We live in a day and age where obligation, and not love, begets servitude. People make the right choice with their actions while in their hearts they hate the choice they feel they had to make. This attitude and mindset is equivalent to filet mingon on a trash can lid. Many of us have found ourselves settling for the right actions even though our hearts did not purpose that action. Currently, I am writing a series called Living In Denial. The series is all about denying the flesh. However, when we deny our flesh we must cheerfully choose to go after God and not grudgingly give up our desires. When we grudgingly serve Him it changes everything. Our service is not pleasing even though the job is done. We are not happy even though we are living in righteousness. It all goes back to the fact that your heart is not in the same place as your choice. When your heart is not in the same place, you will revile everything that is birthed out of your choice.

It is through choice that we receive power. Once a choice is made, we are able to submit to an authority. Once an authority has been established, it is that authority that endues us with power. We must learn to make our choice our treasure. We must cherish our choice as an opportunity and not an obligatory inconvenience of righteousness. Until you began to operate in love, you and God will be unhappy. You will loathe the work you do for Him because your heart is elsewhere. He will loathe it because He does not eat off trashcan lids. Make a choice! Operate in love! Tap into the power of a fully submitted life! Stay on the Path!

About the Author:Path contributing writer Calvin Walker has been writing editorial content for Path MEGAzine since 2007.  Calvin’s ability to break down the word of God with thought provoking analogies and real life analysis makes an impact on Christians seeking a closer walk with God.  An accomplished author, Walker released his debut book titled “The Gallery” early 2010.  Click here to read excerpts and purchase Walkers’ inspirational novel.  Email calvinwalkerauthor@yahoo.com

Visit www.TheGospelView.com to Watch the hit web-show produced by the staff of Path MEGAzine.

About the Gospel View:

The hit web show “The Gospel View” returns for season two on January 3rd with an all new website. The website will have a new home independent of its Path MEGAzine.com sponsor, which was the former resting place of season ones opinionated discussion talk-show.

Season 2 will tackle more topics effecting the African American and faith-based communities. Interviews, current news and events will be presented by The Gospel View panel, and producer/host Kris Patrick. Patrick is the creator of the ground–breaking magazine called Path MEGAzine. Returning to the panel is LaKeshia Citizen, Paige Patrick, and newly added Christin Gordon.

You can catch The Gospel View every Monday at 9am/est. at www.TheGospelView.com beginning January 3, 2011.  For sponsorship and advertising opportunities call 713-516-6555 or email info@thegospelview.com

Acclaimed gospel duo Mary Mary has a new single out, and they want you to be a part of it.

Their latest song, “Walking,” is from their pending 2011 album release, but is currently available via digital download sites like iTunes. But, like any successful music act, they need a video for it – and they want their fans to be involved.

If you’re over 18, you can potentially appear in the video for “Walking,” being shot in the Los Angeles area this Saturday, Dec. 18th.

Since that’s soon, you’d better get on it now. Please visit marymarycasting@sonymusic.com, and do the following:

• Submit a recent photo of yourself.
• Submit your age, email address, address and phone number.
• Confirm your availability on Dec. 18.
• If you are one of the people chosen to appear in the video, you will have to arrange your own transportation to the set, the location of which will be sent to you. It will be somewhere in the Los Angeles or Orange County areas.
 
Erica and Tina Campbell, the blood sisters known as Mary Mary, are Stellar and Grammy Award winners, who released their platinum-selling debut, “Thankful,” in 2000. The two have become a one of gospel’s most popular acts and have hosted BET’s popular gospel competition “Sunday Best.”

They faced a bit of controversy when their last big hit, 2008’s AutoTune-tinged “God In Me,” with Kierra “Kiki” Sheard, faced criticism for some for being too secular, a complaint that was compounded when rapper Kanye West and his then-girlfriend, Amber Rose, appeared in the video.

The Celebration of Gospel took place over the weekend and Hollywood celebrities, and Gospel artists hit the red carpet in good spirits.  Check out the videos below to see your favorite artists, actors, and pastors express their love for Christ and Gospel music.  The Celebration of Gospel airs January 30, 2011 on BET.

