The Salty Peanut Gallery

The Hollywood Prayer Network has celebrity train wreck, Britney Spears, at the top of their prayer list these days. With chapters in 16 U.S. cities and eight different countries, HPN is a group of more than 5,000 Christians that have committed themselves to praying for Hollywood stars. Their prayer list at times has included such notable personalities as Paris Hilton, Robert Downey Jr., Robin Williams and many other A-list celebrities.

Robert Johnston, a professor of theology and culture at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena explains, “The prayer network is the equivalent, and perhaps more important, than praying for our president… Just as churches have traditionally prayed for leaders, now we recognize that one of our primary sources of leadership is the entertainment industry.” HPN founder, Karen Covell tells people, “If you’re angry at a TV show or you’re switching channels because of content, stop and pray for the people on the show… If you really believe in God and you believe God has a transforming power, then leave it up to him.”

Not everyone appreciates their efforts, though. Celebrity publicist Michael Levine explains, “This kind of attitude comes off as very sanctimonious and a bit creepy, frankly.” Hollywood insiders agree that most stars aren’t much interested in being prayed for.

In some respects I’d have to agree with Levine on the “creepy” aspects of the whole thing. First off, the idea that the Hollywood crowd is “one of our primary sources of leadership” is not only a scary thought, but also represents what is for my money a gross misinterpretation of scripture. Beyond that I can’t help wondering how much of this Hollywood prayer is just another form of Hollywood fan worship. I have to tell you, if somebody were to pull me aside at church and say, “I really have a heart for Jennifer Aniston,” I’d find that pretty creepy. My initial response would be, “Ya, I’ll bet you do.”

But the biggest problem I have has to do with what I would consider to be one of the worst misconceptions that believers have today when it comes to prayer. In Matthew 6:9-10 Jesus says, “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” You see, many people believe that prayer is about getting a hold of God’s heart in order to get our prayers answered. But that’s not it at all.

Affective prayer is all about surrendering our hearts to the will of God. Do we really believe that the sovereign Lord of the universe needs our prayers in order for His will be accomplished? Of course not. God has already stated in His word that His plans and purposes will be accomplished. “Indeed,” He says, “I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass” - Isaiah 46:11. The question then lies in whether or not we as believers are going to be willing to humble ourselves under His mighty hand (1 Peter 5:6-7). “Your kingdom come” is merely our acknowledgment of God’s will in our lives.

HPN believes that Hollywood is a powerful industry that may be the best vehicle for reaching our cultural and bringing revival. Again, this represents flawed thinking. God doesn’t need Britney or Jennifer or Robin on His team in order to affectively engage the culture. He is perfectly capable of accomplishing His Kingdom work without their help. The last time I checked Jesus Christ is still the hope of salvation for the world.

So should we prayer for celebrities? You’d better believe it. But not for the reasons HPN is endorsing. Britney Spears needs our prayers because her life is a shambles. We pray for Britney for the same reason we would pray for our next door neighbor, or a co-worker, or relative. They need Jesus.

For some time now my good friend, Byron, over at the No Kool Aid Zone has maintained that legalizing gay marriage is a slippery slope “to the eventual dissolution of marriage as we know it.” His point is this: “Once you change the definition of marriage from one-man/one-woman (which has loads and loads of moral, historical, and legal precedent) to something else, you’ve basically opened the door to all sorts of other arrangements.” What logical, ethical or moral argument could be made to prohibit, for instance, marriage between say a man and three wives, a woman and five husbands, four women and seven men, or possibly even…a man and his dog.

That’s right, you heard me. A New Delhi newspaper reported Tuesday that a man in southern India married a female dog in an attempt to circumvent physical maladies believed to be caused by a curse. The man claims that for the past fifteen years he has suffered with paralysis in his hands and legs and a partial loss of hearing, this after stoning two dogs to death and hanging their bodies from a tree (shades of Michael Vick).

