Mourning Glory Ministries


Founded in Memory of my Loving Mother
Joyce Elaine Nystrom Fischer
 
   You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
      O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
 
Psalm 30:11-12 
(Taken from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible )
 

 
"Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation."
 
2Corinthians 1:3-7
(Taken from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible) 

Introduction

    Mourning Glory Ministries, though not as yet a formal not for profit ministry, has been founded on the basis of the above Scriptures, as well as on the multitude of  miraculous ways God has taken me into and through times of great personal morning and loss. As you read the testimonies that will be posted on this page (more will be added as the Lord directs and enables), I pray that  God will indeed comfort you by His Holy Spirit, so that you too will be able to comfort others with the comfort God has comforted you with. If you have any questions, comments, or prayer requests, please feel free to e-mail me (Richard Fischer) at MourningGlory3@aol.com

THE PLANTING
In Memory of Joyce Elaine Nystrom Fischer
February 1, 1937 - November 14, 2003
© Richard W. Fischer, Jr.
January 27, 2004



Oh my Lord why do I see
This Vision of a crying tree?
Cupped in Our Hands while digging dirt
You’ve not yet told me, “It will hurt!”

Then while in prayer, I understand
My Mom will soon be in Your Hand
Dad confirms, “She’s bound for Home”
“To Heaven she will soon be flown”

“Go to your roots, and say goodbye”
"And yes My son, It’s good to cry”
“Yet know for sure you’re not alone”
"Though deep within, your soul does moan”

Then came the painting from on High
A Crying Face, a Bloodshot Eye
“Your Rooted in My Hand My Son,”
“Lets get to work, the job’s not done”

Another Vision floating free
Golden Oil, “She’s come to Me!”
Once again, a call to roam,
“Yes, my son, you’re Mom’s gone Home”

“Now sing the songs I gave to you,
“And comfort them as I have you”
“I’ll give you strength, of that be sure,”
“This loss you surely will endure”

“And know My son, that as you grieve,”
“That in My time, you too will leave”
“You’ll come to Me, You’ll see My Face,”
“And those you Love,  you will embrace”

“But for now,  please join with Me”
“Plant comfort with this crying tree”



In the poem above, references are made to several visions, as well as, "A Painting From On High," and the following testimony gives a bit more detail about these miraculous events as they unfolded before my eyes. They all intertwined so perfectly to comfort me during one of the most difficult times in my life, the death of my Mother. With Mother's day just around the corner, it seemed appropriate to Honor my Mother with a retelling of these miraculous events as they took place now more then 3 1/2 years ago. As you read about them, I pray you will be blessed beyond measure, and be given the strength to press on through the trials and tribulations of your life's circumstance. Before starting with the testimony, let me introduce my Mother and the other members of my family pictured to the right. Starting at the left, is my Father, Richard Sr. (Dick), followed by my lovely wife Brenda Jean (BJ), then yours truly, and to my right, my Mother Joyce,  and  to her right, my Father's mother, Elma. Now, on with the testimony.
 
On Saturday morning October 18, 2003, while praying for the Lord to prepare me for a worship service I would be attending later that morning, I received a rather interesting and unusual vision. In this vision, I was kneeling in an area that resembled the side yard of a home in New Hampshire where I had previously lived with my parents some years before our respective moves to Virginia and Florida. The lighting was dim in the vision, and it appeared to be nearing sunrise. As the vision progressed, I noticed that in my cupped hands, I was holding a small 8-10 inch tall tree with two or three leaves on it. What was unusual about my hands, was that they weren't just my hands, but they were also the Lord's hands. Even more unusual, was the fact that while our hands were holding the tree, we were also using our hands to dig a small hole in which to plant this tree among other much larger trees in the yard.
 
When the hole was at the correct depth, we stopped digging, and began lowering the tree into the hole, but as we did this, pure water started flowing off of the roots. Startled by this, I pulled my/our hands back towards me a bit, and the water stopped flowing. Then, we began to lower the tree into the hole one more time, and the water started to flow again. With this, the vision ended. As I prayed about the meaning of this vision, I was reminded of a verse in Romans chapter 11 which says, "...remember that you don't support the root, but the root supports you," which is a verse that was originally written to Gentile (non-Jewish) believers in Yeshua (Jesus' name in Hebrew).

I then went to my computer, typed this up, and saved it, not knowing much more then I've already shared about it's meaning at that time. Following this, I turned on the television, and grabbed a worship video and friend had loaned me the evening before. I had planned to play this video as I continued to prepare for our worship service, but before I could start the video, I heard a news report on the television about a young boy from Massachusetts who'd been lost for some time while visiting friends or family in New Hampshire, and immediately upon hearing this, I knew something was seriously wrong with my Mother. She'd been fighting, and apparently winning a 9 month battle with cancer, but I was about to find out that there had been a change for the worse.
 
