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Young people are predisposed to ask questions, yet when some questions refer to religion or teachings of the Bible, easy answers aren’t always forthcoming or simply are avoided.

“Why don’t churches allow Christian R&B and hip hop?”

“When I am worried, what can I expect God to do?”

“Since I have a relationship with God, why do I need religion?”

“Does God see me as black?”

A new Bible, “Our Heritage and Faith Holy Bible for African-American Teens (NIV)”, attempts to respond to complex questions youths often ask themselves and adults.

Wade Hudson, president and CEO of Just Us Books, said the book is necessary because teens and even adults often believe that to question simple statements such as “God is able,” means one is “un-Christian.” Hudson’s New Jersey-based company partnered with Zondervan Publishing House to create the book.

“We came up with the concept and idea because we feel that, often in our churches we tend to miss young people,” said Hudson, who created the book with his wife, Cheryl Willis Hudson. “They’re not getting the necessary information about the tenets of faith. Some Sunday school teachers are doing a wonderful job, but so many of our young people don’t even go to church. So we developed some concepts to engage them, interest them and motivate them to learn more about God’s words.”

At first glance, the Bibles’ interior appears similar to any NIV (New International Version) edition. What sets them apart are their attractive, journal-like, duo-tone covers that come in shades of dark green and orange and black and yellow shades for males and pink and purple for girls. Colorful photographs depicting young blacks in various stage of worship occupy the book’s middle sections. A 106-page addendum that begins with a page devoted to the lyrics of “The Negro National Anthem,” completes the work.

Other key features in this Bible to enhance the readings and cultural relevance include notes on music, the black church and contemporary heroes to complement the Bible passages. A presentation page includes a family section and eight pages of maps to help teens visualize the lands of the Bible. It sells for $27.99.

Wade said the book’s marketing department hopes that by making the book available to mainstream retailers such as Barnes and Noble it will capture a wider audience, namely youths who do not regularly attend church.

“In the center the photographs are to engage and offer images for young people to identify with and learn about worship and prayer. We also answer about 50 questions in the back. Some get very deep; we get in your face.”

Wade, a deacon in his church in New Jersey, said that the answers are written in a manner that young people can understand. For example, “How do I talk to God?”

“Sometimes people think it has to be an elaborate concoction. It’s not.”

The Rev. Charlotte McSwine-Harris, pastor of the Charles City Community Church in Charles City, VA., says she supports the concept of the new book, but views it as a “commentary” because she does not consider the Bible, in its original form, as being targeted toward a specific race.

“When we move away from traditional language (in the Bible), we move from original to translation or interpretation,” said McSwine-Harris, who is studying for her doctorate of Ministry at McCormick Theological Seminary.

“The Bible is for everybody,” she adds. “It’s up to the interpreter to (make it applicable) for a particular audience. I don’t think you can have a black Bible or a white Bible.”

Stacy Hawkins Adams is a best selling author of Christian and non-Christian fiction whose new book, “Who Speaks to Your Heart? Tuning In To God’s Whispers,” will be published by Zondervan in early May. Adams also is a wife of an ordained minister and the mother of two children ages 11 and 8. She says she is pleased with the Hudson’s work, and already purchased the children’s version for her son.

“I love the children’s version of this Bible and so does my son, ” she says. “It helps him internalize the Scriptures that assert he is made in God’s image. There are also short articles throughout the Bible that deal with relevant cultural issues. I would definitely buy the teen version of this Bible for the same reason that my son appreciates his age-appropriate version – it can help teens identify with God in a more personal way, and help them understand that as African Americans, they too are a reflection of Him.”

Adams, a former newspaper journalist and Sunday school teach, fully understands the questions and criticism the work may receive in the same manner as critics who question the need for historically black colleges or even Black History Month.

“To me, it’s no different than having a version of the Bible geared to women that features articles and gender-specific information designed to help us strengthen our faithwalk in the context of our roles in modern society,” Adams explains. “This Bible helps teens appreciate and embrace who they are, while inspiring them to better understand God and become familiar with biblical teachings. I’ve shared the children’s version of the Bible with several church leaders, who seemed interested in distributing them to youths new to the church.”

11 predictions that “the end” will come during the 2010s (not including 2012)

Christians have predicted several events that many believe are related: the second coming of Jesus, the war of Armageddon, the arrival on earth of the Antichrist, the Tribulation, the Rapture, some horrendous natural disaster, etc. Jewish, Islamic, psychic, occult and other predictions have been offered as well.

