Posted on Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I’m In Love With a Church Girl (GIVEAWAY)

Hello World,

As a pastor’s daughter who was in church every Sunday and every Wednesday and who couldn’t go to parties until I was in college, I looked forward to the day I could break out! I wanted to do whateva I wanted to do with anyone I wanted to do it with…Dating a “bad boy” was at the top of my list! Now that I’m 40 and married and a devoted Christian woman on my own terms, I’ve outgrown my need to be a wild child, but every once in a while, I’m reminded of just how I felt back then…

That’s why when I heard about about this new movie “I’m In Love With a Church Girl” at Blogalicious earlier this month, I was intrigued….Below is a synopsis of the movie from imbd.com.

Miles Montego (Ja Rule) has it all – cars, boats, good looks, mansion, money, women, but more importantly, he has a past. Miles is a retired high level drug trafficker who is now completely legitimate. Even though Miles has turned over a new leaf, the DEA can’t seem to let him out of their sights. Miles’ only downfall is that he is extremely loyal to his circle of friends and former colleagues who are not retired from the lucrative business.

Struggling to keep on the right side of the law, Miles meets the one girl of his dreams but she’s not the usual type of girl that he’s used to dating. Vanessa (Adrienne Bailon) is a church girl in every sense of the word. They are tested to their last ounce of faith and strength in God and each other. God continues to chip away at Miles through struggles from his past, having to live up to his reputation, feelings of unworthiness, the death of his mother, federal charges, his friends being indicted, the strain on his relationship with Vanessa, almost losing her in a near fatal car accident, and finally the spiritual breakdown and one on one with God that brings Miles to his knees.

Sounds intriguing, right? Well, Adrienne Bailon, who stars as Vanessa stopped by Blogalicious to promote the movie and tell all of the bloggers about herself. As someone who has interviewed hundreds of people at this point in my journalism career and has not been impressed with some Hollywood types, I was really impressed with her fun and unaffected personality…

Here are a few quotes from her interview with Stacey Ferguson, Blogalicious co-founder –

On being confused with being one of the Kardashians – “I’m not a Kardashian. I’m from New York. My mom works at Cornell Medical. My mom is from Puerto Rico, and my dad is from Ecuador.”
On being a ‘church girl’ – “I grew up in church singing. I was saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost… My father was the worship leader.”
On being discovered – “I thought I wanted to be an obstetrician so I had an internship at Beth Israel. This guy came up to me one day and said, ‘Yo ma, you sing?’ I sang ‘His Eye is on the Sparrow.’ He told me about an audition for a girl group. That was in April, and by August, I had a record deal with Tommy Mottola for 3LW. After that was the Cheetah Girls. It was very random.”
On being a star – “When you come from not having much, I feel so grateful. I’m not special, but I’ve been given special opportunities.”
On being grounded – “I have an incredible family. I don’t have a mom that is my manager. She works in the pharmacy department at Cornell, and she still says sometimes, ‘You know we have great [medical] packages!”
On being a Sunday School graduate – “I learned in Sunday School that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. [Romans 8:28]”
On her ‘Church Girl’ co-star rapper Ja Rule who plays Miles – “I known Ja for years. 3LW was the opening act for Ja Rule. People don’t know that Ja Rule has been married for 12 years, and he has three children. He is married to his high school sweetheart!”
On her role as Vanessa in ‘Church Girl’ – “Vanessa goes against stereotypes of being a Christian. I wore my own clothes. Jesus didn’t say we couldn’t be fly! I love that she was sassy, she was witty, she was fun. She is Christlike. She is non-judgmental, and she shows unconditional love. It’s a great love story…It is a movie with a message of hope and faith. It shows that your past does not determine your future.”
On sending Hollywood a message – “As a consumer, you dictate what is in the box office. We can send a message to Hollywood that we want more faith-based movies. And this movie can compete with mainstream movies. Your cousins Chachi and Hosea didn’t come with their camcorder to film this movie.” LOL!!! Love it!