Later, during our worship service, several things took place which seemed to also tie into the above mentioned vision, and for reasons I'd later learn, I was beginning to get the impression that I needed to mail a copy of this vision to our old address in New Hampshire, even though I had no idea who was living there. After sharing the above events with someone from our congregation (Ohev Yisrael Messianic Jewish Congregation, in Newington, VA), they agreed that the Lord had a purpose in sending the vision to whoever now owned our former home, so I typed up an introduction, enclosed the vision, and put it in the mail. This act of obedience was to pay off in incredible ways in the not to distant future!
 
Three days after I'd received the vision from the Lord that Saturday morning, my Father phoned me from Florida and told me that Mom was on her death bed, and that BJ and I should pack up and come down to Florida to say our final goodbyes. It was at this point that I began to come to grips with the fact that God had been preparing me to hear and accept the terrible news that Mom's time here on earth was drawing to a close. Upon hearing this we quickly tied up some loose ends at home, shared the news with various friends from church, and I began to e-mail everyone I knew and asked them to pray for us and our family as we headed south.
 
 
 

The day following our arrival in Florida, the Lord really began to open up the floodgates of Heaven on our behalf. That first morning, I opened my e-mail, and there, to my surprise, was a letter from the family in New Hampshire I'd mailed the vision to. They went on to tell me several amazing things. The first, was that the day I was given the vision, was this couples 29th wedding anniversary, and their son (Tim O'Donnell), who at that time was an art student at a college in Massachusetts, had come home with a gift of two paintings  he'd painted in honor of their anniversary. She went on to say that one of these painting bore a striking resemblance to the vision I'd shared with them! They also shared that their daughter had given them a small fruit tree as a gift (some time later, I found out that this fruit tree had died). Before I share anything else, I want to take some time to point out some of the details of the painting which resembled the vision. As you can see, though the painting is somewhat abstract, it is a painting of a tree and it's root structure. What's not so  quickly visible, are three very distinct images formed by the roots of this tree. From right to left, they are a down turned crying face of a man, a hand holding the man's head, and a rather unusual bloodshot eye that appears in the wrist of the hand. To find the face in the painting, trace down the right side of the tree trunk until you reach what appears to be it's base. Just below the base at the top of the root structure begins the front of the man's forehead. As you continue to trace down that main right hand root, the forehead curves back, and you can clearly see two horizontal lines. The first is an eyebrow, and the second is a closed eyelid, with a tear drop running down the man's face towards the back corner of the man's mouth. Continuing  down the profile of the face, it appears that something is running from the tip of the nose. Following the profile still further towards the bottom of the painting, is a closed mouth and chin, and again, it's almost like more liquid dripping from that area of the face as well.
 
  Now, to find the outline of the and, take your left hand and hold it in front of you to form the shape of the letter, "C". Now, look for this shape, with the top of the, "C," the index finger on top of the man's head, and just under his chin, is the thumb. Now, to find the bloodshot eye, start at the back of the tip of what looks like a thumbnail, and arc upwards through the middle of the hand and back down to form the top of the eye, and then, arc downwards towards the thumbnail again to form the bottom of the eye. What you will soon notice, is that rather than the white part of the eye being bloodshot, it appears that the pupil and iris are bloodshot instead.

As I prayed about this rather unusual feature in this painting, the Lord spoke something very powerful to me. Specifically, He said that if a person were to literally have a condition where the pupil and iris were bloodshot, that person would be seeing everything, "THROUGH THE BLOOD." Some of you who are reading this may not understand the significance of this from a Christian perspective, but  briefly, I'll simply say that the blood that we should be, "seeing through," figuratively speaking, is the blood of our Savior, Yeshua (Jesus), because it is His blood that has not only purchased our forgiveness, but also, it has purchased forgiveness for everyone who would receive it. In other words, we should see everyone, and every situation, as having been redeemed by the blood of Yeshua (Jesus).
 
Also, as was previously stated, Romans 11 reminds us that it is the root that supports us, and it's clear in this painting that the hand is supporting the person who is in mourning!
 
