Hollywood magnet Denzel Washington in a recent men conference – “The Better Man Event” hosted by First Baptist Orlando was a featured speaker and during a discussion with Pastor A.R. Bernard, the senior pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, Washington revealed that he’s been hearing a consistent message from God during his prayer sessions to feed his sheep.
“At 66, getting ready to be 67, having just buried my mother, I made a promise to her and to God, not just to do good the right way, but to honor my mother and my father by the way I live my life, the rest of my days on this Earth. I’m here to serve, to help, to provide.”
Continuing the actor said:
“In every prayer, all I hear is: ‘Feed my sheep.’ That’s what God wants me to do.”
“What I found out in the last couple of years is there are all kinds of sheep. So that’s why I talk to experienced shepherds to help guide me. The world has changed. What is our role as a man? The John Wayne formula is not quite a fit right now. But strength, leadership, power, authority, guidance, patience are God’s gift to us as men. We have to cherish that, not abuse it.”
Not holding back, Washington explaining further said:
“What I played in the movies is not who I am, it’s what I played. I’m not going to sit or stand on any pedestal and tell you about what I had in mind for you or your soul. Because the fact of the matter is, in the whole 40-year process, I was struggling for my own soul… Fame is a monster and we all have these ladders and battles, roads we have to walk in our given lives. Be you famous or whoever’s out there listening, we all have our individual challenges. It’s cliché [but] money, don’t make it better. It doesn’t. Fame just magnifies the problems and the opportunities”
Dishing out some advice for others looking to achieve success:
“Stay on your knees. Watch me, but listen to God. I hope that the words in my mouth and the meditation of my heart are pleasing in God’s sight, but I’m human. I’m just like you. What I have will not keep me on this Earth for one more day. Share what you know, inspire who you can, seek advice. If you want to talk to one someone, talk to the one that can do something about it. Constantly develop those habits.”
The Academy Award-winning actor went on to speak on lifestyle changes he’s had, such as no longer drinking.
“My mother said to me, when I was 59, she said, ‘Denzel, you do a lot of good. You have to do good the right way and you know what I’m talking about.’ I don’t drink anymore; I don’t do any of those things. I’m all about the message, to the degree that I know it, and I’m unashamed and unafraid to share it!
“So you have to be unafraid and unashamed to share it in the way your millennial generation knows how.”
