Anya Miller Hall, founder of TeKton Ministries International and Rhema PWM, will teach you how spirits operate and manifest in human lives from religion to gender identity conflict. As the Kingdom of God moves forward, Hall helps us to understand our enemy, his purposes, and his plans. Finally, she provides a detailed scriptural and historical perspective of these principalities, how they came into rulership, and what we must do as an apostolic army to slaughter them.

By revealing her fresh strategy on how to overcome the spirits of foretelling, blasphemy, and perversion that have invaded our government, church, and society, believers are challenged to come forth in their anointing and take back what the enemy has stolen. Now is the time for action!

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Gospel artists “painted the White House black with praise” June 17 in the East Room. The occasion was the Salute to Gospel Music in observance of Black Music Month. Spensha Baker, Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers and Edwin and Walter Hawkins–all African Americans–were bestowed with the auspicious honor of entertaining President George W. Bush during his final term in office.

In a room filled with music executives and Washington luminaries, it was a “history” lesson and superior entertainment rolled into almost 2 inspiring hours.
President Bush began by remembering the recently fallen father of Rock and Roll, Bo Diddly.

“We mourn his loss, yet we know this — that his memory will live on in the songs and the joy he brought to millions — including a little fellow like me.”

In his welcome salutation Bush recognized America’s musical genesis and a past of injustice and segregation that fertilized its richness.

“In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur invited to the White House the first black choir ever to perform here — the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University in Tennessee. Of course, during those days they had trouble finding a place to stay,” the President said noting their warm reception at the White House.

“As a matter of fact, after The Temptations came here a couple of months ago, I was so inspired that I thought I would take up singing. Laura said, you might just stick with practicing your speaking," He joked about himself with his trademark snicker and grin.

But as he continued to highlight the White House’s historical rendezvous with Black Music (or musicians) he had a slip of the tongue that wasn’t funny and stressed his need to take his wife’s advice.

Bush adds, “President Franklin Roosevelt called on the talented Maria [sic] Anderson to sing "Ave Maria" for the King and Queen of England,” Bush erroneously stated.

The “Maria” he referred to was, of course, world famous opera contralto, Marian Anderson. An enormous speech writer’s oversight, this fact is more in context to Black Music Month as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939 when its members refused to allow Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall because she was Black. Mrs. Roosevelt arranged an outdoor concert where Anderson sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before 75,000 people standing in the Lincoln Mall, a well-documented triumph in Black, American and Women’s history.

This faux pas tainted an otherwise sound and sincere speech that was in part written to mark Bush’s legacy as a president who embraced both music and diversity.

Theresa Hairston, founder of Gospel Today Magazine, emceed the event.

During the ceremony, the sole gospel artist on Geffen Records, Spensha Baker, 15, encouraged the leader of the free world to hold on, as she sang a song from her upcoming debut album.

In a surprise and noble gesture, Kurt Carr invited 89-year-old Narcissus to join him and his group on stage. Carr said she was a star singer in Connecticut where he was raised and the Lord placed it on his heart the day before the event to send for her because she’d never sang at the White House.

Her voice, a clone of the late, great Mahalia Jackson, singing “This Little Light of Mine” immediately engrossed the audience.

Kurt Carr and his singers performed a medley of “Kumbayah,” “For Every Mountian,””Presence of the Lord,” and the praise and worship banner that has been translated into nine languages, “Sanctuary.”

The final act, gospel legends Edwin and Walter Hawkins presented “Marvelous,” “Some Day We’ll All Be Together,” and their ground-breaking, over 30-year old favorite, “Oh Happy Day.” Pastor Marvin Sapp joined them on stage adding his soulful take to the classic.

Throughout the ceremony, the president lifted his hands, bopped his head and rocked to the beat of the music he said is making the Good News sound sweeter than ever.

