Denzel Washington’s Amazing Grace Journey

Denzel Washington is an actor, director, producer, and bonafide movie star.

He is well known for infusing his cinematic character portrayals with dignity and grace.

It turns out that these qualities actually emanate from a faith that dwells deep inside the man.

The double Academy Award winner has been forthright about his devotion to the Christian tenets.

His father, Denzel H. Washington Sr., was an ordained Pentecostal minister, who additionally worked at the New York City Water Department as well as at a department store. His mother operated a beauty parlor.

Denzel and his siblings were not allowed to go to movie theaters. Instead their film experience growing up was biblically based and included movie fare such as “The Ten Commandments” and “King of Kings.”

A daily Bible reader, he considered becoming a preacher himself.

“A part of me still says, ‘Maybe, Denzel, you’re supposed to preach. Maybe you’re still compromising.’ I’ve had an opportunity to play great men and, through their words, to preach,” he said back in 1999.

“I take what talent I’ve been given seriously, and I want to use it for good,” he added

In addition to the two Oscars that he was awarded, Denzel has three Golden Globes, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony in his trophy case.

He is starring in a new adaptation of the Shakespeare classic “Macbeth,” which is set to be released Christmas 2021. The upcoming film is titled “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”

For years he has been candid about his faith.

A rousing commencement address that was delivered a few years ago at Dillard University in New Orleans is titled “Put God First.” The speech has over 28 million views on YouTube.

In the address, Denzel notes that everything he has accomplished in this life has been the result of God’s grace. He encourages the graduates to put God first in everything that they do.

One notable quote from the speech made its way around the world.

“I have not always stuck with God, but he has always stuck with me,” Denzel says.

He is one of a handful of Hollywood actors that routinely go against the grain.

One sterling example is his 40 year marriage to wife Pauletta. The couple has four grown children.

Earlier this year he proudly displayed his support for those who risk life and limb to come to the aid of others in need. He openly praised our nation’s law enforcement and military.

“I have the utmost respect for what they do, for what our soldiers do, [people] that sacrifice their lives,” he said.

“I just don’t care for people who put those kind of people down. If it weren’t for them, we would not have the freedom to complain about what they do,” he added.

Denzel was a recent featured speaker at “The Better Man Event,” which was hosted by the First Baptist Church of Orlando. He was able to share the story of how God has led him by the hand along life’s path.

“At 66, getting ready to be 67, having just buried my mother, I made a promise to her and to God, not just to do good the right way, but to honor my mother and my father by the way I live my life, the rest of my days on this Earth. I’m here to serve, to help, to provide,” Denzel said.

He told his spiritual mentor, Pastor A.R. Bernard, senior pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, what God has been telling him when he prays: “In every prayer, all I hear is: ‘Feed my sheep.’ That’s what God wants me to do.”

Often his response is, “What’s that mean?”

But, as Denzel explained, “What I found out in the last couple of years is there are all kinds of sheep. So that’s why I talk to experienced shepherds to help guide me.”

Reaching out to men, Denzel explained that “the world has changed,” and asked, “What is our role as a man?”

According to Denzel, the answer to the question emanates from the qualities of “…strength, leadership, power, authority, guidance, patience…,” and he noted that these “are God’s gift to us as men. We have to cherish that, not abuse it.”

He confided that during “the whole 40-year process” of his career, an inner struggle was taking place “for my own soul.”

He spoke of the dangers of narcissism that are plaguing our society during these current unprecedented times.

“It [the Bible] says in the last days we’ll become lovers of ourselves,” he said.

Then he delved into the self-focus that is a peculiar hallmark of the social media phenomena.

“The number one photograph now is a selfie. So we all want to lead. We’re willing to do anything — ladies and young men — to be influential,” he said.

On the subject of celebrity, he explained, “… Fame is a monster and we all have these ladders and battles, roads we have to walk in our given lives. Be you famous or whoever’s out there listening, we all have our individual challenges. It’s cliché [but] money, don’t make it better. It doesn’t. Fame just magnifies the problems and the opportunities.”

According to Denzel, the formula for a successful life is to “stay on your knees.”

Quoting Psalm 19, he said, “I hope that the words in my mouth and the meditation of my heart are pleasing in God’s sight.”

“I’m just like you. What I have will not keep me on this Earth for one more day. Share what you know, inspire who you can, seek advice. If you want to talk to someone, talk to the One that can do something about it,” he advised.

Wise words from a preacher’s son.

