Outlast The Unraveling - Christ Over Career – with Cameron & BJ Arnett – [Ep. 212]

Linda J. Hansen:  Welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Prosperity 101 Breakroom Economics Podcast. My name is Linda J. Hansen, your host and the author of Prosperity 101- Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck, and the creator of the Breakroom Economics Online course, the book, the course and the entire podcast library can be found on Prosperity101.Com. I seek to connect boardroom to break room and policy to paycheck by empowering and encouraging employers to educate employees about the public policy issues that affect their jobs. My goal is to help people understand the foundations of prosperity, the policies of prosperity, and how to protect their prosperity by becoming informed, involved, and impactful. I believe this will lead to greater employee loyalty, engagement and retention, and to an increased awareness of the blessings and responsibilities of living in a free society. Listen each week to hear from exciting guests and be sure to visit Prosperity 101.com

Thank you so much for joining with me today. As you know, I often have a variety of guests on and I know you will enjoy the two guests I have with me today. But before we get into the interview and I introduce them, I just want to remind listeners if you could consider supporting this podcast by becoming a prosperity partner, just go to Prosperity 10 one.com. Hit the Prosperity partner link and any gift that you care to contribute will be helpful to keep the podcast on the air. And we also invite you to support our strategic partners, the US Christian Chamber of Commerce, Red Balloon and Christian Employers alliance. Please go to their websites and if you join, please use code P 101.

And you can support all the organizations by becoming joining with us as strategic partners. So thank you for supporting strategic partners for supporting this work. And now I know you will enjoy hearing from the guests I have today. Most of you are very aware of Star Trek, or some of us who are seasoned in life are very well aware of Miami Vice. And so I know that the face may be more familiar than the voice you hear on this podcast or the voices. But my two guests today are two people. Just wonderful, wonderful people. Cameron and BJ Arnett Cameron Arnett has been in the film industry for many, many years. And as I mentioned before, he was in Star Trek Next Generation and Miami Vice. But so many more shows and movies, those are just two that are commonly known. Beautiful, beautiful roles. And his story of serving Christ in Hollywood and through his workplace is just amazing. And the story of how God brought Cameron and BJ together is amazing. And I know you will love this. So without a long introduction, I'll let them tell most of their story. But I do welcome Cameron and BJ Arnett.

B.J. Arnett:

Well, thank you so much for having us. We appreciate it.

Linda J. Hansen:

Yes, indeed. It's such a pleasure to be with you and it's been a joy to talk with you and your husband since we've been together.

Cameron Arnett:

Well, we have our own story too, right? We both have our stories and it's a beautiful story. So we thank you so much for being here. So, listeners, when we say, here we are at the US Christian Chamber of Commerce Business Expo and Global conference, and it has been a wonderful few days. We invite you to join the US Christian Chamber of Commerce and learn about all that we are doing to bring hope and faith and christ to the marketplace. And it's just a wonderful opportunity. But now most people don't think about Christ being in the marketplace of Hollywood, but you had to make some really important choices in your life. Could you tell the listeners a little bit about your own story?

B.J. Arnett:

Well, basically, you know, being in California, being in Hollywood, doing a lot of movie of the weeks, dealing with episodics and everything else, things were going pretty well with my career and I happened to find myself in Toronto, Canada doing a movie of the week. And my then manager called me and said, hey, they really want you for this new series. Once you get back to LA, they want to see you. And so I get back and of course auditioned a lot of well-known actors that were there and ended up getting the role. It would have been my first television starring role in my own series. And so we are about to on the dotted line and they call my manager and they say, my agent calls my manager and says, well, you know what, by the way, they need Cameron to do partial body nudity. And, well, you know, at that point in time, you know, I was a Christian and I definitely did not plan on doing anything like that. So I told him that I couldn't do it. And then they came back with the option of, you know, you don't have to do the nudity, all you have to do is the acting and then we'll give you a body double.