We have listed over 7 dozen predictions that the end of the world would happen before now. They all have one factor in common: none ever came true. There is every likelihood that most (perhaps all) of these future predictions will not materialize either.

We have been criticized by some of our readers for whipping up hysteria about the end of the world. Our intent is the exact opposite: we want to dampen the level of panic. We hope that by listing many dozens of past predictions — all of which have failed — that people will realize that some very important individuals have been totally wrong when they predicted the end of the world. End of the world predictions have been common throughout Christianity and other religions for almost 2000 years. It is probable that none of the following predictions of the date of the end of the world will come true. We will be very surprised if one of them did.

Disclaimer:

No guarantees are offered that the prophets listed below actually made these predictions. We have described their alleged predictions as they were reported on the Web, in newspapers, books, etc. We do not have the resources to track down original source material.

>2010+ In early 2005, Roderick C. Meredith, leader of the Living Church of God wrote in his church’s magazine Tomorrow’s World that the end of the world is near. He said that events prophesied in the Bible are “beginning to occur with increasing frequency….We are not talking about decades in the future. We are talking about Bible prophesies that will intensify within the next five to 15 years of your life.” This prophecy, or a local sermon based on it, may have been partly responsible for triggering a mass murder in Brookfield WI on 2005-MAR-12. Church member Terry Ratzmann, who was experiencing serious depression and facing unemployment, shot 11 people, killing 7, and then killed himself at a church service.

>2011-MAY-21 Harold Camping, President of Family Radio, predicts that “we can know from the Bible alone that the date of the rapture of believers will take place on” 2011-MAY-2011.

>2011-SEP-29: Harold Camping, president of Family Radio is reported as predicting that the end of the world will occur sometime during the eight day Feast of Trumpets in 2011. This is an eight day festival each fall in the 5th day of Ethanim, the seventh month. He has completed a book “Time Has an End: A biblical History of the World 11,013 BC â?? 2011 AD,” Vantage Press, (2005). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store. Alternately, you could wait until after 2011-SEP when the book will probably be a lot cheaper.

>Sometime in 2011: Ric Steiner sent us an Email suggesting that the date of the end is embedded in Luke 21:11 — not in the text, but in the chapter and verse designation. “21” refers to the 21st century; “11” refers to the 11th year. The problem with this prophecy is that the chapter designations in the Bible were only created in the 13th century ; the verses in the Christian Scriptures (a.k.a. New Testament) were only assigned in the 16th century CE.

>2011-OCT-21: Along with his prediction that the rapture will occurr on 2011-MAY-21, Harold Camping also predicted that “God will destroy the world on 2011-OCT-21. This appears to be a slight readjustment from his earlier prediction of 2011-SEP-29. For some reason, God has given humanity a stay of execution for 23 days. The We Can Know website says that “… these dates are 100% accurate and beyond dispute.

>2011-NOV-11: We received an Email from “A.H.” who believes that the end of the world will happen on 11/11/11. His reasoning is that “…this is the only date until the next millennium that has the same number “1” in the date.” Actually, it is the only date until 3011 which is made up of the repetition of pairs of the same digit. We are skeptical. Recall that the Gregorian Calendar is based on the year 1 having being arbitrarily chosen. It occurred four to seven years after Jesus birthday, when nothing much of world impact was happening. With an arbitrary beginning, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to assume that the end of the world would happen at some magical combination of numbers in the Gregorian date, like the first day of the year 2000, or 11.11.11.
>2011-NOV-22: We received an Email from “F” who expects the end of the world on this date. She/he said:

“what the angel told me was the following: ‘Child is at home in 2011 will be the end, for 3 days close in doors and windows? don’t let anyone enter or leave the house, an old order is reborn and with it the pain and suffering.’ Then the angel showed me the bodies of people crowded the cities were burning and the streets deserted grass grew high, we throw people also saw blood in the mouth, as if a virus is up. What I saw in Europe was perhaps France, or in Flanders.”

2012-2019: Damon_051572, who describes himself as “the physical and spiritual Jew,”  distributed an Email widely on 2006-AUG-19. It it titled: “Message from God: Some events of the end of the world.” He of the events that he predicts will happen sometime before 2019 are:

• 2012-2019: Damon_051572, who describes himself as “the physical and spiritual Jew,”  distributed an Email widely on 2006-AUG-19. It it titled: “Message from God: Some events of the end of the world.” He of the events that he predicts will happen sometime before 2019 are:
• 144,000 Jewish virgins convert many to Christianity.
• People will be required to receive a mark on their hand or forehead. Any that accept the mark “will be cast into the lake of fire forever to experience unimaginable suffering forever.“
• Satan and his angels attack God’s kingdom.
• Nuclear war begins…..

