Die Young Challenges Readers to Abandon the Pursuit of Happiness

Bestselling Authors Urge Readers to ‘Bury Your Self in Christ’

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

WHEATON, IL (ANS) -- Award-winning and bestselling authors Hayley and Michael DiMarco live in the real world. They understand that self-fulfillment is part of the American Dream. They also understand that the only way to a truly rich and fulfilled life is death: death to self.

Book cover

Their counter-cultural message is spelled out clearly in the pages of Die Young: Burying Your Self in Christ (Crossway, January 31, 2012). The DiMarcos guide readers into a practical understanding of what it means to become “living sacrifices” for Jesus Christ.

According to a news release from Jana Muntsinger of McClure Muntsinger Public Relations, Die Young is a manifesto written by a transparent husband/wife duo who are committed to living intentionally and helping others do the same. Today’s culture drives people towards selfishness and ego, but Die Young flips that notion on its head and offers a better way—a way that leads to life as God intends. As Paul calls to readers in Romans 12, so the DiMarcos call their readers to become “living sacrifices.”

The DiMarcos weave Biblical teaching with “first person” confessionals from each of the authors, so Die Young is both theologically rich and completely relatable. Hayley confesses how her obsession with perfection permeates led to her first engagement being called off. Michael describes how doing time in jail was exactly what he needed to wake up to whole concept of dying young. Michael explains, “For me, to die young was to remove me as the center of my world, and put God and others in my place, loving and serving them as much, if not more, than I do myself.” Hayley adds, “It’s about an ability to deny yourself so you don’t serve your desires over God’s.”

Michael DiMarco

Based on the premise that the gospel turns life upside down, the DiMarcos explain the paradoxes that result: death is the new life; less is the new more; weak is the new strong; slavery is the new freedom. Throughout Die Young they examine what the life and death of Christ means for themselves, as well as those who have given their lives to Jesus.

The release went on to say that the DiMarcos hope Die Young will turn the reader and his or her priorities upside down. The authors believe “dying young” will show readers:

* How in today’s society people bury themselves in things they hope will save them, or bring them comfort. But it never works.

* The deception of freedom—demanding to make one’s own choices, wanting to be subject to no one. True freedom is only found by surrendering.

* The only path to real life is through death— dying to the obsessive need to please yourself, to comfort yourself, and to enjoy yourself, so that you can live only to please God.

* By dying young, you give all of your needs, fears, worries, wants, hopes, dreams, and failures over to God, who can handle them.

While many of the titles published by this popular husband/wife duo have been geared toward youth, Die Young expands their target audience to all age groups. The DiMarco’s are convinced that no one is too old to die young. Michael explains, “It is never too late. Too much of your life has not passed. You have not made too many mistakes for God to forgive. But when you are determined to completely bury yourself in Christ so deep that nothing can ever really harm you again, that’s when his love is all that surrounds you and all that contains you and all that you contain. Then life is a whole new ball game.”

Hayley DiMarco

Hayley and Michael DiMarco form Hungry Planet books. Since their first book hit the shelves in Fall 2003, Hungry Planet has published more than three dozen titles and, as of 2011, sold over 1,000,000 books. Their newest title, Die Young: Burying Your Self In Christ, is a challenge to readers to die to self and live for Christ, in ways that are completely counter-cultural. Hayley has written numerous best-selling books, including God Girl, Mean Girls, Idol Girls, Dateable, and the 2007 and 2010 ECPA Christian Book Award winners, Sexy Girls and B4UD8. Michael’s best-selling books include; God Guy, Cupidity, Unstuff, All In, Almost Sex, and the 2010 ECPA Christian Book Award winner, B4UD8. Michael and Hayley live with their daughter on the shores of Old Hickory Lake just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. More information can be found at hungryplanet.net.

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian ministry that exists to proclaim the gospel through publishing in order, by God's grace: To assist individual Christians and the church in growing in knowledge and understanding of the Christian life; To bear witness to God's truth, beauty and holiness, and to the Lordship of Christ in every area of life; To help bring men, women, and children to Christ as their Lord and Savior; To glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in every way. Any surplus that may arise is used solely to further the publishing ministry of Crossway.

