October 2011 Newsletter
Dear HPN Pray-ers,We had a great month in September and look forward to another wonderful month coming up. God is so faithful and He has been doing exciting things in our industry and especially in our community. We want to focus on praising Him this month. Let’s pray!
SUMMARY:
• We praise God for an amazing collaborative Friend/Fund Raising evening
• Praise God for Robert Downey Jr. asking his peers to forgive Mel Gibson
• Keep praying for Justin Bieber and his mom Pattie as they tour South America
• Pray for Laurene Powell Jobs and her four children, after the loss of Steve Jobs
• Pray for Gerard Butler as Sam Childers in "MACHINE GUN PREACHER"
• Pray for Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O’Donnell as they start their new TV ventures
• Pray for the people at the film studios who don’t have an ethical or moral compass
• Pray for the growing interest in Hollywood for "inspirational” films
• Let’s pray for our kids who mass consume all forms of entertainment
• Pray for the growth and eternal effectiveness of the new 24/7 Prayer Room
• Pray for Seth, who is starting a church for people in Adult entertainment
• "The Lord has really put Britney Spears on my heart lately. Please pray for her.”
PRAISES:
• On Thurs., Oct. 6th we had the most miraculous gathering of Christian media professionals and entertainment ministry supporters. This was a collaborative Friend and Fund Raising effort to unify and grow the entertainment ministries, build vision for what God is doing in Hollywood, and raise funds for our non-profit efforts. We PRAISE GOD for that evening. It was full of miracles, amazing stories, tears, new friendships, renewed vision and great hope for the future. Our fabulous emcee, Phil Cooke, wrote an article about the evening and the next day it was picked up by Charisma News. Click HERE to hear his thoughts on the wonderful event.
• Praise God for forgiveness. A beautiful thing happened last night at the American Cinematheque Awards that we have to praise God for. Robert Downey Jr. was honored last night at the 25th annual awards and he asked Mel Gibson to present the award. He said, “When I couldn’t get sober, Mel told me not to give up hope and encouraged me to find my faith…” Then he ended with: “…I would ask that you join me, unless you are completely without sin…, in forgiving my friend his trespasses and offering him the same clean slate you have me..” Let’s start by forgiving both Mel and Robert for any poor choices they’ve made through the years and then pray that the forgiveness Robert asked for Mel from his peers, would make an eternal difference in both of their lives, in the lives of the industry professionals, and with the public. This is an exciting public moment in our mission field! Forgiveness is a powerful thing! For the full story click HERE.
UPDATES:
• Keep praying for Justin Bieber and his mom Pattie as they tour South America this month. And a new book by award-winning author David Buckna explores Justin’s faith as he tours as the world’s most popular teenager. It’s called “Belieber! Fame, Faith and the Heart of Justin Bieber” For more information click HERE.
REQUESTS:
• Pray for Laurene Powell Jobs and her four children, after the loss of her husband, the world's media iCon, Steve Jobs, at the age of 56. It’s such a reminder that a man can have everything the world has to offer and that still doesn’t guarantee any kind of shield or protection from disease or death. Please pray that the rest of his family moves away from Steve’s practice of Zen Buddhism to find the truth of Jesus for their lives. For more information on his religious beliefs click HERE.
• Pray for Gerard Butler whose character, Sam Childers, experienced a conversion experience in "MACHINE GUN PREACHER" - The film is the true story of Childers, an ex-con, drug addict who was in & out of jail until he got saved. Film shows him receiving Jesus in church & getting baptized. Then portrays the ripple of effect of other lives being transformed. The film is rated ‘R’ for violence but it captures a powerful story of redemption and hope. For more info. click HERE.
• Pray for Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O’Donnell as they start their new TV ventures. Oprah just launched her new OWN network and her two new talk shows are Rosie O’Donnell’s daily show, The Rosie Show and Oprah’s weekly 8pm show, Oprah’s Lifeclass. Both of these women have tremendous influence on our culture. May the Lord touch their hearts so that they will exude His truths, His love and His world view. For more info on OWN, click HERE.
