New York–Max McLean, Artistic Director of Fellowship for the Performing Arts, announces that the new production C.S. Lewis’ THE GREAT DIVORCE will be presented at The Alabama Theatre, 1817 3rd Avenue N in Birmingham, on Saturday, January 11 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.  This journey to Heaven and Hell is a provocative exploration of human nature, featuring vivid characters drawn with Lewis’ trademark wit.  THE GREAT DIVORCE National Tour kicks off in Phoenix in December and will visit cities including Kansas City, Charlotte, Charleston, Cleveland, Nashville, Colorado Springs, and Columbus in 2014.
Fellowship for the Performing Arts also produces the nationally acclaimed hit THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, which will soon enter its fourth year after appearing in over 50 major cities throughout the United States.  Over 350,000 theatergoers have seen THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS on tour and in successful sit-down productions in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Following the overwhelming success of THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, McLean conceived the idea to adapt THE GREAT DIVORCE for the stage.
“This is Lewis at his imaginative best,” says Max McLean. In THE GREAT DIVORCE, several of Lewis’ most provocative characters take a bus ride from Hell to Paradise. But the bizarre question the play asks is: Will they like it? Will they prefer Hell to Heaven?  Are the doors of Hell really locked from the inside?
Three actors transform into over a dozen different personality types to tell this fantastical morality tale about good and evil. On the bus is a man who is going to demand his ‘rights’, a woman who can’t stop grumbling, a gentleman who ‘likes’ Heaven but staying there means giving up his precious pet lizard, and a world traveler who believes Heaven and Hell are just a propaganda stunt run by the same people.  As each ghost is welcomed by a celestial spirit, the choice of staying or going back brings vivid clarity to the “great divorce” between Heaven and Hell.
“There are only two kinds of people in the end,” Lewis writes in THE GREAT DIVORCE, “those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.'”  THE GREAT DIVORCE remains one of Lewis’ most influential pieces and rightly earns its place among classics such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity.
THE GREAT DIVORCE stars Tom Beckett (Bobby Boland, Epic Proportions and The Father on Broadway and “Elbridge Gerry” in HBO’s John Adams), Joel Rainwater (The Lion King, National Tour) and Christa Scott-Reed (The Pitmen Painters on Broadway).
The Fellowship for the Performing Arts is based in New York City with Max McLean as Founder and Artistic Director.  Adapted by McLean and Brian Watkins, THE GREAT DIVORCE is Directed by Bill Castellino, with the creative team including Executive Producer and General Manager Ken Denison of Aruba Productions, Scenic Designer Kelly James Tighe, Costume Designer Nicole Wee and Lighting Designer Michael Gilliam.  Original Music and Sound Design are by John Gromada with Projections by Chris Kateff.
The Fellowship for the Performing Arts’ production of THE GREAT DIVORCE celebrates the legacy of C.S. Lewis’ profoundly influential life and honors the 50th anniversary of his death on November 22, 1963.  In 2013, on that date, Lewis received one of Britain’s highest honors, a memorial in Poets’ Corner joining such legends as Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens.
THE GREAT DIVORCE will play on Saturday, January 11 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.   Tickets are $29 to $49.  Student seats are $20 (student ID required). For groups of 10 or more (including student groups) call 866.476.8707.
To purchase tickets, visit www.greatdivorceonstage.com, call 800.745.3000 or visit the Alabama Theatre box office 90 minutes prior to performances

