Friday, August 24, 2007

Weeks: How To Have Grown Up Marriage

Incredible YouTube video snippet from the accused Bishop Thomas Weeks preaching on love and marriage during the 2006 Teach Me How To Love Conference in Atlanta, GA. We wonder how long the Bishop is going to keep this profound word up.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The "Week-est" Link



Big-time teleevangelist, occasional host of TBN's highly-rated "Praise The Lord" and successful gospel artist Juanita Bynum-Weeks is in the news once again. This time, it's bloody.

According to FOXNews.com and the Associated Press, Bynum and her estranged husband , Bishop Thomas W. Weeks, III, met at Renaissance Concourse Hotel near Atlanta's airport to try to reconcile, police said. Then around 4 a.m., things got a little shaky as a fight broke out between the two. A bellman employed by the hotel had to break the two up.

Officer Ronald Campbell stated that "she was bruised up and battered...and had purple bruising around her neck and upper torso."

No charges were filed against Bishop Weeks, who also happened to flee the scene of the crime...I meant incident. Authorities are still searching for Weeks.

News like this makes you want to go back and get a refund on that big fancy wedding we all bought for $20 after watching the 2-hour special on TV. Save the "No More Sheets" jokes.

[WEEK-EST LINKS]

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Jumpin' Out: Reflections of Tye Tribbett's Live Recording



This reflective excerpt comes from Jon Moore, supporter and contributor to PRAYZEHYMNOnline.com. While we welcome opinions from all sides, the commentary presented here should be treated and viewed as being one person's point-of-view.

I'm happy to report that we had wonderful weather for the entire trip and I IMMENSELY enjoyed both days of the recording! As you know, the first night of recording was held at the Rock Church International (Bishop John & Pastor Anne Gimenez) before an overflow crowd and the second night was a Beach Party/recording right on the VA Beach boardwalk. As I mentioned earlier, I had a blast but let me just get my gripes out of the way first....

Yours truly was fortunate enough to have purchased tickets well in advance and had a seat in the VIP section. However, in all honesty, the VIP status didn't help much as there was no assigned seating in VIP as we originally anticipated (since our tickets had assigned seats printed on them) and we were seated on a first-come first-served basis...not to mention the fact that the concert was oversold and there were people ev-e-ry-where and by the time they were really trying to get things started there were tons of folks that still didn't have a seat. Mind you, this church seats upwards of 5,000 - 6,000 people (I'm just estimating based upon how large the sanctuary looked) so the fact that there were still folks with no seats was kinda sad to me. There were people who paid for a ticket that ended up standing for the entire concert crowded by the doors, sitting on steps, and leaning on railings. Not cool!

Since I had a VIP ticket I ended up near the front but off to the side, which would not have been a problem with a different audio setup. However, the speakers were setup such that all of the sound was directed straight in front of the stage and left the folks on the side with a less-than-stellar auditory treatment. Lastly, the concert started waaaay late...no, I mean way. I don't recall the exact time it actually started but I know it was supposed to have started at 8:00 pm and the last time I checked my watch (about 30 min. before things kicked off) it was 9:15 pm.

Aside from those three things it was a great experience once everything got rolling. The title of the new album is "Stand Out!" and G.A. opened with the title track which I'm anticipating will be one of their first releases. Other songs to look out for are "Everything Little Thing Will Be Alright", "Bless The Lord Oh My Soul", and "Look Up". Special guests for the new album include Judith Christie-McAllister, Kierra "Kiki" Sheard, Kim Burrell, and Jon Owens. Jon Owens is a brotha from Tallahassee, FL and actually wrote the aforementioned "Bless The Lord"...check him out when you get a chance (www.myspace.com/jonowensmusic).

We didn't stay the entire time for the first night of the recording because me and my friends had already been there since about 6:45 pm and it was 11:30 pm at the halfway point and they still had a whole second half to go. Additionally, Tye had pulled a stool during intermission and had gotten nice and comfortable in his "preacher" mode with no end in sight...so we had to roll (I'm sure several people that had been standing against the wall immediately started rejoicing, lol). All in all, what we heard, saw, and felt at the Rock Church was all good.

The Beach Party on the other hand was the worship experience! Now I'm sure you'll get differing opinions on that but I can only speak for myself...the Lord made His presence known outside on the boardwalk!! Worship? Do you want to talk about worship? Oh my Lord, did we worship out there?! On our knees, hands lifted in surrender, total liberty in Christ (and you KNOW you won't get Black folks to get on the ground...and when we're all dressed and looking cute?!?). A number of our Caucasian and Hispanic brothers and sisters joined us on the beach just because they were passing by and I believe all in attendance were blessed by the experience. It was incredible! Hard worship and then some hard partying, HA!! It was great!



[G.A. UNIVERSE - EXPOSED]
Tye Tribbett & G.A. (Offical Website)
Tye Tribbett & G.A. Fan Club
Tye Tribbett (Wikipedia)

Thursday, August 09, 2007

'A Good Black Man' Under Investigation



When you become a pastor of one of the fastest growing mega-churches in the country and you're seen on BET and TBN almost every week, and have become one of today's high-profiled influential leaders within the African-American community, you can't help but run across a pile of "haters" further down the road. Rev. Jamal Harrison Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple AME located in Baltimore, may have a big problem with such "haters" and the recent reports hitting the media about his recent troubles with Bianca Wilson and Michelle Wedderburn; two different women who both have filed lawsuits against the famed pastor for a number of issues including paternity tests, peace orders and child support.

A few weeks ago, emails from anonymous sources and a number of bloggers challenged the reverend's integrity and have even pressured Bryant to lightly speak about the situations during recent church services. At the time, the future on Wilson's case is still in the air since she is now pregnant with child and will have to deliver the child in order to prove that Bryant is the father. The two have been summoned a peace order by the court system. As for Wedderburn's case, Bryant has to pay $400 a month for child support - since Bryant has been proven to be the child's father. This decision outrages a number of Bryant's critics since they feel he is a multi-millionaire and believes that $400 a month is next to nothing for the plaintiff. Word has it that Bryant's wife had no idea prior to the opening of this case of Naomi Bryant; the young child conceived by Wedderburn and Rev. Bryant.

Public information and documents on Bryant's cases, including a recent case surrounding a traffic violation, can be acquired at the Maryland Court official website.

When will the church be the church? All I ask for is that the preachers of today start to live the same stuff they profess about in the pulpit. If we get that right, then the world wouldn't have a problem with coming to church on next Sunday.

[updated: August 12, 2007]

[MORE TROUBLE AT THE RIVER]
Maryland Judiciary Courts
Check Your Pastor (PRAYZE Report)