Guests in attendance included: Mark Morial (President of the Urban League), Alphonso Jackson (who was celebrationg his 75th birthday), Dorothy Height, John Styll (Gospel Music Association President), Maurette Brown Clark, Armstrong Williams (radio talk show host), Neicy Tribbett (Gospel artist Tye Tribbett’s mother and manager), Verity/Zomba Gospel reps Tracey Artis and Kimberly Norsworthy, Dr. Bobby Jones, and Veda Brown among others.

-Written By: Mona Austin

 
They appeared to be a match made in heaven, but toward the end not even prayer could keep them together. The stormy marriage of national evangelist Juanita Bynum and Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III —- temporarily calmed by a night of passion —- was dissolved Friday in a Gwinnett County courtroom. Both Bynum and Weeks expressed relief and a measure of joy that their marriage, marked by an elaborate televised wedding, a high-profile ministry and a parking lot fight, was over.

Bynum filed for divorce in September. On Friday, about a month shy of her sixth wedding anniversary to Weeks, Bynum said she was at peace with the divorce.

"It's not a sad thing," she said. "I always said that, 'This too shall pass,' and it just did."

The traveling minister wore a casual cotton top, khaki pants and a sweater tied around her waist. She smiled broadly soon after her ties to Weeks were severed.

Weeks, on three years' probation for assaulting Bynum last summer, also appeared to be happy. He wore a grin, a bow tie and a brown pinstriped suit. He said he will always have a "special love" for Bynum but is moving on.

"It feels like a new day —- a brand new life, a brand new time," Weeks said.

For some tense minutes Friday, it appeared that the divorce would be derailed.

Superior Court Judge Debra Turner asked Bynum if she had been intimate with Weeks since they separated. She seemed surprised at Bynum's answer:

"Yes, once," Bynum said. "I believe it was in August."

Turner grew concerned about moving ahead. "My understanding is you can no longer have marital relations based on the date of separation that you file," she said. Bynum said in court that she and Weeks separated in May.

The judge called for a recess so Weeks' attorney, Randy Kessler, could check case law. Kessler argued before the break that the interlude shouldn't halt the process. "She filed for divorce after that sexual encounter," he said. "They have been living in a bona-fide state of separation.''

Bynum did not say whether that rendezvous occurred before or after Weeks pushed, kicked and beat her in the parking lot of the Renaissance Concourse Hotel on Aug. 21. During the break from proceedings, Bynum and Weeks stared down at their instant messaging devices. Bynum was typing feverishly. Weeks was reading and scrolling through a message.

When Bynum finished her note, she slid the device into her purse, flung aside her hair and stared off at a corner. Weeks continued to read on and then gazed up at the ceiling sighing. It is unknown whether the couple was communicating with each other. When asked, Weeks would not answer the question.

The divorce was finalized at 10:46 a.m. after Turner and Kessler agreed to change the couple's separation date to September, the month Bynum filed.

According to a 14-page settlement agreement, neither party will receive alimony. They have divided all bank accounts and will retain ownership of the debt and individual assets they had before marriage. Bynum also asked for some sentimental antiques she collected seven years ago, including a harp and a sculpture of a woman. Weeks gets the couple's 2004 Land Rover, his international ministry and the church the couple started together in Duluth, Global Destiny.

Bynum agreed to pay $40,000 in attorney fees for Weeks.

Bynum said she doesn't have time to waste on moping. She said she has been hired as a regular adviser on "Divorce Court," and two weeks ago, was permanently added to the cast of "Lincoln Heights," an ABC Family network series. She still continues her ministry.

Weeks said he will focus on building his church and "healing" his broken heart.

"You have to deal with the trauma," he said. "I didn't marry her to be here today."

 
Illinois Senator Barack Obama discusses Darfur, the Iraq war, gay rights, abortion and other issues recently with Christian leaders, including conservatives, who have been criticized for praising the Democratic presidential candidate, according to the Associated Press.

     Bishop T.D. Jakes a prominent black clergyman, who heads a Dallas mega-church, said Obama took questions, listened to participants and discussed his “personal journey of faith.”

