Saturday, October 28, 2006

Color of the Cross Receives 4 Stars!

By: Angela Lee Price


Kam Williams, BlackNewws.com gives Color of the the Cross four stars. Movie Review: Color of the Cross. The first epic movie to depict Jesus as a Black Messiah opened in select markets Friday, October 27th. It opens nationwide on November 10th.

Jesus is going to be on the mainline! Help me call Him up and tell Him what we want to know about the directing, producing, cast, the making of Color of the Cross. Send me your questions today. Don't miss my WLOU interview with Color of the Cross director, producer, and star Jean Claude LaMarre Saturday, November 4th at 12:00 Noon on 1350 WLOU, Louisville's Praise and Worship Station.

(Photo above of Jean Claude LaMarre, Jesus and Debbie Morgan, Mary can be found in the October 30th edition of Jet Magazine with Tara Banks on the cover.)

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Related Stories on the Jesus Saves Ministries Blog:
Color of the Cross Update, posted 10/25/06
Color of the Cross Portrays Jesus As Black Messiah, posted 10/11/06

Log onto www.jesussavesministries.blogspot.com to post your comments to this and other posts.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Color of the Cross Update

By: Angela Lee Price

I felt like the lone voice in Louisville crying in the wildnerness concerning Color of the Cross, the first epic movie to depict Jesus as a black man, so I contacted Nu-Lite Entertainment to learn more about the movie. Color of the Cross stars director Jean-Claude LaMarre (left) as Jesus and will open in select markets next Friday, October 27th at these locations. The movie opens nationwide, including in the Louisville area, on November 10th.

Nu-Lite Entertainment Spokesperson, Gail Gipson suggests that people interested in seeing Color of the Cross may need to contact movie theatres and request that the movie be shown. That is how New-Lite has been able to get it shown in some theatres. Commercials for the movie are running on BET and other cable networks. An article on Color of the Cross (below) is in the October 30th edition of Jet Magazine (with Tyra Banks on the cover) on page 59.


I am working on a radio interview with either Color of the Cross director and star Jean-Claude LaMarre, photo left above with Debbie Morgan who plays Mary, or Gail Gipson. If you have questions you'd like to ask Jesus, please send them to me, and I will do my best to get Him on the line (smile). Seriously, if you have questions you'd like answered, send them to me, and I will put them on my list.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!






Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Rev. Dr. Freddie Haynes Takes Survey On the Black Church

By: Min. Angela Lee Price

Below is an excerpt from the transcript of my WLOU interview with Rev. Dr. Freddie Haynes, Sr. Pastor, Friendship-West Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas. Dr. Haynes spoke with me by phone on Wednesday, September 27th live from Dallas just after speaking in Louisville at the St. Stephen Church Fall Revival Tuesday evening, September 26, 2006.

Two questions on the Jesus Saves Ministries' Survey of the Black Church were asked of Dr. Haynes: 1) Is there a schism in the Black Church between proponents of the prosperity gospel and the social justice gospel?; 2) Has the Black Church lost her prophetic voice? Here are Dr. Haynes answers.

Angela: Is the church divided today? There is a lot of what I call “hocus pocus” preaching, and my pastor talks about it a lot. Is there a division between those preachers preaching a prosperity gospel and those who are concerned about social justice, helping the poor and the needy?

Dr. Haynes: I think this is something that is not new because you have always had within the church those who have taken different approaches to ministry. With the prosperity gospel, you had Rev. Ike back in the day, Father Divine as oppose to a Martin Luther King, Jr. and an Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. So, this is really nothing new, but it represents, again, the reality that there are different approaches to ministry, different philosophical approaches to ministry. Some, shamefully, even sinfully, do not deal with the harsh realities that our people are facing. So, those of us who have more of a social conscious, prophetic witness, in our gospel ministry, there is a concern on our part that we have a lot of people who are being pimped by this “prosperity gospel” whereby you’re simply saying to people, “Money cometh to me.” Well, money cannot cometh if I can’t get a “jobth” because of racism.

Angela: Say that!

Dr. Haynes: So, until you deal the social realities that the people in the pews are facing when they leave church, then basically, your prosperity gospel is basically a hocus pocus gospel, as you just said. It makes people feel real good for the moment, but as soon as church is over they’ve got to go face those harsh realities that have not been addressed by that hocus pocus homiletic.

