Decatur Bible conference attracts 3,000 opening night

I suppose you’re all wondering what Mike Seaver is doing up here,” the smiling young man began. Of course, no one in the audience of more than 3,000 was wondering — the audience consisted of people who had come from across north Alabama to hear Kirk Cameron speak.
   
Cameron shared his testimony recently at the opening service of the North Alabama Bible Conference in Decatur. While he seemed totally at ease behind the pulpit, he was quick to point out that he has not always been a Christian. “If you had asked me 20 years ago if I would be in a church doing this, I would have said ‘Absolutely not!’” he said.
   
“I used to laugh at people like y’all,” he added with a grin. As the audience laughed at the reference to their Southern speech, Cameron continued. “I didn’t go to church. I didn’t believe in God,” he explained. “I was traveling the world, hanging out with movie stars, playing tennis with the Prince of Monaco. I had the world by the tail.”
   
It was in the third year of the hit television show “Growing Pains” that Cameron heard the gospel for the first time. He was invited to church by a girl he liked.
   
“The preacher talked about God’s character being holy and righteous and pure and just,” Cameron recalled. “It wasn’t real religious; he just shot straight in a way that I could understand. I began to get really concerned when he talked about God hating sin.” 
   
Cameron wondered, “How does God view me?”
   
Sometime later, while driving his car, Cameron realized that he could die at any moment. He pulled his car over and prayed, “God, I don’t know You, but I want to know the truth. If You’re there, would You forgive me?”
   
Cameron described what he experienced at that moment as a profound sense that God was real. “I can’t prove it, but there was this feeling in the quietness that I had connected with the almighty God.”
   
Today, Cameron has a mission. Through “The Way of the Master,” a radio and television program he produces with partner Ray Comfort, he presents basic biblical truths.  
   
“There’s a big difference between the modern gospel and the biblical gospel,” Cameron explained, “and there’s a lot of really popular preachers and books that sell millions and millions of copies. But if you look closely, you’ll find that a lot of it is not the real deal. It’s a lot of power of positive thinking and New Age philosophy repackaged into something that’s consumer Christianity.”
   
Cameron often uses the Ten Commandments as a witnessing tool. The law, he pointed out, gives people a true standard for judging their righteousness. “If we can learn to shine the light of God’s law on a sinner’s heart, they can see themselves in truth.”
   
Mark McLaughlin, who attends Seventh Street Baptist Church in Cullman, agreed. “I like his approach. A lot of people think they’re OK, but the law brings us to an understanding of where we are, why we need a Savior.”
   
Cameron also has a message for those who have met the Savior. “We should be laborers, rather than lukewarm pew warmers who just take up the time and energy of pastors.”
   
Cameron has continued to act, most notably in the two “Left Behind” movies that he starred in with his wife, actress Chelsea Noble.