Los Angeles County Edition Vol. 23, No. 9 SeptemberSe 2012 www.christianexaminer.com Robert Tyler Elections Events Defending religious 11 ballot measures Promise Keepers CEO FREE liberty preserves right face California vows to light fi re among to spread the Gospel voters in November So. California men page 4 page 6 page 5 Biola University joins American Idol misses out federal suit over abortion Moriah Peters sings for a Higher Power health insurance mandate By Patti Townley-Covert LA MIRADA — In the ongoing main free to operate according to battle against Obama’s new health their deeply-held beliefs. Punishing hen Moriah Peters’ mandate, two evangelical col- religious people and organizations mom suggested her leges—Biola University and Grace for freely exercising their faith is an Wdaughter audition for College and Seminary in Indiana— assault on our most fundamental American Idol in 2010, the high have fi led a federal lawsuit against American freedoms,” said Alliance school senior hesitated. She’d the Obama administration. Defending Freedom Senior Coun- done enough modeling to know The lawsuit is the latest to chal- sel Gregory S. Baylor. that the Los Angeles entertain- lenge the administration’s uncon- Baylor said that religious employ- ment scene can be very dark. stitutional mandate that faith-based ers have no real choice: you must However, her mom was so employers provide insurance cover- either comply and abandon your convinced of God’s leading that age for abortion-inducing drugs at religious freedom and conscience, she persuaded Peters to begin a no cost to employees regardless of or resist and be taxed for your fi ve-month interview process to religious or moral objections. be on the show. Peters said she “Christian colleges should re- See LAWSUIT, page 2 spoke openly about her faith, and no one complained—until she performed for the celebrity judges. Though they loved her soulful voice and look, they said Full Harvest she needed to go make mistakes, feel sexy and experience life. Peters said she knew God had Annual crusade at Angel Stadium closed that door and had a big- ger plan, but she didn’t feel like it. reaps life-changing, spiritual results She’d wasted important time that By Rick Albee with 4,288 coming forward and might have been better used study- making commitments to follow Je- ing for fi nals. ANAHEIM — Near-capacity sus Christ as their Lord and Savior Since her freshman year at crowds fi lled Angel Stadium Aug. during the Saturday opener. Don Lugo High School in Chi- 25 and 26 and the only pitch they The thunder of the amps warm- no, Peters said she’d had a plan. heard was about Jesus. ing gave a pre-crusade anticipation “My plan was to get a scholar- With the Angeles baseball team to the thousands anxiously waiting ship at a University of California, on the road in Detroit, Harvest in the parking lot—which had been go on to law school and become Crusade brought its annual event full for hours—for the gates to be an entertainment lawyer.” to the venue, but this year the evan- opened. The Harvest Praise Band That way, the honors student gelistic outreach widened its reach welcomed people as they fl ooded fi gured she could stay involved beyond the concrete confi nes of into the stadium two hours before with her hidden dream: music. the stadium with its Aug. 26 Har- the crusade’s start. But God had a different plan, vest America, aimed at reaching a David Crowder took the stage Peters said, with a sparkle in her quarter-of-a-million people simulta- next, giving permission for the au- voice. While leaving her last audi- neously hearing the gospel. dience to use their outside voices tion with American Idol, a strang- The day before, however, the to sing along. Crowder, in his sig- er approached. After hearing her event kicked off with Harvest Cru- nature beard, cap and boots, drew sing and express her convictions, sade’s signature outreach. In a sta- from his experience of being able he said he wanted to introduce dium with a capacity of just over her to singer/songwriter Wendi 45,000, more than 41,000 attended, See HARVEST, page 10 Foy. That connection took Peters to Nashville where she recorded three demos. Foy warned Peters not to get her hopes up. As a result, Peters said she came home and prayed that if it were God’s will, He’d open the doors. Knowing that most singers don’t get signed, Peters realized PHOTO BY JENA COOPER/JLYNDELPHOTOGRAPHY that only God could make her The celebrity judges on American Idol loved Moriah Peters’ soulful voice dream a reality. She let go of the and look, but they didn’t vote for her to continue on the show because she outcome and planned to take ad- needed to ‘go make mistakes and experience life.’ But her audition opened vantage of her scholarship to Cali- the door for a Christian recording contract. fornia State University, Fullerton. A week later, Foy called. Five cal values and morals. But early God. In the midst of her angst labels wanted to meet Peters. in her senior year, she went she asked, “God, are you even With offers from all of them, she through “a dry and doubtful real? Because this doesn’t make chose Provident Label Group. period” when she questioned sense to me.” That very moment, They recently released her fi rst the existence of God and every- she knew He was. album, “I Choose Jesus.” thing she’d been raised to be- “I knew that if God is not real, She also chose her education, en- lieve. When people asked her to nothing matters. But if He is real, rolling at Grand Canyon University defend her faith, she couldn’t nothing else matters,” she said. where she can do her marketing classes explain the origins of the Earth Though not everything made online while pursing her music. or historical evidence for the ex- sense, Peters chose to believe istence of Jesus Christ. because she was convinced un- PHOTO COURTESY OF HARVEST CRUSADE Choosing Christ One night, while outside look- derstanding would come as the A near-capacity crowd responds to one of many memorable moments during the With Christian parents, Peters ing up at the stars, Peters said she Aug. 25 Harvest Crusade at Angel Stadium. said she was raised with bibli- had an honest conversation with See MORIAH PETERS, page 10 For information about advertising, subscriptions, or bulk delivery, please call 1-800-326-0795 2 • CHRISTIAN EXAMINER • September 2012 LA www.christianexaminer.com Movie promoter launches project to re-engage church with the arts By Lori Arnold the arts,” Bock said. “We need to can only be the Christian commu- on the History Channel. Other get back to a place like that. The nity that made it a hit.” planned projects involve Stephen HOLLYWOOD — Since starting defi nition of a patron of the arts “We target Bible-based projects, Spielberg with a proposed epic on his faith-based Hollywood public re- has changed pretty substantially things that are rooted, absolutely, Moses, and Will Smith is consider- lations fi rm a dozen years ago, Jon- since the Renaissance. It used to be in the Bible, where the only people ing a movie on Cain and Able. athan Bock and his team at Grace if you were a patron of the arts you who would make this a big, huge hit “I think they are a lot more recep- Hill Media have often bridged the were a rich guy in tights with a coin are people who are believers in the tive,” Bock said of Hollywood. “In the gap between the increasingly edgy purse. Now, the patron is the ticket- Bible,” he said. past 12 years I have personally seen movie industry and a skeptical buying customer, the consumer. the Christian community go from Christian community. They wield a lot of infl uence— not Chasing momentum near-pariah status within Hollywood “We have a tendency to stand individually (because), if I buy one Their fi rst project to promote is to a place where we are now absolutely there with our arms crossed waiting ticket it makes little difference, but “The American Bible Challenge,” a seen as a potential audience, as a real to be offended,” Bock said of the as a community you can have a tre- new game show on the GSN chan- audience worth going after. Christian community. mendous amount of infl uence over nel, formerly known as the Game “That’s a terrifi c thing, to go The marketing guru, who worked the projects that are made into the Show Network. Bock said if Chris- from enmity to being viewed as a for Warner Bros. before launching future. tians rally around the show and it real, potential customer. I’ll take Grace Hill, said he’s hoping to im- Jonathan Bock, owner of Grace Hill “This relationship worked well becomes a major hit, Hollywood that, in a 10-year-time span, any day prove the relationship between the Media, has launched As1, a new like this for hundreds and hun- is more likely to produce similar of the week. That’s a huge step in two communities through As1, a initiative to re-engage Christians into dreds of years. Why would we not shows. Its Aug. 23 debut was the the right direction.” the creative process in Hollywood. new campaign to re-engage Chris- want to get back to a place like that largest No.