Hello World,

Hollywood producer and Meagan Good’s hubby DeVon Franklin is coming to the A on Monday! He will be signing and talking about his latest book The Hollywood Commandments at Barnes & Noble bookstore, 1217 Caroline Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30307, at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23!

In The Hollywood Commandments, DeVon Franklin, the New York Times bestselling author of The Wait, reveals 10 life-changing commandments for your success learned from working over 20 years in the most secular environment on the planet: Hollywood! With The Hollywood Commandments, DeVon will help you:

• Identify the unique traits that will propel your career to new heights
• Overcome fear and build the courage to pursue new opportunities waiting for you
• Gain the confidence to make important decisions with greater peace and clarity
• Negotiate the life and career advancement you deserve!

YOU WON’T LEARN THESE 10 COMMANDMENTS IN THE CHURCH.
YET, THEY WILL HELP YOU THRIVE IN YOUR CAREER AND ACHIEVE THE LIFE YOU’VE BEEN PRAYING FOR!

Check out the trailer below…

DeVon Franklin is a bestselling author, spiritual success coach, and the CEO of Franklin Entertainment, a production company in conjunction with 20th Century Fox. He is the producer of the box office hit Miracles from Heaven and the upcoming animated film, The Star, for Sony Pictures Animation. He’s Dr. Oz’s go-to guy for spiritual success coaching on The Dr. Oz Show and he’s the co-host of the TLC event series, This Is Life Live.

Variety named DeVon one of the “10 Producers to Watch” and Beliefnet called him one of the “Most Influential Christians Under 40.” He is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Wait (co-written with his wife, award-winning actress Meagan Good) and Produced By Faith. I interviewed DeVon about his first book Produced By Faith. Check out my article on MOVIEGUIDE. 

Any thoughts?

The post DeVon Franklin Signs New Book ‘The Hollywood Commandments’ at Barnes & Noble in Atlanta on Monday, Oct. 23! appeared first on After the Altar Call.

Today is 12-12-12, and my father’s 70th birthday! Happy Birthday to my father the Rev. Dr. Denzil D. Holness! If you would like to know more about my dear Daddy…please see the post “Color Him Father, Color Him Love.”

If you are anything like me, you are a procrastinator and therefore a last-minute Christmas shopper desperate for ideas for great gifts for loved ones and friends…To that end, I thought I would compile a list of 7 books that I have read that would be great gifts…Read on…

1. “A New Dating Attitude: Getting Ready for the Mate God Has for You” by the Rev. Dr. Susan Johnson Cook. My quick review: This book will revolutionize your dating life from a Christian perspective. The official description: Use the Beatitudes to change your own attitudes as you wait for the mate God is preparing for you. The number of people who wish they were married is myriad. Dating clubs, newspaper columns, and books on how to find a mate are everywhere. But no one has addressed this deep desire like Johnson Cook. She approaches this aching need and difficult situation from both a spiritual and practical perspective, applying the Beatitudes to the number one preoccupation of most single, divorced, and widowed Christian women–how to find a husband. You can find A New Dating Attitude on Amazon and on Barnes & Noble.

2. “Alice Walker: A Life” by Evelyn C. White. My quick review: Did you know “The Color Purple” was inspired by Walker’s own family members? The official description: Alice Walker’s life is remarkable not only because she was the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction (the book that won her that award, The Color Purple, has been translated into nearly thirty languages and made into an Academy Award–nominated film), but also because these accomplishments are merely highlights of a luminous and varied career made from inauspicious beginnings in rural Georgia. Drawing on extensive interviews and exhaustive research, Evelyn C. White brings this life to light. 16 pages of illustrations. You can find Alice Walker: A Life on Amazon and on Barnes & Noble.

3. “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson. My quick review: This book should be required reading for all of the history it provides about black people in America. The official description: In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves. You can find The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

4. “American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama” by Rachel L. Swarns. My quick review: If you loved “Roots” by Alex Haley, you will adore this book about our first lady’s roots. The official description: Michelle Obama’s family saga is a remarkable, quintessentially American story—a journey from slavery to the White House in five generations. Yet, until now, little has been reported on the First Lady’s roots. Prodigiously researched, American Tapestry traces the complex and fascinating tale of Michelle Obama’s ancestors, a history that the First Lady did not even know herself. Rachel L. Swarns, a correspondent for the New York Times, brings into focus the First Lady’s black, white, and multiracial forebears, and reveals for the first time the identity of Mrs. Obama’s white great-great-great-grandfather—a man who remained hidden in her lineage for more than a century. You can find American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

5. “Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success without Losing Your True Self” by DeVon Franklin. My quick review: This book gives you a great behind-the-scenes look at how Hollywood movies are made from a Christian Hollywood executive. The official description: STRAIGHT FROM HOLLYWOOD comes a dynamic business model for building a thriving career without compromising your faith. DeVon Franklin, vice president of production for Columbia Pictures, shares how being bold about his Christian faith while being driven and ambitious has actually worked in his favor to help him excel in a high-profile, fast-paced, competitive industry. You can find Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success without Losing Your True Self on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

