by Andrew Halloway
A MUCH-DELAYED movie about former US President Ronald Reagan finally hits American cinemas on 30 August, not long before this year’s Presidential election.
Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid takes the lead in ‘Reagan’. Described by The Guardian as one of the best actors never to have been Oscar-nominated, Quaid has starred in hits like ‘Innerspace’ (1987), ‘The Parent Trap’ (1998) and ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ (2004).
After beating his cocaine addiction, the actor returned to his own childhood faith around 1990 and in recent years he has lent his acting talents to faith-based films like ‘Soul Surfer’ (2011) and ‘I Can Only Imagine’ (2018).
“No matter what, the door is always open to the lord. All one has to do is open one’s heart and ask, and God’ll be there”
‘Reagan’ isn’t faith-based, but actor Chris Massoglia, who portrays Pat Boone in the biopic, says it will authentically show how faith influenced the president’s life – and that may have had a bearing on Quaid’s decision to portray Reagan.
Quaid told The Chicago Sun-Times: “I grew up in a Southern Baptist church, became disillusioned with it as a teenager. I turned to Eastern religions and philosophies… read the Koran, went to India nine times. Along the way, I came back to Christianity… We’re all spiritual beings whether we know it or not.”
In another interview he explained more: “I went around the world, actually, in my late 20s, and the question I had was, ‘Who is God?’… So I came back, and I read the Bible cover to cover. For me, it’s Jesus… How simple it is.”
When The Christian Post asked Quaid what heaven will be like, he replied that we can all get “a little taste of it here on earth through prayer and meditation. That’s actually the good news — you feel it here on earth.”
Quaid is also a musician and recently released a Gospel album. On one track he wrote about his own life, On My Way to Heaven’, where he sings: “My life may not be roses, but still I’m gonna be alright, long as I got my Saviour by my side. He freed me from the heavy chains that had bound my broken heart, picked me up; gave me a brand new start.”
He identifies with a story Jesus told about the prodigal son who left his father’s house and went his own way for a while, before returning to his father.
In an interview with belief.net, Quaid said: “That is the beautiful thing about the Good News that Jesus was talking about. The grace of God. No matter what, the door is always open to the Lord. All one has to do is open one’s heart and ask, and God’ll be there. It’s certainly been a comfort in my life.”
“He freed me from the heavy chains that had bound my broken heart, picked me up; gave me a brand new start”
He also told belief.net that he wanted his son Jack to know “about Jesus and Jesus’ life, why Jesus came here, why he was on earth. He came here and died for our sins. He came here to teach us how to live. He’s an example to all of us. “It seems like no matter how hard we try, even the best of us Christians, we can’t come close, we fall short of living our life in that perfect way that he did. But it’s all about keeping your eye on that.”
In another interview, after a medical emergency with his newborn twins, Quaid confessed: “When life throws something at you and you feel helpless, that’s when you need God on your side. “Let God handle the big deals. There is no big deal to him.”
CHOSEN FOR REAL
Actor in TV series about Jesus is now one of his followers
NICK Shakour, who plays the father of two of Jesus’ disciples in the global hit TV series, ‘The Chosen’, just saw the role as another acting job.
But during filming, Nick had a dramatic vision which has completely changed his beliefs about Jesus.
When Nick was first offered the role of Zebedee, he didn’t want the job as he thought it would ruin his career. He told the Washington Times: “I was mumbling to myself, I can’t believe I’m going to play a 55-year old fisherman on a religious project. Yup, this is what it’s come to. This is the final nail in the acting career.”
Little did he know that the series, which started as a small online production, would attract a massive audience and get shown around the world on Netflix.
According to godreports.com, during the third series he had a vision in his apartment which changed him for ever: “It’s like somebody beamed a projector into the ceiling, where I saw a gilded cage encrusted with diamonds and rubies and like a floral design all over this cage with a key and a door. There were people in silhouettes all around the cage applauding and they had a smile like the Joker did. It looked kind of disturbing.
“A secondary image projected onto the ceiling of this white dirt road with green pastures and a blue sky in the sun. I was like, ‘What the heck is this? Why am I being shown this right now?’ No matter where I walked around in the apartment, the projections wouldn’t go away, and I’m like, ‘Am I supposed to pick one?’”
Then Nick heard a voice: “You’re at a crossroads right now, you’re at a fork in the road. You can have one of these and you’ve got to pick.”
“It was like a meteor hit my body”
Nick chose the dirt road. He told God that he wanted more in life, “but not with material things… My soul is crying out for something bigger.”
So, towards the end of Season 3’s filming, he accompanied some guys from the set to a church conference. He had never seen such genuine love for Christ before. He was simultaneously impressed and “weirded out”.
While driving home, he felt God’s Spirit descend upon him: “I cried out to God: ‘God my soul is lost, it’s been lost for a long time, I need you now, not only do I need you, but I need what you and Jesus have to offer’.”
The next night, several Christians prayed for him: “It was like a meteor hit my body. From the bottom of my feet the fire just started building to the top, and then by the time it reached my head I almost was going to run out because I felt the sensation of passing away.”
“My soul is crying out for something bigger”
In fact, he had passed from spiritual death to life, as the Bible describes it when we become a Christian. He is no longer just acting the part of being a follower of Jesus – now it’s for real.
Today, Nick Shakoour can’t shut up about Jesus: “I met God, the Creator of the whole freaking universe. Why wouldn’t I talk about it?”
FIRMINO’S BURNING LONGING
Ex-Liverpool striker turns pastor
ROBERTO Firmino, who won the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool, has swapped the pitch for a pulpit.
The Brazil and Liverpool striker was consecrated at his church in Brazil this summer, according to Premier Christian News. Firmino founded the church with his wife Larissa Pereira.
“Jesus is love. Just believe it”
Announcing the news on social media, they wrote: “Since our encounter with Christ, a longing burns in our hearts… Let people know this love that has reached us. Now we have another craving and responsibility… to be pastors after God’s heart, who cooperate with the Kingdom of God.”
Former teammate Alisson Becker, Liverpool’s goalkeeper, baptised Firmino in a swimming pool in 2020. Firmino said at the time: “Jesus is love. [There is] no explanation. Just believe it. Just believe and feel the Holy Spirit.”
Firmino still holds the record as the highest-scoring Brazilian in Premier League history, with 82 goals.