Suddenly, Byron’s argument starts to look just a little bit more plausible, doesn’t it? Could this possibly be coming to a marriage chapel near you?

This was a subject of great discussion in a recent youth Sunday school class at my church. Historically the issue of election has been one of immense controversy. The problem lies in the fact that we want to believe we are captain of our own destiny. We are sentient, discerning beings capable of determining the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. It’s only fair that we be allowed to choose between salvation or destruction, right? How could a righteous and loving God choose some for heaven and others for hell?

John MacArthur has a great explanation on the subject Is the Doctrine of Election Biblical?

There are two undeniable truths that we must come to grips with when it comes to election. The first has to do with fairness. You see if it’s fairness you want, then we should all go to hell. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. For the wages of sin is death” – Romans 3:23; 6:23. It isn’t fair that any of us should be allowed to go to heaven. We’re all sinners deserving of hell.

The second undeniable truth has to do with choice. The fact is we have a choice. We may choose in what fashion we will sin against God, but according to scripture we do not have it within ourselves to choose righteousness. “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God” – Romans 3:10. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” - 1 Corinthians 2:14. So see we do have a choice. Unfortunately God’s Word expressly tells us that when given the opportunity we will not naturally choose to receive Christ. We will always choose to reject Him. Why? Because we are sinners. That’s what sinners do. That is our nature. Therefore, salvation is solely and completely a product of God’s divine mercy.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND that we should walk in them” – Ephesians 2:4-10.

For years people in my denomination have been compelled to sugarcoat election fearing the controversy that it may cause. No one said understanding election was easy; however, we need not fear the truth. Jesus said, “…the truth shall set you free” – John 8:32. I say embrace the truth and praise the God from whom all blessings flow.

Nineteenth century American essayist and novelist Charles Dudley Warner once wrote, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” That axiom was never more true then it was today at the National Press Club in Washington when televangelist Pat Robertson made a surprise endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination to the White House. This comes on the heals of threats by Dr. James Dobson and a social conservative coalition that they would not support the Republican Party if a pro-choice presidential candidate like Giuliani is selected.

Robertson states that Giuliani is “a proven leader”, citing his success in reducing violent crime and administrating the City of New York during crisis. “To me, the overriding issue before the American people is the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists.” He also states that he would set aside their differences over abortion in light of promises by Giuliani to appoint strict constructionist judges.

So what are we really saying here? Is it really more important to set aside your conservative core beliefs in support of a candidate because he appears to be the lesser of two evils? Are we really saying that it’s more important to do what ever it takes to keep Mrs. Clinton out of the White House even if it means voting for someone that clearly does not share your values on the most important social issues of our day?

I believe Christians need to be very careful how they approach the coming presidential election. First of all, we need to be very prayerful. We need to pray that God will bring a candidate to the forefront that believers can support without violating our consciences. But second, and I believe this is critical, believers need to be more interested in honoring the Lord with our vote rather than a political party. I will not allow anyone to browbeat me into making a choice simply to prevent a more undesirable outcome. Now more than ever, believers need to vote their consciences and let the chips fall where they may. Because when it’s all said and done God is still on the throne, and His purposes will be accomplished with or without our help.

Isaiah 46:9-11
Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, “My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,”
Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.

In the ancient Greek culture heresy referred to any particular party, school or sect. For the Greek in his quest for knowledge this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But for the early church Christian, when someone decided to set up his own personal opinions over sound Bible teaching, this became problematic. From a biblical perspective a heretic is someone who has made his own ideas the standard for truth. Put simply a heretic is a man who has decided that he is right and everyone else is wrong.

Now fast forward to 2007. Recently a jury ruled against the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, ordering them to pay $10.9 million dollars in damages to Albert Snyder, the father of fallen Marine Lance Corporal Matt Snyder. Mr. Snyder had filed a law suit against the church for picketing his son’s 2006 funeral. Apparently these church members routinely jet across the country picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers. They believe the deaths in the war in Iraq are punishment for “doomed” America’s tolerance of homosexuality. The congregation along with their pastor, Fred Phelps, and his two daughters, attorney Margie J. Phelps, and church spokesperson, Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, were found liable for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Can I get a booyah?!