Also, another interesting feature of the above painting, is that the background almost appears as a rainbow of sorts, and of course the Bible tells us in the story of Noah and the ark, that the rainbow is God's sign to mankind that He will never  again totally destroy the earth by the waters of a flood. From this, I've  come to understand that in the same way, though there has been much pain in losing my Mother to cancer, I won't be completely overwhelmed by the sadness and tears associated with mourning that loss, or the other losses I  must face from time to time. If you look closely at the photo to the right, you will see a small rainbow arcing across the base of the waterfall. Every time I see a rainbow, I'm reminded of God's promise, and I'm comforted by that promise. I've seen some pretty incredible rainbows in my day, including, believe it or not, one rainbow that appeared in an almost totally black sky some 10 minutes after the sun had officially set!! As I prayed about that particular miraculous occurance, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "No matter how dark it gets, my promises are still true!"

    There are still so many more details to share, such as how the Lord enabled BJ and I to sing two songs at Mom's memorial service, one of which, though I'm not a song writer, the Lord used me to compose it in memory of the tragic events of 9/11. Another was how the Lord answered my prayer to give me a vision of Mom's passing, since BJ and I were unable to stay in Florida until that happened! I hope to share all of these in more detail in the future, but for now, suffice it to say that again and again, God has proven Himself to be very real to me, and if you are reading these words, He's doing the same for  you as well.
 
May God richly bless you today and always!
Happy Mother's Day MOM!! I still miss you, but I know that with each passing day, our reunion draws closer and closer.

Healing For A Grieving Nation

A Personal Testimony of God's Grace surrounding September 11, 2001
By Richard W. Fischer, Jr.
Written October 18, 2001
Revised for this web site, May 6, 2007 
Harp song, "Hatikvah" (Jewish National Anthem)
Played by David Buccanan
From the CD, "Restoration...the Heart of David" 
Song and Harp are courtesy of Jubilee Harps Inc. 

 

    Saturday morning, September 8, just three days prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (at that time we lived only about 40 miles from the Pentagon), I had a dream in which the Lord spoke to me and said, "Be prepared." When I awoke from this dream at about 3:00am, I found that I couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to get out of bed and begin to obey the word that was spoken to me. To me, this meant to begin to study the Scriptures and be as prepared as possible for the things which I believe God to be calling me into during this season of my life, which is to devote myself more fully to sharing with other people the joy of Davidic style praise and worship dance, and the peace which comes from both listening to, as well as playing the Kinnor (Biblcal 10 string worship harp). In the middle of my study that morning, I happened upon the first few verses of Psalm 144, which in the New King James version of the Bible reads, "Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." This Psalm goes on to say, "My loving kindness and my fortress, my HIGH TOWER and my deliverer, my shield and the one in whom I take refuge. Later that morning while attending Sabbath services at our local Messianic Jewish congregation (Jews who believe that Yeshua {Jesus' name in Hebrew} is the Messiah He claimed to be), several very interesting things happened.
 
    First of all, our worship leader was the one scheduled to speak that day, and  he just happened to give a message entitled, "Prepare to be awed." As I am sure you can imagine, having just a few hours earlier personally received the word, "Be prepared," in my dream, the Lord had my attention, yet I still had no clue what was to happen 3 days later.
 
    Then, at the close of our service, the leadership invited a man (and his family) to come forward for prayer, because unknown to me until then, he and his family were moving to another country so that he could attend a, War college!

    Later, during our Oneg Shabbat (a time of eating and fellowship after the service), I decided to speak about these, "coincidences," with my home group leader, as it seemed the Lord might want me to share what had been taking place that morning with the fellow who was moving as a source encouragement from the Lord to him regarding the direction he and his family's life was about to take. After receiving confirmation from my home group leader, I did in fact share  what I'd been experiencing with this individual, and he seemed very appreciative! After all of this, I was, to say the least, pretty excited that the Lord had just used me in such a supernatural way, but little did I know at the time what was still to come.
 
    Several days passed by, and on September 11, as I was getting ready to walk down the stairs of a customer's house I was in the process of remodeling, one of our subcontractors burst into the front door announcing that he had heard on his truck radio that the World Trade Center had just been hit by a plane. I immediately called this to the attention of the homeowner,  who promptly turned on her television. As I know millions of Americans and others around the world did that day, we watched in disbelief as the second tower was hit..., and shortly afterwards, the Pentagon was attacked. I later learned that a fellow member of our congregation was actually passing by the Pentagon when she heard the plane fly only a few feet over her head! I also heard from one of the lumber truck drivers delivering lumber to our job site, that he heard the explosion and felt the ground shake at the lumber yard, which is located some five or six miles from the Pentagon!
 
   As we all now know, the twin towers collapsed, and our nation as we had come to know it had been drastically changed, and deeply wounded.  For me personally, I was so shocked and emotionally upset by all that I had just witnessed, I decided to speak with my employer and told him that I just couldn't focus on my work anymore that day, and I was going to need to take the rest of the day off. He very graciously granted my request, and I went home to continue watching the events unfold.
 
