5/8/2008
Sir,
I recently turned to the Bible out of a sudden interest that really just came onto me in Grace. I was not seeking the Lord, but He came to me and I actually and suddenly understood the term Lamb of God.
I began to read the scripture, and for once I could read them like an excellent novel, and the personalities and life experiences became clear and I could see it all as I read. I soon found that directly proportional to my interest in the Word, the Lord revealed Himself to me.
There was a girl who worked on my old cable TV show who I became engaged to. She and I had just decided to get married when she was brutally murdered. I have never fully recovered from that horrible experience. I have also never found any peace or understanding of His perfect plan as a result, until I rediscovered the Bible. I also discovered that observing the Sabbath made for a much healthier lifestyle and state of mind. Simple as that all is, it has so changed my life.
I think you may be interested to know that there were many times she and I heard your sermons on the University of Florida campus. In my years I have come to appreciate your efforts to bring the Gospel to the young minds of America's campuses, and how truly lost this generation seems to be. I feel you have represented a challenge to know the scripture to be able to understand your position. I think for all the blank faces that pass through your life, you need to know that you touch the hearts of some, and challenge all of our personal understandings of the Word of God.
S. Elliot
More from S. Elliot
I cannot escape the irony that I came to Hollywood and in the midst of Babylon, found my faith.
I do custom car and motorcycle work. I am a licensed dealer, but we mostly do motor scooters and mopeds. Pretty much any more if you see a moped in a TV show, it probably came from me.
I actually got quite far in the film industry and ended up working on over 187 feature films. I ended my film career as the senior applications engineer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I started my business when the war began because I firmly believe that Americans waste too much of everything, and that our oil use had put us in peril by having us in parts of the world we didn't belong, and that Americans are giving money to our enemies which use it to attack us and our values.
Interestingly enough, the experience of Hollywood made me MORE Christian rather than sucking me into the life of sin so many succumb to here. I was blessed with the tools to defend my soul from the evils that abound in this town. I ran my first shop right in the middle of Hollywood proper and I saw some of the worst human behavior you can imagine.
Now to my delight, my business blossoms. As motorcycle businesses painted themselves more and more with dark brush, with tattoos and piercings and such, we focused on being the good guys, clean cut, veterans, married, Christian, etc. I still draw people to my website with sexy girls, but never ever show nudity. Granted, I cannot really say I am the least conservative compared with you, but in the motorcycle world, I am pretty much the total opposite of West Coast Choppers types of folks. Because of my Hollywood background and good guy reputation, we are very active in multiple major TV and feature film productions. I am active in civil service and volunteer in the community as well as use my celebrity connections to raise money for charities. Yesterday I got a skateboard from the very famous skateboarder and Olympic gold medalist, Shaun White, and gave it to the Police Athletic League to help raise money for a new youth center.
I am proud that I have become active in Christian service and I have become friends with Pat Boone who has a wonderful ministry out here. He is a great role model for me as he is VERY successful in the Hollywood community, but he has not sold his soul to Satan even after many years in the middle of it all. He has become a big influence on me, and has shown me that it is possible to keep core values while still staying in the den of lions.
Something I could benefit from your spiritual council is that I fear I am perhaps a form of "Fighting Christian" and I am not tolerant of evil. This is something I need to work on. I am studying the bible specifically to learn how to turn the other cheek, instead of using the sword. This is the hardest thing for me these days. After experiencing murder, I tend to attack rather than forgive. I am much conflicted as a result of my bible studies, seeing so much about the vengeance of the Lord, but I am struggling with the Lamb of God example and letting the Lord be the judge. I need work in this area badly.
Strangely, my example seems to be drawing others to seek the Word. I am not a pushover, wimpy Christian at all. I am not afraid to confront drug dealers or whores around my business, as I do not fear death. I fear most facing the Lord on the day of Judgment and having to answer for things I know I should have done. As a former US Cavalry scout, I have been blessed with a warrior's physique and training. Most bad guys around here are petty thugs and open confrontation has made them simply go elsewhere. This has made me a close friend of LAPD and they are brave people that see bad folks doing bad things daily.
If I had the opportunity, I would love to ask you about my conflicted situation. I am a veteran of the US Cavalry, so I know how to fight. I need to learn about forgiveness. Specifically, I have never been able to forgive the killer of my fiancée. I doubt I ever will. I know that this is a sin, and I pray for forgiveness. It is simply beyond my ability to find any possibility of forgiveness for something so utterly heinous. I also pray that the Lord will have vengeance for me on the murderer and he will spend eternity in Hell. He is still at large, and this is a manifestation of the world's evils that I struggle with.
I decided a long time ago to be the light to his darkness. I have worked to be as good as he is evil. Horrifically, the killer killed my true love in an apparent satanic ritual as he is a known Satanist. His very existence confirms my understanding of the active works of Satan on earth. Something else, one cannot live in Hollywood without becoming aware of the actions of Satan and his subtle manipulations.
Definitely tell Radical Bill to contact me if you see him. It is somewhat disappointing to think he is still living the same way. He was given such potential, but he wastes it. A tree that does not grow is a dead one.
I also find it interesting that he represents a common example of people that think they are too smart for God. As I excelled in the highest levels of the Film Academy, my mind opened rather than closed. I find that many in the sciences eventually find God at the center of their quest and that a truly scientific mind must explore the possibilities of a supreme being just to get some grip on what we all find around us. The more I studied, the less I realized I knew. Rather than be confident of my world views, I discovered my own personal insignificance.
2 Samuel 22:17-25
Warmest Regards,
S Elliott
Steven Elliott designed this website for CMUSA