Review copies, reprint permission and interviews are available.

Contact Jana Muntsinger, McClure Muntsinger Public Relations, 281-251-0480 orjana@mmpublicrelations.com

Note: Some years back, Crossway published my autobiography, Twenty-Six Lead Soldiers (now updated as From Tabloid to Truth), and also a book by my son, Andrew Wooding, with the intriguing title of I Wonder If Chocolate Kills Brain Cells. Both are still available via www.amazon.com 

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Dan Wooding, 71, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books, one of which is his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

No Fight Left

By Rick Marschall
Special to ASSIST News Service


SWARTZ CREEK MI (ANS) -- It is my observation that when Christians feel they have let God down, it is usually not because of some grievous sin, but more often a feeling that their faith was lacking... their trust has fallen short... that we have not put into practice what we know to be the truth. And we are aware that this grieves the heart of God.

(By the way, this has been my observation, not from eagle-eye examinations of other Christians, but of my own actions and inactions.)

Those feelings about the heart of God probably are correct. We have sinful natures, but God already gifted us with provisions for sin: grace, forgiveness, justification, salvation. We can know today that our sins can be transformed from scarlet stains to pure-white. But when we get to points in our lives, which we all surely have or will, when we just don't have enough faith in one area... or we cannot summon enough trust in God's promises... or we know those Bible verses, and God's will for our lives, and Jesus's 24/7 availability... but we don't attain the answer or victory or peace -- this doesn't mean we are bad Christians.

It just means we are... Christians.

That's right. Normal, flawed, struggling, doubting, hurting, Christians. It's the only kind there is. We might be saved, but we still can be confused at times. Sometimes our hearts are together, but our heads get messed up. Or vice-versa. Welcome to the human race. We are forgiven, not perfect... remember?

What grieves God, I believe, is that He does not want us to go through these things, feeling alone. He sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us, strengthen us, give us wisdom. Too many Christians, at low points, feel the need to prove to God that we can make it. Yeah, we can pull it together. Watch: I'll remember all those promise-verses. Maybe I'll prove to my friends that my faith is getting me through. I'll make You proud of me again, God.

But how many Christians say, "I just can't do this, God! Help me!" or "I surrender! I need you!!" There is nothing shameful in that. Just the opposite. Christianity is the only religion in the world -- in fact, the only system of any construction -- where Surrender equals Victory.

When we were born again, we did not become Gods. We became children of God. What child, feeling sad, does not run and cry "Daddy!" (the translation of "Abba") -- and what loving father does not receive that child in love?

Confess, surrender, ask for forgiveness; such, I believe is the essence of the law and the prophets. And the gospel. And it is the reason, the very reason, that God makes Himself known to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. No fight left? No problem -- Jesus is our yoke, our strong arm, our strength, our fortress, our deliverer. Our Savior. Would you have Him sit on the sidelines while you struggle?
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There is no fight left on the inside now... but maybe that's where I should be. These are words from J J Heller's amazing song. Click: No Fight Left

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Rick Marschall is the author of 65 books and hundreds of magazine articles in many fields, from popular culture (Bostonia Magazine called him "perhaps America's foremost authority on popular culture") to history and criticism; country music, television history, biography and children's books. He is a former political cartoonist, editor of Marvel Comics, and writer for Disney comics. For 10 years he has been active in the Christian field, writing devotionals; co-author of The Secret Revealed with Dr Jim Garlow. His biography of Johann Sebastian Bach for the "Christian Encounters" series (Thomas Nelson) was released in April, 2011. His history of cartoon Advertising, Drawing Power, will be published in July 2011 by the Marschall Books imprint of fantagraphics Books. In October his major biography of Theodore Roosevelt, BULLY!, will be publ;ished by Regnery History of Washington DC. He is currently working on a One-Year CDevotional for Tyndale House; and edits the the reissue of Harper's Weekly -- the Civil War Ye ars for NOVOink e-books. Rick is a former Director of Product Development for Youth Specialties. He is recipient of the 2008 "Christian Writer of the Year" award from the Greater Philadelphia Writer's Conference, and produces a weekly e-mail devotional, "Monday Morning Music Ministry." His e-mail address is: RickMarschall@gmail.com.

