As a lifelong book lover, I’m always excited at the prospect of learning about a new book! And I’m equally excited to learn when books are made into films, another art form that I love! And when I learn that that an author whom I know is the author of the original book, I absolutely have to support! I’m so excited to share with you that my sorority sister and New York Times bestselling author Victoria Christopher Murray is continuing to be blessed with book-to-film projects courtesy of Bishop T.D. Jakes!!! Keep reading for the details!
On the heels of last year’s popular Lust and Envy movies seen by over 9.4 million viewers in their airings, Lifetime announces the next two Seven Deadly Sins Anthology movie installments, WrathandGreed, from executive producers Bishop T.D. Jakes, Derrick Williams and Shaun Robinson. Based on the series of books by Victoria Christopher Murray, Wrath: A Seven Deadly Sins Story stars Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child), Tina Knowles-Lawson (Profiled: The Black Man), Romeo Miller (Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection) and Antonio Cupo (Blood & Treasure) while Greed: A Seven Deadly Sins Story is headlined by Monique Coleman (A Christmas Dance Reunion), LisaRaye McCoy (A House Divided), Eric Benét (Real Husbands of Hollywood) and Nathan Witte (Merry Liddle Christmas Baby). Below are the movie descriptions and premiere dates.
WRATH: A SEVEN DEADLY SINS STORY
Saturday, April 16 at 8/7c
After single lawyer Chastity Jeffries (Michelle Williams) meets Xavier Collins (Antonio Cupo), he seems to be everything she is looking for in a partner—handsome, smart and a lawyer as well. As his affection turns to obsession, Chastity realizes that she has been swept up by Xavier’s passion and abandoned her principles. When Xavier’s jealousy and wrath lead to suspicious actions and dangerous threats, Chastity confides in her mother Sarah (Tina Knowles-Lawson) and turns to her former childhood boyfriend Roger Thompkins (Romeo Miller). But in the end, it is Chastity that will have to fight to save herself.
GREED: A SEVEN DEADLY SINS STORY
Saturday, April 23 at 8/7c
Interior decorator Zuri Maxwell (Monique Coleman) had it all – a career she adored, loving family and friends, and a good man in her life, artist Stephon Gardner (Nathan Witte). But greed threatens to destroy everything when Zuri meets handsome benefactor and entrepreneur Godfrey Anderson (Eric Benét) and his fabulously wealthy aunt Miss Viv (LisaRaye McCoy). They have everything Zuri thinks she wants. As Godfrey romances her, she compromises the values and morals that should guide her in an effort to be part of the moneyed world she so desperately wants to be part of.
And if you’re a fast reader, you still have time to read both books Wrath & Greed before the movies air!
Aside: I hope I won’t embarrass Victoria by mentioning this but she along with many other friends and loved ones contributed to my baby shower gift registry. I don’t mean to single out her contribution but since this post is about her books, her generous contribution, in particular, helped us buy our cribs for our twin girls! So please support this generous author 🙂
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I’m all for finding lasting love however you find it, but this approach struck me as unique…On a recent episode of Ellen, The Real host Loni Love, who used to be a DJ on Ellen, revealed that she met her boyfriend James Welsh on ChristianMingle.com although neither of them are Christians! Check out the clip below.
And here’s the key quote: We’re religious but we’re not Christians. But you know what? I wanted to meet a nice man. And so I figured, well, let me go on ChristianMingle.com. He was there too and when he said he wasn’t really Christian but he’s religious, I was like, maybe this is God’s way of putting us together. We’ve been together ever since.
I’m sure that ChristianMingle.com is glad for the free publicity on the one hand, but on the other hand, you have to wonder if the powers that be at the website care if their clients are using the website under false pretenses…Like what if a person joined a website like HinduMingle.com (I made this up) not because he or she believes in Hinduism but he or she did want to find a partner who could cook or appreciate samosas (one of my fave Indian dishes)? Would that be right?
I’m back with my monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine articles for black Christian women! Below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine/newspaper articles for black Christian women for July, but you don’t have be a black Christian woman to to check them out. As usual, let me know if you like my list! Enjoy and share!
