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Inspirational Vocalist Robert E. Person Ends 2011 On A High Note
Dec 31st
Artist Celebrates Birthday With Friends, Ranks As Top Artist On Indie Gospel Year End Charts
Photo credit: Colin Hovde
Courtesy of Tehillah Enterprises
Gospel singer Robert E. Person has had a whirlwind year. Since the release of his third CD, Soul Sanctuary, in July 2011, Robert has been busy promoting the new, critically-acclaimed release. The lead single, “Someday We’ll All Be Free”, a jazzy arrangement of the Donny Hathaway classic, has been heard on 200 radio stations nationally and the artist had the opportunity to sing his rendition at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication in his hometown of Washington, D.C. The song catapulted up the BDS and Mediabase charts entering the Top 100. Other notable performances in 2011 included The Library of Congress, The Spirit of Washington, Rejoice In The Word with Bishop George Bloomer and Babbie’s House, Christian artist Babbie Mason’s television show. The industry has been talking about the impressive psalmist. In addition to receiving rousing endorsements from industry notables such as Earnest Pugh, Harold Rayford and Bob Baldwin, he’s been getting great reviews of Soul Sanctuary. Also, he has been named one of the Top 5 Indie Artists for 2011 by EnSound Entertainment and One of the Indie Artists To Look Out For In 2012 by Rejoice America Radio. He has also been listed as one of CJBRadio.com’s Top 10 Independent Artists of 2011. He closed out the amazing year with a Birthday Celebration Concert on Monday, December 26th at H Street Playhouse in D.C., the same location where he’s been performing in Langston Hughes’ musical Black Nativity during the month of December. Person’s Birthday Celebration Concert (pictured above) featured performances by his musical friends Quest, Jimmy Russell & Because of Christ, The Allyn Johnson Trio, Lori Williams, and Tony Thomas. Person took to the stage as well singing a few songs from the new release. Presented by Theatre Alliance and REP Music, the event gave Person the opportunity to give thanks for the support of his friends and to share in his special day. More information on Robert E. Person can be found at www.RobertEPerson.com.
Census Bureau: A Baby to Be Born Every 8 Seconds in Jan. 2012
Dec 31st
Is the World Headed for Overpopulation?
By Luiza Oleszczuk | Christian Post Reporter
When the clock strikes midnight this Saturday, the U.S. population will have hit 312.8 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Is the nation’s population in danger of getting out of control?
In 2006, Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) wrote a report titled “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050: Four Immigration Scenarios.” Martin and Fogel predicted that, if the issue of illegal immigration remained unchecked, “we likely will be facing the prospect of a population in 2050 of half a billion people.”
At the same time, FAIR predicted that, “If current proposals to increase immigration, give legal status to those currently here illegally, and create a new guest worker program were adopted,” the country’s population would reach one billion people by the end of the century.
FAIR is a nonprofit consisting of “concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation’s immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest,” according to the organization’s website.
Based on figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. is less than 200 million people away from hitting FAIR’s 2050 figure.
When the clock strikes midnight this Saturday, the U.S. population will have hit 312.8 million people (312,780,968, exactly), according to the agency.
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That number means an increase of 2,250,129 people (0.7 percent) since New Year’s Day 2011, and an increase of 4,035,430 people (1.3 percent) since April 1, 2010. In Jan. 2012, one birth is expected to occur every eight seconds in the United States and one death every 12 seconds, the Census Bureau projects.
At the same time, net international migration is expected to add one person to the U.S. population every 46 seconds in Jan. 2012.
The combination of births, deaths and net international migration results in an increase in the total U.S. population of one person every 17 seconds, the agency wrote in a statement.
The United States is the third most populated country in the world, after China and India. But is it overpopulated?
Yes, “in the sense that we are consuming our national ecological resources at an unsustainable rate,” according to the FAIR’s research.
The United States has a national environmental policy but no national population policy, the agency claims on its website.
It is crucial to make that subject a part of the national debate on immigration, Eric Ruark, FAIR’s Director of Research, told The Christian Post Thursday.
“Most of the population growth comes from immigration,” either directly from immigrants, or children of immigrants, Ruark told CP. The question is what is the limit in population the U.S. can reach, he added. And politicians are not eager to raise that question. Exceeding the maximum population number, whatever that figure may be, means some serious problems with U.S. resource consumption, Ruark told CP.
But immigration is not the whole of the issue.
On Oct. 31, the world’s population reached 7 billion, causing many critics to express concern about issues like poverty and hunger in third-world countries, family planning and contraception. Population control is, for that reason, also a part of a greater discourse within the Christian community. Calls for population control come with ethical implications in addition to economic and environmental ones.
Still, some Christians believe talk of the world becoming overpopulated is overblown.
“The myth of overpopulation first put forth by Malthus, coupled with Darwinian theories that promote propagation of the ‘fit’ and reduction of the ‘unfit,’ has been instrumental in legitimizing abortion, forced sterilization, government subsidized contraception, and, in the most extreme cases, eugenics as practiced by the Nazis and others,” S. Michael Craven wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Post in June. “In every case these false notions undermine God’s commandment to ‘multiply’ and further serve to undermine the intrinsic value of every human as being made in the image of God.”
