Actor David Oyelowo of 'A United Kingdom': 'Christ Is the Rock on Which I Build My Life' (Interview)

Oyelowo said he is drawn to inspirational historical films partially because of his Christian faith and his desire to play leaders who "exhibit characteristics that I already aspire to." He calls Christ "the rock on which I build my life."

"I pray about what I should and shouldn't do [in movies], and of course who you are dictates what you are drawn to, and so I am sure that the roles I play, the films I do, are a reflection of what I believe," he said. "They would have to be. There is no doubt that there is a correlation between my faith as a person and the roles I play."

A father of four children, Oyelowo spoke recently with CP about A United Kingdom, his movie career, and his faith. Following is a transcript, edited for clarity:

image: http://d.christianpost.com/full/104550/295-437/a-united-kingdom.jpg

image: http://d.christianpost.com/full/104550/295-437/a-united-kingdom.jpg

(Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures)Movie poster for "A United Kingdom" (2016).

CP: This is a story that is going to be new to a lot of Americans. Is this a well-known story among British people?

David Oyelowo: No, it is not. It is not even a well-known story among people from Batswana. And I think the reason for that is that it's a moment in history when Great Britain was not behaving in the most honorable fashion, so it's a piece of history that has been a bit sidelined.

And the thing that really struck me when someone handed me the book several years ago is that as a proud person of African descent I did not know this story, but also I so recognized this man, Seretse Khama. My father is a prince himself and is someone who is very connected to his community and has a huge capacity for love.

I was born in the U.K. but lived in Nigeria for several years. There were so many things about Seretse Kama I identified with and I feel are recognizable, but I feel are almost never seen in a film around an African character of his nature. So that was another motivating factor for me.

CP: This is another historical drama for you. Why do you keep landing in these true-to-life inspiring roles?

Oyelowo: I'm not on a quest to be in inspiring films or to be inspiring in an overt way. I'm drawn to these films partly because they bring to a context as to what it is to be a black person.

I find that a lot of films have characters that are stereotypical in relation to the black experience. These are the kinds of characters that we don't get to see as much — a civil rights activist [Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma] who is an inspirational and true leader, an ordinary man [Robert Katende in Queen of Katwe] who sees talent within this young 10-year-old girl in a slum in Uganda and helps her become a chess champion, an African prince [Seretse Khama] who will put everything on the line for love, and yet he loves his country. These are the kind of characters and the kind of roles I personally don't see every day, and that's partly why I'm drawn to them.

CP: Has playing these roles changed your view of the world or life in general?

Oyelowo: It's inspired me to be my better self. I think partly why I gravitate toward them is because these characters exhibit characteristics that I already aspire to.

But you can't step into Dr. King's shoes and not come away feeling the need to be more socially active, more socially invested in your community.

I definitely hug my wife a bit tighter having done A United Kingdom, because I also am married to a white lady. And I'm just so grateful that we did not have to go through what Seretse and Ruth did.

CP: You grew up Baptist and consider faith an important part of your life. Could you tell us a little bit more about your faith background and how that has guided your life?

Oyelowo: I was raised Baptist but at the age of 16 I realized I was basically piggybacking on my parents' faith — it wasn't yet real for me. So at that stage I reached out to God and said if you don't turn out for me personally within three months, I'm out. And He did. And that was the point at which I became a born-again Christian and have been ever since. That's the rock on which I build my life.

Jesus Christ is the rock on which I build my life and has been my guiding light through everything — my marriage, my career, how we parent our children, and certainly the choices I make in everything I do are guided by the moral compass that my faith gives me.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/david-oyelowo-a-united-kingdom-christ-is-the-rock-on-which-i-build-my-life-interview-175618/#mfzsmm1maviBxzTm.99

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/david-oyelowo-a-united-kingdom-christ-is-the-rock-on-which-i-build-my-life-interview-175618/#AzB6iRJh5mjXBIWa.99

The power of the personal story

 We talk a lot about reaching out to others in our lives who don’t know Christ, but that can be easier said than done. You may not even know how to start a conversation about God or the Gospel. But Ron Hutchcraft of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries says there’s something very simple you can start with to talk about Jesus Christ, and it’s not whipping out your WWJD bracelet.

“I think as we’re trying to reach a world for Christ, we need to realize that one of the most powerful tools we have to reach a lost world is to begin with a story. And in many cases, it might even be our own story of how Christ has changed our life and what a difference he makes in our lonely times, in our stressful times, and what difference Jesus makes when there’s bad news from the doctor, and when you’re single and wanting to be married, and when you’re married and you’re struggling in your marriage, and what difference Jesus makes at the cemetery. Tell me how your Jesus changes things. That’s your hope story.”