And so we're thinking that, you know, we're going to make all this money, everything's going to be great and, you know, going to sign again. And then I feel the Lord tapping me on the shoulder saying, you have to shun even the appearance of evil because people will think that it's you. And so I said no to it. I dropped it. And, you know, all hell broke loose, lost everybody, you know, ex wife left, took children, you name it. Lost agent, lost everything. Money dried up and ended up blackballed in California. And, you know, I didn't know that God was actually having me sow my entire career as a seed. I just thought it was normal. That's the decision that any Christian would make. And it wasn't until later, until these days, that I'm finding out, well, people wouldn't have done that. But, you know, to me, I thought, I think that's normal. You cannot violate the Christ. And so when I did that, I, like I said, lost house, lost everything, and ended up in the back room of a woman who was on welfare. And so I had, like, gone from the top to the bottom, and at a certain point in time, you know. You know, God said to me, you know, I had to get a little part time job. And after ten months of working, I'm looking at my, my year to date, and I laugh hysterically so that I don't cry. And one of my coworkers came in and came in and said, you know, what's going on? What's happening with you? And I said, I remember when I put this as a down payment on my floor, and this is what I'm making after ten months of working. This is crazy.

And the Lord said to me, well, if you really trust in me, quit your job and to go and teach at this small little church. And that's what I did. And from that point on, it just became an entire lifestyle of being radically obedient to God and watching him just confirm his word every step of the way. And I found myself coming from California to Atlanta, meeting this wonderful woman right here and getting married and starting a church and following God. And, you know, all of what was done between us even, was a work of faith because, you know, she was actually my. I was a godfather of her son. And so now he's our son. And so now that's how God used that dot to reconnect us together. And while we were talking on the phone for the very first time, we spoke for 5 hours on the phone. That's when there was long distance, folks. You know, you had to pay for it, you know. And so by the, by about the third or fourth hour, I hear the Holy Spirit say, this is your wife. And so it kind of caught me off guard. And we're still talking. We're still talking. And then I hear it again, you know, this is your wife. And so by the fourth or fifth hour, we'll get married on the phone. Haven't seen each other in six years. Didn't know what, you know anything about this woman, that kind of thing. I just knew that I was looking for my godson. And here I am now being told that I have a wife. Okay? So I said yes to God, left California, told my assistant, you know, I'm gonna leave and go. And when I sit across the table, I'll know that it's. If it's really her or not.

And so I leave California, fly over to Atlanta, Georgia. This woman does something that I can't. I hate being late. And she shows up, picking me up at late. I'm like, lord, you gotta be kidding me. This cannot be my wife. And so we get in the van with the blue turquoise mommy van. I'm like, no, this is not happening. Everything was going wrong. Everything that looked like it could be wrong was wrong. And so we park and we start to talk. And while we start to have a conversation, I hear the Lord say again, this is your wife. And we made the decision to get married because we love God, not love each other. And it was just the best decision that, you know, God ever got us to make because we knew that the love was not there really for one another. It was really a matter of obeying God. And so Christ, over Korea, was birthed out of all of that. And it's really getting people to understand that he is so faithful. But obedience is key. And if we just learn to obey him, we'll find out that life is already orchestrated for us, where we're going, where he's taking us. But the issue is getting us to make the decisions that he would make. And so now that's our testimony. That's been our lifestyle for the last, now married for 25 years.

Linda J. Hansen:

25 years.

B.J. Arnett:

26 years together. And so it's been blessed, it's been wonderful. But it came out of really obeying God and watching him be obedient to the word that he said he would do.

Cameron Arnett:

Well, I'm curious what you, you were thinking that night when I was hearing your story for the first time. You were painting when the call came in, correct?

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, I was actually washing the walls for the.

Cameron Arnett:

Oh, I'm sorry.