Angela: You’ve hit the nail right on the head. That is why our people are spiritually bankrupt.

Dr. Haynes: There is no question. We have divorced our social reality from the spiritual power and the anointing that everybody is jumping on now. Everybody’s talking about the anointing, the anointing! Well, when I read Scripture, Jesus said the Spirit of the God Lord is upon me because He has anointed me, watch this, to preach Good News to the poor, to set the captives free, to heal those who are heartbroken, proclaim the year of economic justice and empowerment. Listen, the anointing was not about you getting some personal car. The anointing was about dealing with social issues, overcoming oppression, and so, whenever you hear somebody talking about the anointing this, the anointing that, if it does not connect to the social realities that people are facing in terms of overcoming oppression, then that anointing is a pseudo anointing, and they are just playing games with the gospel.

Angela: Let’s talk for a minute about being prophetic in the pulpit. Has the church lost her prophetic voice today?

Dr. Haynes: I wouldn’t say it’s lost. I would say that, unfortunately, it’s been muted. Some of the muting is self-inflicted in that some of our gospel preachers are so close to Caesar in Washington, D.C. because they are being funded by Caesar that they cannot challenge Caesar. Then, we have pockets of the prophetic witness. Right there in Louisville, Kentucky, you have Dr. Kevin Cosby. You have persons around the country, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Pastor Jeffrey Johnson, and so many others who, again, have not divorced the social content of the gospel from their spiritual witness. So, you have pockets here and there, but in too many instances, again, this social witness has been muted.

Angela: I am looking here at an article, No Social Justice, No Spiritual Peace. It references the conference that you had at your church, The National Conference and Revival for Social Justice in the Black Church. It was a two-day conference. Rev. Al Sharpton was in the house. He was here recently for the General Association of Baptist in Kentucky Convention. Referring to Rev. Sharpton’s comment at your church, President Cosby quoted this particular line in the article, “People who are in shackles don’t need people to anoint their shackles.”

Dr. Haynes: The sad reality is that the shackles are manifest in desperate way our public school system is funded. Our children are going to schools that are overcrowded, with under qualified teachers, lack of resources that schools in other districts are blessed to have. The anointing of those shackles is in deed a farce. It’s a sad commentary on where we are now as relates to ministry. You cannot talk about anointing if in my community we are experiencing economic dysfunction, economic apartheid, the redlining of our communities so that we do not have economic development. All of that is going on, and a lot of these churches who are shouting about the anointing, and the shackles are right there, but, again, that oil ain’t releasing me from those shackles.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Color of the Cross Portrays Jesus As Black Messiah

Color of the Cross stars director Jean-Claude LaMarre (left) as Jesus. He has received death threats for creating the first epic movie to depict Jesus as Black.






Make plans now! Save a date, get a date, buy some Milk Duds, and some hot, buttered popcorn. A Black Messiah cometh to the big screen! Color of the Cross, the Nu-Lite Entertainment epic movie opens in theaters October 27th. It is bound to cause at stir as it is the first epic movie to portray Jesus as a Black Messiah. And it's about time! Da Vinci Code and Passion of the Christ, move over. I am sure we're all going to have plenty to say about this one.

From the Color of the Cross website comes this description...

“Color of the Cross,” an independent, biblically charged religious biopic, is based on the last 48 hours of Christ’s life and stands to be the most controversial depiction of Jesus to date. The film is unique in two distinct ways: The first dramatic film in Hollywood history ever to depict Christ as a black man. Secondly, it is the first Christian based film to inject race as a possible factor in the Crucifixion of Christ. This racial perspective to the conventional biblical story is sure to challenge Conservative Christian beliefs. The film places racial issues front and center in this growing religious discourse that is sure to become an additional topic for debate. According to Producer, Kenneth Halsband, “When you see the black man on the cross, you are immediately reminiscent of the 1960’s… Our film hopes to heal those wounds”.




