Category Archives: Celebrity Interviews

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Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, T.I. & Scrapp Deleon Bail Out 23 Non-Violent Offenders From Jail in Time for Easter Sunday!

Hello World,

How was your Easter Sunday?! Mine was lovely. After a wonderful Easter service at my church, my husband and I were blessed to spend time with family and friends. Since my parents live pretty close to my in-laws, it was easy to see a good number of people that I don’t get to see every day in one day. In addition to having a soul-saving relationship with God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, I’m so thankful that God has blessed me to have a close-knit family and great friends.

Apparently, I was not the only one who was able to reunite with family and friends on Easter Sunday. Through New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s Bail Out Program, $120,000 was raised with the help of rapper T.I. and VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop” personality Scrapp Deleon to bail out 23 non-violent offenders from metro Atlanta jails (DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale County Jails) on Saturday, April 20 in time to celebrate Easter Sunday with family and friends, according to Fox 5.

On the bus ride home from jail, one man said, “I aine never had nobody help me or do nothin’ for me. I’ve been on my own since I was 13. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done by myself so for y’all people to just come out and bless me like this. I really feel, like, very grateful, very thankful for everything. I’m trying to be, whatever y’all need me to do, whatever y’all need me to help with, I’m there. Just say the word. I’m just very blessed. I’m very thankful.”

Also, church volunteers greeted the men and women with a Welcome Home Party. Barbers, beauticians and celebrity makeup artists  in addition to clothing were on site to get the men and women looking right before they were reunited with their families and loved ones. One man at the party said 30 minutes after he prayed about getting out of jail, he was told about the Bail Out Program at midnight! “12 o’clock at night, the guard knocked on my door and handed me the Bail Out Program. Like it was just crazy.” How many of y’all know that when no one else is up at the midnight hour, you can call up Jesus who hears and answers prayers! That reminds me of what happened with Paul and Silas when they were jail. They were freed at midnight as well!

At the party, Pastor Bryant announced that ALL of the children of the men and women who were released from jail will have college fund accounts at Citizens Trust Bank courtesy of the church. “We want to make sure that we disrupt a culture of recidivism so they do not go back into the system as in previous generations.” Additionally, mentors will work with the men and women.

See for yourselves what happened in the video below:

That is what the resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about – resurrecting new lives.

Any thoughts?

 

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T.D. Jakes, Marquis Boone Launch Singing Competition Reality Show, Pace Sisters Clapback at Tamar Braxton & More Gospel Music News…

Hello World,

Six gospel artists will have the chance to become a gospel music star on a new reality program called The Gospel! The Gospel chronicles 10 days with eight episodes as contestants compete for a national management contract with T.D. Jakes’ Dexterity Sounds and Marquis Boone Music Group. The first of its kind for Gospel music, the winner of this Christian music competition will be announced with the opportunity to perform at the International Pastors & Leadership Conference in Tampa Bay on April 25.

The show is executive produced by T.D. Jakes and Marquis Boone and hosted by Darlene McCoy. The Gospel will serve as a platform for up-and-coming gospel artists while inspiring viewers through their faith-filled musical performances. Not only will artists discover stardom, but also experience the hustle and drive necessary to rise in the entertainment industry. The program will air beginning March 10 (TODAY) exclusively on the Bishop’s Village, T.D. Jakes’ online streaming platform with behind the scene videos, messages and content. Visit bishopsvillage.com to subscribe, stream, and vote.

Contestants were discovered via video recordings submitted on social media and through the Bishop’s Village platform. Mentors, including Micah Stampley, Jekalyn Carr, Q Parker, Devyne Stephens and more, will help mold them into polished performers. Each week, viewers subscribed to Bishop’s Village will have the chance to vote and select the winner of the artists’ weekly challenge. In the end, T.D. Jakes and Marquis Boone will select the winner of a national management contract.

The 2019 International Pastors & Leadership Conference is April 25—27, 2019, at the Tampa Convention Center. At the conference, Jakes will also be unveiling his latest book, Crushing: God Turns Pressure into Power.

Visit PastorsAndLeaders.org for more information on confirmed speakers, talent, the full schedule and special event updates. Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by following @IPLExcel.

In other negative gospel music news, Tamar Braxton, without her sisters, has offended all of the Pace Sisters! According to madamenoire.com…

“Recently, Tina Knowles-Lawson posted a video of Duranice Pace, of the legendary gospel-singing Pace family, singing “Amazing Grace.” And it was beautiful, Black and anointed.

And most of the comments corroborated this fact. Sadly, Tamar left this comment on the post:

‘Yeah but the wig is stressing me out.’

For those who don’t know, Duranice is one of several sisters. And when they saw Tamar’s comment, they immediately came to her defense.