Hollywood and the World at Large Mourn the Loss of Norm Macdonald

Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…”

This is a line from Joni Mitchell’s hit song “Big Yellow Taxi,” which was written back in 1970.

Mitchell’s words perfectly capture the feelings that a lot of folks are having right now in trying to deal with the passing of Norm Macdonald – Hollywood actor, writer, and most notably, stand-up comic extraordinaire.

Many of his peers are remembering him as the funniest man they’d ever known.

A natural stand-up talent, he followed the universally relatable comedic tradition of observational humor, which has been practiced by so many iconic figures of the comedy world, including the greats Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Jerry Seinfeld.

His career arc took him in a rather novel direction that combined pivotal aspects of life with deadpan minimalism.

He managed to keep his stoic nine-year battle with cancer secret from the public, but on at least one occasion he was able to memorialize his angst in a joke that deals with the whole notion of a person somehow losing the battle with the disease.

“I’m pretty sure, I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure if you die, the cancer dies at the same time. That’s not a loss, that’s a draw,” Norm said.

Developing his stand-up brand in Ottawa, Canada, he made a name for himself across his native land.

After appearing on the television series “Star Search,” he landed a job as a writer for Roseanne Barr’s smash TV series “Roseanne,” which started its run in the 1990’s and is still going strong in syndication.

Speaking of things that are still going, Macdonald was blessed with a stint on Saturday Night Live (SNL), where for a total of five seasons he served as part of the SNL cast.

He ultimately secured the coveted anchor throne on the “Weekend Update” segment of SNL, where he got to reign for three and a half seasons.

He guested on other TV shows, “The Drew Carey Show” and “NewsRadio” being a couple of them.

He appeared in movies too, and became a regular on the talk show circuit with hosts the likes of David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, and Howard Stern.

The time-honored joke structure was deftly modified by Norm and his unique form of comedy. He would stretch the set-up section of a joke to the point of audience impatience and would then abruptly spew out a minimalist punch line.

Comics many times serve as the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, sending out a warning to society that it better start paying attention to the critical issues that hover around.

Norm embraced the role. He was a truth teller and wasn’t timid about aiming his humor crossbow at some pretty powerful targets.

On one such occasion his venture into humor, rooted in truth, actually cost him his job.

An NBC executive had reportedly fired him because of a decline in the show’s ratings. But he and others claimed that the dismissal was due to some O. J. Simpson jokes that he had let loose with in the “Weekend Update” segment.

After his termination from the show, he returned to SNL as a host.

Sporting his trademark grin, he used his opening monologue to slam the network for firing him, quipping that the only reason he was asked to come back and host was because the show had “gotten really bad” since his departure.

He was the final stand-up comic to appear on the “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Letterman had told a specific joke during a 1970s appearance on a Canadian talk show. In the studio audience was a 13-year-old comedy fan, Norm himself.

He loved Letterman’s joke and never forgot it. In tribute, he performed the bit during the last stand-up act of the final Letterman show.

Ending the set with tears rolling down his cheeks, he told Letterman that he loved him.

Interestingly, he exhibited an intellectual depth that is not typically associated with modern day comics – a Christian perspective with a desire to defend it.

A few years ago he used his Twitter account to question the value of the Enlightenment, bringing a predicable reaction from the liberals, who were upset at the prospect that Norm was Christian friendly.

He penned a post, which he later deleted.

“The Enlightenment turned us away from truth and toward a darkling weakening horizon, sad and gray to see. The afterglow of Christianity is near gone now, and a Stygian silence lurks in wait,” Norm wrote.

He was referring to the loss of artistic reverence for the sacred and a move toward human focused post-modernism, which paved the way for a variety of 19th-century movements, most unfortunately, communism.

Once while serving as one of the judges for the NBC reality show “Last Comic Standing,” he had to deal with a contestant who had mocked the Christian faith.

While other judges characterized the contestant’s jokes as “brave,” Norm stated, “I don’t think the Bible jokes are brave at all.”

He went on to tell the audience, “If you think you’re gonna take on an entire religion, you should maybe know what you’re talking about.”

He was later asked why the contestant’s material had bothered him.

“Oh, just the smugness. There are a lot more hack ‘smart’ comedians nowadays and atheist comedians. It’s so dull. To be talking about being an atheist living in West Hollywood is not the bravest stance to take,” he said.

He put out the following tweet in 2017: “Scripture. Faith. Grace. Christ, Glory of God. Smart man says nothing is a miracle. I say everything is.”

C.S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”

Catch your act there, buddy.