In this gripping, two-hour epic, Jesus is portrayed as a black Jew. This retelling of the biblical story from a black perspective seeks to repair the anti-Semitism that has been associated with the story of Christ. Jean-Claude LaMarre is the screenwriter, director and lead actor of the world’s most controversial religious film, “Color of the Cross.” “The idea of re-imaging is very important to my vision of this story,” says LaMarre “For decades blacks have been the victims of negative imaging, especially in their depiction in Hollywood films. I applaud Fox for taking a step toward rehabilitating this image. Jesus is a great place to start”.

“Color of the Cross,” directed by lead actor Jean Claude LaMarre, stars Debbi Morgan (“Coach Carter,” “Woman Thou Art Loosed”) as Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Ananda Lewis (“The Ananda Lewis Show”, “The Insider” Host). “The idea of re-imaging is very important to my vision of this story, says LaMarre “For decades blacks have been the victims of negative imaging, especially in their depiction in Hollywood films. I applaud Fox for taking a step toward rehabilitating this image. Jesus is a great place to start”.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which released “The Passion of the Christ” on domestic home video, has acquired the domestic home video rights for “Color of the Cross” for seven figures including a P & A commitment for theatrical release.Producer/Theologian Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (First AME) in Los Angeles, believes this version of Christ’s story is long overdue. “I think that people will welcome this as a fresh perspective, especially as well-researched as this story is,” said Dr. Murray.
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I would like to thank Manual McMillan, Sr., Asst. Director, Financial Aide Administration,the University of Louisville for sending me this link.
Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

A Girl Like Me Tackles Self Hatred

Prepare yourself. You might want to stand and sit for this one. But, then, that would bring too much cognitive dissonance since standing and sitting at the same time is an impossibility. What is impossible to some, but only obvious to many, is that racism still exist in the 21st Century, and that black children and teens are affected by it in how they view themselves.

A Girl Like Me is the much-talked-about, riveting seven-minute film short by 17-year-old New York student Kiri Davis in which black children in a Harlem day care repeatedly picked a white doll over a black doll. What you are about to see is sickening. It is cognitive disonance, self hatred, manifested. Davis got the idea for the documentary from the 1947 Kenneth Clarke (standing left) doll experiment. Clarke's study helped prove the 1954 landmark Supreme Court Brown vs Board of Education case. Davis, who won the Diversity Award for the documentary from Media That Matters, a nonprofit internet and traveling festival that screens film about social issues, told Jet Magazine, "It started out as a school project...I inteviewed black girls and the issue of beauty kept coming up. It's sad in this day and age that people are being put in the position of trying to fit a standard of white beauty."

Louisville writer and Centenniel Olivet Baptist Church member Javacia Harris wrote about A Girl Like Me in Velocity Magazine on October 4th, in the article, The power of beauty myths and teenage insecurities. She interviewed two women, one of whom was 27-year-old dark-skinned Tawanda Lewis who wears dreadlocks, "The people who I thought would judge me, which would be corporate America, white America, were not the people that judged me. It was black America. So what will it take for black women, and all black people to actually believe the '70's slogan 'Black is beautiful'"?

Some of you may have heard me talk about the A Girl Like Me on the WLOU on Friday, October 6th. Well, when I got home, my African dolls, Tosha and Imani, were insulted by it all. They told me to tell my listeners to buy their children black dolls for Christmas (smile)! What I found equally insulting was watching TBN's Jan Crouch hand out white Barbie dolls, and lots of them, to African children in Africa recently one Christmas. Reflecting on the 1947 Clarke experiment myself, all I could say over and over again, as I watched in horror, was why didn't she take black dolls to Africa! Why?! After watching this film, you will come to realize that is it easier said than done to, as Oil Of Olay puts it, love the skin your in.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

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Pictures from Jet Magazine, September 18, 2006 in article New York Teen 'Doll Test' Film Takes On Race Issues.

Thanks to Rev. Antonio Payne, Corinthian Baptist Church for Javacia Harris' article, and to Javacia Harris for the A Girls Like Me link. Romans 8:28

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Meet Your Opponent, The Devil

By: Angela Lee Price

1 Peter 5:8-9 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Make no mistake about it, we all have an opponent in this world. His name is Satan. He is a liar and the father of lies. He is the prince of the power of the air. His only mission is to kill, steal, and destroy. There is no good deed in him. Submit to God, meet your opponent, the devil, and prepare for spiritual warfare ahead, for the race is not to the swift, but to those who endure to the end. And the battle is not yours, but the Lord's.