• Please pray for the hearts of the people at the film studios who don’t have an ethical or moral compass. Most people have no idea how they’re hurting others with their immoral practices. As you pray, don’t settle for being angry over the injustices, but seek to understand that our mission field is full of spiritually and emotional broken people who don’t know the Lord and therefore have no moral foundation. Many are desperate, scared and insecure which results in lies, illicit behavior and unethical decisions. An article just came out claiming that the Warner Bros. accounting office announced that through “Insane Studio Accounting: Warner Bros Claims $167 Million Loss Over Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".
• Pray for the growing interest in Hollywood for "inspirational” or “faith-based" films. An Oct. 2nd LA Times article entitled "Hollywood shines a light on the spiritual" discusses the growing number of films that are coming out with themes of faith in them. Maybe this is just a phase or maybe it's a trend, but regardless, let's pray for the Studio Executives to see the benefit of producing films that are "excellent in their craft, and have depth of spirit." Some films mentioned in the article are: "Soul Surfer," "Seven Days in Utopia," "Higher Ground," "Machine Gun Preacher," The Blind Side," and "The Way." May the professionals' hearts be touched as they work on these films and may watching them inspire the audience.
• Let’s pray for the kids in our country, who mass consume films, TV shows, music, video games and YouTube. They don’t understand how it all impacts their world view. Let’s encourage young people to pray for the people they love to watch or listen to in entertainment. You can even encourage them to pray for the top performers in their world each month through our HPN KIDS and TEEN Prayer Calendars. To download a new calendar each month, click HERE.
• Pray with us for the growth and eternal effectiveness of the new 24/7 Prayer Room called Radiance International, set right in the heart of Hollywood, just down the street from HPN! Right on the corner of Sunset and Gower, Radiance offers round the clock prayer and worship for the people, the property, the projects and the profound impact of Hollywood. Let’s also pray for it’s leader, Jonathan Ngai, as he works with other Hollywood leaders to offer his place as a place of refuge, healing, encouragement and prayer. For more information click HERE.
REQUESTS FROM HPN MEMBERS:
• Please pray for Seth, who is starting a church for people who work in the adult entertainment industry. May the Lord give him wisdom, favor and impact on the porn industry and all the people in it, through his love for Jesus and his church in the midst of the darkness. May they find freedom from their bondage, because hearing the truth will set them free!
• "The Lord has really put Britney Spears on my heart lately, and I would like to request that we pray for her this month. Her life seems to be pretty stable right now compared to the last few years, but things are not always the same on the inside as they appear to be on the outside. My heart has really been breaking for her these past few days, so I took some time to look at some of her interviews from 2001 through 2011. I was struck by the contrast between what a beautiful, sweet, innocent and promising young girl she was when she was starting out compared to the brokenhearted, hurting young woman with a prematurely aged spirit she has become. When her career began, she was an open hearted girl with a big dream who wanted to succeed on the outside, but who, deep down, really only wanted to be loved: deeply, unconditionally, and eternally.” Mary
UPCOMING EVENTS:• To find out about all other events in our community, click HERE.
Thanks so much for praying with us this month. Be sure to tell your friends to join us at www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org. And if you want to be a prayer partner, we would love to have you join us at: http://www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org/new/I-to-I
Warmly,
Karen and Caren
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TIP OF THE MONTH:
How can we pray the way Jesus prayed? http://christianity.about.com/od/topicaldevotions/a/turningpointpra.htm?nl=1
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
“I will have nothing to do with a God who cares only occasionally. I need a God who is with us always, everywhere, in the deepest depths as well as the highest heights. It is when things go wrong, when good things do not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost, that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering wings when things go smoothly. We are closest to God in the darkness, stumbling along blindly.” ~Madeleine L'Engle
VERSE OF THE MONTH:
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one.’” Matthew 6:9-13
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