Related: Whitney Houston Makes Surprise Appearance at BET Celebration of Gospel

BUFFALO, NY, Dec. 13, 2010 /Path MEGAzine Press Release/ — “Standing Firm,” a new Christian film from Praise Pictures is picking up speed since its August DVD release. Despite its “Flywheel” sized budget (like Sherwood Pictures first release) and a marketing campaign that utilizes social-media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube almost exclusively, the film has been making a difference in the most remarkable ways.

“Standing Firm” centers around a recently widowed father named David, who after losing his wife seeks out the answer to one of life’s most confusing and primal questions about suffering, “Why?” The issue of death and suffering has resonated with viewers of the film, who in these hard times are looking for answers to their most painful problems.

The film received a wealth of support from the American Family Association with President, Tim Wildmon saying the film was “Dramatic and gripping, a dynamite tool to share the gospel!” An interview with first-time Writer/Director Kyle Prohaska was also featured in the August issue of the AFA Journal, creating further buzz along with various American Family Radio interviews.

Already the film has amassed a fan base of 60,000+ on Facebook, increasing by the thousands every week with great testimonies pouring in from around the US. Praises of the films message have also arrived from countries like The Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many more with no sign of slowing down.

“In a world of economic downturn, a collapsing housing market, growing levels of unemployment, worldwide upheaval and turmoil shown regularly on CNN and various other atrocities, it’s easy to be questioning the way of things,” says Kyle Prohaska. “The doctrine of God’s Sovereignty has been absolutely destroyed by the church, especially when it comes to the realities of life. The last thing this world needs is another self-help book or government program to ease the pains of life. What the world needs is Christ, because only He will bring the kind of peace and comfort in suffering that I think we’re all searching for, and that is what we’re aiming to present in this film. Christian movies are an extremely powerful tool to spread the Gospel and the message of Christ, but we need the support of the Body to get films like this to those that need it.”

Praise Pictures has made Church Screening Kits available to churches for a low price on their website which allows them to screen the film for an entire year an unlimited number of times, even allowing them to charge for it if they wish to use it as a fundraising tool or recoup their cost. “If we don’t support the films that are out there, how can we expect to see more?” says Kyle. “We give money to all sorts of things every year, most of them insignificant and for a quick thrill of self-satisfaction. Hopefully churches will see the benefit.”

Kyle, 22, is due to be married early next year and runs Praise Pictures from a small office in his apartment alone, and planning to bring in his future wife to help. “I don’t ever plan on lightening the load or slowing down. I’ll continue to make phone calls to any radio station I can, email any website possible, and do whatever else is necessary to bring this DVD to others. It’s God’s movie, I’m just the messenger. My prayer by God’s Grace is that this Christmas and in the coming year of 2011, more and more Christians will find this little movie from Western New York, and take advantage of it by sharing it with their loved ones. The Gospel is all that matters. Life is fleeting, Christ is king, and time is short.”

Visit www.StandingFirmMovie.com for information.

Via GospelFlava.com

GRAMMY award winning artist BeBe Winans has been named Executive Music Director of Christian Cultural Center, headed by Pastor A. R. Bernard. The Brooklyn, New York based church is home to over 34,000 congregants. Winans, along with his sister CeCe Winans, have received 9 Stellar award nominations for their reunion effort Still, including the nod for “Artist of the Year”.

Highlighted by a surprise performance by the legendary Whitney Houston, BET’s Celebration of Gospel was abuzz all evening with electrifying performances from some of gospel & urban music’s biggest stars including Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, James Fortune, and Beverly Crawford, who closed out the show & brought the house down with her smash hit single “It’s About Time For A Miracle!”

Celebrating its 11th year as the premier national TV telecast showcasing inspirational music, BET’s Celebration of Gospel is an annual event that showcases black music biggest stars and this year’s stellar lineup was no exception. Getty Images & celebrity photographers captured the red carpet arrival of the evening’s stars (see attached images) and what a magnificent evening it was!

Hosted by Steve Harvey, BET’s Celebration of Gospel will air nationally beginning January 30th so mark your calendars – this is a BET Celebration of Gospel that you don’t want to miss!

Lecrae’s latest release Rehab stays atop the Billboard Top Gospel Charts for a sixth consecutive week. The album also enters at #19 on the Top Rap Albums Charts and #24 on the Independent Albums Charts. Triumphant from VaShawn Mitchell jumps four spots to enter at the #2 spot. William McDowell’s As We Worship: Live enters this week at the #3 spot, its highest chart position ever, while Marvin Sapp’s Here I Am comes in at #4. A Brooklyn Tabernacle Christmas from The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir rounds out the week’s top five albums. In other chart news, the compilation album A Gospel Christmas moves four places to #12 while Aaron Neville’s I Know I’ve Been Changed moves six positions to #20.