2014:

• According to Sun magazine for 1999-DEC-21, Pope Leo IX (1513-1522) wrote on 1514: “I will not see the end of the world, nor will you my brethren, for its time is long in the future, 500 years hence.“
• Isaiah Robertson predicts that Jesus’ second coming will happen in Niagara Falls. He said: “Niagara Falls is a holy place, like Jerusalem. The sound of the water going over the falls is the voice of God.” He expects that the water at the base of the falls will turn into a “lake of fire.” He said that a cross in his home came “straight from God. Itâ??s not manâ??s work. This cross is telling you that the coming of the Lord is at hand. If you walk away from this cross and donâ??t accept Christ, then youâ??re lost forever.“

2016:

• An article in Weekly World News describes a find by a Professor Lloyd Cunningdale of Salt Lake City who was excavating with his students at the site of the famous Donner party disaster of 1847. The latter were a group of settlers bound for California who became trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Cunningdale and students have found a time capsule left by the settlers which contains many predictions for the future. They predict that nations will abandon traditional methods of conflict and resort to the use of biological warfare. In 2016, one such disease will spread and kill all of the humans on the planet.

2017:

• The “Sword of God Brotherhood” believes that Armageddon will occur in 2017. The Prophet Gabriel has told them this. Only their own members will survive to repopulate the world. All of the others (including you and me) will “perish in hellfire.“

>Daniel’s Timeline bases their calculation on the concept of Jubilee years which occur every 50 years. The most recent three Jubilees were:

• 1867 when the Jews were emancipated in Austria and Hungary.
• 1917 when the Ottomon rule ended and the Balfour Declaration was created.
• 1967 when the Six Day War occurred.

They predict that the next and final Jubilee year will be 2017 “the time of the restitution of all things.”

The X-family thought it besst if we threw in some new something something for you.

Its Sho Baraka’s new video(Snippet) called Oh wel from His Debut album Lions and Liars.

Catch up with him www.reachrecords.com

Cheers and take care people.PEACE!

Kambua Manundu was born in the beautiful city of Nairobi, in Kenya. Her musical gift was evident from a tender age,and it has grown into a strong passion over the years. She completed a Performance Program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. And is went on to do a Bachelor of Arts Student at Ambrose University in Calgary, AB. Kambua is a voice major, studied classical music

Kisima nominated afro-fusion songstress Kambua really is a uniquely blessed artist. Itâ??s not so much because sheâ??s studied classical music in some of the most prestigious institutions around the world, or because sheâ??s released two quality full-length albums, with a DVD release in the works, or even the fact that her music has been nominated and won different awards. Her story is special because of the adversities sheâ??s faced to get to where she is right now.

Raised by an evangelist mother, religion was intertwined into their lives. Being a musical family where Kamba and Swahili hymns were part of their world, Kambua never thought that her singing hobby would one day be her way of conversation with the world. It is at Lukenya High School that she thought seriously about God and decided to serve Him through this gift.

Inadvertently, adversity struck their breadwinning father, as an illness he battled eventually led to blindness. This was a huge social and emotional challenge on Kambua and the family. Financially, it meant that since he was unable to work, Kambua could not go to college. Though life was thick and darkness seemed like their constant companion, they continued hanging on, hoping life would be better.

A member of Eneza, a Parklands Baptist Church music group then, she would sing her soul out, knowing all too well that once back home, the tune would change. Food became a scarce commodity and they would sometimes miss a meal. Fortune however smiled on her when, together with others, she travelled to the US for three months courtesy of, Passport Incorporated, a youth organisation that sent her off to work in youth camps. Upon her return, life had changed for the better, and the heavy cloud of gloom was slowly but surely passing on.

Good news. Her fatherâ??s vision slowly began to return, and he eventually got back to work. Soon after, she began to pursue a Business Degree at the African Nazarene University. Yet even there, music was still running in her veins, impatiently seeking expression. Her musical hunger became  insatiable, and she decided to find a good school. After failing to secure a first-class local option, she ended up in Canadaâ??s Ambrose University, where she pursued Classical Music.
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Before leaving for Canada though, she had recorded Nishikilie, her debut album. Produced by Jonah Uzele and Desmond Bosire, itâ??s title track became the big single off it. Amani, yet another cut off the same record, also soared, and went on to win the Sing A Song Of Peace competition at a local radio station. Amani was a co-write of Mbuvi and Jogg Câ??s Kaberere. Of it she says;

â??Nishikilie is a very personal for like Psalms 23; itâ??s a prayer for deliverance, an assurance of hope and a proclamation of loveâ?.