But what is it about our personal stories connected with God’s story that can speak to the heart of someone else? “Here’s what a story does,” says Hutchcraft. “It goes around your objection, it goes around the walls that you put around your heart, and it somehow sneaks in the backdoor and opens up a heart.”

For inspiration in sharing stories as a means of communicating truths, we need look no further than the Bible.

“If you go back to the Old Testament, the prophet Nathan had a very challenging, possibly even dangerous assignment to confront King David with his adultery and with the conspiracy to murder Bathsheba’s husband. If you go to the king with news like that, that might be the last message you ever deliver. How do you do it? When he goes to David, he doesn’t walk in right away and say, ‘Boy, you really messed up, king.’ He tells a story about a man with a big flock of sheep who went and stole from a farmer who only had one little sheep. David is incensed and says, ‘That guy deserves to be punished!’ Then Nathan says, ‘You are the man, you are the one who stole one little guy’s sheep when you had all the flock.’ Wow. Well, David began to repent at that point. But this hard message was delivered in a story.”

Even Jesus communicated deep spiritual truths from the Heavenly Father through stories. “You tell me what all these things have in common, let me give you a list: the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the lost coin, the foolish man who built his house upon the sand…. They are all stories, and we know who told them: the master teacher, Jesus did. For two thousand years, those stories — cultures have changed, countries are different, languages are different — but around the world the stories break through and bring the truth that might seem kind of ‘up in the clouds’ to people, it brings it right down to where they live…. We learned this from Jesus, that the story is the way that will open up hearts.”

Hutchcraft has witnessed the power of the personal story firsthand in missions to Native America. He says, “Four percent [of Native Americans] are estimated to know Christ after 400 years of missions; very hard to break through to. But I’ve watched Native American young people on our teams, and we’ve talked about this before, as they tell their hope stories of the life they had without Christ and the life they have because of Jesus, it just opens up hearts that were never open before and there are breakthroughs that seem to be unprecedented in 400 years of Indian missions.”

You may wonder if you even have much of a story to share. It may not be as radical as somebody else’s story. You may feel ashamed by your story’s history or wonder if it would even make a difference.

Hutchcraft says every single one of us has a story, but ultimately it’s not about us. It’s about how Jesus Christ stepped into our story, and the whole reason we share our story is to point to our Heavenly Father.

“You have a story. Your life is a story. And your relationship with Jesus is a story. How has Jesus changed your story? How is He changing your story right now? If you want to know how to break through to a lost person…whether it’s a person you work with or go to school with, someone you’re in a club with, you recreate with, or in your family — well, they can’t argue with your hope story can they.”

But it takes more than just talking on your end. Sharing your story also means you embrace empathy and listen to others’ stories as well.

“If you listen long enough to hear their story, which wins you the right to tell your story, which gives the opportunity to tell His story and how His story (which happened on the cross and that empty tomb) changed your story and could change their story forever — the life changing power of a story linked to the greatest message in all of history, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that’s a winning combination.”

Click here to learn more about Ron Hutchcraft Ministries and the resources they offer for personal missions.

1. Doug

   says:

   February 24, 2017 at 9:45 am

   “I Love to tell the Story” That is one of my favorite songs. In there I find inspiration to tell my story, and because my story includes His story I know I am fulfilling my commission. Several years ago, in a class dealing with one-on-one witnessing, I was made to understand that I (all of us) have a story, and that is the simplest method of witnessing. It also occurred to me at that time that telling my story is all I can do. It is entirely up to God what He chooses to do at that point. I am merely to be the messenger. I possess no ability to save or redeem anyone. I am the sower but God gives the harvest. That has removed my apprehension about witnessing for Christ.

   By the way, I know sometimes they shoot the messenger, but there is no fear in that. This earth is not my home. I’ll go home when God is ready for me and by whatever method He chooses or allows.
2. (culled from mnnonline.org)

How Pastors Perceive Domestic Violence Differently

When it comes to domestic violence, Protestant pastors want to be helpful but often don’t know where to start.

Most say their church would be a safe haven for victims of domestic violence.

But many don’t know if anyone in their church has been a victim of domestic violence. And only half say they have a plan in place to help if a victim comes forward.

Those are among the findings of a new report on churches and domestic abuse from LifeWay Research, based on a phone survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors.

The study was sponsored by Autumn Miles, a radio host and speaker whose church was caught off guard when she told them about her domestic violence experience.

“If a woman comes forward and says, ‘I need help—I am being abused,’ a church needs to respond,” she said. “There’s a lot to lose if churches get this wrong.”

Most pastors (87%) already believe that “a person experiencing domestic violence would find our church to be a safe haven.” Eleven percent somewhat agree. One percent are not sure.

And most pastors (89%) also believe their church regularly communicates that domestic violence is not okay.

Yet almost half of pastors say they don’t know if anyone in their church has been a victim of domestic violence in the last three years (47%). A third say a church member has been a victim of domestic violence (37%). Fifteen percent say no one has experienced domestic violence.

