Kirk Cameron: ‘God’s people are asleep' and He's shaking us
Actor Kirk Cameron will be hosting a two-part special on TBN to discuss issues concerning all Americans ahead of the election on Nov. 3.
Part two of “Think. Pray. Vote. with Kirk Cameron” will broadcast Friday on TBN (the first episode aired on Oct. 2). During the special, Cameron sits down with evangelist Franklin Graham, Pastor Tony Evans, author Eric Metaxas and others to encourage believers “to think” through the issues by using a "Gospel lens.”
“It is crazy, isn't it? I think if someone had said to us six months ago, ‘There's a virus that's going to shut down every business, you're not going to be able to go to church for Easter, and your kids are not going to graduate from high school and they can't even start back in school in the fall.’ I think we would have said, ‘That's nuts. You're crazy. What kind of conspiracy theory person are you?’ And here we are today with just everything upside down,” Cameron told The Christian Post in an interview on Tuesday.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
On “Think. Pray. Vote.” Cameron discusses COVID-19, racial tensions, faith in the public square, social media, and other topics at the forefront of culture today. The “Left Behind” star and his notable guests tackle each issue in a non-political fashion to help believers navigate the important topics while using a Gospel filter.
"I find this time really interesting. I think we have to remember that God is still on His throne and all throughout time, He's used everything from the weather, to enemy nations, to the sin of His own people, and the prayers of the people of God to work together to accomplish His purposes,” Cameron told CP. “No doubt, that's what's happening right now. I think God is on the move. He's shaking America and the world right now, and I think there's important things for us to learn.”
The former “Growing Pains” star said even the novel coronavirus can be used by God to get the attention of God’s people.
"We look back in the Bible and we see that there have been plagues and famines and disease. God has always been able to work together through those things, allowing those things to happen and bring about His purposes,” he explained.
Cameron says he has his suspicions about how COVID-19 got started.
“Something doesn't seem quite right about all of this. There's something else going on [more than] just there's a really bad virus out there. I don't know who all the players are and how all of that works,” he added.
Cameron explained that the California county where he lives, which has a population of 850,000, has had “only two deaths from coronavirus yet all of our churches are shut down.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom mandated a second ban on indoor church services in July, in response to a rise in COVID-19 infections. Some church leaders, however, decided to keep their churches open, such as Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley. MacArthur, whose church has been fined, has also been threatened with jail time by Los Angeles County where 6,709 people have died of COVID-19 among a population of more than 10 million.
Other California churches have faced fines for not adhering to lockdown orders. North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara was forced to stop hosting indoor services after accruing over $112,000 in county fines. In August, Ventura County, a suburb of Los Angeles, fined Rob McCoy, pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel, $3,000 for holding six in-person services against lockdown orders.
Two weeks ago, an appeals court refused to grant a request from multiple churches seeking protection from California’s COVID-19 shutdown orders limiting in-person gatherings.
Cameron, along with thousands of other believers across California, has been gathering for outdoor church services to avoid fines and other penalties.
"It's like the communist state of California out here,” Cameron insisted. “Our governor has been referred to affectionately as 'governor Newsolini.' That's a reference, obviously, to big government control and that's what's going on out here. Businesses are shut down, over half of them will never recover, small businesses, in counties where there's not even any cases of the coronavirus.”
“Every death is a tragic death from coronavirus, but we know so much more about the virus now than we did in the very beginning, way back in March,” he continued. “It was like, ‘If I open my windows, is something going to come in through the window and kill everybody?’ Well, now we know that the virus is pretty particular. It goes after people who are elderly and have fragile health, and so they need to be protected.”
Cameron said that throughout history, healthy people were never quarantined.
"You don't isolate the healthy people, you quarantine the sick people, and those who are in high-risk categories, like grandma or grandpa. But the rest of the people need to go out and become immune and be strong and keep everything going,” the father of six asserted. “The numbers and the data don't seem to matter, which makes this whole thing so weird.”
"Kids seem to do fine with the coronavirus, but all of the schools are shut down. The best virologists and doctors are talking about the ineffectiveness of masks, some are saying that they are effective. So I think all of us are just sort of wondering, 'What's propaganda? What's truth?'” Cameron said.
The Hollywood star and devout Christian said believers must keep their eyes on Jesus through it all and that's why he believes his broadcast will be impactful.
"Here's what we do know, and that is that God tells us that if we will trust in Him with all of our heart and lean not on our own understanding — because our own understanding is limited — but in all our ways acknowledge Him, He will direct our path,” Cameron told CP. “That's what this project ‘Think. Pray. Vote.’ is all about. It's asking God to direct our path as a nation, but also, individually.”
"I think the future of our country has more to do with the hearts of God's people than any other factor,” Cameron said, reiterating his belief that “God is shaking us.”
The actor directed his comments directly to the American Church.
“God does not want the American Church to go back to business as usual. Because I think the trajectory of America, based on the condition of the church, has been in a decline morally and spiritually and otherwise. And with 40 million registered Christian voters who don't even vote, think about that. We have 90 million registered Christian voters in America. Forty million of them didn't vote in the last presidential election and look at how close everything was. Every election is like that,” Cameron said.
He added, "When God's people are asleep, they're unaware, they're unconcerned and uninvolved in something as important as the future of our country. I think God needs to wake us up. And certainly, this has been a huge wake-up call in so many ways.”
Notable author and Pastor Timothy Keller took to social media last month to denounce the idea that a Christian must vote for President Donald Trump or must vote for former Vice President Joe Biden. Keller's series of posts on Twitter sparked a major debate among believers as he discussed how Christians should approach conscience and political involvement.
Cameron said his conversations with Graham, Evans, Metaxas and others during “Think. Pray. Vote.” will address Keller’s stance.
“Do I vote for a president because I like them and I'd like to be friends with them, or because of the policies that affect people's lives so dramatically?” he said. “Some people put filters up that say, 'What's best for me in my race or what's going to make my friends think I'm cool if I vote for this person? What's going to make my friends and family hate me if I vote for that person?'”
Cameron emphasized that every political decision must be put through a Gospel lens.
“Jesus was all about justice. He was about mercy, and He was about self-sacrificing service. So justice, He came to solve the sin problem. Mercy, He came to save those who can't save themselves, sinners like you and me. He sacrificed Himself, He said, 'I didn't come to be served, I came to serve' and He laid down his life. That's what God calls us to do,” Cameron encouraged.
The California native quoted the Bible verse Micah 6:8, which says: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
"So through 'Think. Pray. Vote.,’ my aim is to help people walk humbly with God through the issues that we're all talking about, so that we can understand them with wisdom and discernment. And then we can pray together that God would lead us so that we can confidently vote for the person that we believe is going to help lead us into the most positive and prosperous future,” Cameron maintained.
He added, "I understand that Christians come to different conclusions when they go through these things. I don't know how they come to different conclusions. These things seem very clear to me but sometimes we have blind spots.”
"I would never say that if you vote for that person, you're not a Christian. I don't know that person's heart before God. It's possible that I can be an uninformed Christian. I can be a Christian who has a blind spot. Christians are not omnipotent and they're not omniscient. I'm not an all-wise person. I seek after wisdom and that's why we need to pray. That's why we need to think through these things with good counsel. Then we have the privilege of voting for the person that we believe is going to bring about the best result.”
Cameron’s special will air Friday on TBN at 8/7 Central time and streamed on the TBN app.
Watch Cameron’s interview with CP below.