     The discussion “went absolutely everywhere,” Jakes told the Associated Press, and “just about every Christian stripe was represented in that room.”

     Jakes said he hopes to meet with republican presidential candidate John McCain.

     The senator’s support for abortion rights and gay rights, among other issues, drew opposition from religious conservatives; some conservatives have criticized Jakes for praising Obama. Jakes said the meeting, at a law firm’s office, seemed designed to prompt a wide discussion rather than to result in commitments from either Obama or those attending.

     The report said that there was only a brief mention of Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, who cursed America and accused the government of conspiring against blacks.

The Christianaires recently announced that Paul Porter, one of the founding members, is leaving the group to pursue a solo career. Paul has been a key component and featured artist for the group for thirty years.

During that time they have become one of the top quartet groups in the world. In 2007 the group was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and is widely known for their electrifying and anointed performances.

Porter has also been an intricate part of the group’s difficult struggles to prominence in the Gospel music industry. The Christianaires thoughts and prayers are always with him as he moves on to face new challenges.

The Christianaires will also take the opportunity to grow. Members Tyrone Porter, Ronald Brown, Charles Porter and Christopher Dean are committed as ever to continuing the music ministry in the same tradition.

Charles Porter will take the helm as their featured/primary lead singer. The Christianaires are also actively seeking an additional lead singer. Interested parties should contact Nu Horizon Booking and Management at 601-587-8000.

 
Pentecostal preacher Kenneth Copeland is now looking to gain public support as he continues to question and protest a senator's investigation into the spending of six "prosperity gospel" ministries, including his. This week, his ministry launched a Web site to address concerns about the inquiry.

      "The Grassley Investigation: Do Churches Still Have Constitutional Rights?" says an article on the homepage of www.BelieversStandUnited.com.

The site is in response to an inquiry led by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who last November sent letters to six prominent ministries asking that they provide financial records and answer questions regarding their organizational as well as personal finances. The senate probe was prompted by media reports and ministry watchdogs that alleged opulent spending and possible abuse of their nonprofit status.

Copeland, who has said his ministry fully complies with all laws, believes the inquiry is a violation of religious freedom, an invasion of privacy and a threat to the separation of Church and State. And information obtained by Grassley "could potentially be used in a manner that could harm or embarrass the Church, its preachers, members, partners, and friends," his ministry stated. According to the Web site, one of the ministries was asked to provide a list of the names and addresses of every minister whom the church has paid to speak or perform music at the church.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries was one of two ministries that responded to Grassley's request for information by the Dec. 6 deadline that was given. But Grassley's office said Copeland has not provided sufficient answers. The prominent ministry has declined to provide additional information.

Further questioning the probe, Copeland has raised suspicion about Grassley targeting only Pentecostal churches that preach the prosperity gospel – a teaching that God wants his followers to be rich both spiritually and materially.

"It is unprecedented in the history of our country that a U.S. senator would selectively set his investigative sights on six Pentecostal churches and in so doing, attempt to ignore both their constitutional and their legal rights as set forth in the IRS Code," said Copeland in a statement on Monday.

Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has repeatedly said the investigation has nothing to do with church doctrine.

Many have shown support for Grasley's investigation, saying the Iowa senator is being careful and not going into doctrinal issues. Rusty Leonard of MinistryWatch.org – which rates ministries on financial transparency to aid donors – says the inquiry is well-founded as it is trying to ensure that the ministries' leaders are adhering to "fundamental biblical principles such as transparency and honesty while exhibiting a sacrificial lifestyle modeled after Jesus."

Leonard, whose organization has given Copeland Ministries an "F" grade for transparency, blasted Copeland for his allegations against the inquiry and for not fully complying.