 
 
 
 
     

    Later that week, though I still hadn't made the connection, I was  drawn back to Psalm 144 several times. By then of course, we knew that we were at war, and were slowly uncovering the faces of those that the enemy of our souls, Satan himself, had used to both mastermind and carry out these attacks. Attacks not only on our nation, but on the rest of the free world as well.
 
    At an interdenominational prayer gathering I attended on the evening of Friday September 14, I again picked up my Bible to read Psalm 144 to myself. This time  however, when I got to the portion that says, "My loving kindness and my fortress, My High Tower, and my deliverer...," I just couldn't believe what my eyes were finally open to see!! Just three days earlier, I had witnessed the collapse of two of the highest towers in the world, and now, the Lord was encouraging me, and all those who read this, that He is our ultimate, "HIGH TOWER," one who will never fall regardless of the enemy's attacks!!
 
    As the events of September 11 started to pass further into history, and the reality of the devastation began to sink in, I slowly turned my attention and prayers more towards how I could be of service to our country. In doing so, another section of Psalm 144 began to stand out to me. Specifically, verse 9 reads, "I will sing a new song unto you O God, On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to you." This portion of the Psalm is why I was even studying it in the first place.  I was now beginning to see Pslam 144 more as a whole, and that the weapon the Lord was training my hands and fingers to use in this time of war was the 10 string Kinnor. For those who may not understand what I'm saying here, the Bible tells us that the weapons we are to use to fight our battles are not the normal weapons used by our military, but rather, God has given us weapons to use for the purpose of spiritual warfare. You may recall a Bible story about young King David, and how before he became King, God used David's skillful fingers on the harp to comfort King Saul, and the evil spirits that would often torment King Saul would depart from him as David played! (see 1 Samuel 16:23) Of course, I had already believed that the Davidic style dance that I am involved with is also a form of Spiritual warfare, but it appeared to me that the Lord was really wanting me to start focusing more and more of my attention on the Kinnor.

 

    On Saturday, October 14, one month after my eyes began to be opened to what the Lord was saying to me through this Psalm, our worship leader (who new nothing of  what had been going in in my heart regarding Psalm 144), finished playing a song on his guitar, and then made the following remarks. "The Lord has been speaking to me from Psalm 144 lately," and then asked the question, "What does this Psalm mean for us today?" He went on to answer by referencing his guitar, and saying that he uses his fingers to play it in worship to the Lord. He also talked about how many of us play other instruments, or dance, or clap our hands for similar purposes! Again, God was supernaturally confirming the direction my life was taking!! Then, on October 16, just after my lunch break, I learned that the company I was employed with no longer needed my services.
 
    The following Sabbath, since I didn't yet own a Kinnor at the time, one of my friends from church loaned me one that he'd been given as a gift, but rarely played, so that I could begin to practice for an upcoming event in November where I'd been asked to set up a Kinnor display, as well as begin to teach a group of  50-75 men Davidic style dance. After the service was over, I once again went up to our Oneg Shabbat fellowship time, and I took the Kinnor with me, and set it down on the table. Up until that time, I hadn't noticed the brass plaque at the base of the Kinnor, but when I saw what was engraved on it, I was once again astonished by what I saw! With this one more incredible confirmation, it seemed obvious to me that God was paving the way for me to follow the desires of my heart!
 
Later that  afternoon, one of the men in the men's dance team I'd been led to form several months earlier, upon hearing of my job loss, hired me on the spot! I was not previously aware that this man owns his own construction company, but God knew, and through my desire to pursue male accountability (one of the reasons I had formed the dance team), I'd been given a tremendous blessing and opportunity in the midst of one of my greatest trials!!
 
More then anything  else I can dream of to do, my hearts desire is to be used of the Lord to bring His joy and peace to our nation, and to the rest of the nations around the world. There is still much I need to learn, but one thing I know for certain, and that is the Bible, referring to Yeshua, says, "For the JOY that was set before Him, He endured the cross..." (Hebrews 12:2). Isaiah 53 also says, "...the chastisement for our PEACE was upon Him, and by His stripes (the flogging and other tortures Yeshua received on our behalf), we are healed!!" Finally, quoting Yeshua, the Bible says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature!" I say in response, "Here I am Lord, send me!

If you'd like more information about Davidic Dance, the Kinnor, or how Mourning Glory Ministries can be of service to you, please e-mail me at MourningGlory3@aol.com

 
If you'd like to purchase a Kinnor, or any of Jubilee Harps many products and accessories, please click on the banner below.
 