The Song, the Sigh, of the Weary

By Rick Marschall
Special to ASSIST News Service

SWARTZ CREEK MI (ANS) -- As I write this, as you read this, the "debt deal" -- negotiations about the debt ceiling, the possible national bankruptcy, the gargantuan deficits, problems with the onerous tax code -- are being solved. Or not. Or there will a crisis in the markets soon. Or not. Or America's credit rating will be downgraded. Or not. If so, it will have long-term toxic consequences. Or not. Forget my dateline -- I am certain that if you read this 10 years hence, or 25, the problems and the arguments and the crisis will be little changed. Except, perhaps, for the worse. At best, the solutions of this "debt crisis" -- and I don't know the details, even if an agreement is signed; and I wonder whether the negotiators themselves really will understand what they hammered out -- will be a tip-of-the-iceberg tinkering with numbers that represent a fraction of the problem. The monster has a foot in the door, and maybe we will clip a toenail. The choices in this crisis are like many of the choices in this contemporar y world, this Brave New World, the post-modern and Post-Christian era: the choices being Bad and Worse.

So the long, gray twilight of interminable foreign wars, foretold by George Orwell and so many others as hallmarks of national decline, will be reflected in endless scenarios of edge-of-the-cliff, floating over the waterfall, brink-of-disaster financial wars. To acknowledge such things is not to trust God less. He can hurt for revival in our land, but it is not in His nature to force it. He will bless it, of course, if we bring it about.

To acknowledge such things, however, is to trust, not doubt, the Word of God. These types of events are prophesied in His Word, and have preceded the destruction of every civilization the Bible, and history books, have ever discussed. "American Exceptionalism" does not mean that we are somehow excepted from judgment, from the consequences of our own actions.

The blooming flowers of the Enlightenment (whose leading lights like Isaac Newton in science, and Johann Sebastian Bach in the arts, were devout Christian) and Constitutional Republicanism were beautiful and hearty in mankind's garden for a time. Then the noxious weeds of Marxism, Darwinism, and democracy spread, seeking to choke out what they may. We are seeing them succeed, for most peoples are now complicit in the New Age proposition that the state can be God, that the state can play the part of God, that the state can judge like God, that the state should compel its subjects to a) subscribe to certain beliefs and b) respond to the state's requirements anent those beliefs.

Literature's grand portrait of the mordant but prescient skeptic, Vanya Karamazov, spoke the truth to our own times -- Dostoyevsky saw it coming -- "If we regard God as dead, anything is permitted."

Implicit in the US and Europe today is the idea that there is no God. Oh, the modern State says, if you want to believe in a God, we will allow you to. Within limits. Never in history has there been such a complete but bloodless invasion and surrender of a culture. Western Christians have tossed away their crowns and affixed shackles to themselves in only a few generations.

Meanwhile, the reminders of the real New World Order will grow grimmer and closer to home every single day. The evidence is no longer abstract or theoretical. It is becoming things like deciding between medical bills and mortgage payments; like daily news stories of Christian persecution home and abroad; like a runaway ruling class harassing us in myriad ways. Once we worried about planes being hijacked to Cuba; now we fret about politicians hijacking our future.

More than a century and a half ago, the greatest American songwriter wrote a song, Hard Times, Come Again No More. It was not the most famous of Stephen Foster's many popular tunes... but it has grown to have tremendous impact in our day. It is been recorded by a wide variety of singers and choirs, in different styles. Curiously -- or not -- is has taken on the status of an anthem in Ireland these days. Foster is being claimed as Irish-American, although he was born outside Pittsburgh. But we are happy to share him: this song, especially, speaks these days to our common reactions to hard times and hard news.