1. “Retiring Bishop Vashti McKenzie, first AME Church woman prelate, reflects on a groundbreaking career” by Adelle M. Banks
Excerpt: Just-retired Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie is an apologist for an adaptive style of leadership. It’s what has helped her succeed as the first woman to hold many roles in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. And it’s a style of leadership she said was needed during the pandemic “Adaptive leadership means that you are faced with situations but do not have a solution or answer that comes from past experiences, so you have to adapt,” she said in an interview on Thursday (July 15), a week after her retirement began at the close of her denomination’s General Conference in Orlando, Florida. See more at: religionnews.com
Sadly, just weeks later, Bishop Murphy McKenzie’s husband Stan McKenzie passed away…
“Former NBA player Stan McKenzie, husband of first woman AME Church bishop, dead at 76” by Adelle M. Banks
Excerpt: Stan McKenzie, the first male episcopal supervisor of missionary work in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the husband of Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, has died. The Christian Recorder, the official publication of the denomination, announced his death, which occurred on Wednesday (July 21). Stan McKenzie, 76, died in Dallas after a brief illness, John Thomas III, the publication’s editor, told Religion News Service. See more at: religionnews.com
2. “Marla Gibbs to receive star on Hollywood Walk of Fame” by Jared Alexander
Excerpt: Congratulations are in order for Hollywood icon Marla Gibbs. The actress is set to receive a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame this July. Whether you know her for her iconic turn as Florence Jefferson on the CBS sitcom, The Jeffersons, or as Mary Jenkins on the hit series 227, Gibbs, 90, is a national treasure, and she is about to get the flowers she so richly deserves. Gibbs will receive the honor on July 20 at 11:30 a.m. The living legend took to her official Instagram account to celebrate the honor with her many fans and followers. She shared a meme that reads, “why don’t we celebrate Marla Gibbs the way we do Betty White?” with pics of Gibbs at various stages of her accomplished career. See more at: thegrio.com
3. “The first African American contestant to win National Spelling Bee is now aiming for Harvard, the NBA and NASA” by David Williams and Kevin Dotson
Excerpt: Zaila Avant-garde wasn’t focused on her place in history on Thursday when she became the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 93 editions of the competition. Instead, she was thinking about Bill Murray. The 14-year-old from New Orleans, Louisiana, won the 2021 crown after correctly spelling murraya — a type of tree — that she associated with the famous comedian. When she realized she won, Zaila gave a little spin and jumped in the air as confetti rained from the sky. See more at: cnn.com
4. “Nearly 70 years after she was married, Birmingham woman wears a wedding dress: ‘It was too special’” by Carol Robinson
Excerpt: Martha Mae Ophelia Moon Tucker was watching her favorite movie – ‘Coming to America’ – with one of her granddaughters last week when she whispered a life-long dream of hers that she had never before said aloud. “I’ve always wanted to try on a wedding dress,’’ the 94-year-old Tucker said under her breath, which was heard by granddaughter Angela Strozier. Strozier asked her grandmother to repeat what she had just said, and Tucker said it again. See more at: al.com
5. “‘I’ve Got 10,000 Books in My House’: Dallas Woman Shares the Joy of Reading” by Laura Harris
Excerpt: Many people would call Emma Rodgers a living legend in and around the Dallas community. She was the co-owner of Dallas’ Black Images Book Bazaar for 29 years. It was a place where the community could go to learn about Black literature and hear authors speak. The store opened in 1977 and closed in 2007, but Rodgers’ love of books and childhood literacy has not stopped. “Let me tell you how I got into books,” Rodgers said. “I had an aunt who would buy me books for Christmas every year, and it was a sniff and lift the page activities. It was just so cool. I have just always loved books.” Her love of books carried into the rest of her life. She estimates she has about 10,000 books in her Dallas home right now. See more at: nbcdfw.com
6. “Ban on ‘Soul Cap’ Spotlights Lack of Diversity in Swimming” by Jenna Fryer
Excerpt: Alice Dearing has an afro, a voluminous puff nearly impossible to protect in most swimming caps. Her hair shrinks if it gets wet. And the chlorine? The chemicals in a pool can cause severe damage that requires substantial time and money to treat. The first Black female swimmer on Britain’s Olympic team uses the the Soul Cap, an extra-large silicone covering designed specifically to protect dreadlocks, weaves, hair extensions, braids, and thick and curly hair. But Dearing has been forbidden from using the cap in her Olympic debut next week in the women’s 10k marathon swim . See more at: time.com
7. “Simone Biles pulls out of individual floor exercise at Olympics, still to decide on balance beam” by D’Arcy MaineExcerpt: She later told the media she had experienced “a little bit of the twisties” and no longer trusted her ability to compete. In a series of posts to her Instagram account on Friday, Biles explained she was still experiencing the phenomenon, in which gymnasts feel like they get lost in the air, and said her “mind and body are simply not in sync.” See more at: espn.com
8. “Naomi Osaka: ‘It’s O.K. Not to Be O.K.'” by Naomi Osaka
Excerpt: Believe it or not, I am naturally introverted and do not court the spotlight. I always try to push myself to speak up for what I believe to be right, but that often comes at a cost of great anxiety. I feel uncomfortable being the spokesperson or face of athlete mental health as it’s still so new to me and I don’t have all the answers. I do hope that people can relate and understand it’s O.K. to not be O.K., and it’s O.K. to talk about it. There are people who can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel. See more at: time.com
9. “Meet the sole Black female owner of the Milwaukee Bucks” by Rebecca Klopf
Excerpt: MILWAUKEE — The Bucks have made the playoff seven of the last 10 seasons. A majority of those appearances have come under new ownership that took over in 2014. You may know the names Wes Edens, Marc Lasry, Jamie Dinan, and Michael Fascitelli, the majority owners of the Bucks. But you should also know this woman: Valerie Daniels-Carter, one of the team’s minority owners. “There are couples that own the Bucks. I’m the only African American female that’s single that I know of that owns the Bucks,” said Daniels-Carter. See more at: tmj4.com
10. “Angela Bassett Dishes On The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Script ‘I Don’t Know What It’s Going To Look Like At All’” by Shannon Dawson
Excerpt: “I don’t know what it’s going to look like at all,” Bassett explained of the film’s new script. “There have been about five incarnations of the script and I hear another one’s coming.”Bassett continued; “Of course, with our dear king [Chadwick Boseman] going on to glory, a lot of things had to be shifted and changed. So thankfully, [director] Ryan [Coogler] and [writer] Joe Robert Cole, they’re just such masterful storytellers that they’ve found a way into this world, and hopefully it will be satisfying, I think, for the fans and it will be honorable of our Chad. We love our king,” she added. See more at: madamenoire.com
If you know of any black Christian women bloggers and or writers, please e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com as I’m always interested in expanding my community of black Christian women blog, magazines and websites. As I noted before, while this is a roundup of interesting blog posts and or magazine and newspaper articles for black Christian women, you don’t have to be one to appreciate these pieces .
! Be blessed…
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