The story reads like a page out of a Hollywood movie script.  Homeless man with a radio voice, has a chance encounter with journalist that gets him off the streets, and forces him into stardom.  

It’s just so hard to believe that just 72 hours ago, Ted Williams, the self-titled “man with the golden voice,” was panhandling on the streets of Columbus, Ohio.  

Now he’s sitting on the “Today” couch with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira and fielding job offers from the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, NFL Films, and more. All because of a video shot by a Columbus Dispatch reporter and posted on the newspaper’s website Monday.
 

Ted was asked by Matt Lauer, “Are you emotionally ready to do the right thing with this second chance?”  Ted replies yes, “This time I have a God.”  “In 2010 I’ve found a new sense of spirituality.”  Ted goes on to say, “The difference in this year is that this time I’m acknowledging him in all my ways.”  A Proverbs 3:6 bible reference that lets the world know he is a Christian.  Ted didn’t stop there taking full advantage of his platform to witness.  A former crack addict Ted Williams told the Lord, “God you never saw fit to take my voice, amidst all the fire I put down my throat.”  

The Lord is using Ted in a mighty way to show the life changing power of God’s love.  Ted said the calls for his voice-over services are coming in by the dozens.  He has a man named Al Battle fielding all the calls for him.  Ted mentioned he has a girl friend named Katie and 9 kids.  7 girls and 2 boys who are all grown.  

By checking out the above video one wonders if Christians can gain perspective on how to receive the overflowing blessings from God.  Ted believes the key is in reverencing God.  Something he didn’t do his first go around with radio in the 80’s.  His comments showed that he had a relationship with God, which he showed by telling the audience that he once thanked God for the voice that he still had after all the years of alcohol and drug addiction.

The story that swept through the internet in 24 hours, and then the nation has captured the world’s imagination, dreams, and has reminded people to have a heart for others.  The phrase don’t judge a book by its cover has never been more true.  Advice echoed by Ted Williams in the Today Show interview.

Gospel music truly reaches and touches the hearts of everyone.   In a tweet to over 1.5 million of his fans, NFL Star Chad Ochocinco credits inspirational singer Beverly Crawford and her smash hit single “It’s About Time For A Miracle!” for their latest Bengals win:

The wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals is the latest in a long line of ardent fans including Fantasia, President Obama, Natalie Cole & Patti LaBelle who count JDI Records artist Beverly Crawford as one of their favorite singers.

Everywhere you turn on TV, radio & on her 100-city tour, the red-hot Beverly Crawford continues to demonstrate why she is universally regarded as one of the top vocalists in the world and why her new CD Live from Los Angeles – Vol. 2 is garnering rave reviews all over the country!

Lecrae’s latest release Rehab stays atop the Billboard Top Gospel Charts for a ninth consecutive week. The album also enters at #16 on the Top Rap Albums Charts and #12 on the Independent Albums Charts. Marvin Sapp’s Here I Am climbs to the #2 spot. The compilation album WOW Gospel 2010 enters this week at the #3 spot, while William McDowell’s As We Worship: Live comes in at #4. I Believe: Live, the latest from James Fortune & FIYA rounds out the week’s top five albums. In other chart news, Won’t It Be Wonderful from James Hall & The Voices of Citadel jumps ten positions, entering at #13.

In the world of radio, “I Believe” from James Fortune & FIYA featuring Shawn McLemore and Zacardi Cortez remains atop the radio charts. “Nobody Greater” from VaShawn Mitchell enters at the #2 spot while “He Wants It All” from Forever Jones moves to the #3 position. William McDowell’s “I Give Myself Away” takes the #4 spot while “I Choose to Worship” from Wess Morgan rounds out the week’s top five songs.

I wanted to give a brief annual report to let you know where we’re headed, and the growth of the magazine after the close of 2010. 

In 2010 Path released a re-design of the website dubbed a “Video Magazine” in 2007 by Vicki Winans.  The website became the foundation for a magazine that is currently up an astounding 930% over the last 3 months according to Alexa.  Alexa is a world renowned website ranking system that puts Path MEGAzine as the top Gospel website when it comes to pages viewed per user, and minutes spent on website. 

So what does this mean to fans and advertisers?  It means that viewers are staying on the Path for long periods of time, and flipping through many different pages of interviews, news, and editorials.  It means advertisers have a high likely-hood of getting their Ad seen because of the activity and growth of the website.  Path updates the website daily giving the viewers plenty of reasons to come back. 

Also this year Path was recognized by a group of its peers by getting nominated for a Crystal Mic Award by the Gospel Announcers Guild.

In 2011 were going to continue to bring you the Gospel in new and innovative ways.  Some of the new initiatives include new online sitcoms spearheaded by our parent company Parallel Path Entertainment, a video production company.  The Gospel View leads the way with an all new website for the ground breaking web show.  A first in Gospel, The Gospel View tackles faith-based and African American issues in a debate style format. 

We want to thank all of our loyal subscribers for your patronage over the past four years, and we hope you continue to spread the word about Path MEGAzine in 2011.  I want to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.  Continue to stay on the path that God has for your life and in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct those Paths. 

God Bless Everyone.  Your Brother in Christ,

Kris Patrick -Publisher

For Advertising or Interviews:
CONTACT US:  Kris@pathmagazine.com

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According to an exclusive at The Belle Report, Kim Burrell’s installation as pastor of Houston’s Love and Liberty Fellowship Church will take place on February 3-5, 2011.