The movie (which also stars T-Bone, Stephen Baldwin, Toby Mac, Michael Madsen, Vincent Pastore and Martin Kove) comes out THIS FRIDAY, Oct. 18! Below is a trailer from the movie….

Also, I received a ‘Church Girl’ t-shirt and a copy of the novel “I’m in Love With a Church Girl” by Ryan Phillips with Galley Molina, writer and executive producer of the film. Actually, the film is based on the life of Galley Molina…If you would like to receive the t-shirt and the novel, name three famous church girls, whether fictional or real, who have fallen in love with bad boys! If you are first to tell me in the comments, I will mail the items to you! You’re welcome!

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, October 13, 2013

Through It All: Getting Personal With ‘Sunday Best’ Winner Le’Andria Johnson…

Hello World,

A few weeks ago, I was one of 30 bloggers given the opportunity to take part of a blogger conference with Le’Andria Johnson, season three winner of BET’s “Sunday Best!” Below is a brief biography, if you have not heard of the rising gospel singer…She has an inspiring testimony that I’m sure will minister to some…

Her debut CD, “The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson,” entered at #1 on multiple music charts. She received her first GRAMMY nomination for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian music performance for her debut single “Jesus.” Le’Andria Johnson became the first “Sunday Best” winner to go on to win a GRAMMY.

Le’Andria Johnson’s journey to the spotlight in the gospel music industry has not been one without controversy and backlash. The 30-year-old, twice divorced, mother of four has dealt with ridicule, judgment and her own personal struggles. In 2012, an unwed Johnson announced that she was pregnant with her fourth child which was not received well within the gospel industry or church community. Johnson continued to minister where she was invited but dealing with the closed doors that were once open was a test.

It was suggested by some for her to have an abortion. Her manager at Music World Gospel told her it was career suicide to carry the baby. Johnson was fully persuaded that she would not abort her baby but allow God to use the very thing that man tried to kill her with as a testimony. “I did not kill to be killed” became one of Johnson’s slogans during that time. Johnson continued to stand in spite of. “He was my strength. He said I’ll never leave you nor forsake you. God I know that you forgave me and if you forgave me, you’re telling me to move on. But I knew there were millions of Le’Andria’s in the world.”

While expecting, Johnson went on to record her third album under The Music World Gospel label, “Le’Andria Johnson, The Experience,” a live recording. It was during Johnson’s pregnancy that God began dealing with her and pushing her to minister beyond the music. Imperfect People Changing Ministries would be birthed during that time. God was birthing something in and through Johnson in the natural and spiritual.

Below are few questions and answers that I believe will really help people who are going through similar struggles…

How have you overcome the stigma in the church of being a two-time divorcee? Well, that’s life. Being a two-time divorcee is life. I’m not the only two-time divorced woman in the world or man. There are men that have been divorced twice…I was never bound by the stigma in the church. People knew that I was divorced twice because I decided to tell it, not because somebody read up on it…

What was the toughest part to deal with when the public criticized you for having a child out of wedlock while continuing to minister? …The tough part was trying to show these women that this mistake or whatever you want to call it. This turnaound. This detour has been made. It’s a part of our life now, but we’ve got to keep moving forward. Ain’t no way that we should abort or kill or give away, put away or whatever you want to do. That was the tough part of trying to tell these women, ‘listen, live and not die’ so that was the toughest…

As a pastor’s daughter, did you ever resent the requirements of ministry on you parents? Heck yeah! Yes, I did, because I was taught God, God, God, God, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There ain’t anything wrong with that but I never understood life because we were always in some Bible meeting. We were always in some revival. We were always in some shut in…Being in church all of my life crippled me. That’s how the whole issue with men that I was dealing with came to be…I couldn’t wait to put on a pair of booty shorts. I couldn’t wait to put on a pair of hoop earrings, red lipstick, eyelashes…I couldn’t wait to get tattoos… I couldn’t wait to smoke, couldn’t wait to drink, couldn’t wait to have sex…But by me doing those things, I had to go through my own personal issues and in that I found God to be who they didn’t teach me He was. I was taught that God is a ‘reprimander’ and that He was jealous. I was taught that God was going to punish you for this. It was negative…But I found out He was the sweetest. He is the sweetest man I’ve ever known…I had to find all of that stuff out after I did the sin…

