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Kel Mitchell Shares Offers Hope to Younger Generations: ‘They Need The Love of Christ’

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Kel Mitchell Shares Offers Hope to Younger Generations: ‘They Need The Love of Christ’

By Movieguide® Staff

Actor and comedian Kel Mitchell, best known for KENAN AND KEL, is accustomed to making audiences laugh.

However, the GOOD BURGER actor recently opened up about his battle with depression and suicidal thoughts that plagued Mitchell behind the scenes.

Mitchell now talks freely about how faith in God offered healing and restoration, a message he gives from the pulpit as a pastor and in his latest book, “Blessed Mode,” which he released last December.

“I overcame a lot of that through the Lord. I grew up in the church and I always knew God, but there is a difference between knowing God and having a relationship with God,” Mitchell told CBN in a recent interview. “I went through a lot of different things, but what ultimately helped was having the love of God.

“I’m always talking about finding the gratitude in everything because there is a big difference between being happy and being joyful,” he added. “Having that happiness is like, ‘hey, it’s an emotion. It’s my birthday I can just be happy’, but if a circumstance comes up or a situation you have to deal with, it can bring you back into that depression. But joy is having that joy no matter what!”

Mitchell is the youth pastor at Spirit Food Christian Center in Winnetka, California. He said he wants to bring hope to a younger generation suffering greatly from anxiety and depression.

“They really need the love of Christ,” he said. “They really need that love in their life to help them. And I really feel like once the youth understand how God feels about them…[but] when they step into this Word and they hear about how much God loves them and that they are a part of a royal family and they invite him into their hearts, it can really change things.

“Take your anxiety, take your depression, take whatever it may be to the Lord first, so that way you prepare for your day,” he continued.

Mitchell said his devotional, “Blessed Mode,” also addresses practical ways to grow their relationship with Christ and daily prayer and Bible reading habits.

“It is really about letting you know that you are beautifully and wonderfully made by God and that no matter what happens for you to remember that,” Mitchell said. “He’s always with us and sticking to us like glue. He’s always there in the ups and the downs… I’m going into my day in blessed mode where I am looking through the eyes of Christ.”

Movieguide® previously reported:

Mitchell said he is thankful for God’s guidance in his new chapter of life.

“When you put Him in everything in your life, He helps you navigate and make the decisions in your life …. When I started to do that, doors started opening up in my life and it would be the things where God would go, ‘OK, yeah, go speak to this youth group, go speak to these children. Go speak even though you might not feel like speaking,’” Mitchell said.

Mitchell continued: “I might not feel like speaking at that point but I went and told my story. All through my life, I’ve felt the call to be a pastor. I would hear the Lord telling me, but I had to be ready and I had to be obedient within that, and I just hit a moment where it was just like, you know what? This is really what I want to do.”

Mitchell shared that he relied on prayer to help him make some of the difficult decisions that came from his new calling.

“I remember I was praying really hard like I always do and I heard the Lord speak loud and clear to me like, ‘This is the time to do it,” Mitchell said. “I want you to be a youth pastor but also still continue to work in the other gift that I gave you which is also in the entertainment business ’cause I need you to be there for both and show my faith in both. And so I was like ‘yeah, I’m here for you Lord. Let’s do this.’”

Mitchell noted that he wants to use his new role to show people the light of Christ.

“It’s been miraculous to see the things that have happened within me answering that call, on both sides in my life—in my church and then also in the entertainment business where now when I go on set, I usually, I go on there, saying, ‘Who can I pray with? Why am I here? Who can I talk to about the Lord?’” Mitchell said.

Mitchell added: “Because it’s really about people seeing the God in me and not see just the character or just the person that I’m playing. It’s really seeing how I got through certain things in my life and obstacles and things of that nature. I have been in this business a long time and I feel like they should see the God in me and I would be doing people a disservice if I didn’t show them the way to the light.”

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.