Linda J. Hansen:

Getting ready for the painter 1,000,000th time, washing the wall. And I was in the hallway, the answering machine, for those of you who know what that is, was all the way in the other room. And I heard him saying, bJ. Hello, BJ. Because he was calling to check on his godson. And I just didn't feel like talking my dad had died. I was in that house cleaning. The hand of God pushed me down the hall. It's impossible for me to have fallen on the phone when I was at the opposite end of the house and pushed me down the hall onto the phone. He's really, you know, exasperated at this point because he's saying, bJ, BJ, hello, hello, hello. And I finally picked it up and said, hello. Now, that's how we started the conversation. By the end of the conversation, we're getting married.

Cameron Arnett:

I love this. This is just so great. And it just shows that God works in mysterious ways. And as we, one of the speakers we just heard, too, said, when you choose to obey God, a lot of times you'll go through a valley and he will take you down and really test your faith. And I think we all have times in life where, you know, we can look backwards and say, why did I do that? Or why did I let myself stumble there? Or why was I tempted with x, y, z? Or why didn't I follow more closely? Whatever. We can all look back. But God tells us to look forward. And the moment of obedience, he begins to change our lives immediately. And he wants full obedience, not partial, not delayed. I mean, he's always happy when we come around, but he doesn't want delayed obedience either, although he's very patient with those of us who have delayed at times. But it's just such a great story. So what happened in your career then, after all of this?

B.J. Arnett:

Well, you know, from that point on, you know, we get to Atlanta, of course, we get married, and we start the church, because, again, at that point in time, everybody, the only thing that we knew of or people would tell us was that if you call to the ministry, you called to be a pastor. And so basically, we started that trek. And, you know, I had always had business within me, but I kind of pushed it away because the doctrine was then that could not be what God was calling you to. And so it started the church. We ended up pastoring for almost two decades, but within that time, God brought us back into the whole filmmaking aspect of it, but on the christian side. And when someone invited my wife to a woman's tea, she heard God. As she was on her way, she heard God saying, the Holy Spirit say to her, you don't need him. You need Cameron Arnett. She didn't know what that meant, but God had been giving me a dream for, like, a week, and I thought that he wanted me to write this character. So every day for a week, I'm waking up, writing the character, I'm writing this script kind of a thing, and a week goes by, and then she gets this invitation, comes back home. She comes back home and she says to me, oh, well, it was really about a film that they're doing, and they want you to come to audition. And I looked at her like she had three heads.

Linda J. Hansen:

It wasn't so not nice. You know what was funny about it was that when God said to me, who you want as so and so, who you need is Cameron Arnett. I'm in the car by myself driving to the lady's t that he said I should go to. And I was like, oh, what does that mean, lord? When I get home and tell him what they said, he literally walks away from me. And then, I don't know, maybe it was a week. Ten days after that, the Lord told him, you need to. You need to go to this one.

Cameron Arnett:

Yeah.

B.J. Arnett:

You know, another week goes by, and I'm still having that same dream, same character. I'm still waking up and, you know, writing it down. At the end of that second week, God says, no, this is me. Go to the audition. And so I went, and I hate auditioning, and I'm terrible at it. And I saw God do things that were just phenomenal. I could not believe. It's almost like you're on the outside of yourself looking at the video. And I'm like, wow. I couldn't believe I did so well. But what happened was the character that I was dreaming about was actually the character that I ended up auditioning for. And so it was God showing me that this is exactly him. It was more prophetic than what I knew. So I got the role. It ended up being my first christian role in a christian film. And since then, in ten years time, God has given me over 40 different films, six or seven different television series, because when I came out of doing that first one, I said, lord, if it's really you, I want you to do the impossible. I want you to give me the roles that you want me to have without me having to audition. And if anybody knows entertainment, that's really called impossible. Everybody has to audition. And so at least until you get to a certain stage in life, you know what I'm saying? So immediately after that one role that I had to audition for, roles just started coming in. I mean, people would call me from everywhere. They inbox me, they'd email me, whatever. And I ended up doing the, like I said, 40 plus films.