In mid 2007, Kambua attended the very prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA, where she completed a performance program.

Kambua, who has also worked as an actress and, through Ogopa DJs, has been involved in various commercials, released her sophomore album, Nyumbani, in 2008, now available on iTunes. Working with the same producers, as well as Rhyme X hitman Gittx, and this time with a guest slot from Kisima winner Mbuvi, she brought in a refreshing smorgasbord of genres. These include Urban, Afro-fusion, Kwaito, and even Waltz. Her face lights up like a Christmas tree when she refers to the album:

â??Nyumbani is the fulfilment of a journey. A journey long in coming but evidently worthwhile. I am home now, niko nyumbani, not just in Africa, but in Jesus. He is my dwelling place. Kwa Yesu, huko ndiko nyumbaniâ?.

Kambua, who cites the mediaâ??s reluctance to feature upcoming artists on their playlists as a huge challenge, is now planning of a 9-video DVD/VCD release, featuring songs from her previous albums albums.

Home is where i long to be. A place my heart yearns for. Where my Lord and savior is, that is where i desire to be, where there are no sorrows or worries, troubles or fears….where there is an abudance of Love, joy and peace…. Where Jesus is, that is where home really is, “Kwa Yesu, Huko ndiko Nyumbani”

A Response to Sin and Suffering

Whenever traumatic earth shattering events occur the human response is always â??Where is God?â? â??Why did God let this happen?â? â??How can God love us but let us die?â? â??Why my family?â? â??If God is real why did God let this happen?â? So many valid questions run through the minds of those searching for answers. We have often separated God from suffering. We imagine that God is standing off on the side simply looking at those who are suffering. As though God is detached from our suffering.

The Israelites endured so much suffering while in Egypt. It was God who initiated the contact with them. He said, â??I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferingsâ?. God is fully aware of our suffering. He sees our suffering and desires to set us free from it. Freedom is not always being removed from the hurt and wounds. God did not create suffering however God uses suffering to deepen our relationship with Him. Where was God when the earthquake hit in Haiti? RIGHT THERE! Hearing the screams of the people. Weeping that so many people died at the hand of nature and poor building structures. Quickening saints around the world to pray. Hurting, angered, desiring to love and hold the people He created. Storing up the tears dropped.

God created a perfect world. However ; sinful man broke relationship with a perfect God removing the beauty of that perfect world. Thousands of years later we experience things like droughts, earthquakes and tsunamiâ??s. However, during this time I encourage us all to allow God to use us to help others in their suffering. Encourage the people of Haiti that there is a loving God who was and is with them. That God didnâ??t make this happen but that God was there while it was happening. That now is not the time to shrink back. (Hebrews 10:34-39). That the things lost can not compare to Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:8) That they are able to rebuild where nature has destroyed. That God is faithful to comfort the afflicted and needy. (2 Cor 1:3-4)

Let the people of Haiti know there is COMFORT in CHRIST JESUS. He is more than all that was lost! He has a response to their/our sin and suffering! We donâ??t know why what happened happened. But it did. It was not Haitiâ??s sin that caused this but the sins of humankind when we separated from God. Now is the time to master that sin by showing the love of Christ through helping our fellow citizens of this world. When they ask where is God? Let us say right here helping you over come this tragedy! Provoke change through ACTION (time, talent, treasure, prayer). May God change the hearts of those affected that they may enter the Kingdom of Heaven through this tragedy. (Matthew 5:3-11)

After a four-year hiatus multifaceted singer/songwriter Michelle Bonilla readies to release her sophomore studio effort entitled In Spite of Me, April 13th on RockSoul Productions.

The recent Temple University Cum Laude graduate first came on the scene with her 2006 release “Phenomenal” where her single ‘Sin Ti’ charted on the top 20 CHR charts.

Sheâ??s back with her producer Lee Jerkins (Out of Eden, Cross Movement) with an inspirational 16-track CD–13 full songs and three diary excerpts–with strong infusions of R&B, pop and Latin melodies featuring Jamaican gospel recording artist Chevelle Franklin, and gospel hip-hop artists Lecrae, Flame, and R-Swift.  “My music is a blend of who I am culturallyâ??urban, Latin, rock and soul,” says Bonilla.