The Irish, put down for so long in their history, had a brief period in the sunshine with the "Celtic Tiger" of a business boom. Now the Irish are laid low again -- economically if not in spirit, for I have been there and have seen certain seeds of rebirth. Even as the Church reels from shameful scandal, there is a revival afoot in small and home churches.

It is not pessimistic, not even fatalistic, but provides a sort of therapy to identify with the poor and downtrodden, and to know where we might be comingfrom...  if we are, somehow, able to revive ourselves. This video is of the Irish singer Tommy Fleming singing Hard Times to an enormous auditorium. Watch the audience, more than him: holding hands, swaying, smiling - leave it to Irish to make an anthem of a dirge.

"Hard times, come again no more"? You know, this is at base not an economic question, but a spiritual one. Its answer is still ours to make.

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The video of the audience joining Tommy Fleming and band singing Stephen Foster's Hard Times, Come Again No More.

Click: Hard Times, Come Again No More

Julian Battersby: The Passing of a Great Christian Actor

By Janet Randell
Special to ASSIST News Service

LONDON, UK (ANS) -- Both the acting profession and the Christian Church have lost a man who left a significant mark in both these worlds. Julian Battersby was seventy-five years old, when he went unexpectedly to his beloved Lord on July 13th 2011. I was one of the many Christian artists who were touched by Julian's prayerful encouragement and Christian example.

Julian Battersby (Photo: Claire Grogan)

Julian was a great and talented Shakespearian actor who, having won a Gielgud Scholarship to study acting at the Central School of acting, went on to perform alongside Sir John Gielgud, and many other distinguished actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. He played many roles in the theatre, television and on film. One of his greatest performances was as the lead role in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya at the Belfast Lyric Theatre, where he imbued the hero of the play with a tragic compassion that truly touched the soul. I flew to this beleaguered city during the Irish troubles, when civilians had to undergo searches at virtually every corner of the city, to attend the performance. I watched the audience rapt in awe, as Julian transported us to another world.

Julian was one of those rare individuals who could to touch and reach people, not only through his great acting, but also as a committed Christian through whom the love of God shone. He always humbly attributed his talents as a unique gift from God, and he loved the Lord so intensely that the fruits of his faith shone like a beacon of light whether on stage or among his fellow Christians. Julian quietly and thoughtfully guided and assisted countless actors throughout his life, and he performed untold acts of kindness to many artists and Christians alike, setting a shining Christian example in the theatre world. Not once did Julian compromise his Christian faith, sometimes at great personal cost to his career.

He was a faithful supporter of the Arts Centre Group in London, whose "vision is to support artists in every arts discipline to be fully Christian and fully professional." He was often there to listen and encourage gently, and to welcome everyone as a friend.

His was a rallying spirit that came to the rescue and this is how I first met Julian. It was a hot summer's day at an ACG festival gathering at the Wycliffe Centre, way back in the early seventies. I had just given quite a controversial a talk on my post graduate studies on the history of dance, symbolism and Christianity, and was in deep discussion with the supportive Professor Hans Rookmaaker.

Janet Randell

As a prelude to one of the early performances by our newly formed Christian dance company Cedar of Lebanon, now called The Cedar Dance Theatre Company, I wanted an actor to read a selection of the Psalms, and Nigel Goodwin, leader of the ACG seized me by the hand and introduced me to Julian. Without delay, this kindly man stepped into the breach. And that was the start of Julian's interest in both the artistic and spiritual side of my work, and the work of many young artists from the ACG, whom Julian took such pains to encourage and pray for.

Julian loved the visual arts - in particular painting and dance. He was a rock of support to Cedar Dance from giving of his time both practically and artistically.

He was the reader at an Easter service lead by Cedar Dance, and he was one of the actors in Foxes in the Vineyard, an award winning modern Christian radio play, which was adapted as a sound track to Cedar's modern ballet of that name, which was performed at the Edinburgh Festival in the mid-seventies, to critical acclaim.