6. “Permission Slips: Every Woman’s Guide to Giving Herself a Break” by Sherri Shepherd. My quick review: You will laugh out loud at Sherri’s dating adventures! The official description: Covering topics such as “It’s Jesus or Jail,” “Marriage, the Hard Way,” “Children: The Gift You Can’t Give Back,” and “All the Things I Don’t Know…And All the Things I Definitely Do,” stand-up comedienne, actress, and ABC’s The View co-host Sherri Shepherd comically chronicles her struggles to keep up with the many roles-professional, wife, mother, daughter, and friend-that women must play in today’s world. Sherri urges women to pursue their most important dreams and to never give up, but also let’s readers know that it’s okay to give themselves “permission slips” when things don’t always work out the way they want them to. You can find Permission Slips: Every Woman’s Guide to Giving Herself a Break at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

And last but not least…at least to me…

7. “After the Altar Call: the Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship with God”by me My quick review: I love this book because I wrote it, and I hope you love it too. The official description: After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God is a fresh, real and relevant how-to manual for African-American Christian women who desire to move past the “church speak” and into an intimate relationship with their Creator. The book includes interviews with 24 remarkable women with compelling stories such as the “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd; Valorie Burton, life coach, author and co-host on the Emmy award-winning show “Aspiring Women” and the former co-host of the national daily television program, “The Potter’s Touch” with Bishop T.D. Jakes; and Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the 117th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the first woman elected to Episcopal office in over 200 years of A.M.E. history. You can find After the Altar Call: the Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship with God on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Any thoughts?

The post 7 Books That Should Be On Your 2012 Christmas List! appeared first on After the Altar Call.

The more I discover about DeVon Franklin, vice president of production for Columbia Pictures, author “Produced By Faith: Enjoy Real Success Without Losing Your True Self and most recently and actress Meagan Good’s new hubby, the more I admire him. I was introduced to him first through his awesome book which is actually his testimony and then I interviewed him for MOVIEGUIDE. If you have not read my interview, please check out my story “Faith is This Movie Executive’s ‘Competitive Edge.'”

In a recent interview with GlobalGrind.com, Franklin, 33, who is also a preacher, revealed that prior to marrying Good in June, he was celibate for over 10 years…Below is the video and a quote from the video…

“The thing I couldn’t do which was eating me apart, going back to this idea of being whoever God created you to be. Sometimes we want to be this person at home, this person in the office, this person at church and then we get our lines mixed up. And trying to be different people to different situations, it tears you apart. So what was happening with me is that I would go and preach one thing but then I was living another, and I could not do it. I could not look at myself in the mirror. I’m like, no, I can’t live like this, so I had to stop and say, ‘You know what, until I get married, [sex is] off the table.'”

What a testimony! And I’m so glad he was willing to share that “intimate detail.” It seems that most men believe it is impossible to be celibate for any length of time…Obviously, Franklin, who was and is likely surrounded by some of the most beautiful women in the world in Hollywood, is an example that long-term celibacy is possible. And now he is married to Good, who is considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood…Take note fellas…

In other Black Christian in Hollywood news, it is no secret that Tamera Mowry-Housley of “Tia & Tamera,” the reality show on the Style Network, and her new hubby Adam Housley were celibate before getting married last year. In fact, I blogged about in “Re-Virgins Get No Love…”   However, in a recent interview with Ebony.com, Tamera, who is now pregnant with their first child, shared about why she had to say no to “missionary dating.”

 I tried the ‘missionary dating’ [in the past] where you have a person with a great heart who you think is perfect and wonderful except for this one important area that you try to change. That’s unfair to that person. That person needs to be who they are 100%. And it’s unfair to you. You don’t want to drag somebody to church with you. My husband wakes up on Sundays and says ‘Hey, are we going to church today?’ It just makes [waiting] all worthwhile. I dated guys who did not share those same beliefs and it was hard. There were many nights of heartbreak and crying, and that’s not what God wants for us.

Amen sister! I have firsthand knowledge of “missionary dating.” It is no fun to try to convince your guy, who may be a great guy in every other way, to get his behind in church on a Sunday morning….And I too have experienced a lot of heartbreak and crying over this…To read the entire interview, go to [INTERVIEW] Tia and Tamera on Marriage and Motherhood on Ebony.com.

And DeVon Franklin and Tamera Mowry-Housley are not the only black Christians in Hollywood that share openly about their Christian faith. Cee Cee Michael Floyd, who was once a staron the UPN hit comedy “Girlfriends” and is now a minister, was celibate for 10 years and 9 months before marrying to Rev. Wilbert Floyd last year. If you would like to read her entire testimony, which is awesome, you have to get a copy of my book After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God, which is now available on Amazon Kindle! You can also read an excerpt there!  (Y’all know I had to plug my book too )

Any thoughts?

The post Meagan Good’s new hubby DeVon Franklin reveals he was celibate for over 10 years… appeared first on After the Altar Call.