Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. EPHESIANS 5:1,2 NKJV
Part of my work is producing videos of me exploring amazing natural locations. Recently, I was approached by a producer from North American Division, about helping a video they were producing where they recreated scenes and told stories based on the Adventist pioneers. Because of my looks, I was asked to play the part of a pioneer called Joseph Bates, who lived in the 1800s. I got my lines several weeks in advance, and I memorized them. A costume from that time was prepare for me, including glasses and fake sideburns that had to be glue to my face. If you’ve ever seen a picture of joseph Bates, there was one other prominent and obvious feature on his face we had to deal with. He had a large mole on his cheek, so fake mole prosthetic was made and glue to my face as well. Next, a makeup artist started to put a bunch of makeup on my face, especially around the mole to help it to blend in with my face. Our call time soon approached, and we were ready to record the scenes.
We filmed in Battle Creek, Michigan, at the historic Adventist Village where Ellen White once live. The cameras and lights were in a place, and I spent the rest of the day pretending to be joseph Bates, there are no video or audio recordings of joseph Bates, so it was hard trying to figure out ow to copy him. I read all about him and did my best to be as I imagined he was.
I thought about how many people are role models: actors, sports figures, models, politicians. Unfortunately, many of them are terrible role models, and sadly, they are copied and admired by millions of people.
Christians, on the other hand, should have only one role model-JESUS.
He is the ultimate role model. Go out and be like Jesus today!