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BRAD PITT ON RELIGION: Actor has no love for it organized or otherwise

Apparently Brad Pitt and religion are like oil and water. The
Hollywood star voiced his apathy towards organized religion during an
interview with TV show host Bill Maher last Friday. Pitt, who was there
to promote his soon to be released movie Inglorious Basterds, spent more time promoting gay marriage, according to the HuffingtonPost.
"What is it about religion you don't like?" Maher asked. "You know, I grew up in a religious family, in a religious community and it just doesn't make sense to me. It just doesn't work for me in the long run," Pitt told Maher. "I never wanted to stop anyone else's religion and their beliefs until I started seeing it defining policy... Like gay marriage. You have a group of people telling other people how to live their lives, and you can't do that. In fact, I'm talking like there are actually Christians watching your show..." "No, there are," Maher said. "You'd be surprised."

Pitt went on the say, "Well, to the three that are watching, I just
say you have to, you really have to check what country you're living in
because the freedom that allows you to practice religion is the same
freedom you're stepping on. That's not right. And I want to add... if there was a nation of gay married couples that were telling you you couldn't practice your religion, I'd be speaking up for you, too... So, let's stop the nonsense."
Pitt also discussed his marijuana cigarette-rolling skills, saying "I'm an artist." When asked why he gave it up, he said, "I'm a dad now. You want to be alert."

GOSPEL MUSIC SALES UP: But concert ticket sales don't keep up with market surge.

Gospel music sells have exploded in recent years. The Christian
music industry as a whole sold more than 44.9 million units in 2006 with twenty percent of those sales attributed to black gospel music. Black gospel music has grown to being heard on mainstream radio formats nationally and has a platform few imagined.

Although sales in the genre are up, attendance at gospel concerts
have not followed suit. Major artists are struggling to fill seats
causing local concerts and national tours to suffer. Some of those
tours, backed by major sponsors including the Patti Labelle Tour and the Sisters In The Spirit Tour, have been cancelled abruptly leaving gospel music fans standing in the refund line scratching their heads.

James Walker, Esq., of Walker & Associates, an attorney for some of
the biggest names in the business, blames market saturation.

"The explosion of gospel music has been a blessing and a curse in
some ways for our touring business," Walker told Gospel News Now. "There was a time when you could only see your Gospel artist once or twice at most a year in a given market, and rarely on television or in a video.
With the present billion dollar state of gospel music and the industry
as a whole, many of the artists are touring all the time and the
feedback from consumers has me very concerned."

Cheryl Jackson, Program Director of Washington, D.C.'s Stellar
Award-winning Heaven 1580 (WPGC-AM), said the lack of money has a lot to do with gospel music's empty seats.

"Economics play a major role in why seats aren't being filled in
arenas. Christians are supporting gospel music and record sales indicate this. Ticket prices are soaring based on the growing demand of artists and the economy has affected the consumer so that concerts are no longer an affordable luxury."

With ticket prices higher than they have ever been, it seems that
gospel consumers are counting the cost. Prices for some of the genre's
top artists could easily start at $30 and go up to $60 - $75 for coveted
seats for A-list artists.

"Concert ticket prices are not family friendly," says Frances
Middleton of Arlington, VA's WAVA, owned by Salem Communications. "Do the math. For example, if the price of a ticket is $55 each, for a
family of four, that's $220. Then there's gas to the concert and parking, which could be $20. If you add dinner before or after the concert, that could be an extra $60 - $120. So hypothetically, an evening out could be $330- $360 per event. How often can most people do this?"

Although over-saturated, finances and promotion play huge roles in
why gospel concerts aren't doing well, technology may also be partly to blame as well.

The rapid growth of technology has a direct impact on the lack of
attendance of gospel concerts. People can now download music videos, movies and television episodes along with their favorite songs directly to their desktop computers or even cell phones. It is now much easier to access information and entertainment content than ever before. It leaves fans asking themselves "Why pay for gas, parking and a new outfit when we have widescreen TV's and Surround Sound at home?" Walker agrees adding that "Many big name artists are commonly on TV now. Stations like BET, The Word Network, Gospel Music Channel and other gospel TV outlets, along with TBN and CBN, among other regional channels, carry gospel music frequently so the demand to see someone live in concert isn't a priority.

