Kirk Cameron's Revive Us 2 a Starting Line, Not the Finish
Political unrest. Racial strife. Economic turmoil. Religious tension. And that is just a typical Thursday afternoon in America.
Seeking to re-connect communities of faith, actor Kirk Cameron has called for a second “national family meeting” on Tuesday, October 24th with an encore screening planned for November 1st. The meeting will be shown in U.S. movie theaters coast to coast.
Called Revive Us 2, the Fathom cinema event will build upon last year’s Revive Us, which garnered an overwhelming response. Thousands from that audience committed to put their faith into action in a quest to find faith-filled solutions for what troubles our nation.
Find a theater near you to view Kirk Cameron’s Revive Us 2 live cinema event.
I recently spoke with Cameron to discuss the possibility of the United States truly being united again and how God can use these circumstances to rebuild hope in our nation.
The first Revive Us and subsequent DVD release experienced some really good success. From your standpoint, what was your greatest take-away from that first event? What’s one key thing that you learned from it?
One of the things that I learned, Chris, is that there were so many people leading into the presidential elections that just felt like this is just nothing that I want to be a part of. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton … I don’t want to give either one of those people my vote. Jesus is coming soon; let’s just stay out of this whole mess. By the time people left Revive Us, those people who came to it, many of them said “that totally changed my perspective.” From what Dr. Ben Carson said, what Francis Chan said, what James McDonald shared, what Jennifer Rothchild encouraged us to do, it was, hey, wait a minute, where there is darkness, we are the light. Where there is chaos, we bring peace, and where there is fear and doubt, we offer faith. If we check out, what do our children have to hope for? And so people got engaged. I left encouraged because I think they were revived in their understanding that we are the light, and if we want to see the corruption in culture stop, you need to add salt, that’s what stops the decay. We are the salt. Evangelical Christians and pro-life Catholics, believers of every stripe showed up and got involved and were part of the process of shaping the culture at the election. That was extremely encouraging. We want to build on that foundation with Revive Us 2 and talk about the division in the nation and how we can bring hope, healing and unity.
Since the first Revive Us, about a year ago, in some ways the country has become even more divided. Our nation seems to be breaking down. Since the election there is certainly some enhanced political division, this recent tragedy in Las Vegas, the national anthem protests before NFL games, there is just so much going on. So many people feel that our country is more divided than ever. Is it possible for us to ever feel like a united country again, blessed by God?
There has never been a more exciting time to be a Christian in America than right now. We are divided over everything: race, religion, politics, money, gender choice. Even our families are divided. Then, you add to that mass shootings, natural disasters, the threat of war with places like North Korea, the NFL and the flag as you mentioned, and taking down of statues. What we need is unity and what we need is bold and courageous people filled with faith with love for their neighbor to step up, to shine and to lead the way. That’s us, the family of faith. That’s what Revive Us 2 is all about. People can’t figure it out. So what we’re watching is the collapse of a culture that is ignoring God, and that gives me great encouragement that God’s Word is true. That’s what He says in His Word, and that’s one of the reasons that we’re hosting Revive Us 2 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. God’s Word, the Bible, is ground zero for hope and reconciliation and healing in America. Can we be a United Nation together? Absolutely, 100%. Jesus didn’t come to lose, He came to win; and He said, Lord, make them one just like we’re one, and it starts with the family of faith.
What I loved about the first Revive Us is that that event brought such a positive and encouraging message. It was a very critical time in our nation a year ago, and it’s a very critical time we find ourselves in now. From your perspective, do you think God can really use these circumstances to offer us hope and draw us closer together to Him and to each other?
Yes, I think He can. There are times in the Old Testament, where we would see the people of God call for something known as a “solemn assembly.” This was a special gathering together. It wasn’t just your normal Sabbath service. This was a solemn assembly, a gathering of the people, the reading of the Word of God, and those who understood the signs of the times; and I think we’re at a critical point in our nation as you said. A house that is divided against itself cannot stand, and the more we allow people to fan the flames of division and the more we believe them, the more hope we lose and the weaker we get and the more vulnerable we become to our enemies. We even start to fight amongst ourselves. What we need is a gathering of the family of faith. That’s what Revive Us 2 is. It’s a solemn assembly, but it’s also a great time of worship and hope and instruction. It’s a call to action, it’s a call to war against division, darkness, and unrighteousness, and to lift up the Biblical values that made this nation the most blessed country on Earth.
For Revive Us 2 there is seemingly a new panel of featured guests that you’ve invited to participate. What can you tell me about some of the folks coming along to share their perspective this time?
First, Dr. Ben Carson is back, so we have a doctor there. We have Ravi Zacharias, an apologist, we have filmmakers Alex and Stephen Kendrick who produced four great films, Fireproof, War Room and Courageous among them. Also, Joni Eareckson Tada will be joining us. She’s one of my favorite human beings on the planet. We also have Trillia Newbell, who is a wonderful racial reconciliation expert; and musicians Zach Williams and Christian Cuevas from The Voice. It’s going to be an amazing compilation of brilliant, faithful people who want to see revival in this nation.
For me, as a Christian and an active churchgoer, this is my event. This is right up my alley. I love participating and seeing things like this. But what about my neighbor who doesn’t go to church? What about my friend at work who perhaps isn’t the strongest churchgoer in the world? Can this event be appealing and attractive to the non-Christian?
I would say it’s a family meeting for the family of faith, but anyone’s invited. It’s kind of like your house. If you were to say, hey, we’re having a family Sunday night dinner and so the family’s coming over, but hey, I’ll invite my neighbors. Come on, have dinner with us. You’re welcome. We’d love to have you come on over and meet my family. You will feel comfortable here; because we’ll love you just like you’re our family. I would say it’s for the family of faith and you can come, sit down, feast on all of the wisdom and truth and inspiration, and encouragement that we’re getting; and you might have some questions, but there’s lots of people there that would love to fill you in and bring you up to speed as to what’s going on.
Once again, Revive Us 2 is a one night only Fathom event on October 24th at 8pm ET. Where and how can people get their tickets for this?
You can get your tickets at ReviveUs.com. That’s the easiest way. Just get online and purchase your tickets. There will be a prompt to enter your zip code, and once you put your zip code in, the theaters near your house will show up on the screen. Then you can just click on the theater near you and buy tickets that way, and that’s it.
Kirk, as always thank you for your time and passion for the Kingdom.
Alright, brother. I appreciate you and CBN.
Watch a trailer for Revive Us 2:
