With
Saeed Abenini, an American pastor in prison in Iran, and
Meriam Ibrahim and her two babies held captive in Sudan--all because of their faith in Jesus, persecution is--or at least it should be--on every Christian's lips. Here in America, Christians are becoming increasingly targeted. Both liberal media and many politicians (including the
USA prez & the
IRS) target Christians and try to limit their freedom and squelch their voice.
Makes sense then to bring out a new movie on this very subject,
Persecuted.
Persecuted, a political thriller, brings us into a world where hostility towards Christians—a world not unlike our own, a scary peek at how
things could turn out even in America.
Persecuted features an all-star cast, which includes Fred
Thompson (Days of Thunder, Law &
Order), James Remar (X-Men, Django
Unchained), Bruce Davison (X-Men,
Lost), and Gretchen Carlson (Fox News)
as well as singer Natalie Grant in her acting debut as the
senator’s wife. Natalie shares her thoughts about Persecuted in an exclusive interview.
JD—Hi
Natalie. Congrats on your acting debut as the Senator’s wife in the
movie, Persecuted. You already light up the world with your music.
Do you see acting as another expression of your God-given, artistic creativity?
NG—
To be honest, I never planned on acting. I never even took a drama class in
school. But this door opened up to me, it was an interesting script and
something I had never done before so I was thrilled to be a part.
JD—What
was your first response to the script of Persecuted? Did it hit a
nerve?
NG—
My first reaction was that it was nice to see a faith-based thriller script. It
was different from other Christian based movies I'd seen before.
JD—Do
you feel this movie holds an important message for us today?
NG—
This movie is not a political campaign, it's just a political thriller. But at
the same time, we are living In interesting and unprecedented times, and the
thought that the government might try to control what pastors say from the
pulpit is no longer such a far fetched idea.
JD—
We know that Satan hates truth and that he’s out to try to silence Christians.
As a Christian artist, to what measure have you faced resistance to the message
you bring?
NG—
I face constant opposition from people who don't understand what I do and what
I stand for. I also think that Christians are often so misrepresented in the
media as people of judgment, rules and hate. That's what the enemy wants the
world to think we are about. But Jesus is love and grace and peace. and my
prayer had always been that my life would be a reflection of that.
JD—Thank
you Natalie. We look forward to seeing and hearing more from you in the future.
Persecuted holds a PG-13 rating and releases on July 18th.
Meanwhile, let's keep praying for the persecuted church everywhere.
Janey DeMeo M.A.
Copyright © July 2014
JaneyDeMeo.com