Linda J. Hansen:

Yeah, 40 plus films without auditioning six or seven series without auditioning. And, you know, the role that people know him for the most. I think this is me personally, probably because I love this role. Is Thomas Hill an overcomer? And that occurred with Alex Kendricks being at NRB. My husband going to NRB because he's on the board of directors, and there was an ice cream social or something he had to set up. And he's saying, babe, I'm really tired. I don't. I'm just. I can't think. I just can't do it. Finally, God gets him out of that room. He goes up the escalator. From across the room, Alex Kendrick screams, Cameron Arnett, if you want to say that was an audition.

B.J. Arnett:

Okay, well, you know, he takes me off to the side. We have dinner. He tells me about the role, and they just wanted to see what I could do with it. And so I go in there and read, and again, seeing God do some phenomenal things that I was just not able to do, and the rest of it is just say, okay, well, you're the guy. And, you know, I do the role, you know, playing a blind man, you know, all this kind of stuff.

Linda J. Hansen:

I was practicing being blind at home, not telling me, I'm bringing him his dinner, and he's playing like he's blind. And I'm like, what are you doing? And then I realized what he was doing. We go to the airport. We're on our way somewhere, and we go to the airport, and he does it again. And people are watching him. So, see, it gives him what he needs as an actor to make sure that he's solid in that role. So he. That's the kind of rehearsing that he did for the role. It was so gratifying to be around when a lady who was a nurse to the blind walks up to him and said, I am so happy you can see. I thought you were really blind.

B.J. Arnett:

You know, she's saying to me, you know, the Kendrick brothers, which they are, they're phenomenal guys, okay? But he said, she says, the Kendrick brothers, oh, my God, they're so wonderful. They found a blind man to play this role, you know, and then I walk up to you, and you're not blind. And I thought you were blind, and we cracked up. But it was just the greatest, you know, compliment that you can get as an actor to actually have someone who does that, and you realize that what God gave you to do that it.

Cameron Arnett:

Actually worked that well, that is truly amazing. And, you know, it it just goes to show that when we show up for God, you know, he puts us in amazing places. And that role, that was a wonderful movie. I mean, I loved it. It was just fantastic. And. But you have some coming up, but I know one is being released this summer, right? Correct. And I saw some of the trailers, and it is just amazing. And I know that the Forge is coming this summer, and that is just going to be an amazing film. So listeners, you want to go online, you want to ask your local theaters to make sure they show this film. It's just going to be incredible. And can you tell us a little bit about that so the listeners can plan ahead now to go to this movie?

B.J. Arnett:

Yes. You know, again, for us, this is what, our third.

Linda J. Hansen:

Yes, is our third.

B.J. Arnett:

Our third Kendrick film. I did overcome her, of course, and she was in courageous legacy. And now we're together in the forge playing husband and wife in the forge, getting the kiss and getting to be paid for it. I enjoyed that. But it's really a phenomenal film that deals with the heart of God, which is discipleship. You know, he leads us here. He gave us a commission to go and make disciples. And what I love about these films is that you get an opportunity to see what Christianity looks like on screen. You get to not only hear a sermon, really, in a sense of going to church, but you get to see it lived out in how it correlates to your own life and how you can actually put life into practice. All the scriptures that you've heard, how they actually live. And so I love filmmaking, christian filmmaking, because it really shows the saints how to live out this life. And when you go see the forge, you will really fall in love with the entire intent and the heart of God for his creation, for his children, because he is always seeking us out, because he wants not only for us to be like him, but he wants us to have the benefit of being his. And so this film really brings all of that out. And, you know, August 23 and please, if you. If you are a believer at all, if you get your enemies, get your frenemies, whoever, but go opening weekend, because the christian films need you to support in that way. Opening weekend, opening week, man, make sure that you just let everybody know it's happening August 23, and it's the forge. And we want. We want you. We need your support.

Linda J. Hansen:

Yes, indeed.

