{"id":3250,"date":"2012-11-07T05:50:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T10:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3250"},"modified":"2012-11-07T09:38:03","modified_gmt":"2012-11-07T14:38:03","slug":"a-shameless-plug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/11\/a-shameless-plug.html","title":{"rendered":"A shameless plug"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I often plug products that I’ve found beneficial, especially in the ministry of The Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community. \u00a0The Christmas musical, A\u00a0Stranger in the Manger<\/em>, is a well-written and joy-filled musical that becomes an excellent presentation. \u00a0Uplifting and fun songs make the music sparkle. \u00a0However, the ballad, “This is Such a Strange Way to Save the World,” is touching enough to leave half of the audience in tears.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The musical is written for children; but it is easily adapted for the disability community, especially for the mentally challenged population. \u00a0While the words and music may be more difficult than anything you have tried, it is easy to learn because everyone loves the music enough to work hard. \u00a0 With children, you can suppliment the recorded voices. \u00a0However, with a choir of intellectually disabled adults, you will need to leave out the extra voices recorded because the children’s voices will not blend with an adult choir.<\/p>\n

Arrangers Johnathan Crumpton and Sue Smith have done an excellent job in translating the gospel story of Jesus’ birth into a fun, teaching experience set to music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I often plug products that I’ve found beneficial, especially in the ministry of The Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community. \u00a0The Christmas musical, A\u00a0Stranger in the Manger, is a well-written and joy-filled musical that becomes an excellent presentation. \u00a0Uplifting and fun songs make the music sparkle. \u00a0However, the ballad, “This is Such…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,4,41],"tags":[572,690,574,21,688,739,696,7,699,715,701,694,570,689,573,6,700,571],"class_list":["post-3250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-a-stranger-in-the-manger","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-childrens-christmas-musical","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-christmas","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-johnathan-crumpton","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-music-for-a-choir-of-mentally-challenged-adults","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality","tag-sue-smith"],"yoast_head":"\nA shameless plug - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/11\/a-shameless-plug.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A shameless plug - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I often plug products that I’ve found beneficial, especially in the ministry of The Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community. \u00a0The Christmas musical, A\u00a0Stranger in the Manger, is a well-written and joy-filled musical that becomes an excellent presentation. \u00a0Uplifting and fun songs make the music sparkle. \u00a0However, the ballad, “This is Such…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/11\/a-shameless-plug.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-07T10:50:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-11-07T14:38:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/11\/stranger.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A shameless plug - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/11\/a-shameless-plug.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A shameless plug - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"I often plug products that I’ve found beneficial, especially in the ministry of The Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community. \u00a0The Christmas musical, A\u00a0Stranger in the Manger, is a well-written and joy-filled musical that becomes an excellent presentation. \u00a0Uplifting and fun songs make the music sparkle. \u00a0However, the ballad, “This is Such…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/11\/a-shameless-plug.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2012-11-07T10:50:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-11-07T14:38:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/11\/stranger.gif"}],"author":"Linda G. 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