Wow, she really said a lot…(On a side note: I’m probably the only pastor’s daughter that can’t carry a tune in a bucket…oh well…)

Below is a video of Le’Andria on “Sunday Best.”

You can connect with Le’Andria Johnson by following her on Twitter and Facebook! The blogger conference was hosted by Rhachelle Nicol’, founder of Mother 2 Mother, freelance writer and owner of RN Brand & Design.

Any thoughts?

Posted on Wednesday, June 19, 2013

TV Land’s “The Soul Man” Starring Cedric the Entertainer and Niecy Nash Returns Tonight!

Hello World,

I’m a finicky TV viewer…I’ve never watched a complete episode of the runaway hit “Scandal.” I didn’t watch my all-time favorite program “Sex and the City” until several seasons in. And I prefer to watch sitcoms from yesteryear from “The Golden Girls” to “The Cosby Show” rather than the sitcoms of today…So you could imagine that I would be somewhat skeptical about enjoying TV Land’s sitcom “The Soul Man.” However, I did enjoy Cedric the Entertainer when he portrayed Cedric Jackie Robinson on the sitcom “The Steve Harvey Show!” I loved the relationship between “Ceddy” and Lovita Alize Jenkins! They were hilarious!

On Monday, I was invited to a blogger reception to watch an episode of “The Soul Man” and meet Wesley Jonathan, who portrays the younger brother of the Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballantine, portrayed by Cedric the Entertainer. Here is the premise of the show from its website:

From the creators of Hot in Cleveland, The Soul Man revolves around Cedric’s character, Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine, an R&B superstar-turned-minister who takes over as preacher of his fathers church. Niecy Nash (“Reno 911”) stars as the reverend’s wife, Lolli. The pilot also features John Beasley (Everwood) as his father, Wesley Jonathan (“What I Like About You”) as his younger brother, and Jazz Raycole (“My Wife and Kids”) as his daughter. The character of Reverend Boyce originated on a second season episode of “Hot in Cleveland” in which Cedric guest-starred.

Actor Wesley Jonathan talking about his new show “The Soul Man.”

The sitcom premiered last year and was picked for a second season beginning tonight! However, some changes have been made to the lineup since the show’s debut. Jazz Raycole, who portrayed the daughter on the show, is no longer there as she is attending boarding school. According to Jonathan, budget constraints for the show led to Raycole’s departure which is especially unfortunate as Raycole was also dropped from the popular “My Wife and Kids” sitcom. Also, since the show will come on at 11 p.m., Jonathan said the show will be “not as family-oriented” and “a little sharper” as far as the comedy is concerned. Also, I noticed that Yvette Lee Bowser (“Living Single”) is the showrunner rather than the original showrunner Phoef Sutton. (I loved “Living Single” too by the way!)

Me and Wesley Jonathan.

In the episode that we watched at the blogger reception, Stamps is having a hard time adjusting after being the Reverend Ballentine’s stage manager and then suddenly not having a career after the reverend decides to leave entertainment for the ministry. He ends up moving with the reverend and his wife after being kicked out of their father’s home. My honest verdict: I thought the show was funny. But with my busy schedule, I have to remember that a show is on for me build it in my schedule which as you know includes planning a wedding/marriage, working full-time, training for the Peachtree Road Race, etc. A show has to really pull me in to make me remember to watch it so I will see…and you should too…

Check out the season premiere tonight at 11/10C on TV Land! A preview clip is below…

Any thoughts?