Survival Requirements for a Christian in Hollywood - Part 3

This article is the final part of a three part series for Christians who want to know how to "make it" in Hollywood. The only way for a Christian to "make it" is to say with the Prodigal Son, "Father, make me your servant," or as Jesus said, "Not my will, but thy will be done." These final tips may be the most difficult for you, but that's good, because difficult things make you pray.

4. Come out of the closet - Evangelism -- our most sobering task. Late in December 1996, a large family gathered for a joyous Christmas. There were so many gathered that night, five of the children slept in the converted garage, kept warm during the night by an electric heater placed near the door.

During the early hours of the morning, the heater suddenly burst into flames, blocking the doorway. In seconds the room became a blazing inferno. The frantic 911 call revealed the unspeakable terror as one of the children could be heard screaming, "I'm on fire!" The distraught father rushed into the flames to try to save his beloved children, receiving burns to 50% of his body. Tragically, all five children burned to death. They died because steel bars on the windows thwarted their escape. There was only one door, and it was blocked by the flames.

Imagine you're back in time, just minutes before the heater burst into flames. You peer through the darkness at the peaceful sight of five sleeping youngsters, knowing that at any moment the room will erupt into an inferno and burn the flesh of horrified children. Can you in good conscience walk away? No! You must awaken them and warn them to run from that death trap!

The world sleeps peacefully in the darkness of ignorance. There is only one Door by which they may escape death. The steel bars of sin prevent their salvation, and at the same time call for the flames of Eternal Justice. What a fearful thing Judgment Day will be! The fires of the wrath of Almighty God will burn for eternity. The Church has been entrusted with the task of awakening them before it's too late. We cannot turn our backs and walk away in complacency. Think of how the father ran into the flames. His love knew no bounds. Our devotion to the sober task God has given us will be in direct proportion to our love for the lost. There are only a few who run headlong into the flames to warn them to flee (Luke 10:2). Please be one of them. We really have no choice. The apostle Paul said, "Woe is to me, if I preach not the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16).

The "Prince of Preachers," Charles Spurgeon, said, "We need to be ashamed at the bare suspicion of unconcern." A Christian cannot be apathetic about the salvation of the world. The love of God in him will motivate him to seek and save that which is lost.

You probably have a limited amount of time after your conversion to impact your unsaved friends and family with the gospel. After their initial shock, they will put you in a neat little ribbon-tied box, and keep you at arm's length. So it's important that you take advantage of the short time you have while you still have their ears.

It is important to realize that we should share our faith with others whenever we can. The Bible says that there are only two times we should do this: "in season, and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). The apostle Paul pleaded for prayer for his own personal witness. He said, "[Pray] for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:19,20).

Remember that you have the sobering responsibility of speaking to other peoples' loved ones. Perhaps another Christian has prayed earnestly that God would use a faithful witness to speak to his beloved mom or dad, and you are the answer to that prayer. You are the true and faithful witness God wants to use.

Keep the fate of the ungodly before your eyes. Too many of us settle down on a padded pew and become introverted. Our world becomes a monastery without walls. Our friends are confined solely to those within the Church, when Jesus was the "friend of sinners." So take the time to deliberately befriend the lost for the sake of their salvation. Remember that each and every person who dies in his sins has an appointment with the Judge of the Universe. Hell opens wide its terrible jaws. There is no more sobering task than to be entrusted with the gospel of salvation -- working with God for the eternal well-being of dying humanity.

5. When Things Go Wrong - Be Thankful -- For the Christian, every day should be Thanksgiving Day. We should be thankful even in the midst of problems. Not every audition will be well. Not every opportunity will turn out to be positive and uplifting. Many professing friends will disappoint you and some may even turn against you. When you honor God by standing for your moral convictions (by turning down an audition due to immoral content, or refuse to obey "the council of the ungodly" or "stand in the way of sinners", etc.) you may loose much needed cash, perhaps pass on a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, and even be dropped by your agent or manager and be labeled "very religious" and "hard to work with."

The apostle Paul said, "I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation" (2 Corinthians 7:4). He knew that God was working all things together for his good, even his trials (Romans 8:28).

Problems will come your way. God will see to it personally that you grow as a Christian. He will allow storms, to send your roots deep into the soil of His Word. We also pray more in the midst of problems. It's been well said that you will see more from your knees than on your tiptoes.

A man once watched a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon. In an effort to help it, he took a razor blade and carefully slit the edge of the cocoon. The butterfly escaped from its problem. . . but immediately died. It is God's way to have the butterfly struggle. It is the struggle that causes its tiny heart to beat fast, and send the life's blood into its wings.

Trials have their purpose. They make us struggle in the cocoon in which we often find ourselves. It is there that the life's blood of faith in God helps us spread our wings.

Faith and thanksgiving are close friends. If you have faith in God, you will be thankful because you know His loving hand is upon you, even though you are in a lion's den. That will give you a deep sense of joy, which is the barometer of the depth of faith you have in God. Let me give you an example. Imagine if I said I'd give one million dollars to everyone who printed this off and mailed it to me. Of course, you don't believe I would do that. But imagine if you did, and that you knew 1,000 people who had sent in the page, and every one received their million dollars -- no strings attached. More than that, you actually called me, and I assured you personally that I would keep my word. If you believed me, wouldn't you have joy? If you didn't believe me -- no joy. The amount of joy you have would be a barometer of how much you believed my promise.

We have so much for which to be thankful. God has given us "exceeding great and precious promises" that are more to be desired than gold. Do yourself a big favor: believe those promises, thank God continually for them, and "let your joy be full."

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. To learn more about any of the individual sections mentioned above, you may want to visit our website or get The Evidence Bible, which contains these and other principals for sharing your faith, answering skeptics, finding God's will for your life, and navigating through shark (or Hollywood exec.) infested waters. To see more details on The Evidence Bible, click here.

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* These tips are contained in our publication called "Save Yourself Some Pain" by Ray Comfort which is available in printed booklet form through our online store.