    ***Please check back on this testimony page from time to time, as there are many other testimonies I will be sharing as the Lord and time permit. Until then, Peace and Blessings in our Messiah!
 
Richard W. Fischer, Jr.

A Little Wind for the Soul,

By Richard W. Fischer, Jr.
Friday, Oct. 26, 2001

    After a very long and exhausting week, I really felt that I needed a break, so I drove just a few miles down our street to the park, and sat down on one of the benches by a small holding pond with the Kinnor (10 string Davidic Harp). My intent had been to try to memorize the song that I was given by the Lord earlier that week, but the wind was very strong, which made keeping the words in front of me next to impossible. I finally got the point that the Lord had other plans, so I closed the book and just began playing whatever song came to mind. As the wind continued to increase, I suddenly remembered some  traditional stories I'd heard about how it is believed that King David would often hang his Kinnor in a tree before he went to bed at night, and when the wind change direction and would start blowing from the North, his Kinnor would begin to play on it's own.
    At this point, I quit playing, and noticed that the wind was indeed playing the Kinnor, but it was doing so very very faintly. So I stood up and searched for the best position to stand in, and the volume increased. It was such a refreshing sound, that I stood their for quite some time allowing the wind of the Holy Spirit to refresh me. Then at one point, I began to play the song, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God," and it was like the Lord's hands was accompanying my meager attempts at playing. I then began to play other songs as they came to mind, continuing to enjoy the Lord playing along side of me.

    Later, I decided to walk toward three white ducks which were about 20 yards away from me at the edge of the pond. When I got within ten feet of them, they got startled, and scurried into the water. At this point, I stopped and decided to play the Kinnor a bit more, praying that the ducks would turn around. Almost immediately, as if the Lord spoke to each of them individually, within the space of about 5 seconds, one by one they all turned around, came back on shore, and settled into their little area to rest again. It was like the Lord was saying to me that I have been putting so much effort this week into trying to generate sales, that I had forgotten the main purpose of the Kinnor in the first place, which is to bring peace to the hearts and souls of men and women who are struggling in their daily lives.
    If this testimony has touched your life in some way, I would really enjoy hearing from you, so please write to me at the e-mail address below, and share your story so the that Blessings may continue.

 
Shalom and Blessings In Messiah Yeshua!
Richard W. Fischer, Jr.
Mourning Glory Ministries
www.kingdomdomains.ws/page7.html
(An Authorized Jubilee Harps Sales Representative)
Featuring 10 String Kinnors (Davidic Worship Harps)
Kinnor cases, sheet music, and Instructional Materials
Mini Amplifiers, Door Harps
Kinnor Music CD's,
Davidic Dance Instruction

Logo Photo Testimony

Photo taken on 07/07/07 
 
    On the morning of July 7, 2007, the day 100,000 plus people gathered in Nashville, Tennessee to fast and pray for revival in our nation, the Lord woke me up, and prompted me to have my devotional time outside. This was not something I normally did, nor was it normal for me to take a camera outside with me, but on this occasion, for some reason, in my spirit, there seemed to be a reason for doing so. I spent some time singing to the Lord, playing my Kinnor and my recorders. Then, the still small voice of the Lord spoke to me to get the camera ready, so I turned it on, and began asking him what I was to take a picture of. Off in the distance, I saw a number of birds flying around, but they were too far away to get a good picture. Then, out of the left corner of my eye, I saw a mourning dove flying towards me, and it swooped up and landed on the roof of our home. I began hearing it's gentle cooing sounds, and could tell by them that it was directly behind me. Not wanting to scare it away, I carefully climbed up on the handrail of our deck, making sure that I didn't allow my body above the roof line. I then turned the L E D viewfinder on the back of the camera on, raised my hand slowly above the eave of the house, centered the dove in the viewfinder, and quickly snapped the picture. When I brought the camera back down and reviewed the photo, I was surprised to see that the dove was actually surrounded by the rising sun! As I began to pray about this photo, it dawned on me that this would be the perfect photo for the Mourning Glory Ministries logo, since the the dove represents mourning, and the sun represents the Glory of God which came upon the earth in the person of His son, Yeshua!
 
    What  makes this  entire testimony that much more amazing, though I had wanted to go to Nashville that day to participate in the call first hand, I felt the Lord wanted me to participate on a more local level. As such, I then attempted to get a group of people together to join me, but nobody seemed interested, so I just decided that the Lord wanted me to stay home and spend some focused time with Him. Boy, I'm so glad I did! His word is so true when it says, "All things work together for the God of them that Love God and are the called according to His purpose!" (Romans 8:28)