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BY
REBECCA GRACE | AFA Journal Staff Writer
Eighties teen heartthrob Kirk Cameron knows what it’s like
to be in the limelight of Hollywood, but it dims in comparison to
knowing and loving the Light of the World – a permanent role
that captures the very essence of his heart.
Affectionately known for his portrayal as the mischievous Mike
Seaver on the former hit television series Growing Pains,
this two-time Golden Globe nominee is intense about sharing the
Gospel and reaching the lost for Christ.
After a successful career on Growing Pains, the release
of Left Behind, The Movie (Cloud Ten Pictures, 2000) brought
Cameron back to the forefront of Hollywood – this time as a
born-again believer whose onscreen role as Buck was a reflection
of his real-life character.
Cameron is so passionate about evangelizing the lost that he partnered
with Christian evangelist and author Ray Comfort to create an interdenominational
ministry known as The Way of the Master. The ministry’s purpose
is "to teach Christians how to share the Gospel effectively, Biblically
… the way Jesus did."
A
secret worth exposing
The vision for the ministry came
after Cameron listened to a sermon given by Comfort titled, "Hell’s
Best Kept Secret." The sermon presents God’s law as the basis
for true conversion due to a personal recognition of sin and a sincere
understanding of God’s grace and mercy. It explains that in
order for the Good News to make sense to the lost, they must understand
they have violated God’s law.
"It [the sermon] rocked the foundation of my Christian faith,"
Cameron said to a televised audience. "It gave me zeal and passion
to share with the lost."
Due to the impact of the sermon on Cameron, he decided to read
Comfort’s book Revival’s Golden Key.
"Later we had lunch together, got to be good friends, and then
we started partnering in ministry to try to get this message that
he had written in this book out to the church," Cameron told the
AFA Journal.
"It was the most important thing I had ever heard as a Christian,
and so we started doing a television show together to try to teach
people," he said.
The Way of the Master is a multi-fold ministry that encompasses
a variety of resources for evangelistic training – the television
show being one of those.
"The show is basically a half-hour long," Cameron explained. "Fifteen
minutes of it is teaching Christians how to share the Gospel effectively
without offending people or shoving it on people. … [While]
the other half of the show is basically us on the streets putting
this teaching into practice."
The programs are both instructional and applicable with the Ten
Commandments as the central theme in explaining that all have sinned
against God and in bringing the lost to an understanding of repentance,
grace and true surrender to Christ.
Biblical
vs. modern evangelism
Cameron claims the evangelism approach
presented in The Way of the Master TV programs is very different
from the norm of modern evangelism, which he believes has become
a form of life enhancement as evident from a high fall away rate.
Comfort supports Cameron’s claim by referencing a statistic
that reveals approximately "80 to 90 of every 100 decisions for
Christ fall away."
"It [modern evangelism] has been degenerated to a feel-good message,"
Cameron said in a televised delivery of "Hell’s Best Kept Secret"
on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
"They [people] must be stripped of self-righteousness and brought
to the foot of a blood-stained cross," he added. "It’s not
about happiness but righteousness – the righteousness of Christ."
Therefore, Cameron and Comfort travel far and wide to present the
message of salvation the way Jesus did when he spoke with the Samaritan
woman in John 4.
"We witness in all different places like beaches, parks, airports,
airplanes, taxi cabs, bus stops, and shopping centers ," Cameron
said, where they share with atheists, gang members, cult followers
and family members as well as everyday people.
Comfort credits the late Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade
for Christ, for reporting that "only 2% of Christians actively share
their faith. That means (for some reason) 98% don’t."
"Even many of the 2% who share their faith fail to use the Ten
Commandments in the sphere of their influence," Comfort explained
in an online column. "This was the way Jesus presented the Gospel
(Luke 18:18), but most didn’t follow His example. They instead
followed the traditions of modern evangelism, and therefore stripped
the Gospel of its power."
"Most of us are evangelistic chickens by nature," Cameron added,
"but this [program] really, really helps you learn to speak to someone
in a loving way and really help them see why they need to come to
Christ."
