We’ve all been in those desperate places where we’ve allowed ourselves to be deceived and gullible. We’ve thrown away the best we had, and it’s humanly impossible to regain what we’ve lost without God’s help.
The Lord is looking for ready hearts to get honest. Then God rolls up his sleeves and gets to work on us. He wants to bless us if we’ll let Him. It takes God to interrupt the chaos and put us back together again in His way. There might be a healing process for years, but the Lord knows what He’s doing. He asks us to be patient.
Each week People Magazine arrives at our door. My Sweet Al is curious about the pretty people and will comb through the articles for hours. For conscious mental activity, this seems to keep him interested while he exercises his mind and retains information.
I will glance at the front cover to see who’s the high-profile celebrity of the week. I noticed a trend that sells the magazine. The captions under the pictures read, “I survived,” “I learned to love my life,” “Love saved me” or “I found true love.” Each week, it’s another story of a shipwrecked life.
All the glamour, money and fame seem to result in multiple marriages, divorces, drugs, alcohol and rehab. They tell their story of survival, how they made it and how they finally found a truth of some sort.
The world’s spotlight grows fickle when people find their pursuits are empty, their lives have been based on untruths and the world’s best promises will not satisfy.
Those captions and slogans say a lot about their plastic Hollywood lifestyle. It seems pretty pitiful to have the world at their feet and, one day, so desperate, they are willing to give up people’s perception of them to be real. God shines his light and they see their flawed lives.
The ground is level at the cross. The cross is where they may find life and the heavenly realities — peace, forgiveness and mercy. There has been a revival among some Hollywood celebrities who are converts to Jesus — Russell Brand, Gary Busey and Alice Cooper. (Justin Bieber is a story for another day.) We might be shocked to see who is in heaven and who isn’t.
Busey, an actor, fractured his skull and suffered permanent brain damage. In 1996, he announced that he had officially become a Christian. Busey said, “I am proud to tell Hollywood I am a Christian. For the first time, I am now free to be myself.”
Cooper said his Christian conversion helped him to move past a harmful lifestyle; he insists he’s still a rebel.
“Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s rebellion,” he said.
Brand has been in the spotlight because of his dramatic confession of faith in Jesus. Naysayers report, “His conversion isn’t real.”
Recently I tuned into Tucker Carlson’s podcast. He invited John Rich — singer and songwriter — and Brand — English comedian, actor and activist — to his podcast. I listened to the interview as Brand explained how he came to the Lord.
As a high thinker, he used lofty words to explain heaven’s realities. His spirit words did not come from a common man, but from a higher place.
Pictures hit social media of Russell baptizing a convert wearing only white underwear. People said, “The man isn’t a Christian because of the way he acts.” My spirit tells me he is. He’s rough around the edges, he’s a show-off, but the words he is saying have a spiritual ring to them.
“Is his conversion real?”
Brand wrote, “I’m reminded that at all times, there is only an audience of one—Jesus,” and, “As long as I know that I’m in relationship with Him, criticism doesn’t matter.”
When told he was a show-off, he said, “I’m a little bit of a show-off — the Lord made me a little bit of a show-off, but it is for Him that I am showing off now, not for me.”
Final brushstroke: Rebels, intelligent, beautiful, talented, rich and famous people must someday bow their knees to the name of Jesus. The Lord does not give up on anyone. Thank you, Lord.
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