"Copeland is trying to create the impression that he is being cooperative, when in fact he failed to comply with 25 of the 42 requests for information from Sen. Grassley," Leonard said. "Now, he wants the IRS to continue the investigation, but only because IRS investigations are confidential. Copeland doesn’t want the public or his donors to see what he’s been doing, and that’s alarming. It screams that he his hiding something from KCM (Kenneth Copeland Ministries) donors and the public.”

KCM indicated that fully complying with the investigation could open the door to an attack on the religious freedom of other churches and ministries.

"If KCM failed to defend its legal rights, then it is deeply concerned that you and your church or your neighbor's church could be next," said the ministry.

Leonard doesn't buy the ministry’s argument.

“The idea that Copeland is standing on some constitutional principle is simply a diversion," he said.

More than 6,100 people have voted on the Web site in favor of protecting church rights and religious freedoms, according to KCM. BelieversStandUnited.com was also designed to educate Christians about their constitutional rights and the effects of governmental inquiries on the Church as a whole and to update the Christian community about the ongoing Senate inquiry.

The five other ministries being probed are led by Paula and Randy White, Benny Hinn, Joyce and David Meyer, Eddie Long, and Creflo Dollar.

 
Dear Rev. Moss:

We are writing to make official our decision to end our membership at Trinity.

We make this decision with sadness. Trinity was where I found Christ, where we were married and where our children were baptized. We have many friends among the 8,000 congregants who attend there and we are proud of the extraordinary good works the church continues to perform throughout the community to help the hungry, the homeless and people in need of medical care. We also have come to appreciate your ministry and both think you have been, and will be, a wonderful pastor for years to come.

But as you know, our relations with Trinity have been strained by the divisive statements of Rev. Wright, which sharply conflict with our own views. Our larger concern is that because of my candidacy and membership at Trinity, these controversies have served as an unfortunate distraction for other Trinity members who seek to worship in peace, and have placed you in an untenable position as you establish your own ministry under very difficult circumstances.

Our faith remains strong and we will find another church home for our family. But we also know that faith and prayer are not merely exercises to be discharged for two hours on Sunday. They are and always will be a bulwark for us in our daily lives.

We are grateful for our years as part of the Trinity community, and wish you all the best as you lead the congregation into the future. You, your family and the entire Trinity family will be in thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Michelle Obama
Barack Obama

It seems Chicago's Trinity United Church just won't leave Barack Obama out of its controversial headline making ways, so the Illinois senator is leaving it.

News of Obama resigning from the church was confirmed by his spokesman Ben LaBolt. At press time, no other details are available.

We all know about the huge firestorm that was centered around remarks by the church's now ex-pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Rev. Wright said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were the "chickens coming home to roost" on the U.S. for its foreign policy. He also uttered the now-infamous words "God damn America."

Obama publicly disagreed with the sentiments in a carefully crafted speech about race, in which he said he could do no more disown Wright than one could disown a family member. Now it seems that Barack is disowning the church that he attended for more than 20 years.

The newest controversy involving the church flared up this past week when video of the Rev Michael Pfledger's sermon from last weekend appeared on the Internet.

To put it mildly, Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest, doesn't exactly see eye to eye with his superiors in the Chicago archdiocese as far as his political activism is concerned.

In his appearance at Unity, Pfleger seemed to go out of his way to mock Sen. Hillary Clinton. He also suggested the former first lady is a white elitist who felt entitled to the Democratic nomination.

Pfledger has since apologized, stating that his opinions have nothing to do with Obama’s views.

When the story broke on Thursday, the Obama campaign called pfleger's rant "divisive, backward-looking rhetoric." When Obama appeared in Great Falls, Montana on Friday, he made no mention of Pfleger. He is expected to deal with it this evening while campaigning.

Below is the link to check out the video of Rev. Pfledger’s controversial statements.

Copy & Paste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWigzBClEk8&eurl=http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur43949.cfm

NBA player Dwyane Wade couldn't hide his emotions this past Sunday when he sat in the first pew of the church he brought for his mother, Jolinda Wade.