Among the guests confirmed to attend include Pastor Donnie McClurkin, Bishop Hezekiah Walker and Evangelist Shirley Caesar.

The opening night will include a gospel music concert that will take place at the Hilton Houston North beginning at 7:00 p.m.

The final two services will take place at Love and Liberty Fellowship. The guest speaker for Friday night will be Bishop Liston Page of Patterson, NJ. The installation service will be on Saturday at 12:00 noon at the church.

Burrell says, “With so much happening in my life, I truly feel God’s favor over my life, however being installed as a pastor is the most important thing to me right now.”

For more information go to www.kbcrew.com

An autopsy performed on the body of late soul star Teena Marie has failed to determine the cause of her death, and her family will now have to wait up to six weeks for the results of toxicology tests.

The singer/songwriter passed away in her sleep at her home in Pasadena, California over the holiday weekend. Officials looking into her death initially suggested she may have died of natural causes, but a post-mortem examination carried out this week hasn’t provided any firm answers.

Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter has confirmed Marie’s body showed no signs of trauma, and he admitted toxicology tests which could determine the cause of death will now take about six weeks to come through, according to the Associated Press.

Teena Marie Performing at Celebration of Gospel

Timberland is one of the top mainstream producers in the business working in the secular industries of R&B and Hip Hop for years.  He takes the opportunity during the Holiday season to express his faith in Jesus.  He mentions his Pastors influence on his life, and talks about his charitable organizations.  I wish more entertainers of his influence would speak out about their faith.  Click the play button to watch the video on the forwarded website.

Also Read: Gospel artists, actors, athletes, and radio personalities get together to wish Path MEGAzine Subscribers a Merry Christmas!

Ebony Magazine celebrates their 65th anniversary by recreating 12 of their most legendary covers with modern day singers and entertainers. To recreate their cover featuring Mahalia Jackson, Ebony turned to modern day gospel vocalist Yolanda Adams. You can see the recreation and previous cover picture below.

What if there were a special television channel that carried the most popular church services and ministry programs featuring America’s favorite Christian leaders — 24 hours every day of the week?

That was the question Dr. Paul Crouch, founder of the religious broadcasting giant Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), began asking himself several years ago as he and the team at TBN looked for ways to expand the influence of faith-and-family TV to new audiences.

“We were seeing an increase in the number of specialty — or niche — networks on cable and satellite television, channels that were geared for a particular group of viewers,” Crouch recalled. “At the same time our research was showing that churches services were among the most watched religious programs on television.”

In addition, Crouch noted, cultural shifts were beginning to dramatically impact the worship habits of millions of Americans — a shift that continues to this day. Researcher George Barna, one of the leading authorities on the changing face of religion in America, has noted that while a majority of Americans retain a strong belief in God and many express a desire to maintain a connection to church and organized worship, fully one-third of Americans do not attend church on a regular basis. In fact, over the past few years the number of “unchurched” Americans has grown by nearly a million individuals annually.

“But Barna’s research was telling us that these millions of folks who weren’t going to church were still looking for spiritual input in their lives,” said Crouch, “and many were relying on Christian media as that spiritual touchpoint.”

Excitement abounded for Crouch and others at TBN as a picture emerged of a crucial viewer niche in need of a network. “Here was a whole segment of viewers who wanted to be a part of an active faith community, but for a variety of reasons weren’t necessarily connecting with a local church body,” explained Paul Crouch Jr., son of TBN’s founder and now the network’s chief of staff. “We began to see the tremendous potential for a specialized network that would connect these viewers with the many dynamic churches and ministries that were producing top quality television programs.”

In 2002 TBN launched the Church Channel, the only network dedicated to broadcasting church services and ministry programs 24 hours a day. Since its beginnings the Church Channel has drawn some of the most influential and popular Christian leaders in the nation, from a broad range of denominations and traditions. “Because there are so many different worship styles that people embrace for their own personal lives, we’ve made it a priority to include as many of those styles as we can fit into a 24-hour broadcast day,” explained Paul Crouch Jr.

He emphasized that the one absolute requirement is that every program must be focused almost exclusively on ministry content. “Because so many viewers rely on the Church Channel for spiritual input, we limit to just three minutes per half-hour program the time ministries can spend on fund-raising,” he explained. “That means the network schedule is truly devoted to what we created it for — giving viewers 24-hour access to church and ministry services.”

Bob Higley, TBN’s vice president for cable and satellite relations, noted that the Church Channel stands out among the scores of niche networks vying for attention in the world of cable and satellite. “Among current cable subscribers, we found that a healthy 31 percent were interested in receiving the Church Channel,” he said.

“That interest goes to the heart of our philosophy behind all of TBN’s networks,” he said. “From the very beginning our focus has been to respond to that need every individual has to be uplifted and inspired in their daily life. We think the Church Channel, like all our networks, does that pretty well.”

Also Read: Steve Harvey Shares Heart On TBN

A teenager has been arrested and charged with breaking and entering into Tyler Perry’s home. Chloe Ware, 18, was caught within moments after breaking into the actor and playwright’s mansion on Paces Ferry in Atlanta according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  Perry’s bodyguard caught Ware around 4 a.m. last Thursday, but two others escaped, police said. The break-in also was captured on surveillance video.

Perry recently offered to rebuild the home of an elderly woman who lost all her belongings in a fire over the holidays.

Also Read: Tyler Perry’s Movie “For Colored Girls” Opens with 20.1 Million in Sales