Kirk Cameron has revealed his vision for the future of America and warned that the country will experience "financial and moral decline" if it continues to move away from the principles it was founded upon.
"You can't help but hear Martin Luther King's voice in your head: That our country becomes a place where we would judge people by their character and not the color of their skin," Cameron told The Gospel Herald when asked about his hope for America. "And, I would add that faith in God and a dependence upon the goodness of God would also be at the center of that."
Cameron, a well known Christian actor and producer who shot to fame in the 1980's while starring in the sitcom "Growing Pains", said he believes the country's future is bright - but to succeed, it must return to its founding principles.
"Abraham Lincoln said -- and I'm paraphrasing -- we've become so strong and prosperous and admired by so many, but our problem is that we've forgotten what made us this way," Cameron said. "We've forgotten that this comes as a gift from God because of our reliance on him and our willingness to follow his ways. We need to get back to that."
The actor added, "America is full of hope if we understand those vital truths. All of the founders understood...the golden triangle of freedom. Freedom requires virtue, and virtue requires genuine faith. That faith has to be free, not forced or coerced. And that, of course, requires virtue.
Cameron is so passionate about bringing revival to America, he hosted a live worship and prayer experience, appropriately titled "Revive Us 2016", on Oct. 18 -- just ahead of the presidential election. Tens of thousands of people united for "Revive Us" to pray for America to be a nation of faith again, led by Dr. Ben Carson, Pastor Francis Chan, Eric Metaxas, Dr. James MacDonald and other notable Christian leaders.
"Last year, running up presidential election, I was traveling all across country, and I was hearing parents saying they were concerned about their children; that our country was off track; that we were in last days of America as a godly nation," the "Fireproof" actor said of why he decided to call a "national family meeting".
"I was so encouraged, because three weeks after 'Revive Us', we had the presidential election, and it was the largest turnout of evangelicals and pro-life Catholic Christians in history. Christian were saying, 'I care about the culture and the future of my children, so I must be salt and light and not hide under a basket, but let it shine in practical, tangible ways like voting for our leaders.' People did that in record numbers this year, and that's the kind of engagement that can make a difference."
On May 16, "Revive Us" arrives on home video -- and later this year, "Revive Us 2017" hits 800 theaters across America. In addition to Dr. Carson and Chan, inspirational speakers this year include Ravi Zacharias and Joni Eareckson Tada, among others. The theme: "Finding Unity in a Divided World".
Cameron told GH: "The further and further any group of people and any nation move away from those ancient truths that we find in God's word and the original principles that our nation was founded on, we're going to experience moral and financial decline. We'll experience a breakdown in our families and every kind of thing that makes life more difficult."
He added, "'Revive Us' is really an opportunity for us to say, 'what can we do? What's the problem? Why are we experiencing division and difficulty? How do we find the blessing and protection of God?' That's what 'Revive Us' is about. When the family of faith comes together and the spirit of God is moving, there's nothing we can't do. We're unstoppable."
