved with different ministries and Christian organizations, we are "impressed" by the fact that Christians are anything but unified in their views, goals and understanding of what Jesus paid such a high price for. A while back, I found a piece of paper during my constant attempt to rid the Passion Play grounds of things people throw on the ground instead of into a trash receptacle. The paper read, "DO EVERYTHING IN THE AWARENESS THAT YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, AND WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SOMEONE IS MAKING LIFELONG DECISIONS SIMPLY BY WATCHING YOU".
It's humbling to think that when we call ourselves Christians we are putting a target on our back and that what we do, how we speak, what we look like, where we spend our money and our time, and EVERYTHING about our life is done in plain view of EVERYONE, including God, and we can have a tremendous impact and influence on our salvation and theirs. As we go about our day, interact with others and try to be Christlike, it behooves each of us to continually evaluate our life and what others see when they look at us and watch us do life. Our time at the Passion Play has been enlightening. We have been in the entertainment business, served thousands in various ways, ministered and been ministered to. We have seen people who were happy, grateful, polite, considerate, compassionate, contrite and humble but we have also seen people who were angry, critical, impolite, rude, insulting and downright nasty. And all of them professed to be Christians. Some of our own staff and volunteers, including me, had moments when we fell into the second category of people and have needed to step back and reconsider what we are doing here and what our role is in God's grand plan.
It's been a long season, one fraught with a wide range of experiences and emotions. Our eyes have been opened, again, to the difficulties inherent in such a ministry, various leadership styles, "old-timers" and "newbies", ownership issues and personality conflicts. But through it all we have learned that we came here because God called us to be here, our loyalty is first and foremost to follow Jesus, be Spirit-led and to ultimately to be more like Jesus in words, thoughts and deeds. Help all of us Lord to be part of the super gluing, not just the duct taping, of Your Church and Your Kingdom on earth. Help us to finish strong, and look forward with JOY to where You call us next.
Sent from my iPad
It's humbling to think that when we call ourselves Christians we are putting a target on our back and that what we do, how we speak, what we look like, where we spend our money and our time, and EVERYTHING about our life is done in plain view of EVERYONE, including God, and we can have a tremendous impact and influence on our salvation and theirs. As we go about our day, interact with others and try to be Christlike, it behooves each of us to continually evaluate our life and what others see when they look at us and watch us do life. Our time at the Passion Play has been enlightening. We have been in the entertainment business, served thousands in various ways, ministered and been ministered to. We have seen people who were happy, grateful, polite, considerate, compassionate, contrite and humble but we have also seen people who were angry, critical, impolite, rude, insulting and downright nasty. And all of them professed to be Christians. Some of our own staff and volunteers, including me, had moments when we fell into the second category of people and have needed to step back and reconsider what we are doing here and what our role is in God's grand plan.
It's been a long season, one fraught with a wide range of experiences and emotions. Our eyes have been opened, again, to the difficulties inherent in such a ministry, various leadership styles, "old-timers" and "newbies", ownership issues and personality conflicts. But through it all we have learned that we came here because God called us to be here, our loyalty is first and foremost to follow Jesus, be Spirit-led and to ultimately to be more like Jesus in words, thoughts and deeds. Help all of us Lord to be part of the super gluing, not just the duct taping, of Your Church and Your Kingdom on earth. Help us to finish strong, and look forward with JOY to where You call us next.
Sent from my iPad
Sunday, October 19, 2014
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