The First Time                                              By Kirk Cameron
As you may have heard, the newest of the Left Behind movies in now available; it's called Left Behind: World at War. Because of its very unique and successful release strategy in churches, I have been asked to be on CNN twice, Access Hollywood, VH1, the Today Show, and Good Morning America to talk about making the leap from Hollywood to "Christian" projects. Hollywood and Religion are the hot topics right now and there has never been such an opportunity for me to publicly share the gospel and stir curiosity about the ancient message of Christ.
If CNN had called me four years ago, I probably wouldn't have answered the phone. It's not that I wasn't interested in talking about my faith, it was that I didn't know how. I was scared because I didn't feel equipped to share the gospel intelligently or persuasively. That of course, all changed after I heard Ray Comfort's message "Hell's Best Kept Secret." I remember the first time I heard it was in my car, while driving to a church to share my story of a "Hollywood atheist turned Christian." It rocked my world and almost drove me off the road. After listening to Hell's Best Kept Secret, I realized what was missing in my gospel presentation. I finally understood why the typical gospel presentation in church wasn't sounding anything like Paul's in the book of Acts, or Jesus' in the gospels.
After the second time I listened to Hell's Best Kept Secret, I found a phone number on the back of the CD and called Living Waters Publications and asked to speak with Ray Comfort. Ray got on the phone and we talked for about a half hour. Ray sent me a book and a video (now called,The Way of the Master and Hell's Best Kept Secret) and they absolutely devastated me. I met him for lunch and we had a very passionate discussion/argument about the principals of "biblical evangelism." He had me persuaded that this was possibly the most important message (next to the gospel itself) that I had ever heard.
The first time I put the principals of "Law to the proud/Grace to the humble" into practice, it was upon myself. I examined my own heart by the standard of the Ten Commandments... my heart sank and then leaped for joy because of the cross. The weight of the Law had crushed me, and the salve of the gospel healed me. The cross made so much sense, my love for God had drastically increased in a matter of seconds, never to be the same, and my ability to share the gospel with my loved ones was revolutionized. I empathized with another pastor who said, "I felt as though I had been born again... again!"
From those early memories of discovering the truth of Hell's Best Kept Secret (the use of the Law in evangelism) to now producing The Way of the Master television program, seminars, and soon The Way of the Master RADIO, I look back in awe at what God has done. I've now listened (and preached) that simple message maybe a hundred times, and it never gets old. I just get more fired up and zealous to get it into the hands of more Christians.
Have you heard it? If you have, do you remember the first time? Do you remember when you first heard that passionate preacher with the cool New Zealand accent talking so fast you had to rewind your cassette tape to understand what he actually said? Do you remember when the "light bulb" went off and you "got it"?
This next year, Ray and I are committed to getting the message of this ministry into the hands of as many Christians as possible so they to can hear it, understand it, and be changed by it... for the first time.