August 2011 Newsletter
Dear HPN members,
HAPPY END OF SUMMER! It’s already time for students’ return to school and for the new TV season to begin. During our 10th year anniversary let’s end August with prayers for the entertainment community and the new Fall TV season.
SUMMARY:
• We praise God for our Jewish friend, Earl who embraced his Messiah last month• We praise God for Burt Swardstrom, who passed away last month
• Pray for the people involved in the 42nd annual Comic Con
• Keep praying for Justin Bieber as he and his mom make decisions on giving
• Please keep praying for all of the people involved in the summer movies
• Pray for the family members of Amy Winehouse, English singer/songwriter
• Pray for HPN’s friend Sherri Shepherd as she looks to her upcoming wedding
• Let’s pray for the Christians working in Hollywood
• Let’s pray for the Christians working in Hollywood
• Pray for the Jewish community in Hollywood
• Cassandra has asked for us to pray for her as she gets into production
• “I pray for the HPN staff, that you would be very aware the spiritual warfare…”
• “My daughter, a producer in Hollywood, just got nominated for an Emmy…”
• Could you do us a favor and show your support for HPN on a ministry link…
• Thursday, Sept. 8th is HPN’s Quarterly Prayer and Praise night
• HPN is one of three ministries involved in a collaborative fund/friend raiser
PRAISES:
• We praise God for lovingly leading our Jewish friend, dancer/choreographer Earl to embrace his Messiah!!! Earl has been prayed for by many friends and family members and in God’s perfect timing, he became a Messianic Jew last month. We are sooooo excited and thankful, and he is very happy!
• We praise God for Burt Swardstrom, who passed away last month after a long and fruitful life. He was a wonderful, faithful prayer warrior in our Christian entertainment community. As a retired Pastor, he became head of prayer for MasterMedia Intl. and then spent the last couple of years leading prayer groups for the people in our creative and business entertainment community. We will miss Burt very much but we know that his life and prayers made an eternal difference in all of our lives and in our industry.
UPDATE:• The world’s largest entertainment convention, Comic Con, just completed it’s 42nd annual gathering (July 21 – 14, 2011) at the San Diego Convention Center where over 125,000 attendees come together to celebrate comic books, pop culture, graphic novels and current blockbuster movies based on comic books. It’s the most popular event of the year for filmmakers and audiences alike and we want to keep praying for God’s hand on the people who create, market and support today’s pop culture. For more info on Comic Con visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Comic-Con_International
• Keep praying for Justin Bieber as he and his mom make decisions on their generous giving. One thing he supports is the Save the Children fund that aims to help people in East Africa and Somalia that are in danger from famine. We ask the Lord to continue to use his generosity to make an eternal difference in the world and to encourage his fans to help others as well. For more thoughts from Pattie, click HERE.
REQUESTS:
• It’s the end of the summer blockbuster movie releases and the final four films are battling for box office numbers. Please keep praying for all of the people involved in the summer movies – for their relationships, their personal choices, and that the Lord will open their eyes to their moral and ethical decisions and their belief in Him. As we are called to go to all ends of the earth to share the truth of Jesus, let’s pray for those whose careers impact all ends of the earth. For info on the August films, click HERE.
• Please pray for the family members of Amy Winehouse, English singer/songwriter. Amy’s problems with drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and her self-destructive behaviors were regular tabloid news from 2007 until her death on July 23re, at the age of 27. The cause of her death is “yet unexplained.” Amy is only one in the list of musicians who died of either suicide or unknown causes at the age of 27. That’s why we need to be praying for the salvation of entertainment celebrities, because more often than not, celebrity is a curse, not a blessing. HPN believes that only God was meant to get glory, attention, fame and power, which is why most “men” cannot handle it. Learn more about an organization giving attention to this pattern of early death, “The 27 Club”, click HERE.
• Pray for HPN’s friend Sherri Shepherd in her upcoming wedding to television writer Lamar Sally in this month. Sherri is known as one of the co-hosts of The View, but she’s known in the Christian community as a committed believer who stands firm in her faith, despite any ridicule or challenge. Let’s pray for Sherri and Lamar as they commit their lives to one another, to the Lord, and to her 6-year-old son, Jeffrey. May they be shining lights in our industry! To get to know more about Sherri click HERE.
