After the Altar Call

Hello World,

Paramount Pictures released today the first trailer for its upcoming film “CAPTIVE,” starring David Oyelowo (“SELMA,” “A MOST VIOLENT YEAR”) and Kate Mara (“FANTASTIC FOUR,” “House of Cards”). The film will open in theaters September 18^th, 2015.

CAPTIVE First Trailer from motiveentertainment on GodTube.

Based on the miraculous true story that drew the attention of the entire nation in 2005, “CAPTIVE” is a thrilling drama about the spiritual collision of two broken lives. When Brian Nichols – on the run as the subject of a city-wide manhunt and desperate to make contact with his newborn son – takes recovering meth addict Ashley Smith hostage in her own apartment, she turns for guidance to Rick Warren’s best-selling inspirational book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” While reading aloud, Ashley and her would-be killer each face crossroads where despair and death intersect hope.

Directed by veteran filmmaker Jerry Jameson, “CAPTIVE” is based on the book “Unlikely Angel“ by Ashley Smith with Stacy Mattingly. The film’s screenplay is by Brian Bird.

In addition to Oyelowo and Mara, “CAPTIVE” also stars Leonor Varela, Jessica Oyelowo, with Mimi Rogers and Michael K. Williams.

The film was produced by Terry Botwick, Jerry Jameson, Lucas Akoskin, Alex Garcia, Katrina Wolfe, David Oyelowo and Ken Wales. The executive producers are Santiago Garcia Galván, Jonathan Gray, Brian Bird, Elliott Lester and Ralph Winter.

“In March of 2005, Ashley’s story captivated the nation on news outlets everywhere,” said Botwick. “Her story is thrilling and redemptive as God intersected the lives of two very broken people in the most dramatic way. It has been amazing getting to know Ashley and to be working with such fine actors. I am so pleased also to be partnering with Paramount to bring this authentic encounter to a worldwide audience.”

For additional information, visit http://www.captivethemovie.com.

Any thoughts?

Hello World,

I watched again…Like the nosy driver that’s gotta stare at the accident on the road although the driver wasn’t a part of it, thankfully, I found myself tuning into “Preach” on Friday night to see what shenanigans in the name of Jesus the prophetesses would be up to again…And I wasn’t disappointed…unfortunately, I guess…

This week’s episode mostly centered on Dr. Taketa Williams (Aside: Have you ever met someone who had the Dr. title and wondered where in tarnation did that person acquire a doctorate degree? ) If you don’t remember Dr. Taketa, she is known as the “Beyoncé of the Preaching World.”

In this week’s episode, Dr. Taketa wants to help her protégé Rebecca Hairston develop the gift of prophecy which she defined as the “awesome ability to see into the future and hear into the future.”

The protégés from left to right: Rebecca Hairston, Hadassah Elder, Angel Pound & Stacey Williams

I must admit prophesying is probably the spiritual gift that I’ve most wondered about…And it happened to me at least once that I can remember…Not that I prophesied, but someone prophesied to me…It has been said that if someone has the gift of prophesy, you will know it because whatever that person has prophesied about it will come true…And it came true for me, but I digress…

We also find out how Dr. Taketa met Rebecca in the first place. Apparently, they met when Dr. Taketa got her nails done as Rebecca was and still is a nail technician at an Ohio spa. During her spa visit, while Rebecca is doing Dr. Taketa’s nails, she explains that there are three levels of prophecy…

The Office of Prophecy.
The Gift of Prophecy.
The Spirit of Prophecy.