Christians Are Still Being Thrown to the Lions

A third of America’s population says they’re evangelical Christians and 93 percent of all Americans claim they believe in God. That’s a staggering number. Yet 2 percent of the population claims to be homosexual and some are militant about it.
 Those who push for punishment of others holding opinions contrary to them often boast of their platform of tolerance when in reality it’s just the opposite, an intolerance of opposing views. It’s reflective in the Duck Dynasty saga, the Chick-Fil-A uproar, the censorship of Christian views in public schools and a host of other examples.
 Teddy Kennedy, the deceased senator from Massachusetts, was heralded as “A Liberal Lion.”  Depending on your point of view, that may or may not be a noteworthy distinction.
 Daniel was thrown into the Lions’ Den, Christians were hurled into the Coliseum to be torn apart by wild beasts for Roman entertainment, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego were tossed into the fiery furnace and Jews into the gas chambers because of their opposing views.
 Persecution isn’t anything new. Christians are being executed in many parts of the world for the beliefs they hold and the opinions they cling steadfast to, but in the United States things are a little bit more civilized. Those who hold opposing views who want to somehow punish others do so in the arena of public opinion. We no longer buy tickets and sit in the bleachers to witness murder, but we do take in the spectacle and give it a thumb’s up or down from the cheap seats in front of our television screens, cell phones, or computers.
 I can relate to what happened to the Duck Dynasty Patriarch. I once worked for a large corporation and was approached one day by a woman in the break room. She asked me what my personal opinion of homosexuality was. I claimed: “If the population of planet Earth were to be all gay the human race would simply cease to exist.” I didn’t know who the woman was, but it would seem she knew me. It turned out the woman was a militant lesbian and she saw to it that management fired me the following day.
 The company even took it a step farther after that by trying to have me punished by the judicial system for hate speech. The judge quickly dismissed their case, but before he did an executive of the company professed their policy was: “Anyone can be terminated at anytime for anything deemed offensive to anyone.” 
 Political correctness is, oftentimes, a tool used to silence opposition and many feel, these days, it’s being used to squash freedom of speech.
 Some of those political commentators on television have said the Duck Dynasty saga doesn’t have anything to do with freedom of speech because the government didn’t get involved. On the contrary, in the matter of Chick-Fil-A government entities around the country did indeed get involved and made the threat they would see to it Chick-Fil-A never build in their town. The most vocal of all was an Alderman in Chicago.
 Christians believe they’re sinners who have been forgiven. Most Christians, myself included, believe we’re all sinners and although we don’t condone homosexual behavior we don’t hate the person because we ourselves were once no better and are forgiven of our indiscretions by God. It’s not a Christian’s place to judge, only God can do that.  However, for many Christians, if they believe they’re being forced to condone something contrary to their beliefs that’s therefore a line drawn that they cannot cross. That’s what I see happening in the evangelical community. The Christian community sees their fellow brothers and sisters being persecuted for their beliefs and they are standing in solidarity with them in record numbers. 
 I believe there’s a lesson to be learned here. We’re to love one another, not be vindictive and cram our personal beliefs down someone else’s throats. The conversation has been indeed heated, but the perceived discrimination flows both ways.  I’m convinced the thought police are relentless, but on the other hand the Christian community has grown quite tired of turning the other cheek. 
 A pastor once told me, a comment I shall not forget, “Scripture says turn the other cheek, but I don’t think God ever intended for us to be doormats.”

Greg Allen’s column, Thinkin’ Out Loud, is published bi-monthly.  He’s an author, nationally syndicated columnist and the founder of Builder of the Spirit in Jamestown, Indiana, a nonprofit organization aiding the poor.  He can be reached at www.builderofthespirit.org or follow him on Twitter @GregAllencolumn.

So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. Acts 27:2
 
In the 27th Chapter of Acts Paul was being taken to Caesar to plead his case. Interestingly enough they ran into a storm and had to change their intended course.

When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty
off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. Acts 27:7 

Although there was a change in course the journey had to continue so as the wind subsided they continued.

When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. Acts 27:13

Unfortunately things did not continue to go smoothly and again the storm arose. A decision had to be made about what to do next.

And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. Acts 27:18

The decision they made did not solve their problem and it became necessary to make another decision.

Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come. Acts 27:29

Many things happened during that trip and many times there was a need to change courses and make decisions in order to get to the shore safely. Getting rid of things that were once thought to be necessary, anchoring to the bottom of the ocean believing that would help and even grabbing a piece of the ship to float to shore were some of what was necessary but a decision had to be made to do each. What is it in your life that you need to make a decision about? What have you been holding on to that is holding you back? Where do you want to be that you aren’t sure how to get there? Have you been wondering “what’s my next move?” God is waiting for you to grab a hold of Him and allow Him to take you to where you need or want to be. Trust Him during these times.

But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land. Acts 27:43-44

Don’t be afraid to decide,
Minister Deidra Bibb

For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:3

Today is the last day of the year 2013 and some of you may be reflecting on how you weren’t able to achieve the things you set out to achieve at the beginning of the year. Some of you may be disappointed in how the year turned out, amazed by the things you accomplished and even perplexed about the things that occurred; however, it’s not over. Yes the calendar will change but the dream is not over. The vision you have is not over and the promise God made you is not over. Every day is a another day that you learn something else you need to know for your journey. Each day you grow stronger for the battles ahead and today is not the last day but the next day you must persevere on to that place God has been telling you to go, to do what God has purposed you to do and to be what you were created to be. IT’S NOT OVER!

 Pastor Micheal McClure Sr. of Revelation Church is setting a standard in Birmingham, that Men must develop a Prayer Life! He believes that through prayer Families can stay together!