Bøger af Bill Kemp

Play opens with darkness, a single light, and a weeping woman. This is the small village of Bethany, adjacent to the holy city of Jerusalem. Jesus has just been betrayed and arrested. Two of his disciples now creep towards this house, seeking refuge and bringing the bad news to Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. The next thirteen scenes gradually move the viewer from darkness to light, from fear to inspiration. While the play is set in biblical times, it has a contemporary feel. Instead of dwelling on the suffering of Jesus, this passion play focuses on how ordinary people come to faith in God. The audience is drawn into the drama, both by the realistic way the characters speak about their fears and doubts, and by having some of the play's action take place in the midst of the audience.There are about 70 minutes of spoken dialogue in the play. A dozen musical pieces are suggested to bridge the scenes and provide time for set changes. Care should be taken to limit the length of these pieces and move the singers on and off quickly, so that the whole performance stays near two hours. A short intermission is provided 2/3rds of the way through the play. This play has been performed in various settings with great results. The included staging notes show how it can be done in a church sanctuary, without a curtain, or on a traditional stage. It has a cast of 24 to 30 (some actors can play two parts). When done without a curtain, stage directions show how to place the choir so that they hide the scene changes. An editable script is available, so that directors can reverse the staging to suit their location. Bill Kemp is willing to answer your questions and provide advice on adapting the play to your setting

Is your church stuck? Do you go around and around, discussing the need for change, but fail to get anything off the ground. Most church leaders distrust goal setting, with good reason. Reality Check is different because it connects people, their faith, and each congregation's unique calling from God. Bill Kemp wants to end topdown decision making, by training people how to do prayerful discernment. In this, his tenth book, he presents a practical, step by step, process for implementing needed change. Reality Check 101 includes three basic teaching chapters and five church change tools to help your congregation discern a better future. Each chapter contains small group exercises, twelve in all, that teach people how to think creatively about their church. These prayer and discernment circles will build the congregation's buy-in for needed change. Five years in the making, this book consolidates the best of Bill Kemp's popular workshops and church improvement ideas. As an author, Bill keeps things simple. His goal is to put lay and clergy leaders on the same page. Reality Check also contains additional material for raising Spiritual Passion in the local church; a problem he first addressed in "Ezekiel's Bones: Rekindling Your Congregation's Spiritual Passion" (Discipleship Resources, 2007). Bill is known for writing that plays well in small membership churches and is mindful of the limited financial resources available to the average congregation. Not only are his resources affordable; they actually provide suggestions your church will find doable.

Where's Mary? Perhaps, she is chasing demons. In the village of Bethany she is known as stable Martha's crazy sister. Calm one moment, and driven to spiritual flights the next, Mary is on a mission. In nearby Jerusalem a plot is afoot to kill both Jesus and Mary's brother, Lazarus. When a feast is given to honor Jesus for raising Lazarus from the dead, Mary dances in and pours a pound of expensive perfume upon Jesus's head. Has she gone mad, again? Jesus healed my soul, Mary would say. But, he didn't take my visions. Mary sees all.The next day, Mary shaves off her hair. She gathers up the clippings and runs to Jerusalem so that she can throw them at Jesus. He only smiles and sends her home again. A few days later, she has the most frightening vision. Courageous Mary leads her family in a race to save Jesus from the cross. But, his followers are scattered. Each must follow their own path. Her pragmatic sister Martha's approach to the Jesus problem involves a stout club and a bribe. Her brother Lazarus moves more deliberately, still recovering from recently being dead. Lazarus needs doubting Thomas to help him save Jesus.And then there is Judas Iscariot, with the long black hair. Mary is not alone in finding him attractive. Judas thinks he can deal with deceitful Caiaphas. But, how will Mary deal with Judas?Mary Sees All: The race to save Jesus from the Cross, is the first in a series of fast paced Christian novels set in the middle east during the first century. The little village of Bethany, near Jerusalem, is home to Martha, the pragmatic clan leader, Mary, the wandering mystic, and Lazarus, who as a zealous teenager had trained to be a terrorist. The books also introduce us to Mark, the African born refugee who witnesses the growth and struggles of the first Christians, and in time writes a best selling account of Jesus's life. Thoroughly researched, this new telling of the passion story illuminates the historical events and social customs that make this time period so fascinating. Bill Kemp avoids cliches, church-talk, and dogmatic interpretations. He doesn't expect the reader to know the Bible or even to be religious. Adventurous and surprising, this dramatic novel introduces the reader to a diversity of characters, as well as, to the rarely mentioned secret that Jesus's first followers weren't always in agreement about him. As a story teller, Bill seeks to follow in the footsteps of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.