Justin Bieber Reads Bible, Asks God for Help Amid London Trip Fiasco
Justin Bieber is leaning on his faith – reportedly reading scripture verses daily and praying for God to give him wisdom – after his disaster-of-a-trip to London this past week that included his "worst bday" ever, being late to a concert and upsetting fans, and fainting at another concert.
Bieber's pastor, Judah Smith of The City Church in Seattle, Wash., told Britain's The Sun, "He feels under pressure. Every eyeball is on your life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. This is the first challenge he's had in life, but it won't be the last."
Smith, 34, continued, "I give Justin encouragement. Take time to say to God, 'I'm over my head here. I need your help.' He has coping methods like turning and talking to God and practicing the ancient scriptures. We exchange scriptures every day. Justin asks, 'God if you're there, I need help. I don't know what decision to make.'"
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While in London on March 1, Bieber allegedly got kicked out of a night club because Will Smith's 14-year-old son Jaden was said to be part of his group. However, Bieber took to Instagram to set the record straight, saying, "The funny moment when people believe I brought underage people to a club..U think Will is letting his 14 year old in a club, I don't think so.."
Bieber went on to say that the club was claiming to have kicked out the teen pop star and his entourage to cover for the fact that he wanted to leave because the club was not up to his standard. The singer also said that the events of that day made it his "worst bday".
Then on March 4, Bieber angered fans by being nearly two hours late on stage at the O2 arena. He apologized Tuesday, tweeting, "last night I was scheduled after 3 opening acts to go on stage at 935 not 830 but because of some technical issues I got on at 10:10," he writes. "I was 30 mins late to stage. There is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was a great show and Im proud of that."
And finally Bieber collapsed backstage at his March 7 concert at London's O2 arena after complaining of breathing problems. He received oxygen from emergency personnel and finished the show, then headed to the hospital.
The embattled pops star tweeted March 6, "but know this …I'm only judged by one power, and I serve him."
Bieber's pastor, Judah Smith, in late February appeared on Fox News to discuss his latest book Jesus Is: Find a New Way to Be Human and spoke of his relationship with the young star, who was introduced to Smith by Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette.
When asked how the evangelical pastor counsels a celebrity like Bieber, the pastor responded:
"I tend to think certainly Justin has a lot of opportunity and temptation, but frankly I think in the 21st century, we probably all do. I would encourage him like I would encourage most of our church in Seattle in terms of being like Jesus and asking the all-important question – what would Jesus do? Justin makes fantastic decisions in his life," said Smith.
"I do my best to encourage him, and he's a spectacular young man," Smith said earlier in the interview.
Bieber had recommended Smith's latest book to his 6.8 million Instagram followers.