In the world of radio, “I Believe” from James Fortune & FIYA featuring Shawn McLemore and Zacardi Cortez spends a second week atop of 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. “I Choose to Worship” from Wess Morgan holds to the #4 spot while Jonathan Nelson’s “Expect the Great” rounds out the week’s top five songs.

Courtesy of GospelFlava.com

James Fortune, Shawn Mclemore and Zacardi Cortez recently visited the Tom Joyner Morning Show for an entertaining interview.  The secular radio show granted a rare interview to a Gospel artist, and it seemed like Tom Joyner was thoroughly enjoying himself.  Joyner is seen in the video below talking about Kirk Franklin and poking fun at Dr. Bobby Jones.

James Fortune also got the opportunity to sing their hit song “I Believe” live on the air.  James was joined by Zacardi Cortez, and Shawn Mclemore who is featured on Path MEGAzine’s December 2010 Cover.  I Believe is Billboards #1 Gospel song again this week.

 



RELATED: JAMES FORTUNE & FIYA RELEASES CD/DVD “I BELIEVE: LIVE”

Aretha Franklin was diagnosed last week with pancreatic cancer last week.  The news broke with speculation after the tabloid journal “The National Enquire” broke the news.  The diagnosis was later confirmed by Franklin’s family.   

On Dec. 2, Franklin thanked well-wishers for their love and prayers as she recovered from surgery earlier in the day for a then-undisclosed ailment. A prayer vigil, organized by a city council member and one of Franklin’s aides, was held a day earlier in Detroit.

In a statement to Associated Press following the surgery, the intensely private 68-year-old singer said the procedure was “highly successful.”

“God is still in control. I had superb doctors and nurses whom were blessed by all the prayers of the city and the country,” Franklin said in the statement.

Franklin has always been reticent about her personal life, and this latest illness has been no exception.

Last month, it was announced that all of Franklin’s concert dates and personal appearances through May 2011 were being canceled, on orders from her doctors. But no details – or even credible speculation – had made its way into the public discourse about her health until Wednesday.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult forms to treat because the pancreas is deep inside the body, and the doctor cannot see or feel tumors during a routine physical exam, making it difficult to diagnose the disease until its latter stages.

“There are several kinds of pancreatic cancer,” said Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. “Cancer in the tail of the pancreas is very different from cancer in the head of pancreas. The pancreas is not surrounded by a structure. With the kidneys or the liver or even the lungs, there are vital structures near it that have nerves in it, so with tumors in other organs, as they grow, you’ll feel pain. In the pancreas, the tumor can grow quite a bit before it can be detected.”

Some risk factors linked to pancreatic cancer include being male, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and diabetes, pancreatitis and cirrhosis of the liver.

There are no blood tests or other tests that can quickly and easily find pancreatic cancer early in people without symptoms. The American Cancer Society is looking at a screening test that may help those with a high risk of pancreatic cancer, including those with a strong family history of the disease.

Cancer diagnosed in the lower pancreas is easier to treat than cancer in the head of pancreas and tends to lead to a better prognosis, Brawley said, but he has seen examples of patients who had the latter who have done well.

“You can’t rob anybody of hope,” he said.{pagebreak}

And attitude cannot be underestimated as a factor in one’s recovery.

“It’s easy to give up, but stay positive, and live your life,” said Brenda Box, a broadcast journalist for National Public Radio who was diagnosed last December with pancreatic treatment and has been undergoing treatment at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore.

“My role model was Elizabeth Edwards,” estranged wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who died last Tuesday after an extensive, years-long battle with breast cancer, Box said. “Live every day until you die.”

Despite the diagnosis and challenging treatment regimen, Box graduated in May from the American University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in interactive journalism and keeps up with family events, including an Easter egg hunt at her Virginia home for her grandchildren and an upcoming holiday tree-trimming party this weekend.

Brawley said while there is no proof that diet, exercise and maintaining a routine make a difference, once pancreatic cancer has been diagnosed, “I generally think they tend to just make you feel better. I tell patients to try to maintain as normal a life as possible. There’s not a lot more that anyone can do physically.”