Whitney Houston was a surprise guest on BET’s annual “Celebration Of Gospel” event which aired Sunday. The “I Will Always Love You” singer joined her friend, Christian vocalist Kim Burrell on stage for a moving inspirational rendition of Houston’s “I Look To You,” the title track from her 2009 come back album.

Burrell opened the song alone before Houston accompanied her on the stage. It was a risky move for Houston to sing a duet with one of the genre’s strongest voices.

Watch Whitney Houston’s performance at the 2:05 mark:

Houston’s live performances over the last year for Good Morning America, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and her “Nothing But Love” world tour were all criticized for her disappointing vocals. Her years of drug abuse had apparently ruined her voice beyond repair.

But Houston wowed the “Celebration Of Gospel” audience with a remarkable performance. She connected with the song’s R. Kelly-penned lyrics that pay homage to a trusted support system. But her voice sounded much stronger than it has recently.

Houston didn’t sing any bad notes during this set taped in December in Los Angeles. She nicely handled some signature riffs, even dipping into a crisp falsetto. She didn’t sound as strong as she did in the ’80s and ’90s, but she was great, considering her pitfalls.

Maybe this is a sign that she should record a gospel album next.

An encore of “Celebration Of Gospel” airs Thursday, February 3 at 8 p.m. eastern/7 p.m. central.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Florise Pierre of Branchburg, who came to the Somerset mega-church with her son and daughter, as she does every Sunday.

“Our reverend is trying to raise discussions of African-American issues,” Pierre explained. “They picked the right church and the right reverend for the documentary.”

CNN reporter Soledad O’Brien and her producers are devoting the entire third installment of their documentary series, “Black in America,” to the members of the Somerset church and their activist pastor, the Rev. DeForest B. Soaries Jr. The program, titled “Churched,” will explore the role churches play in contemporary black America by focusing on three families in the congregation. It will air on Oct. 14.

A crowd of 1,200 packed the sanctuary for the 9 a.m. service, along with another 1,000 who came for an 11 a.m. service. CeCe Winans, the acclaimed gospel and R&B singer, made the sanctuary ring with a rousing rendition of the hymn “The Blood Will Never Lose its Power.” She was accompanied by the church’s choir and band, who already had the crowd clapping and on its feet after performing a series of high-energy spirituals to open the service.

Soaries, Winans’ onetime music manager and an old friend, selected Winans from a list proposed by CNN.

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SOURCE: New Jersey.com
Ben Horowitz/The Star-Ledger

DENVER, CO, July 20, 2010…On Sunday, August 1, the Redemptorists, an order of Catholic priests and brothers, will be offering the first-ever, national “Blessing for Arthritics” after each and every Mass at their parishes and retreat centers across the country.

The blessings will be held on this particular Sunday because August 1 is the feast day of their founder, St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), a doctor of the Church and also the patron saint of those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. St. Alphonsus himself suffered from severe arthritis for the last forty years of his life. The disease left him permanently bent forward and confined to a wheelchair.

“This is the first blessing of its kind, as far as we know, on a national scale, for people who suffer the chronic and debilitating agonies of arthritis, fibromyalgia and other serious physical conditions,” said the Very Reverend Thomas D. Picton, C.Ss.R., provincial superior of the Denver Province. “We hope this is the beginning of an annual tradition that brings people to our churches to ask for the blessing and intercession of our great saint on his feast day and to beseech Our Father in Heaven to grant these suffering souls deliverance from their pains.”

The blessings are open to the public. Prayer cards to St. Alphonsus Liguori will also be distributed as part of the blessing ceremony.

For a complete list of participating parishes and retreat centers, please go to www.redemptoristsdenver.org and click on the “Blessing” banner. For those who cannot attend but would like to receive a virtual blessing online, delivered by Father Robert Halter, and a prayer card to St. Alphonsus, please go to the same website.

The Redemptorists are a religious congregation of Catholic priests and brothers founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori in 1732 in Naples, Italy. Presently, there are some 5,000 Redemptorists working for the poor and most abandoned in nearly every part of the world. More than 400 Redemptorist priests, brothers and students represent the Denver Province in much of the United States and in Brazil, Nigeria, and Thailand.

Contact:
Bruce Crane
Redemptorists Denver Province
303-565-5438
bcrane@redemptorists-denver.org
www.redemptoristsdenver.org

A worshiper shouts during a service Thursday at the Church of God in Christ’s international Auxiliaries in Ministry convention in Charlotte.

Like the two Baptist groups that held their conventions in Charlotte last month, these COGIC bishops, superintendents, pastors, elders, deacons and other congregants had come to town for a week’s worth of classes, revivals, concerts and competitions.