I’m not a prophetess so I cannot verify that, but that is what she says, and then she asks Rebecca if she has ever prophesied. When Rebecca admits she has prophesied to her daughters, Dr. Taketa blows up! “You are too jacked up to prophesy!” According to Dr. Taketa, Rebecca has been prophesying without authorization! She then proceeds to show her how it is done as she has a prophecy for the owner of the spa and asks Rebecca to bring the owner to her. Among several statements made to the owner, Dr. Taketa says, “No longer will your chariots turn into pumpkins!” Dang, she broke it down Cinderella style! Apparently, according to Dr. Taketa, her business is finally going to take off! The owner is grateful for the prophecy and says she and her husband were just discussing the same thing and had told no one about their discussion…

So now that Rebecca has seen prophesying in action, Dr. Taketa challenges her to step up her prophesying skills and prophesy at a conference she is going to in New York. Rebecca decides to prepare a prophetic dance and perform at the conference in New York. I aine neva heard of a prophetic dance…Have you?

Prophetess Linda Roark & Angel Pound

Meanwhile, Prophetess Linda Roark is working on building the confidence of her protégé Angel Pound. In last week’s episode, she says she has been called the “Blue-Eyed Soul Sister,” and in this week’s episode, she says, “the color of my skin is wrong.” I think she needs to #AskRachel (Rachel Dolezal )about this because I’m sure she is saying the same thing…smh…Anywho, Prophetess Linda explains that when Angel came to her church four and a half years ago, she was drug addicted. And as a result of her past, she doesn’t feel qualified for certain levels of ministry…As they walk through a book store, they walk by tarot cards. Angel reveals that she along with her friends once used tarot cards, and she would always get the death card…deeeep…

Prophetess Linda challenges her to share her testimony with others to build her confidence…So she decides to drop in at Rebecca’s prophetic dance rehearsal and share her testimony with the dancers…She shares that when she was seven months pregnant with her second child, she was told she didn’t have enough amniotic fluid to sustain her baby, and her baby died. Her pain led to stripping and then to drugs. She says she overdosed and nearly died three times. That is an awesome testimony, I must say…One of the dancers is encouraged by her testimony as she used to be a stripper…

Dr. Belinda C. Scott & Hadassah Elder

In last week’s episode, Hadassah revealed that her Muslim mother Rochelle does not understand Hadassah’s Christian faith nor her aspiration to be a prophetess. In this week episode, we meet Hadassah’s mother. They meet at a local bakery and cafe to discuss their differences. First of all, she looks just like her mother, who is adorned in a head wrap. Hadassah says she feels like she has to choose between her spiritual mother Dr. Belinda C. Scott and her biological mother. But during their discussion, Hadassah’s mother agrees to meet Dr. Belinda for the first time.

Dr. Belinda, who has been counseling Hadassah about what is going on with her mother, is prepared to move Hadassah into her home if she needs a place to stay. And trust me, she has got room. You know your home is big when you have two winding staircases! But before she can discuss the matter with her husband, Dr. Darrell Scott, he tells her he has a surprise gift for her birthday…(Aside: if you have the gift of prophecy, is anything ever a surprise?) He brings her outside of their large pink home and shows her his surprise gift : a White Range Rover! While Dr. Belinda takes out her new vehicle for a drive with Dr. Darrell in the passenger seat, she asks him how he feels about moving Hadassah into their home. He is not in favor of it, particularly as he doesn’t want to have to put on a housecoat while he is walking around in their home…LOL…

But thankfully, by the end of the episode, Hadassah’s mother and Dr. Belinda meet, and they both discover that they are reasonable people and that there is room enough for both of them in her life…I guess if I had to pick a favorite prophetess, my favorite one is Dr. Belinda. Why? Dr. Taketa and Prophetess Linda come across as caricatures while Dr. Belinda seems like a real person, and her husband is hilarious!

Prophetess Kelly Crews and her protégé Stacey Williams were not featured at all in this episode?

NYC

The time has finally come for Rebecca to show and prove her prophecy skills at the NYC conference…The only problem is that Rebecca is late for the conference, and Dr. Taketa and her team wonder if Rebecca will show at all…But as we like to say in church, delay is not denial…In spite of the bad weather, traffic, etc., Rebecca and her dancers show up and perform, and Dr. Taketa is impressed by her performance which resulted in many people in the room crying including some of the dancers…Dr. Taketa says, “That was your gift on display.” She also says, “A prophetess is one who can take a licking and keep on ticking.”