I love the ways God works.
His timing is always prefect.
Kirk's story is one of those ways and I really enjoyed reading about his life so far.
Kirk shares from his early years at home to his introduction to commercials at age 10. He continues to his teen years and his big break playing Mike Seaver on the hit TV show
Growing Pains.
I enjoyed some of the inside info on Hollywood and how things work. It was nice to hear there are some great people working there. People like his co-stars which he described as family.
Growing Pains along with shows like
Family Ties and
The Cosby Show were some of my favorites as a teen. I wish they still made clean family shows like that today.
One secret Kirk reveals about the show, I thought was really fun.
It's about a competition he and Michael J. Fox, who was staring in the hit show
Family Ties at the time, had.
He describes it here:
"Michael and I had this one-upmanship thing: who could incorporate the most 360s in a show. We'd have to walk onto a set and somehow do a complete, 360-degree turnaround. But we had to spin so naturally it was undetectable to our directors. We had to find a reason for our characters to do a 360. And it only counted if it made the final cut of the show.
Since our shows taped on different days of the week, some of the Growing Pains crew worked simultaneously on Family Ties. A cameraman would come to the set on blocking day and say, 'Cameron, Fox did two yesterday.'
'That's nothing,' I'd scoff. 'I can top it.' I had to think of places to sneak them in. It was a fun challenge.
Sometimes the cameraman would go to the other set and say, 'Fox, you're slacking, Cameron did four this week.'
I think four was the record - but I'm not sure who set it. (Now that you know the real competition, look for our masterful 360s in re-runs.)"
Kirk was on the show for it's 7 year run, but something happen during this time that would change his life forever.
He was 17 and a self proclaimed atheist. Then he met a girl and she invited him to church.
He shares the experience here:
"It was a big church. The head honcho was a man named Chuck Swindoll. He had a booming voice and spoke with authority. I listened as he read from the Bible, which I thought was nothing more than a book full of rules designed to suck the fun out of life. This pastor began to share the biblical description of God in terms I had never heard before, in a way that grabbed my attention and dazzled my intellect.
He spoke of God's omnipotence: God is all-powerful. He talked about God's omniscience: He is all-knowing. And he addressed God's holiness: He is morally perfect and, therefore, He alone defines what is good.
I spent a lot of time thinking about those things...
...Dr. Swindoll spoke about heaven and hell, and immediately followed that up with talk of God's mercy and love. He explained that God, in His kindness, provided a way for sinners to be forgiven of their sins, washed clean, changed and made new. He spoke about the value of grace, repentance and faith.
I was blown away. I felt like someone had unloaded a theological dump truck on my head. These were not the words of the irrational, big-haired, crazy loons I had seen on religious television, swindling Social Security money from senior citizens desperate for a miracle.
Dr. Swindoll wasn't promising health, wealth and prosperity in exchange for a donation to his ministry, but rather freedom from God's wrath and a relationship with the Creator of all things. Swindoll appeared totally sincere in his beliefs and genuinely concerned about the welfare of his hearers.
I left the church with a long list of questions."
Kirk's friends dad then tried to answer his many questions and encouraged him to read Josh McDowell's book, '
More than a Carpenter.' (one of my favorites!)
Then one day he realized he, like everyone else, was going to die one day.
He realized the state of his heart was not right with God and that God had every right to exclude him from heaven.
He says of one night sitting in his car:
"I wanted to pray, but didn't know how. Closing my eyes - hoping no one was watching - I muttered, 'God, if You're there, will You please show me? If You're real, I need to know. And would You please forgive me for the things I've done that are wrong? I don't want to join a religious cult or believe in a fairy tale, but if You're there...I want You to change me into the person You want me to be.'
Tears came to my eyes. Goosebumps formed on my arms. I felt that I was unworthy of talking to God.
When I opened my eyes, I didn't see a vision of Jesus on the wind-shield. The Holy Spirit didn't rush in through the air conditioning vents. Nothing weird. I just sat there thinking that I had just spoken to the Creator of the universe and that He had heard me.
Little did I know that those feeble and honest moments of seeking God in my sports car would forever change my life."
A couple years later Kirk met his wife, Chelsea on the set of his show.
From this point on in the book they both speak and share their story together.
I really loved this.
Kirk is no longer just Kirk, but now united with his wife Chelsea. Their love for each other is very apparent and so refreshing. They also have 6 children!
Kirk says this of marriage:
"Through reading the Bible, I was learning more and more about God's design for marriage. According to divine design, marriage is a covenant, not a contract. A contract can be broken, but a covenant is forever.
When marriage is just a contract, you will focus on your rights, when it is a covenant, you will focus on your responsibility.
If you see marriage as a contract, you look for loopholes; when you realize it's a covenant, you learn to stay committed for life. Contracts are written on paper and based on mistrust - which explains why you put it in writing...A covenant, on the other hand, is a verbal promise based entirely on faith and commitment."
I thought that was just so beautiful. : )
He then shares how he meet Ray Comfort and how they started their ministry together and how Ray's bold walk with Christ encouraged him in his walk with the Lord.
At the end of his book, Kirk shares several points on who he is. I'll leave you with the first one which applies to all of us who have received Christ:
"I'm a child of God, a sinner rescued by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
As my pastor once said,
'You don't find God - He's not lost. you are, and He finds you."
Buy it
HERE on Amazon