According to WorldNetDaily, the program, which won the 2004 National
Religious Broadcasters People’s Choice Award and launched its
second season in November 2004, "airs on nine major Christian networks
and can be viewed in more than 70 countries." (Specific television
schedules are posted on the ministry’s Web site.)
The news service also reported that taping for the third season
is already underway and will include episodes that are to be filmed
abroad in an attempt to show the effectiveness of Biblical-based
evangelism across cultures.
Tools
for truth-telling
The cross-cultural appeal of Cameron
and Comfort’s ministry is not only taking root through the
television program but also through The Way of the Master School
of Biblical Evangelism. Presently, more than 4,000 students from
19 countries are enrolled in the online school that consists of
101 comprehensive study lessons, more than 45 audio lessons, 50
cartoon lessons for children, forum and chat room discussions and
bonus materials including books and CDs. The online program also
offers graduation incentives to encourage completion of the program.
In addition to the TV program and school of evangelism, The Way
of the Master ministry offers a number of evangelistic resources
and Bible study tools to train Christians how to share a true understanding
of salvation based on God’s Law.
"People need to hear the Gospel," Cameron said. "That is why Jesus
came – to seek and save the lost. That is what we should be
doing if we’re going to be followers of Christ.
"That’s why I’ve devoted myself to this ministry, The
Way of the Master, which is teaching Christians how to more effectively
share the Gospel with the lost and with the people that they love,"
he continued.
From
atheism to Christianity
Making a difference for God’s
Kingdom was once far removed from Cameron’s life.
"Basically, I grew up as an atheist and didn’t go to church
until I was about 17 years old," Cameron said.
It was then that a friend invited Cameron to church. He went and
left with many questions about what he heard.
"I didn’t believe that God existed, and this pastor really
got me thinking," Cameron explained.
In an attempt to answer his own questions, Cameron read a book
titled, More Than A Carpenter, written by Josh McDowell.
"Then one day I was just driving in my car and pulled off to the
side of the road and just prayed, ‘Lord, if you are real, I
want to know. If you’re there, please show me because I don’t
want to die and find out you’re real and I’ve been wrong
and get shut out of heaven,’ " Cameron explained. "It was the
first time I had ever prayed."
Cameron began reading the Bible and going to church.
"I couldn’t get enough of it," he said. "Something just completely
captured my heart about the message of the Gospel. I felt convicted
of my sin and needed God’s forgiveness and wanted Him to change
me."
And so began Cameron’s spiritual journey of coming to know
God.
Thwarted
by spiritual growing pains
Despite the excitement and
joy of his new-found faith, committing his life to Christ during
the prime of his career as a teen icon meant hard days were ahead,
especially on the set of Growing Pains.
When Cameron’s conversion took place about three years into
the show, "It caused some trouble on the set because I wasn’t
joining in the same kind of sinful things I used to," he explained.
His fellow cast and crew members were perplexed over the change
in Cameron and were concerned about what it meant for him, themselves
and the future of the show.
Cameron explained that being a Christian in Hollywood is often
a mere self-implied label while being a real born-again Christian
is unacceptable.
"But if you’re not born again, you’re not a Christian,"
he explained.
Although Cameron knew this, it was very difficult for him to share
it with the cast. As a young believer, he didn’t know how.
The show continued despite some twists and turns that led to a series
finale in 1992 when the show was cancelled after a seven-season
run.
"A lot of those old things have sort of healed over [now]," Cameron
said. "We’ve had two reunion movies that we’ve filmed
and both of those times… we’ve had a really good time
together."
Impacting
Hollywood and beyond
While his beliefs are an awkward
subject of conversation for the fictional Seaver family, they now
understand Cameron is a Christian set on sharing the Gospel with
all he meets.
"My motivation for making a difference is the fact that if someone
doesn’t come to Christ, they’re going to be in hell for
eternity," he explained. "That is why I pour so much into The Way
of the Master because I know it is affecting people for eternity.
"People are going from enemies of God to [being] adopted into God’s
family and being a child of God if they understand and embrace the
Gospel," he added. "[So] I am grateful to be a Christian in Hollywood,"
Cameron wrote in an online column. "God is doing great things here."
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