Cameron Arnett:

Well, it's so important to support these films. As we can see, culture has really slid into negativity and immorality and things. And what do we really want for our culture? What do we want our children, our grandchildren, to see what is it that is eternal, you know, and we can look, what do we focus on? And I mentioned your earlier roles before you started really into the christian filmmaking and christian series. And they're wonderful, wonderful roles, wonderful shows that people remember. But are they going to change someone's life? There you go. You know, is there a life changing message in those shows? I don't think so. I mean, a lot of people spent a lot of money on everything, Star Trek, but did it change the direction of their life? Did it give them hope and healing in their life? Did they, did it give them eternal security in their relationship with Christ? And that's what we have when we can do these christian films and be a Christian in the marketplace of filmmaking and change the direction. And so I'm also curious, how has that opened up the door for you, both of you, to speak to non believers that are actors? And I know others who have been blackballed. I know others. I used to often go to FoA, and you could hear all of these actors and actresses and filmmakers talk about their experience of being canceled because they were conservative or they were christian. So they all have a story to tell, like yours. But how has this affected the larger, non believing acting community?

B.J. Arnett:

Well, it has quite a bit. Because, again, people, people intrinsically, there's something that within them that they want to do the right thing, they want to do the good thing, but they're not offered that. And they think that they have to sell their soul in order to have the very thing that God has ordained for them to be and to give them. And the reality of it is that Christ himself is overtaking the atmosphere of Hollywood. And now people are getting a clue that they don't have to compromise, they don't have to give up. There is a home now called christian filmmaking, faith based filmmaking that is not only thriving, but it's only just now getting started. So there's such a great future in it. And so if you take a look at sports, you take a look at entertainment, so many more people now are getting the courage and the boldness to declare Christ, because they are seeing that God is flourishing these arenas and that they don't have to separate themselves from God in order to have what he ordained them to be in the first place. It was a lie all this time. But now that lie is being shown, the whole veil is being taken up. And you're watching all these entertainers, you're watching all these athletes, you're watching all these business people that are proclaiming, declaring the truth of the word of God and scripture and living right and having good, good families and all this stuff going on. And it's almost like you're watching the light bulb come on to all these people that thought that they couldn't have that and this. And so it's been a beautiful walk. And I think those of us who have been blackballed, who have Christ as our center, need to understand that the world can't really cancel you. If whatever God has allowed to happen, you must understand it's because he's actually building you. And what we get an opportunity to teach right now to people as we go to festivals and business conferences and everything else, is that you have to outlast the unraveling. Because the reality of it is that before we knew Christ, and even as we got to begin to know Christ, we had put together a life that he hadn't intended for us, or we put it together in a way he didn't want us to have us. Just like for me, it was really the way that I put it together. Okay. He wanted me, obviously, to be in entertainment, but not that way.

And so he had to unravel everything that I put together and then begin to start from scratch and build me back up. And that's that valley that we talked about. When you get, when you start making Christ's decision and obeying to that, to that extent, it's not really that Satan is doing something to you. It's God that's actually stripping you of all the periphery of all the craziness, of all the stuff that's going to stop you and make his message not really understood because you can't live one way while you're talking one thing. And so he takes all that away and builds you back up in a way that not only are you achieving the things that he wants you to achieve, but you also are holy and righteous individual in the process of it. Every other side of your life is correct. And so then when people come to you, it's like when Jesus says, he comes at me, but he has nothing in me. You know what I'm saying? And so now when people come at you, there's nothing for them to find that's not Christ like. And that is really the message is that we're meant to be conformed to his image and likeness. And he does it if we'll just obey him, trust him, he's faithful.

Cameron Arnett:

He truly is. And those valleys that you talked about in the unraveling, it can be lonely. So, listeners, if you're in a valley right now. If you are going through something and you spend a lot of time looking up, I mean, I've done this in my life. Looked up a lot going, seriously, God, like, okay, I realize you have a different timetable than me, but could we talk about this, you know, and I realize time is irrelevant to you, God, but I'm getting older. Yeah. And so, so, you know, there are these things and, you know, he loves who we are. He loves our. But if we just give it all to Jesus, whether it's our work, our families, our loved ones, our aches and pains, I mean, everything, he can use it all. He uses our garbage and he can unravel it and find the gold. And how is gold? Purified through the fire. Right? And so we get purified through the fire. So I know there's people that want to follow you. They want to learn more about how to know Christ and have this rock solid relationship with Jesus. Because, I mean, listener, wherever you are, I don't know what country you're listening from. I don't know what background you have. I don't know what you are struggling with right now as you listen to this podcast, but God knows.