CO-MINGLED CHURCH FUNDS: Audit shows $2 million for personal us

A team of pastors stands accused of bilking their church out of
millions of dollars in cash and personal items after a fiscal monitor conducted an accounting investigation. According to the report, Randolph Christian Church paid pastor Eric Simons $43,000 in advances to pay his current and back income taxes and his wife was reimbursed for expenses with little or no documentation.

Also associate pastor Philip JuPlessis is accused of improperly using church funds to pay for, among other things, a $400,000 sailboat for his personal use.

According to the Star-Ledger, a certified public accountant who was hiredto examine the finances and investments of RCC and its pastoral staff found the inconsistencies.

Other findings included the use of credit cards to purchase personal items from stores like Fortunoff, Pottery Barn and Target; and Marianne Simons was reimbursed more than $1,400 by the church for the purchase of items including a $600 Kenmore washer and $700 in Costco merchandise.

The accusations come from the State Department of Consumer Affairs. "It appears that RCC funds have been used to pay for personal expenses of Simons and DuPlessis," Dean Conway told the Star-Ledger. Conway was the Princeton CPA who conducted the investigation.

The mansion, which the pastors had said is being used as a
parsonage, has been listed with a realtor for $1.6 million. The
furnishings in the mansion also are owned by the church and the Simonses will continue living in the home until it is sold, state officials and Conway said.

Former congregants and state officials have said the church members
thought they were donating money toward a building fund, but nothing has been built. Some current church members are standing by their pastor.

MEMBERS BANNED FROM CHURCH: New pastor fights for control and respect

A family feud has torn apart members of a church in Coral Ridge,
Florida. Six members of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church -- including the daughter of founding pastor D. James Kennedy -- have been banned from the premises and all functions of the Fort Lauderdale church. The action, announced in a letter mailed to Coral Ridge members over the weekend, is the latest round in a brewing dispute between recently appointed Pastor W. Tullian Tchividjian, who is a grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, and a group of members spearheading an effort to fire him.

Besides Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, Kennedy's daughter, the people banned are Lorna Bryan, Kaye Carlson, Romeo DeMarco, and Jim and Jeanne Filosa. According to the Sun-Sentinel, they have been ordered to stay off church property and to cease communication concerning church business. The church was a nationally recognized stronghold of Christian conservative activism under the former founding pastor Kennedy.

Tchividjian is former pastor of New City Church in Margate, which
had merged with Coral Ridge. The congregation officially selected him to lead Coral Ridge on March 15, succeeding Kennedy, who died in September 2007. In recent weeks, the dissidents have circulated two letters and a petition to call a congregational meeting with the goal of putting an end to Tchividjian's fledgling pastorate.

The dissidents have also accused Tchividjian of watering down Coral Ridge's worship style, de-emphasizing the Evangelism Explosion method developed by Kennedy, selling land at the church's west campus ``to make up for budget shortfalls,'' and appointing an executive commission with equal power to the standard church government

New Life Church started business ministry - For Gods kingdom

On the 10th of September in New Life Church unveiling and business ministry «For Gods kingdom» presentation took place, reports New Life church press-center. His inspirator is pastor Slava Goncharenko and a few businessmen that believe that in church partnership between pastor and businessmen must exist.

The plans of this ministry were introduced to the hearers and the strategy of its achievement. The main goal of business ministry is to develop potential of people in business sphere, to form businessmen minister thinking and carry out pastor’s vision.

«When non-believers speak about leading business in our country, they say, that it’s impossible and difficult. Then believers must go into the action, because God can do everything. The faith that we have, released Gods opportunities in a person and he can embody in life the most unreal dreams», – marked one of project organizers Kirill Kaskevich

«A person will be absolutely happy, when he lives in Gods will. Just there the mens talents are discovered and his abilities. My calling is to be pastors businessman», – talked about his motivation of taking place in business ministry Vasiliy Kvasny.

As a result of ministry work «For Gods kingdom» organizers expect, that Christian culture of leading business will be formed, the conditions for beginnings of its own business will be formed, and people obtain useful knowledge and consultations, financial base for church vision realization will be formed.

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Updated: 18.08.2009 News >>>
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