He could be extremely funny, and have you in stitches with his comic impersonations. In those early days, running a professional dance company which was performing to both church and theatre audiences was chaotic: our motto was to "Consider the lilies of the field" from Matthew 6, and sometimes God granted us our desires in the most bizarre of ways. One week we had no transport for our heavy and long dance floor: the only person Julian and another helper could find at such short notice was a Christian undertaker, who offered to use his hearse. I can still hear Julian chortling at the joke about the reliability of the undertaker, because he was the last person to let you down!

Julian could turn cartwheels with joy and was surprisingly nimble on his feet - he was once an extra when the Russian Ballet came to Covent Garden, although he told us that he stood on the costume of one of the ballet stars and was severely reprimanded by her! He never tired of quoting his movement teacher at the Central School of Acting, who said, "Julian danced like an elephant", but as he was quick to retort, he performed with the stars of the Russian ballet! Julian loved movement, but he loved the spiritual meaning behind movement, and another of his favorite quotations was from the first chapter of Genesis, where in the beginning "the spirit of God was moving over the waters", even before Creation began.

There was a profound and deep side to Julian. This came out in one of his most endearing performances acting the part of Monsieur Givet in the International Films Production of Treasures of the Snow from the book by Patricia M St John. This has been widely viewed around the world on film, video and public television. The narrative of the film follows the story of three children and their developing Christian faith through the exploration of love, hate, death, disability, repentance, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and reconciliation. [1]

Set in the period just after World War II, Julian had a devastating firsthand experience of the destructive nature of the war. His father was vicar of Emmanuel Church Hastings, and one day when Julian was a boy, he decided to take his son on one of his scheduled trips to preach in another part of the country. Julian recalls that this was unprecedented and quite unplanned. However, The Lord was behind this plan. Later that day a lone German bomber was returning from a heavy bombing raid on London. He had one single bomb left and decided to unload it on the landmark Emmanuel Church. It sailed past and landed on the vicarage and Julian's beloved sister Deidre was instantly blown to pieces. His mother was thrown downstairs, but survived. Julian was very close to his sister and was devastated when he returned, but had he remained, Julian would not have lived until this year, and the Lord would not have used him so mightily.

I am convinced that it was because of this profound experience that Julian was such a good actor and a deep and committed Christian, who was able to feel and empathize so deeply for Christians and artists.

Julian was a staunch member of All Souls Church, Langham Place. When he was invited to do the readings from the Gospels, the delivery of his words moved so many members of the congregation. On a personal note, when I fell seriously ill in the early nineties, and was unable to attend All Souls, he assiduously posted me a copy of the service sheet each week, and we used to sing the hymns together over the telephone the following week. In fact Julian was a prolific letter writer, and many a Christian artist and friend will have received one or more of his little homilies.

Julian loved the countryside: he visited the wheelchair access at our charity Woods Hills & Tracks in Wales. Just before his death he spoke of the beauty of the kingfisher, which flew down to the stream where he was standing, and sang for him at his last visit.

Above all, Julian loved the Lord; he spoke to the Lord each day; he moved to Hastings a few years ago, and never tired of looking at the sea and the light playing on the waters, which reminded him so much of his favourite verses from the Bible.

We thank God for such a faithful servant, who loved you and set such a shining example in the world of acting and who loved his fellow Christians so deeply.

Julian was never tired of quoting and living out these words from Matthew: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Mat 11:28)

[1] Katrina Lybbert (November/December 2002). "Beacon Book of the Month". Truelight Academy. Retrieved 2010-08-09.