I once had the joy of corresponding with the Phelps girls after viewing a Westboro music video on their website GodHatesFags.com entitled “God Hates the World” (to the tune of “We Are the World”). I have to admit that it was probably a rather foolish thing for me to do, but I just couldn’t help myself. I sent the good folks at Westboro a message explaining to them just why I believe their video amounts to religious extremism in the hopes that God would be merciful and give them wisdom to be able to see things more clearly. Within a matter of hours I got a response from both Phelps daughters. Shirley was of course the most verbose beginning with “Dear lying false prophet” and ending with “keep you[r] vast, rotting pizza chute SHUT!” Thank you very much.

On the day of the jury verdict, Canadian news report, Mary Vallis, of the National Post interviewed Shirley Phelps-Roper about her controversial church. The entire National Post interview is available on Podcast. During the interview Shirley had a number of fairly outrages things to say that demonstrate the extent of their twisted theology.

Commenting on the vast attention this story has gotten “on Google around the world,” Shirley attributes their publicity to the Lord God opening up what she calls “doors of utterance.” This phrase is taken from Colossians 4:3-4 where the Apostle Paul requests prayer that God would open “a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” The “door of utterance” to which Paul was referring, however, was for opportunities to spread the message of the salvation, not the message of hate.

Shirley continues, “I used to read in the book of Acts where…Paul would say, ‘Our faith is spoken of throughout the whole earth.’ …And now I understand it perfectly, because like them our faith is spoken of throughout the whole earth.”

Okay, first of all, Paul didn’t say it in the Book of Acts. Paul said it in the book of Romans. And he wasn’t referring to himself. He was referring to the faith of the believers in Rome. Be that as it may, do the folks at Westboro really believe that people all over the world are talking about their faith? I don’t think so. Hate, religious extremism, complete and utter lunacy maybe, but definitely no faith.

Shirley also claims that her group, like the early church Christians, has “turned the world upside.” “We’ve been sent, the scripture says, to fray them. We bind them with…chains and fetters of iron.” In Acts 17 Paul and Silas were accused of turning the world upside because of the transforming power of the gospel. And in Psalm 149 the psalmist describes the authority granted by God to the nation of Israel to “execute vengeance” on her enemies, “To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;” Again, neither of these references have anything to do with what this church is doing.

But their most egregious assertions have to do with why it is they are emboldened to demonstrate at military funerals. Shirley explains, “Don’t teach your children lies. Don’t teach them that God is a liar. And don’t teach them rebellion against their God, because the promise from your faithful God is that when you do that you can bring those children up and I will bereave you of them. I will dash your children to pieces before your eyes. Now do you know what an IED does?”

Again more scripture taken out of context. References to bereaving them of children and dashing their children to pieces before their eyes come from Old Testament prophecies of God’s judgment on Israel (Jeremiah 15:7; 18:21) and Babylon (Isaiah 15:16). Both sets of prophecies deal with specific events in Israel’s history and have zero application to today. The implication that IEDs killing America’s children is somehow a fulfillment of these prophesies in my mind is beyond the pale.

Shirley claims there are seventy-two people that attend this tiny church located in the middle of America’s heartland. If it weren’t for the publicity that this little group has generated they would hardly be worth the acknowledgment. However, in Titus 3:10 Paul gives a stern warning against heretics, advising that these contentious, divisive individuals should be avoided. Without question Paul is saying that we should avoid personal association. But I would argue the importance of avoiding positional association as well. I am a follower of Jesus Christ, but I in no way want to be associated with this group of people that persists in giving Christians a bad name. Fred Phelps and his congregation are heretics and according to God’s Word they are to be avoided both personally, and I believe positionally.