Church size plays a role in whether pastors know of a domestic violence victim. Pastors at bigger churches—those with more than 250 attendees—are most likely (65%) to know of a victim of domestic violence in their church. Pastors at smaller churches—those with fewer than 50 attendees—are least likely to know of a victim (20%).

Pastors in the West (45%) and Midwest (42%) are more likely to know of a victim than those in the South (33%).

McConnell said he suspects there are more victims of domestic violence in churches than pastors realize. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost a quarter of American women (24.3%) and 1 in 7 men (13.8%) have “experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner.” Given those numbers, there are likely victims of violence even in a small church, McConnell said.

“Statistics on sinful activities consistently show that church attendees act better [than non-attendees] but are not without sin,” he said. “It is naïve to assume a church could remain immune to domestic violence.”

This lack of experience or awareness might explain why many churches don’t have a plan to assist victims of domestic violence, McConnell said.

Only about half of churches (52%) have a plan to assist victims of domestic abuse. Forty-five percent have no plan. Two percent of pastors aren’t aware of a plan.

Most churches with 250 or more people have a plan (73%). So do many Methodist (63%) and Pentecostal (66%) churches. Fewer Baptist (52%), Presbyterian/Reformed (45%), Holiness (45%), Lutheran (44%), or Church of Christ (41%) churches have one.

Among the resources churches offer to victims:

• Three-quarters have a referral list for professional counselors (76%).
• Two-thirds have finances to assist victims (64%).
• Sixty-one percent can provide victims a safe place to stay.
• About half have a referral list for legal help (53%).
• Half have someone in the church who has experienced domestic violence victims can talk to (49%).

Churches also offer other assistance like referrals to shelters or state agencies, pastoral care, and support groups.

The kind of help offered to domestic violence victims can vary by denomination.

Baptists (66%) and churches with more than 250 attendees (68%) are more likely to offer victims a safe place to stay. Lutherans (55%) and Methodists (54%), as well as churches with fewer than 50 attendees (55%), are less likely.

Baptist (71%), Presbyterian/Reformed (67%), and Church of Christ (67%) churches are more likely to have financial resources to help victims of domestic violence than Methodist (53%) or Lutheran (49%) churches.

Bigger churches are most likely to be able to connect a victim with someone who has experienced abuse (65%). Pentecostals (61%) are more likely than Presbyterian/Reformed (43%), Methodist (42%), and Lutheran (35%) pastors to do the same.

The issue of divorce is one roadblock for churches that want to help victims of domestic abuse.

If a church member files for divorce and cites domestic violence as a cause, pastors often respond with skepticism. Three out of five say they’d investigate the claims (60%), even though more than half say they would believe the charges (56%). About the same number would say divorce was the best option (59%).

The study showed 43 percent of pastors are unwilling to say whether or not they would believe abuse took place.

Lutheran (70%), Methodist (63%), and Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (62%) are most likely to believe domestic violence took place if a church member files for divorce and cites domestic violence as a cause. Baptist (49%) and Pentecostal (40%) pastors are less likely.

Baptist (70%), Pentecostal (70%), and Holiness (76%) pastors are more likely to investigate claims of domestic violence. Lutherans (52%), Presbyterian/Reformed (47%), and Methodists (39%) are less likely.

A 2014 LifeWay study found domestic violence is rarely discussed in Protestant church settings. In that study, 4 in 10 pastors said they rarely or never addressed the issue. Another 22 percent discuss the issue once a year.

Julie Owens, a North Carolina-based consultant who has designed domestic violence prevention programs for churches and the Department of Justice, said churches want to be safe havens for victims. But there’s no way for a victim to know a church is a safe place if the pastor never discusses the issues.

Church leaders had a hard time believing Autumn Miles’s claims were true—in part because they didn’t think domestic violence could happen in the church.

Launching investigations into cases like Miles’s can do more harm than good, Owens said. If a pastor talks to an alleged abuser, the abuser will often deny the claims and then retaliate against the victim, she said.

And abusers often know how to manipulate pastors, she said. Abusers will ask for forgiveness and say they want to reconcile with their spouses—and that’s what pastors want to hear, she said.

“It can be a lot easier to believe the abuser than to help a victim,” she said.

Ensuring a victim’s safety has to come first, she said. That often means connecting victims to outside resources like counselors, shelters, and law enforcement. Pastors and churches, she said, aren’t always equipped to deal with the complicated needs of domestic violence victims.

“Churches underestimate the spiritual, psychological, and emotional damage done by domestic abuse,” she said.

Ignoring the issue in public settings can undermine a church’s efforts to help domestic violence victims, said McConnell.

“You can have great resources in place to help victims—but if no one knows they exist, those resources won’t do any good,” he said.