At the Charlotte Convention Center, “children under construction” paraded around in little yellow hardhats. In one ballroom, an evangelist behind a microphone boasted that he spoke in tongues and asked other Holy Ghost-filled people in the audience to stand up. In another ballroom, a preacher cried out with joy as she danced before another crowd.

And across the street, in Ballroom B of the Westin Hotel, it looked as if the young Scripture students from North Georgia were about to repeat as champs in the Bible Bowl.

Then the categories changed, from church history to church doctrine, and 12-year-old Charles McVade, substituting for one of his Texas Southwest teammates, bounded onto the stage.

And that was all she wrote for North Georgia: Again and again and again, Charles pressed his white-lighted buzzer, answering the moderator’s questions about the characteristics of sinners, about how Satan attacks, and, finally, on how angels relate to believers.

“They minister to believers,” Charles said, quietly but with authority. “They observe believers. They rejoice when a sinner repents – and when a backslider returns.”

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SOURCE: Charlotte Observer
Tim Funk | tfunk@charlotteobserver.com

But these multiple efforts all point back to a single message of hope that will be delivered by Riverside, California, pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie during each night of the “2010 Southern California Harvest.”

According to a news release from Laura McGowan Communications, the theme of “hope” will run throughout the three-night 2010 Southern California Harvest, culminating with a special Sunday evening program called, “A Night of Hope,” where Laurie will team up with Grammy Award-winning musician Steven Curtis Chapman to address issues of sorrow and the hope we have in Christ in the midst of crisis. Both Chapman and Laurie lost children in automobile accidents in 2008, and share a common desire to offer encouragement to people who are suffering loss of any kind.

Focus on the Family founder, broadcaster, best-selling author, and family expert Dr. James Dobson will also join Laurie for an interview on Sunday evening to discuss suffering.

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Source: Assist News | Dan Wooding

All events take place simultaneously as follows This itinerary is subject to change: @ The Georgia World Congress Center Friday August 13th hotel check in, meet & greet session @ 8:00 pm Media Kick off Artist / Salute to Veterans Quartet Showcase @ The Georgia World Congress Center Saturday August 14th 9:00 amOpening Morning Prayer Ceremony & Breakfast Featured Artist (tba)10:30 Women In Ministry Panel All day Break out rooms and simultaneous workshops that include International Guest Speakers & Artist Showcasing9:30 am Health & Wellness Exhibit presentations, 9am, 10pm (located in the lobby pre function areaKids Nutrition Zone (featuring games, nutrition skits and drama presentation) Breast Cancer Screening Mobile Blood Drive, LifeLink Inc, American Diabetes Association American Red Cross American Kidney Foundation, Heart Disease, Stroke, Obesity,Physical Activity.

In this portion of our conference is to promote healthy living and will grant opportunity for health & wellness sponsors and exhibitors to present well informative lectures and demonstrations to the public and participants attending the conference. Included in this segments will be artist showcases, fashion shows throughout the lobby that support our exhibitors. Workshops begin at 9-4pm; Welcome/ Seminar: Where Do we go from here? Fashion Show Workshop, Praise Team Showcase, Choir Showcase, Hip Hop Showcase, VIP Food & Beverage RECEPTION 4PM. Concert@ 5pm sharp.

REMARKS DIGNITARIES MAYOR Health & Wellness Exhibit presentations, 10am – 6pm (In this section of our conference will grant opportunity for health & wellness sponsors and exhibitors to present informative lectures (15 to 20 min to all conference participants and to the public. Included in this segments will be artist showcases, fashion shows throughout the lobby that support our exhibitors

The success and growth of Gospel Fest 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the past 3 years has been tremendous therefore we have reserved the Convention Center for 2010 for the 5th Annual Conference.

Gospel Fest is designed to give exclusive networking opportunities, direction and focus to contemporary Christian and Gospel and Traditional music but you must attend the workshops in order to receive the complete gift of being involved.

Artists who come just to sing and showcase their God Given talents and do not attend the workshops miss out on future opportunities, therefore we strongly encourage you to attend all music related workshops. There is something for everyone. There will be three (3) performance stages with artists showcasing as well as choirs, praise teams, dance and step teams.

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The Potter’s Clay International Women’s Retreat was birthed out of a relationship between First Church of God, Angle Street in Bermuda and Pastors Dorion and Joy Morgan of New Jersey (visit www.restorationstation.org). In January of 2007, the beautiful women of First Church of God asked Pastor Joy to host a women’s retreat for them in New Jersey and Pastor Joy was honored to do so. The Lord impressed upon Pastor Joy that this retreat would be a time that women would come together, from Bermuda and the U.S., to be released into their God-given potential for greatness. The theme for that weekend was based in Jeremiah 18:1-10, which deals with the Potter, the Clay, and the Wheel. In June of 2007, over 100 women came together in Mt. Laurel, NJ and were immensely blessed by the presence and power of God.