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Janet Randell, BA (Hons), AISTD, international choreographer, digital dance animator, teacher, lecturer, author, researcher and musician, is the founder and Artistic Director of The Cedar Dance Theatre Company and Cedar Dance Animations. She is a committed Christian and shares the aim the Arts Centre Group, a Christian Organization of which she is a member, to be fully Christian and fully professional in her work. Randell has choreographed many modern and contemporary dance works for The Cedar Dance Theatre Company, which emerged in the early 70s as one of the leading professional dance companies in the UK. One of Randell's aims has been to make contemporary dance/modern ballet accessible to a wide audience, including the church. The Cedar Dance Theatre Company has performed in theatres and church venues in London and throughout the UK. Randell has also freelanced for many years as a choreographer for stage and TV, and has choreographed, directed and taught in the UK, New York, China, Australia, Holland and the Republic of Ireland. For some years, Randell has been exploring her choreography and pushing the boundaries of creative dance through digital animation and the integration of live performance with 3D animation, motion technology and film. This has provided a new and innovative platform for her artistic expression. Most recently she has been choreographing and directing independent dance film productions for Cedar with an international group of young soloist dancers. Venues include the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, The Place, London and Theatre Severn, Shropshire. In addition to her choreography, dance animation, film and theatre dance work, Janet is actively researching and developing digital dance for education. She is producing a new major digital resource for dancers, choreographers, teachers and lecturers called The Tutorial Guide To DanceForms. Together with an introduction by Merce Cunningham, The Tutorial Guide will soon be released. Janet continues to dedicate her time and expertise to disability and dance. This year Janet Randell is exploring t he themes of disability and enablement in her ongoing pilot dance film with live dance and animation called Passing Moments, with The Cedar Dance Theatre Company and Cedar Dance Animations. For further details see: http://www.cedardanceanimations.com. Janet Randell is also founder and chairman of Woods, Hills & Tracks, a registered charity, one of whose aims is to provide dance therapy and rural access for all and challenges to people with all types of disabilities. Janet also runs dance therapy courses, arts and dance projects, also using the outdoor Woodhill site as a backdrop to her film projects. She is currently involved in projects with Prospects, a Christian organization which values and supports people with learning disabilities so that they live their lives to the full. For further details see: http://www.woods-hills-tracks.com

‘Onward Christian Soldier’

The extraordinary life of Rick Irwin

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

VENTURA, CA (ANS) -- When I first viewed a video by singer and musician Rick Irwin on YouTube, I have to confess it was one of the most unusual offerings I have ever seen. You can check it out for yourself athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBasrPCJqTc&hd=1

Creative shot taken about 1999

So I contacted Rick to find out more about his video and why he so wants it to be viewed so widely in Eastern Europe and Russia.

He began by telling that at 15, he joined his first band called "Danny & the Drop Ins” playing rhythm guitar and singing backing vocals.

“I always wrote my own songs after that," said Rick. "I hardly ever tried to learn how to play the hits of the day. As I progressed through school - four colleges and three universities, I broadened my entertainment skills taking theatre and extensive dance classes.

“I was in and out of bands through the years but that always led me back to my solo song writing. I was able to play 11 different instruments in college and spent my evenings in the piano practice rooms at Western University in Bellingham, Washington. The head of the music department called me a ‘young George Gershwin.’ The head of the theatre department stated that ‘something big would come out of me one day.'"

Rick laughed and added, “I am still waiting for that with no thought of ever giving up. I got these compliments from most of the schools I attended and sure it was flattering but I kept my concentration on building my skills instead of letting it go to my head.”

Irwin said that after graduating from Western University Bellingham in 1976, he returned to his home town of Sunnyside, Washington, and began recording his first Album “All Summer Long.”

“After completing the tracks, I booked a flight to London to get me a record deal,” he said. “It was quite an experience going to a foreign land all by myself being from a small farm town in Washington State. I didn't get a deal, but did get a lot of encouragement from several entities including 'World Management’ who saw that same potential in me as my college professors. A little time in Holland visiting EMI Records and back to London where I was playing at the ‘Whistle Stop Inn” before departing back to the U.S.”

Hollywood, California, he said was his next place of call where there was a “constant Battle of the Bands” competition taking place for attention and respect, where he said there were up to 200,000 musicians in the L.A. area all trying to get discovered by managers, agents and record labels.

But like so many up-and-coming “stars,” Rick found life was tough in Tinsel Town and for several months he slept in his van.

“This is one of the points in my life where I reconnected with the Lord,” he said. “I had always been a non-wavering Christian, but sometimes I had put God on a back burner while I tried ‘cook’ my own plans to perfection.”