Listen to Gospel Artist Theresa Pinkney
Nov 16th
Listen to Theresa Pinkney – Count It all Joy
Gospel artist Theresa Pinkney is clearly a gifted singer. The protégé of popular gospel singer Yolanda Wyns and vocalist for Christian group Just Breathe has a mission to proclaim her love for God through song. The former student of the Duke Ellington School for the Arts now steps to the mic as a solo artist making her official foray into the gospel music industry.
The D.C. area native and singer and songwriter has released her contemporary gospel debut entitled Me Against The World. Flowing easily from pop-oriented tunes to urban-tinged tracks, Pinkney provides a strong dose of inspiration from one song to the next. Me Against The World is a 15-track project filled with a mixture of urban, R&B, pop and dance styles, yet is fully gospel.
Theresa dedicates the project to one of her closest friends and mentors. Her friend, diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, played the song regularly for inspiration until her untimely passing. Because of the impact she had on Theresa’s life, Theresa is donating a portion of the proceeds of the CD to Relay For Life, part of The American Cancer Society, in her memory.
Her song, “Count It All Joy” (above), is #1 at CJBRadio.com.
Rapper, Lacrae Shares His Testimony
Oct 25th
Rapper Lecrae shares his testimony about being raised in the streets and finding Christ.
Lacrae – Just Like You
Oct 22nd
“Just Like You,” a lead single from his album Rehab, explores the impact of substitutionary male role models that pale in comparison to the perfect example found in Christ. The song gives a clear picture of what biblical manhood should really be.
Idol Worship from the Skit Guys
Oct 11th
When you think of worshiping idols, what comes to your mind? Golden calves? Giant statues? Here’s a sobering look from The Skit Guys at what we often look like when we bow down to our own idols.
“Should I Celebrate Halloween?” – Discover the Book
Oct 11th
Should I Celebrate Halloween?
“Let everyone who names the Name” Paul said, avoid iniquity. Is Halloween a celebration of iniquity? Read on and judge for yourself!
Here are some quotes from what many different people have said over the years concerning the celebration of Halloween.
Someone once said, “For a Christian to celebrate Halloween would be as proper as a Holocaust survivor trying to celebrate Hitler’s birthday”. Yet so many believers continue to do so without considering what they are doing. Excited children masquerading as witches, ghosts, goblins, skeletons, demons, and other grotesque characters skipping through the neighborhood knocking one doors changing “trick or treat” while holding out a sack in which one is to drop a piece of candy or other goodies…the party at school, or church, or Sunday School where they bob for apples, tell fortunes, or go through “haunted houses”…decorations of jack-o-lanterns, witches on brooms and black cats with arched backs…IT’S “HALLOWEEN” – one of the strangest days of the year.
The word evokes a number of responses. Every year as October rolls around, there are those that look forward to it with excitement and those that cringe and wish it weren’t there. Some argue violently against it, some yawn because they’ve heard it all before, may just look the other way and go ahead with it. Some view it as an abomination, while many others view it as a harmless tradition. What is Halloween, or Samhain? What does it represent? And, what should the Christian think about it, if anything?
so Where did The elements of Halloween come from?
Trick or Treat. “The modern custom of ‘Trick-or-Treat’ began in Ireland hundreds of years ago. A group of farmers went from house to house begging food for the village Halloween festivities in the name of their ancient gods. Good luck was promised to generous donors, and threats were made against those who would not give.” Thus these ancient pagan traditions continue today as youngsters, masquerading as ghosts, skeletons, and demons go “trick-or-treating” – begging in a sense for food while promising to refrain from evil deeds.
October 31st. Though it was the Roman Catholic church who designated the October 31st date as All Hallow’s Eve, or “eve of the holy one’s day,” in prelude to their November 1st All Saints’ Day, it was earlier pagan peoples who gave the annual holiday the sinister meaning and traditions it still holds.
It is obvious that the elements, symbols, and traditions of the Halloween observance with its emphasis upon goblins and demons, witches and skeletons, ghosts and apparitions rising from cemeteries constitute a dabbling with the very things, which Scripture forbids to God’s people and an open invitation to demonic activity. (Deuteronomy 18: 10-13, Lev 19:31)
It is at this point that many will say, “But we don’t worship demons on Halloween. It doesn’t mean the same thing today as it did in the past. It’s now just a harmless, innocent time of fun for the children and the young people.”
Yet, history clearly shows that Halloween is unmistakably a “religious” (pagan and Roman) holiday. Religion is the adoration, obedience, and service rendered to the object of one’s worship. It presupposes profession, practice, or observance of whatever belief and practice – in this case Halloween – as required by some superior authority. It is indisputably clear that Halloween is NOT commanded or sanctioned by Jehovah God – the true Christian’s Superior, Authority – in the Scriptures.
Today Halloween is the highest of all celebrations for Satan worshippers, witches and the occult. Christians need to be warned so they can take heed and obey the Word of God. The apostle Paul wrote, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:11). “Abstain from all appearances of evil” (1 Thes. 5:22). “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
For more from Discover the Book Ministries, please visit discoverthebook.org and Listen to Dr. John Barnett at OnePlace.com.
CCMtv.org – UP CLOSE with Meka King (Part 1 of 2)
Aug 18th
Gospel artist, Meka King tells her testimony of how God has brought her to the point of total trust in Him.
CCMtv.org – UP CLOSE with Meka King (Part 2 of 2)
Aug 18th
CCM continues to get UP CLOSE with Meka King in Part 2 as she talks about her purpose and encourages others on faith with her CD Count It All Joy. Meka also performs “Worship Medly”.