It was clear to Pastor Joy and the ladies of Bermuda that this retreat should become an annual event. So the second annual Potter’s Clay International Women’s Retreat reconvened in June of 2008. The theme for that weekend was “Armed and Dangerous”. Interestingly enough, after so many were blessed the previous year, there were only half the number of registrants in attendance than the previous year. It was prophesied during the retreat that God had called only a small remnant that year to hear the Word of the Lord. It was further prophesied by Bishop Ron Scott, one of the speakers during the retreat that year, that the number of attendees would double the next year, and the retreat would continue to experience tremendous growth over the coming years.

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“The Shift”

June 13-18, 2010

Plans are underway for Bethany’s Pastors’ and Laymen’s Power of God 2010 scheduled for June 13-18, 2010. We are working diligently to make Power of God 2010 even better this year.

Power of God is six glorious days of power-packed preaching, Praise and Worship from some of the nation’s finest psalmist, preachers as well as awesome worship ministry. It is a wonderful resource for Pastors, Church Leaders, Women in Ministry, Deacons, Trustees, Music Ministers and Laymen alike! Power of God promises to be a time of healing, refreshing, empowerment and impartation. Your time with us has been prayerfully planned and strategically designed in the Spirit to impact your life and ministry. Your life and ministry will never be the same.

Sunday, June 13th @ 7:30 pm Kickoff Service
Dr. Cynthia James
Cynthia James Evangelistic Ministries
Oakland, CA

CONFERENCE ITINERARY

Monday, June 14th – Friday, June 18th

(Schedule is the same Monday-Friday)

7:45 am – 8:30 am Continental Breakfast

8:35 am – 9:20 am Session 1 Schools of Excellence Workshops

9:25 am – 10:10 am Session 2 Schools of Excellence Workshops

10:15 am – 11:00 am Session 3 Schools of Excellence Workshops

11:05 am – 11:50 am Session 4 Schools of Excellence Workshops

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Afternoon Worship Service

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Lunch @ Bethany (available for purchase)

7:00 pm Mini Concerts

7:30 pm Worship Service

Confirmed Guest Preachers:

Bishop Edgar Vann, Jr.
Bishop Clarence McClendon
Dr. Mark Chironna
Dr. Cynthia James
Pastor Paula White
Bishop John Francis
Pastor Chris Hill
Bishop Paul Morton
Apostle Ron Carpenter
Pastor Jamal Bryant
Bishop David G. Evans

For more information contact us at (800) 524-6274, Ext. 272 or (856) 784-2220, Ext. 272, conferences@go2bethany.com, or visit us online at www.go2bethany.com

Be Honest.

Be Beautiful.

Be Intentional.

Be Strong. Be You!

In this inspirational book by popular performers Mary Mary, the heart and faith of this urban gospel duo permeates every page and motivates young women to be the “U” that God created you to be. In it, Mary Mary reminds readers that to “Be U” has more to do with the strength God puts in our hearts than it does with how we look on the outside. It’s all about seeing ourselves as God sees us: beautiful, forgiven, cherished, and loved.

Inspired by Mary Mary’s popular songs, each message is complemented by journaling questions that make the message real, scriptures that inspire readers to grow strong, and a “Be U Affirmation” that helps readers boldly stand on the promises of God.

The mission of Mary Mary is to encourage young women to discover the true beauty that lies within, as they inspire an awareness of natural beauty and a celebration of inner uniqueness. Professing their faith in God, they consistently promote a message of strong family values and the joy of being a woman.

Order now from
Amazon.com | BarnesandNoble.com | BlackCBC.com | Books-A-Million.com | Borders.com

The production, written and produced by George W. Stewart, takes you into the lives of Abe and Sadie Jones and their longtime friend Fred Williams. Abe, a retired R&B singer is now living with Fred because Sadie has kicked him out of their home after forty years of marriage. The problem stems from Abe and Fred’s recent “experiment” with sexual enhancement drugs.

“Ain’t No Fool Like An Old Fool” addresses the challenges that senior citizens face as they grow older and deal with new and unsuspecting changes. Our primary focus of this urban socio drama is the impact of the sexual enhancement drugs and the increase of sexually transmitted diseases.

Last Psalm’s George W. Stewart shares, “This play will open our eyes to some very serious issues that have become silent killers in the lives of senior citizens, thereby affecting all of us.”

As we laugh at their encounters, we bemoan the tragic outcome that occurs in the play and too often in real life.

“Ain’t No Fool Like An Old Fool” has been presented in conjunction with The 100 Black Men, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Coahoma Community College, The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Also, planned are upcoming dates with The AME Church and The NAACP. The play is currently touring the country and also has a planned date in the Bahamas

George W. Stewart
P.O. Box 311214
205.798.4093
Birmingham, Al. 35231

lastpsalm@aol.com
www.lastpsalm.com