After this time sleeping in his van he said that the Lord stepped in and he found employment as a ground keeper at a church on Sunset Strip, which had many musicians and actors of that time attending, and in return, they let him sleep there each night. He also got some free acting lessons at the church and played the piano in the chapel every night with “no one there but God listening.”

He went on to say, “I wrote some great songs back then that will eventually be recorded and made available to the public. As the years passed and the struggle continued in Hollywood, I recorded five more albums with bands I had started and demoed several songs with bands I had been a part of as the lead singer.”

Still camera shots on the sound stage of the Onward Christian Soldier video shoot with Rick discussing the next scene with director.

Surprisingly, Eastern Europe began to figure into his career.

“With the second formation of Foolish Pleasure, my signature band with some great musicians, I released 'End of Time' on Rip Records Inc. My label and found that my music was being appreciated in Eastern Europe. I was very happy to be number one for weeks in Poland and Romania on their National broadcast stations. This came from my promotion efforts while in Mejeve, France, where i was invited to participate in a two week jazz dance seminar where I performed the song 'Mejeve’, whcihI had written for the occasion. Soon the CD End Of Time was playing in the States and in rotation on over 412 college stations simultaneously and was number 1 at 11 college stations at the same time. (CMJ statistics).

“This secured a national distribution deal for my ‘End of Time’ album, but unfortunately, this was not the digital age yet and with no Internet it was impossible to service the European market without major label support.

“It was at this point in my career I started going to Russia. I couldn't afford to take the band so I went solo to promote the album. This land interested me and I feel the Lord sent me there. I met my now estranged wife Tanya there. I was intrigued by the Russian people. They were not at all like what I had learned about them in the U.S. Yes, they were different from Americans, yet witty and charming on all social levels. Religion was the problem or a lack there of. I found that many Russians had no faith, thanks to Stalin, yet so many were trying hard to find their religion and God.

“I remember this one cloudy day going with my driver and interpreter to an open air market with all kinds of wares for sale and many people milling about. At some point in this outing, a very poor man wearing dirty rumpled clothing came up to me begging in Russian for a hand out. He knew I was American as I stood out from the crowd. This man had a very sincere look in his eye and I knew he was hurting. It touched me deeply. My interpreter tried to shoo him away from me as she saw me reach into my pocket. Calling for security to make him leave us alone. I turned to her and said, ‘Can't you see his desperation. Wouldn't you want to be helped if you were in his shoes?” She stood silent.

"I reached into my pocket and gave this man all of my Russian money. It was a fair amount maybe $50 US or more. Right after I did this, with my interpreter in dismay, a beam of sunlight shot from the sky right upon us! This from a totally gray sky, this shaft of light came breaking through the clouds upon us as if was a spotlight! and only on us! It was surreal. I could see Tanya was amazed by it as well as the people who had witnessed the whole exchange. I then said. “Tanya (my interpreter’s name) this is a sign from God meant for you.” I am still today awed by that moment. It was a miracle. That sky was totally dark grey all day. No partial clouds, and no way that could have happened without a higher power intervening.

“I was married in Yekaterinburg on my next visit and appeared in a TV commercial for a dating site. They provided me with excellent housing overlooking an Olympic skating rink for two weeks in exchange. I began to feel a little important when after getting a stomach ache from something I ate, was rushed to the hospital and found out later my ordeal was on all the radio stations.

“During the three times I traveled to Russia, Foolish Pleasure recorded ‘Look Up’ and shortly thereafter we went on hiatus as we in the group pondered our careers. Trying to keep busy while waiting to see if the band would reform I was able to write and record ‘Castle Town’ my 6th CD. It was recorded as a group sounding solo album with me playing all instrument and singing all vocals as with my current CD ‘One Way Up’.

“After the 'Castle Town' CD my life plunged into darkness. My wife Tatyana was divorcing me, and I lost everything in the 'dot com market crash'. It was a very difficult 10 years of being in poverty combined with a loss of confidence and a lack of desire to accomplish anything. For me, I thought it was all over. Yet, I now see the Lord did this to me for a reason.