Methodology: The study was sponsored by Autumn Miles. The phone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted August 22–Sept. 16, 2016. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used for church size. Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Responses were weighted by region to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups

(culled from Christianitytoday.com)

Trump Adviser’s Megachurch Withholds Major Donation from SBC

A Dallas-area megachurch has decided to escrow Cooperative Program funds temporarily in order to evaluate future support of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) causes.

At issue are what the congregation calls “various significant positions taken by the leadership of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission [ERLC] that do not reflect the beliefs and values of many in the Southern Baptist Convention,” according to a statement the church released to Louisiana’s Baptist Message.

Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, will escrow what would amount to $1 million annually, the Message reported Thursday.

[Editor’s note: Within the SBC, individual churches give to the Cooperative Program each year as a way of funding state conventions and denominational agencies and seminaries. Prestonwood, one of the biggest churches in the SBC, gave $500,000 to the Cooperative Program in 2015. The state convention splits the funding with the SBC, with 45 percent staying in Texas and 55 percent going to national ministry and missions.]

In a text to Baptist Press, Message editor Will Hall noted he had queried Prestonwood about its giving to SBC causes after pastor Jack Graham was interviewed in December by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Graham told the newspaper that the church was “considering making major changes in our support of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

At issue, Graham said in the interview, was alleged “disrespectfulness” by ERLC president Russell Moore toward evangelical supporters of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Moore, who publicly opposed Trump during the primary and general election cycles, said in a December blog post he never intended to criticize all evangelicals who supported Trump.

Graham is a former SBC president and a member of Trump’s evangelical executive advisory board.

Some Southern Baptists also have criticized the ERLC for joining a friend of the court brief last May in support of a New Jersey Islamic society’s right to build a mosque. The International Mission Board (IMB) joined the brief as well, and president David Platt apologized Wednesday for the divisive nature of the action.

Graham told Baptist Press via text message that Prestonwood is engaging in “an internal evaluation” of its giving, “and our desire is not to seek publicity so we can make the right decision for our church and Southern Baptists.”

Asked whether Prestonwood also will escrow funds for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC)—the state convention with which it cooperates—Graham responded, “We're evaluating everything.”

Graham told the Message he is “not angry at the SBC, and neither are our people, and I'm not working to start a movement to fire anyone.” He wants Prestonwood to remain “a cooperating partner [with the SBC] as we have been for many years,” but cited “uneasiness” among church leaders about the “disconnect between some of our denominational leaders and our churches.”

SBTC executive director Jim Richards told Baptist Press in a statement:

In our fellowship of churches, Prestonwood Baptist Church has been a faithful ministry partner for many years. We love Jack Graham and his people. It is our hope that these concerns can be resolved in a way that strengthens the kingdom work of Southern Baptists and honors the autonomy of the local church. We stand ready to assist as we have opportunity.

Moore told Baptist Press in a statement, “I love and respect Jack Graham and Prestonwood Baptist Church. This is a faithful church with gifted leaders and a long history of vibrant ministry working and witnessing for Christ.”

Following Prestonwood’s announcement, a Texas pastor who serves on the ERLC’s Leadership Council, Bart Barber, tweeted, “I love and appreciate” Jack Graham “but am an ardent advocate for #ReligiousLiberty and for [the Cooperative Program]. I’m just heartbroken & conflicted.”

In related news, First Baptist Church in Morristown, Tennessee, announced last month it would escrow funds traditionally given through the Cooperative Program over concerns related to ERLC and IMB participation in the New Jersey mosque brief. Its pastor, Dean Haun, resigned as an IMB trustee in November over the brief.

Louisiana Baptist Convention executive director David Hankins and former SBC Executive Committee chairman Bill Harrell both told the WSJ that they know of churches considering a diversion of funds away from the ERLC.

Threats to escrow Cooperative Program funds have occurred periodically in SBC history. In the mid-1980s, some Southern Baptist conservatives threatened to escrow Cooperative Program funds if moderates regained control of the convention presidency, Baptist Press reported.

(culled from Christianitytoday.com)

MFM BENSON REGIONAL YOUTH RETREAT

TESTIMONY TIME!!!

TESTIMONY TIME

10 years of waiting; 10 years of being called a man; 10 years of being called barren; 10 years of being asked where is your God???......... 11th January 2017, the God of the 11th hour didn't just give her double for her troubles..... He gave her 3 boys and 2 girls to shut the mouth of her enemies.

This 2017, God will give you a testimony that will make people doubt and ask questions........ God will shock the world just to announce you. Always remember that HE HAS THE FINAL SAY, AND HE HAS SAID YOUR STORY SHALL END IN PRAISE................. REJOICE BEFORE THE TESTIMONY BECAUSE IT MUST COME. Dazzol

#Still on Jesus is Lord

#copied

SPIRITUAL