Wednesday, October 16, 2013

A few thoughts about Hollywood...

Ok, I'll admit it.  I'm a fan of celebrities.  Not all of them, mind you, but some.  I am interested in who they are and what they do.  Why, you ask?  I have no answer for you, but I think it started when I was a kid.

See, when I was a child, I got $1 a week for an allowance (it would actually end up 90 cents after I took out my tithe) and I loved to read.  But books cost more than $1 and I was never very good at saving for more than a few weeks at a time.  But the TV Guide was about 90 cents to buy and it looked like a book (not like now...now it looks like a regular magazine).  So, I would buy it and read it practically from cover to cover.  They used to have little synopses of all the movies that would be on that week in the back of the magazine and I would read them...especially the ones about old movies. Since we traveled all the time in evangelism, I didn't have many friends that I saw often.  We were in a different town, state, and church every week.  I think it was then that I started to really enjoy following celebrities.  They were the "friends" of my childhood.  I suppose it sounds silly, but I really do think that is where it started.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a superfan type stalker person.  I don't idolize these people.  I am just curious about them and hope that they are doing well.  And when a celebrity that I am interested in has a problem, I feel for them.   I pray for them.  After all, these celebrities have a lot of pressure on them and are literally watched constantly.  Can you imagine being watched all the time, every day, and having people just waiting to take a picture or video of some silly thing you might say or do?  I always thought that being a preachers kid was living in a fish bowl, but it's nothing compared to those who choose to brave the lime light.  They deserve our prayers.  If you do not like something you are seeing coming out of the film industry or television, you can bellyache about it, you can rail against the horrible thing you are seeing...or you can pray about it.  Prayer is a powerful tool that I do not think we are using enough when it comes to Hollywood.

We all know that Hollywood influences the people of our society...for good or for not so good.  And most of us will never have a meeting with anyone who has any real influence over what Hollywood puts out.  But we all have open access to the One who is in charge of everything and He has the power to influence people way more than Hollywood ever will.  And we should be praying for those involved with the shows we like as well as those we do not.  These people are influencing our young people in ways we can not imagine.  Some take that responsibility seriously and try to be good influences, others seem not to care at all what their actions say to others.  But no matter who they are, or how they live their lives, they are people Christ died for and they need our prayers.  If they are Christians, they need our prayers for strength and encouragement.  If they are not, they need our prayers all the more.

So, I have decided that for the rest of this year, I am going to choose one television show or movie cast/crew/production team each week and pray for them.  Pray for their safety.  Pray for their families.  Pray for them.  I don't have to know all their names to pray for them.  I know the One who knows all their names.  I'm a firm believer that prayer changes things.

Anyone care to join me?

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