Glenn Beck and Fellow Citizens to the Rescue in Afghanistan

On August 18, 2021, syndicated radio talk show host Glenn Beck launched an effort to raise tens of millions of dollars for a non-profit entity called the Nazarene Fund.

The purpose of the fundraising effort was to raise money, which was to be earmarked for an ambitious and highly dangerous task; that being, to try and rescue thousands of Christians and at-risk Afghans following the Biden administration’s abrupt withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan.

Within a few weeks Beck had reportedly raised more than $30 million. As of this writing, he and his organization have used the funds to save 5,200 people from the group that is holding the innocent captive, the Taliban.

Beck’s daring mission was given a major assist, which arrived in the form of a private jet that would help facilitate the venture to the Middle East. The owner of the aircraft is a familiar name to many of the Christian faithful, televangelist Kenneth Copeland.

Beck used the jet to travel to an undisclosed Middle East location that is serving as a base for the rescue effort.

In a video posted to his Twitter account, Beck shared how immensely grateful he is to the Kenneth Copeland Ministries for providing the airplane that assisted in making the rescue effort possible.

He also indicated that The Nazarene Fund is not being used to pay for his travel costs. Instead, he is paying for his own expenses.

In a Twitter video, Beck discussed the financing of the project.

“We view your money as sacred money. It’s like tithing to me,” he said.

“None of my travels or my team’s travels, none of it is paid for by the Nazarene Fund. I insisted it. Not a single meal, not a cupcake-and yes there will be cupcakes on this trip. Everything is paid personally by me,” Beck noted.

Those who have been saved through his efforts from the clutches of the ruthless have been relocated to a number of undisclosed countries.

In a post on Facebook, he explained that those who had been left behind in Afghanistan had experienced the freedom of “being able to say I’m a Christian” because of the protection provided by the United States.

Tragically, that very protection quickly evaporated prior to their delivery to safety.

“We will not forget those left behind,” Beck said. “Our mission there gets tougher and more dangerous.”

Lord David Alton, a British politician known for his humanitarian efforts, praised Beck for his rescue work.

“As the world abandons Afghan minorities to the Taliban,” Lord Alton wrote, “Glenn Beck — emulating Oscar Schindler — did something about it, putting into practice the injunction to ‘rescue those who are being taken away to death…and those stumbling to the slaughter.’”

Beck is part of a valiant effort, one, however, that sadly is not being conducted by our government but instead by private individuals and groups

An example of the type of non-governmental efforts that are taking place is an operation called “Pineapple Express,” in which a volunteer group of U.S. military veterans have been assisting hundreds of Afghan elite forces and their families to exit Afghanistan.

A leader of the effort, retired Green Beret commander Lt. Col. Scott Mann, provided an explanation to ABC News regarding the operation.

“Dozens of high-risk individuals, families with small children, orphans, and pregnant women, were secretly moved through the streets of Kabul throughout the night and up to just seconds before ISIS detonated a bomb into the huddled mass of Afghans seeking safety and freedom,” Lt. Col. Mann stated.

Rescue efforts have become even more urgent in light of the reports that the Taliban has been preventing planes containing American passengers from leaving the country.

Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has said that he received classified briefings indicating that American citizens and Afghan allies are stuck at an airport in northern Afghanistan and have been unable to leave, despite approval from the State Department.

“In fact we have six airplanes at Mazar-i-Sharif airport, six airplanes, with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now,” McCaul told Fox News.

As Virginia Rep. Rob Wittman recently told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America,” the U.S. citizens left behind by their own nation are “hostages by any definition.”

“Here’s the Taliban trying to shake down the United States,” Rep. Wittman said. “By any measure, you would say they’re being held as hostages. That needs to be addressed immediately.”

Unfortunately, the only hope for those left behind right now seems to be in the hands of private citizens who are willing to take matters into their own hands, just like Beck has done.

In a recent Instagram post, he criticized the Biden administration for its inaction.

“Biden will only take people [that] the cartels will charge, exploit and rape. Certainly, not those other people that are marked for death because of his policies,” Beck stated.

As his Afghanistan rescue efforts began to show real results, Beck posted a rallying cry on his Facebook page for those private citizens and organizations engaging in the difficult, but noble pursuit of delivering their fellow human beings from evil.

“America does care! America does not leave her own and the most vulnerable behind. WE CAN DO IT AS THE POWER IS WITH THE PEOPLE. We are America not our government. When they can’t do it, private citizens step to the plate,” the post read.