• Let’s pray for Christians working in Hollywood and for the Lord to strengthen their walk with Him, for His Holy Spirit to make them salt and light in the work place and for their stories to be sold and made into quality films, TV shows, songs, video games, news pieces, etc. And let’s pray for the Christian audience to be slow to judge and quick to pray for these professionals to be encouraged to seek God on their vocational and spiritual journeys. It’s a hard place to live and work here and we need all the prayer and encouragement we can get! Click HERE to read about a new film coming out and how we may respond.
• HPN has found a growing desire among Christians to pray for the Jewish community in Hollywood and for Jews in Hollywood to seek after their Messiah. The industry was begun by immigrant Jews and currently about 80% of entertainment decision-makers are Jewish. However, many of them don’t even believe in God. Let’s pray for the wonderful, creative Jews in our industry to discover how much their Creator loves them and that He has a beautiful plan for them through knowing His Son, their Messiah! Two great books of stories about how some Jewish people have found God, read: “Betrayed” by Stan Telchin and “They Thought for Themselves: Ten Amazing Jews” by Sid Roth. As you pray, remember “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom.”
REQUESTS FROM HPN MEMBERS:
• Atlanta Local Chapter Director, Cassandra, is a filmmaker and she has asked for us to pray for her as she gets into production on her new film, “A Praying Grandmother: The Helen Baylor Story,” a biopic film about Gospel singer Helen Baylor. Let’s ask the Lord to give Cassandra wisdom, strength, a great team, her needed financing and perseverance as she jumps into this huge project. For more info, check out: www.holyhillproductions.com
• “I pray for the HPN staff, that you would be very aware the spiritual warfare in film and television is huge, because of the obvious global influence.” Stephen
• “My daughter, a producer in Hollywood, just got nominated for an Emmy! Please pray for her, that the Holy Spirit would intercede and she would give her life to Jesus Christ - so God can do a work in her and through her to glorify His name with the gifts He has given her.” Anne
• Could you do us a favor and show your support for HPN on a ministry link called Giving of Life. They want to help non-profits get more exposure for their ministry by having the registered ministries qualify for a grant that they give through getting VOTES on-line on their site. The more votes, the closer we are to qualifying for their grant. Wild huh? Well, it's legit. So, if you're interested, here's all you do: Click on the site here and then go down to the bottom of our page and VOTE! Thanks so much. Let's see how we do: http://givingoflife.com/browse/hollywood_prayer_network/
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• Thursday, Sept. 8th is HPN’s Quarterly Prayer and Praise night. This night isfocused on INDUSTRY FAMILIES. If you are part of a family with an industry professional of any age in the family, then come pray with us and be prayed for by our prayer team. If you have a heart for young professionals or industry families, then please come to pray, and if you just want to praise God and prayer quietly then come as well. We want the evening to be a joyous time of prayer and praise for all the industry families who want to be encouraged by others in the Christian community in Hollywood. For more information click HERE.
• HPN is one of three ministries involved in a collaborative fund/friend raiser in October. Would you join us in praying that the Lord will use it to expand our vision, build our team of volunteers and donors, and that it will bring more strength and unity into our community.
• For other upcoming events click HERE for the list.
Thanks so much for praying for 10 years! Have a great end of your summer and know that we appreciate you!!
Warmly,
Karen and Caren
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TIP OF THE MONTH:
How can you have more influence in your workplace? Click HERE.
VOTE on our HPN Twitter or Facebook pages and tell us which quote you like best this month!
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"In a way humans are not made of skin and bone as much as we're made of
stories." Sue Monk Kidd
or
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
Have you seen the bumper sticker "Honk if you love Jesus. Text if you want to meet him"? Anonymous
Twitter - Retweet the quote you like the best.
Facebook - Like whichever quote you choose.
VERSE OF THE MONTH:
“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” I Corinthians 1:21-25
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