God's Original Intent:

It was God's intention that man would rule over the earth under God's authority (Gen. 1:26, Ps. 8:4-6, and Heb 2:5-8a). However, because of the fall as recorded in Genesis 3, Satan wrestled the rule away from man (Heb. 2:5 & 2:8b). But as promised in Genesis 3:15, the Lamb of God broke Satan's hold by means of His incarnation, sinless life, death, resurrection, ascension (Heb. 2:9-14) and will one day recover that which was lost through the judgments of the seven seals as described in Revelation 6-9. Satan once held a previledged position in heaven, but pride and sin were found in him and he was casted down to earth with a third of the angels.

Satan's (Lucifer's) Original Position:

Lucifer had unparalleled position in the universe. He was highly previledged, the epitome of God's creation (Ezek28:12-17).

  1. He had unparalleled wisdom and beauty (v.12).
  2. He had unparalleled habitation (vs. 13-14). He was on the holy mountain of God and walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
  3. He had unparalleled function (v. 14) He was an anointed cherubim. Anointed cherubims were associated with guarding the holiness of God (Gen. 3:24), with the throne of God (Ezek. 1:15), and with the actual presence of God. Lucifer was the chief guardian of God's holiness and majesty. He was also referred to as God's worship leader.
  4. He had unparalleled perfection (Ezek 28:15). He was perfect in the sense of being completedly sound and having total moral integrity.

The Five "I Wills" of Rebellion:

Isaiah points to the five "I Wills" coming from the proud and boastful heart of Satan that describe the nature of his aspiration (Isaiah 14:12-15). He pitted his will against God's will. These five statements reveal not only his intentions, but Satan's program as long as he is free to walk the universe.

  1. I will ascend to heaven (v13). There are three different spheres of heaven. The atmospheric heaven around the earth. The stellar heavens, the stars and galaxies. The heaven of heavens, or the Third Heaven which represents God's abode, God's throne or the seat of God's sovereign authority, the place of God's rule. The creature wanted to expell the Creator; the servant wanted to become the served.
  2. I will raise my throne above the stars of God (v13). Job 38:7 gives us a clue to the meaning of the phrase "stars of God," "When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy." While this could refer to the heavenly bodies that illuminate the night, this mostly likely refers to Satan's desire to exalt himself over the angelic kingdom as God.
  3. I will sit on the mount of the assembly of the recesses of the north (v13). Often in Scripture, mountains and hills refer to authority or right to rule. This describes Satan's desire to rule over the affairs of the entire created universe.
  4. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds (v14). Clouds are often associated with God's glory and presence, "And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud" (Ex. 16:10). Satan express the desire to to usurp the glory that belonged to God.
  5. I will make myself like the Most High (v14). Satan wanted to be responsible to no one but himself. He wanted to take the very place of God.

In Isaiah 12, we find the beginning or origin of sin. Iniquity was found in the heart of Satan. Iniquity came by what might be termed a "spontaneous generation" in the heart of this being in whom such magnificence of power and beauty had been combined and to whom such authority and priviledge had been given.

Satan Judged:

First, because of Satan's sin, he was thrust out of his exalted place and position, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" (v12), and further we read, "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit (v15). Satan is described as the one who fell from heaven and was cut down to earth. One third of the angelic host chose to follow Satan, "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth...." (Rev. 12:3-4).

Secondly, the loss of Satan's standing as the anointed cherub is followed by the sentence pronounced against him in the garden of Eden after the temptation, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruse him on the heel" (Gen. 3:14-15).

Finally, Jesus Christ defeats Satan at the cross. The cross is the strategic place and basis for Satan's defeat and judgment.
  1. Christ's death provided complete victory over Satan and his evil forces, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" (Heb. 2:14).
  2. Christ's death provided the perfect sacrifice for sin, "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight" (Col. 1:-21-22).
  3. Today, Christ's death on the cross provides redemption from sin for those who would believe that Jesus died on the cross and that God raised him from the dead, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:14-15).

"...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).

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This is the first in a series of articles on spiritual warfare, The Full Armour of God: How to Get Dressed for the Battle. Based on the Bible, and books, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Life, by Ray C. Stedman, and Spiritual Warfare in a Believer's Life by Charles H. Spurgeon.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!









Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Keep Your Eyes On the Prize, Hold On!

By: Angela Lee Price

The heralded Civil Rights Movement documentary Eyes On the Prize is back in a major way. It began airing on public television last night and continues this month on KET. Don't miss it!

Be sure to visit the PBS Eyes On the Prize website! In the words of Dr. Freddie Haynes, "It's on like neckbones!" The PBS website chronicles the story of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954-1985 with articles, pictures, and video clips. The "Profiles" section is "off the chain!" The people and events of the movement are listed with background information. Within the "Video and More" section is a "Music" subcategory that displays all the Civil Rights songs' profiles with audio clips including We Shall Overcome and Eyes On the Prize.

From the website,
"The landmark Eyes on the Prize television series spans 14 hours, over three decades of history, and dozens of events across the country. This feature presents 25 of the major events, from Emmett Till's murder in 1955 to the election of Harold Washington as Chicago's first black mayor in 1983. A final section provides an update on civil rights in America today. Screen historic footage of these events, listen to freedom songs, read newspaper headlines, see photo galleries, and more as you follow the story of America's Civil Rights Movement."

Be sure to enter "Jesus" in the search engine and read the transcript that includes Heavyweight Boxing Champion Louisville native Muhammad Ali's comments at an April 1967 event at Howard University:

"See, we have been brainwashed. Everything good and of authority was made white. We look at Jesus, we see a white with blond hair and blue eyes. We look at all the angels, we see white with blond hair and blue eyes. Now, I'm sure if there's a heaven in the sky and the colored folks die and go to heaven, where are the colored angels? They must be in the kitchen preparing the milk and honey. We look at Miss America, we see white. We look at Miss World, we see white. We look at Miss Universe, we see white. Even Tarzan, the king of the jungle in black Africa, he's white!"


Obtaining the television schedule for the Louisville area was a bit tricky. Here are what appears to be the times the Eyes On the Prize documentary will air on KET this month in Louisville. It may air at others times, too, so check your local listing:

Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings - 1954-56/Fighting Back - 1957-1962:
KET 1: 10/03 @ 8:00 p.m.
KET 2: 10/04 @ 1:00 a.m.
KET 2: 10/04 @ 4:00 a.m.
KET 3: 10/08 @ 1:00 a.m.

Eyes On the Prize: Ain't Scared of Your Jails - 1960-61/No Easy Walk - 1961-63:
KET 2: 10/09 @ 9:00 p.m.
KET 1: 10/10 @ 8:00 p.m.
KET 2: 10/11 @ 1:00 a.m.
KET 2: 10/11 @ 4:00 a.m.

Eyes On the Prize: Mississippi: Is This America? 1963-64/Bridge to Freedom 1965:
KET 2: 10/16 @ 9:00 p.m.
KET 1: 10/17 @ 9:00 p.m.
KET 2: 10/18 @ 1:00 a.m.
KET 2: 10/18 @ 4:00 a.m.

Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on!

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Exploring the Black Presence In the Bible

By: Angela Lee Price

Quick, can you name three black people in the Bible? Exploring the Black presence in the Bible is important today like never before. Many African Americans don’t know the truth of their heritage. They think the Bible is a “white man’s book” due primarily to erroneous all-white depictions of our favorite Bible stories on television, and our failure to counter those errors with the truth of Scripture.

The Bible says my people perish for lack of knowledge. Far too many African Americans are perishing because they do not know who they are and from whence they came. They don’t know that the origins of civilization began in Africa, that Egypt is in Africa, and that science, geometry, and astronomy originated in Africa. Many people believe Jesus was a white man with blue eyes and long, blonde hair. A pervasive lack of knowledge about self, heritage and history, is having an extremely damaging psychological impact upon the psyche of our people.

While the goal should not to romanticize the black presence in the Bible, I believe exploring the Black presence in the Word of God to be of paramount importance to the spiritual well being of people of color. It helps us in our quest to grow in spiritual maturity and learn about Jesus. It helps us to better relate to Africans from the Motherland and become more sensitive to the plight of people of African descent. It helps us explain with dignity our heritage to other cultures of the world. Finally, it gives us life more abundantly.


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