LuShun Pace, known for her rendition of “I Know I Been Changed,” was the first to respond. In the same comment section, she wrote:

‘I love my oldest sister! With everything she has gone through in life she is yet singing through it all. Touch not mine anointed @tamarbraxton.’

Later, Leslie Pace shared a Facebook Live video to share her thoughts about the whole situation. And she spoke directly to Tamar.”

Below is Leslie Pace’s Facebook response…

And to end on a positive note, (Watch + Share) the new official trailer for ‘AMAZING GRACE!’

“AMAZING GRACE” is a documentary presenting the live recording of Aretha Franklin’s album Amazing Grace at The New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles in January 1972. It will be in select theaters on April 5!

Any thoughts?

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Why ‘Insecure’ Actress Yvonne Orji is Right To Be Happy Following Her Breakup With Emmanuel Acho…

Hello World,

Insecure actress Yvonne Orji is not my friend in real life, but she is my friend in my head for many reasons. I interviewed the Christian actress for THE LOOKOUT in 2017, and I really admired her stance on virginity. This is what she told me:

“From the time I was 17 until now that I’m 33 going on 34, I’ve seen too much. I’ve seen the hand of God over the years in my life, and this one thing that he asks of me. I mean he asks many things of us. But this one thing [virginity] that is a roadblock for so many people, he’s been so faithful to me in the darkest of my days, it’s no biggie.”

Although I am married now, I was single for several years before then and I know her struggle. Also, since Yvonne is the first generation of her Nigerian parentage to grow up in America, I identify with her on that topic as well. My parents are Jamaican, but I was born and raised in America. She has even created a show based on her experience as a first generation American. Below is more about her show:

Aside from this series, Yvonne is also developing her own half-hour sitcom, FirstGen, which is executive produced by media mogul Oprah Winfrey and actor David Oyelowo. Semibiographical, the show features a Nigerian girl who drops out of medical school for a stand-up comedy career and the shenanigans that ensue after her strict African mother discovers her plans. “This is my vision so it’s a very family-friendly show.”

If you would like to read the entire story, go to lookoutmag.com.

So in July 2018 when I learned that Yvonne had a new boyfriend after openly expressing her desire to meet her mate, I was hoping he was the one and wrote a happy blog post about it – Christian Actress Yvonne Orji Shares Prayer She Used to Attract Her New Boyfriend Emmanuel Acho! Emmanuel seemed like he could be the one she was waiting for…I mean his name means Messiah first of all and he is a Christian! And then they had the Nigerian connection. His father is from Nigeria. Also, although he works as an ESPN analyst, he has an artistic side as he can sing and play the piano! And on top of all of that, both are committed to charitable causes. Yvonne worked in Liberia with Population Services International, and Emmanuel worked in Nigeria with Living Hope Christian Ministries! And to put it all together in a pretty package, as a former Philadelphia Eagles’ linebacker, her man was all swole and stuff! When Yvonne announced their relationship on Instagram, she even said, “Jesus out here answering prayers on a Sunday.” He did seem like the answer to prayer…

But Yvonne Orji recently told her friend and author Luvvie Ajayi, who also has Nigerian heritage, on their Jesus and Jollof podcast that Emmanuel is no longer her man. Yvonne and Emmanuel have broken up. This is what she said about it, according to madamenoire.com:

“I just have to say, the reason I am so good and so happy is because I know how God works,” she said. “I have seen God’s MO so many times, that like in the way that you can be like, ‘Aw man, I thought this was it! I thought this was the one!’ God be like, ‘Oh that’s what you thought? I got the goods for you.’ It happened in my career when someone offered me a show and I was like, ‘This is it!’ and then the show went to nowhere. I got borderline depressed. Cut to Insecure. Cut to my life has changed.”

I believe Yvonne is right. Emmanuel may have been the prototype, but the finished product is on the way…and soon too…I’ve seen God do this many times in many areas of my life as well…But as it relates to romantic relationships…I remember in November 2009. I was despondent after yet another relationship blew up in my face…I had suffered through many breakups before but this one really took me out. This particular boyfriend/manfriend (I mean he was in his 30s at the time…) was one who I had dated before. When we first dated, he told me that he did not want to have a relationship. I wasn’t happy with his stance, but I respected his honesty. We remained friends for years. And then he changed his mind. My feelings hadn’t changed and I was available. It was so on until it wasn’t…It seemed cosmically cruel for life to play out that way…

But February 2010, the week of Valentine’s Day, I went out on a first date with the man who would become my husband…It was literally months after the breakup…Nothing but God…And if He did it for me, He can do it for you…

So Yvonne, you better be happy because I am claiming on your behalf that the one worth waiting for is on the way!

Any thoughts?