Linda J. Hansen:

Yes, he does.

Cameron Arnett:

God knows. And there are people who can help you, who can guide you. So you can contact me, of course, at prosperity 10 one.com. And I can help you find resources that you need or connect you to people. But how would people reach you out to you, Cameron and BJ, and be acquainted with your ministry?

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, you can go to Cameron Arnett, actor on IG and on Facebook and BJA Today on IG and BjBilly Arnett on Facebook.

B.J. Arnett:

You can also go to cameron arnett.com and also bjrnet.com and you find out everything that we're involved in.

Cameron Arnett:

Right. And could you tell the listeners about Christ over career?

B.J. Arnett:

Well, again, Christ over career is a lifestyle. It's not an organization. We don't want to create another organization. What God gave us to do is call the church back to the lordship of Jesus Christ, putting him and keeping him at the helm of every decision. This is a concept that we are bringing into the church so that the church can understand he is a king. When he says to us, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, the first thing that you run into is the king of that kingdom. And so we have to understand he is a commander. He speaks to us and gives us his commands and we follow them. And when we actually have a life style that is like that, we are life itself is orchestrated to bring you into your predestined place that he has ordained for you. He has already put everything together. But what he needs is someone who's going to actually answer life the way that he would. And that life itself is already ordained and put together, orchestrated to get you to your expected end. And so his kingship is what we want to bring to the church. We want to understand lordship to the church. We follow. We love him, he loves us first and we follow him. And then that's how we can feed on his faithfulness.

Cameron Arnett:

Well, that's true. And listeners, if you're unfamiliar with these terms or what he may be talking about when he's talking about the church, he's not talking about a building. You may only be acquainted with the church, with a denomination or a church, or you may have been hurt by the church. You may have gone to church and thought, well, that's not it. Those people, you know, are just as bad as me or something. I mean, well, we're all sinners in need of a savior. So if you've been hurt by someone in church, remember? Yeah. So was Jesus. In fact, he was nailed to the cross. So, you know, that's why he came, because we're all sinners in need of a savior. But he can equip us to serve one another. And when we put Christ over career, we put Christ over really everything, you know, God, I always tell people it's God, family, country for me in that order. And when we put Christ first place, he does amazing things and he turns around some of the worst circumstances or worst decisions we've ever made and he can bring good from them. And so we're just excited about that. So again, the website so people can reach out to you. And then again, the weekends that they can go to the forge.

B.J. Arnett:

Cameron arnett.com comma bjornet.com the forge comes out August 23, 2024. Go check it out. Opening weekend. Love you guys. Thank you.

Linda J. Hansen:

Love you. Thank you so much for having us.

Cameron Arnett:

Well, it's just been an honor and a pleasure. Thank you so much. And listeners, please go to Prosperity 10 one.com and sign up to become a prosperity partner and support our strategic partners, the US Christian Chamber of Commerce, Red Balloon and Christian Employers alliance. So you can learn more by contacting me at prosperity 10 one.com. And a special thanks again to Cameron and BJ Arnett.

Outro:

Linda J. Hansen: Thank you again for listening to the Prosperity 101 Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, and leave a great review. Don't forget to visit Prosperity101.com to access the entire podcast library to order my newest book, Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck or to enroll you or your employees in the Breakroom Economics online course. You can also receive the free e-book, 10 Tips for Helping Employees Understand How Public Policy Affects Their Paychecks. Freedom is never free. Understanding the foundations of prosperity and the policies of prosperity will help you to protect prosperity as you become informed, involved, and impactful. Please contact us today at Prosperity101.com to let us know how we can serve you. Thank you.

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