A still from the 'One Way Up' video shoot April 2011

“I have a son named Paul who lives with me. He is the great experience of my life. I know no greater joy than raising him, guiding him 24/7 as a full-time father. We love each other deeply and although he is nearly 14 years old now, he tells me at least three times a day, “I love ya Dad” which makes me so happy.

“I have not married again, but plan to in the future.

Paul’s mother’s maiden name was Tatyana Vasiliy Russkikh. After initially bringing her to America, and with Paul being born, I spent the next 12 years being the very best dad I could be and that's why I didn't remarry. I did not want him to feel threatened by my love for another woman.

 It was hard enough going from her place to mine back and forth, back and forth. He cried every time I left him at her front door. It broke my heart. I would try again and again to reunite with Tanya for the sake of 'family' over those 12 years and I made myself remain in love with her for the sake of my marriage vows. Not very practical in today’s world I know, but what the Lord expected of me.

“Tatyana now lives 28 miles away from Ventura in Santa Barbara and teaches piano lessons, so he has a couple of musical parents. We drive Paul back and forth twice times a week so he can spend time with both of us.

“Both of her parents now live in Hollywood, California, and have become U.S. citizens. They are the most wonderful people. I love them as my own parents and they love as if I were their son.”

Rick also raised a daughter, Sabrina, but was not married to her mother.”

He went on to say, “I love her so much! She has turned out to be a spectacular young lady and is about to give me my 4th grandchild. She lives in Utah. Although I love my grandchildren very much, it is difficult to realize 'they are' my Grandchildren as I am 'Peter Pan' in my heart. I have shared custody of Paul whereas Sabrina had lived with me full time from the age of 12 until she was married"

Now, Rick is back on the comeback trail and is putting all the pain behind him.

Rick Irwin with a bike

“I have a fire inside,” he said. “At 56, I began an intensive three year comeback, changing everything about myself. Refusing to grow old and actually regaining my physical youth through my fearless pursuit of Extreme Biking. I am now an expert in my own created niche of stunt biking. Despite suffering concussions, several fractures, cuts, bruises, and the resulting scars. After all of my bad accidents I would somehow get my bloodied mangled self and bike home to heal. I consider myself a Christian Gladiator. I often state that “nothing will stop me but death itself.”

“Many people now take my picture and shoot video from their cameras etc. anytime I'm working on my bike. They try to hide the fact that their doing it but I am quite happy about their curiosity. It's especially flattering when they ask if the can film me or take a picture with me. This bike stuff is a testament to hidden treasures inside of everyone. The special gifts that God has given all of us. What Are they? What are yours? That is for each one of us to discover! If everyone searched for their gifts and pursued them first in life the world would be at peace.

“So you see, sometimes in life, the Lord will send you on a journey seemingly far away from your dreams and pursuits, but if we can just keep in the faith we will eventually see the wisdom of what is happening in our lives. We must always remember it is not about ‘us’ but it is about the Kingdom.... and God will use us on occasions to the benefit of someone else's journey, not ours. He can use us to help a brother or a sister, or a total stranger, find their way and their place in heaven.

“I now ask everyone to pray for me that I remain pure of heart in my career as an entertainer and that I might help counter the dark messages constantly being displayed to all mankind by many of the current 'stars' of our day.

“I invite everyone to watch my videos and if the Lord calls upon you to support my endeavor -- through iTunes or Amazon. (less than $8 U.S.) -- I would be delighted.

“Note on Russia: I believe in my heart that I will return to Russia soon; that my life partner sole mate is still there waiting for me. It is up to the Lord as when this will happen.

He concluded by saying, “May God Bless you and your families for all eternity, Rick Irwin.”

Rick has now set up an e-mail account for people from all over the world to contact him. It is: rick.irwin@gmail.com

Here are a few links to catch Rick Irwin’s music:

TMG Records : http://www.tatemusicgroup.com/epk/?id=14461
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=792470561
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/1u2
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/RickIrwinOnewayUp?blend=2&ob=5
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/one-way-up/id432222682?i=432222766&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rick+irwin+one+way+up&x=0&y=0

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Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.