"This is tears of joy," Wade said, beaming. "Tears of joy for my mother."

Before she was known as the mother of the Miami Heat superstar and 2006 NBA finals MVP, Jolinda Wade was known as an inmate, a fugitive, a drug user and drug seller. Her life turned around seven years ago when after years of urging by her children, she got help and got clean. Along the way, she devoted her life to spreading the Word of God and started her first ministry while doing time in state prison.

Now that ministry has a new home called the Temple of Praise. Dwyane Wade bought it, and her children and her congregation gathered to dedicate it on Sunday.

"I respect my mother so much, from the life that she used to live and to see her today in the life that she lives. I'm so proud of her," Dwyane Wade told The Associated Press before the service. "Everybody thinks I'm the miraculous story in the family. I think she is. I think what I've done means I've been very blessed, but she's been more than blessed. She's been anointed."

Wade's sister Tragil Wade, who essentially raised him, would get word that someone died in the Chicago-area neighborhood she often feared it was her mother. One day she talked her mother into accompanying her to church. That moment, they say, is the one that convinced Jolinda Wade to make some radical changes.

She got sober, turned herself into Illinois authorities to serve a prison term that she skipped out on under auspices of joining a work-release program, and repaid her debt to society.

"My mother is a miracle to me and to our family, to see from where she came to where she's at now," said Tragil Wade, who at 30 is only four years older than the brother she has looked over for virtually his entire life. "I can't even describe it. It's like, if you didn't believe in God, this right here would make the belief strong."

"I feel reborn," said Jolinda Wade, who arrived for Sunday's service head-to-toe in purple, matching the newly redesigned décor of the sanctuary of the church.

Her church was formed in October with just 47 original members, Sunday she welcomed hundreds to service, including the mothers of Shaquille O'Neal and Magic Johnson.

Since becoming a Baptist pastor, Jolinda Wade's following – she shares the title of pastor with LaDell Jones, whom she befriended when they began minister training together in 2004 – had to meet in a small rented room, one that didn't give the NBA star's mother space to move around while delivering her testimony. The new facility has plenty of room for everyone to dance and rejoicing.

-Source: Eurweb

 
A few years ago, Tye Tribbett made a decision to forgo a lucrative career working with music stars like Faith Hill, Don Henley and Elton John to answer God's call in the gospel music arena.

That decision is paying off, as Tye Tribbett & G.A.

's new Columbia album, "Stand Out," debuts at No. 1 this week on Top Gospel Albums and at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 with 26,000 first-week U.S.

sales,
according to Nielsen SoundScan. (Tribbett's 2006 "Victory Live!" topped the Gospel Albums chart, but this is his strongest showing yet on the main album chart.)

Tribbett and his choir, Greater Anointing, first gained national attention in 1998 on "The Prince of Egypt (Inspirational)" soundtrack that accompanied the animated DreamWorks film. "That led to us going on tour with Faith Hill, Don Henley, Luther Vandross and Elton John," Tribbett recalls. "Then we started working with hip-hop artists and we became the background singers for everybody"

But Tribbett says some of the music was contradicting the gospel message that he felt called to spread. So he asked the members of his choir to commit totally to gospel music for one year.

"I said, 'This is going to hurt us for a little while financially, but we're going to trust God at least for a year and do music that promotes his ways.' So that year we pulled out of secular music, and 'Victory' came out and blew our minds," Tribbett says of the success of his sophomore album.

"Stand Out" features a guest appearance by Kim Burrell on "He Has Made Me Glad," and Kierra "Kiki" Sheard lends her vocals to "Look Up." The latter tune started as an interlude on 2004's "Life" album before Tribbett decided to flesh it out for the new project.

The album was recorded live at Rock Church International in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Plans call for a live DVD of the recording to be released this fall.

"The D.C./Baltimore/Virginia area loves our music," Tribbett says. "With the 'Victory' album, we were in that area once every two weeks, and every time we went to Virginia, there was an overwhelming response."