The first single, I Love You, is a fun anthem-like song. According to Bonilla, “Itâ??s a new way to praise without the traditional flare.”  Itâ??s also the cry of her heart when it comes to how she feels about God.

That’s What Love Is, the second single, is a cool mid-tempo groove that explains that Jesus is the answer, More than any diamonds you can buy me/ I want a love that can’t be measured by things/I want a perfect unconditional love/Jesus is where you’ll find unconditional love.  “ The idea of true love has been so blurred by societyâ??s mundane and selfish values that theyâ??ve sold a lie to girls everywhere, and the saddest part is that the girls believe it,” says Bonilla.  “I wanted them to see what true love looks like, and that itâ??s nothing like what theyâ??ve seen or heard on TV or radio.”

The up-beat title track, In Spite of Me, co-written by Bonilla, is filled with Christ-centered lyrics where the theme talks about a perfect God and an imperfect humanity, while the dance tune Give It Up will keep you moving and praising God.

You is a personal favorite of Michelle’s. “It  says everything I feel when I just canâ??t seem to get it together. When my world is going crazy I donâ??t need nobody else I need You

You Donâ??t Have Cry is a story-telling cut that reaches down to Michelle’s contemporary roots.  “Itâ??s like I sat down in the middle of a circle surrounded by young people who came to listen to an encouraging story. I used to love story time as a kid and I guess thatâ??s why I wrote it that way.”

Persevere is a Tina Turner/Skillet rock out song.  Bonilla says “the lyrics are very real and they talk about real life issues. Itâ??s my way of saying hey, life is not simple it has its crazy moments but we will persevere through Christ Jesus.â?

Other standout tracks include the beautiful ballads Eres El Rey(spanish for “You Are The King”), I Am, and My Story.

“In Spite of who we are, at our core, God sees what we will be.  We are free to pour out our hearts before him openly in worship and in truth, because he longs to have a relationship with us,” says Bonilla.

No stranger to the industry Bonilla has performed in the company of artists as Crystal Lewis, Nicole Mullen, Out Of Eden, and Papa San, and has been featured on Cross Movementâ??s Grammy and Dove nominated album â??Higher Definition.â?

Four years later, with a newfound understanding of who she is in Christ, Michelle Bonilla presents her sophomore album, In Spite of Me, an attempt to illustrate that being a Christian is a process of growth and a journey of becoming more Christ-like. With refreshing, strong, and stirring vocals, she shares her faith in a fun and unobtrusive way. She talks about her real life struggles and how she has been able to overcome them with Christ.

Kirk Franklin introduces new book THE BLUEPRINT: A Plan for Overcoming Life’s Obstacles

For some people, obstacles are minor bumps in the road on the way to success. For others, obstacles represent a major catastrophe of epic proportions threatening to disrupt any chance of success they may have otherwise had. But for seven-time GRAMMY® award winner Kirk Franklin, obstacles represent the challenges needed to propel you through life. In THE BLUEPRINT: A Plan for Living Above Life’s Storms (Gotham Books; May 18, 2010; ), Franklin reveals how he turned negative aspects from his own life-drugs, an absent father, teenage parenthood, poverty, etc.-into blessings by learning from them and moving forward. The beauty of THE BLUEPRINT is that Franklin by no way claims to be perfect or have insider knowledge of how to live your life wisely, but rather puts his setbacks and faults on full blast and suggests that oftentimes people, like Franklin at one point, go through life without a plan for success, simply living purposelessly, and without a person to show them the right way. THE BLUEPRINT fills the void of not knowing which way to turn and arms you the necessary tools to succeed.

By the time Franklin was just fifteen years old, he was a young father, without an encouraging  figure in his life, and just another statistic on the street. As he explains in THE BLUEPRINT, “The street corner was my classroom. The ‘hood was my Harvard.” He went through life thinking he knew it all, and blamed the fact that he didn’t have a role model for not being able to achieve his dreams, until the day he realized he had to turn his life around and become the man he needed to be on his own. That is what Franklin has outlined in THE BLUEPRINT-a chance for young people to become the person they need to be, no matter what the situation, or where they come from.

Today, Franklin is the proud father of four and devoted husband of fourteen years, as well as one of the biggest multiplatinum-selling gospel artists of all time. He credits his faith in God and a very close mentor he found later in his life for his success.

Whether you’re down and out, misguided, or simply need a boost to push forward, THE BLUEPRINT is the essential guide to creating a better you, one day at a time. Success doesn’t come easy, but it will come with a helping hand. Follow THE BLUEPRINT and start living the life you were always meant to live.