The cornerback steered his custom truck through familiar streets. The ex-convict sat shotgun and pointed out landmarks, this “drug hole,” that “crack house,” the best routes for eluding the police.

Al Harris, at right above, with Kevin Soto. The two childhood friends plan to release a Christian rap album in August.

The cornerback is Al Harris. He wears No. 31 for the Green Bay Packers. The ex-convict is Kevin Soto. He wore No. 693430 in the Florida Department of Corrections.

They met 25 years ago, two boys from the same neighborhood north of Miami, bonded by break dancing and back flips and music above all else. That was before Harris went to the N.F.L., before Soto went to prison, before either man had heard of Christian rap.

“All these years, music kept coming up, kept bringing us together,” Harris, 35, said. “It always came back to music, no matter what we did, or where we went.”

In August, Harris and Soto will release a Christian rap album, the culmination of two lives that veered in opposite directions and converged again recently.

The cornerback wore shoulder pads for the first time at age 2, already certain his future was in football. The local boys’ club produced a stunning number of elite athletes, including the N.B.A. guard Eddie Jones and the seven players from Harris’s Blanche Ely High School teams who have played in the N.F.L.

The ex-convict preferred hip-hop. Soto owned one of the first portable stereos in the neighborhood, and he wrote rhymes about street life and Burger King commercials and rapped over the latest beats.

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CLEVELAND IS BEING REPRESENTED ON AMERICAS GOT TALENT BY A UP AND COMING GROUP NAMED NU COVENANT!

NU COVENANT IS FROM CLEVELAND OHIO AND CONSIST OF THREE BROTHERS AND ONE COUSIN FROM FAIR TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST “COGIC”. THE GROUP HAS BEEN SINGING FOR YEARS AND ARE NOW TRYING TO MAKE IT BIG TIME! SO LETS SUPPORT NU COVENANT BY WATCHING THE LIVE SHOW ON AUG 3RD ON NBC! VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!

NU COVENANT NEEDS YOUR VOTES SO THAT THEY CAN STAY IN THE RUNNING TO REPRESENT CLEVELAND OHIO!!

Be sure to check out the past episodes of America’s Got Talent on www.nbc.com

Fruits are naturally low in fat, contain no cholesterol and have plenty of fiber. Get a load of the power of fiber: it wards off cancer, diabetes, heart disease and controls cholesterol. Who wouldn’t consume as much of it as possible? There’s more. Did you know that in order for your body to successfully eliminate garbage and poisons, your blood cells need to be free of fat and synthetic chemicals from junk food? Fruit delivers your blood from such enemies by cleansing and fortifying it, paving the way for the oxygen, vitamins and minerals it needs to fight disease, maintain your health and boost your energy. Life is in the blood – use the power.

Let’s look at the benefits of some particular fruits, starting with apples; the healing power is amazing. They contain the soluble fiber, pectin, which forms into jelly-like substance in the digestive tract. This substance then attracts enemies such as cholesterol and eliminates them from our bodies. Some major benefits are low cholesterol, which helps maintain normal blood pressure; low blood sugar; and a decreased appetite, which helps control overeating. If you experience nausea from eating certain types of apples, as I do, eat pears instead. They also contain a healthy amount of pectin, along with lots of potassium, which helps keep the lid on high blood pressure. Speaking of potassium, it’s married to the banana. Eat plenty, and give high blood pressure a swift, and maybe even fatal kick.

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article courtesy of TheStreamingfaith.com

During this season of transition that God is undertaking on earth, it’s vital to discover what His ultimate will is for each of us. His enduring Word instructs us clearly on how we can continue to find His peace, protection, and provision amid the fluctuations our world may be going through.

Jesus tells us in His mission statement in John 10:10:

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The abundant life is a life filled with the best things of life that God has to offer you – abundant health, abundant peace, abundant love of family and good friends, the abundance of God’s ever-flowing provision and protection. This is the kind of on-going peace and prosperity that Jesus says He has come to give us – the prosperity of a “more abundant life.”

Rather than judging one’s sense of peace and prosperity by the amount of money one has in the bank, or the kind of car one drives, or any of the material things people pursue,
God’s Word explains the manner in which true abundance and prosperity comes to us:

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. (3 John 1:2)

In order for us to reap God’s greatest blessing and abundance, we must pursue a prosperous soul…we must pursue God!

Yes, God wants you blessed…but when God says He’s going to bless you and prosper you, it’s vital to remember that He’s not just talking about money.

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article courtesy of TheStreamingfaith.com

Y’Anna Crawley is the season two winner BET’s hit music competition series ‘Sunday Best.’

The Washington, DC native had recorded background vocals for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Glenn Jones, Raheem DeVaughn, Angie Stone and Chrisette Michele before auditioning for ‘Sunday Best’ and ultimately winning the show last year.

Crawley is now set to release her debut CD, ‘The Promise,’ on Aug. 22 via a venture between BET and Imago Dei Music Group.

The CD’s title track is the project’s first single and the album also features Crawley’s remake of Anita Baker’s ‘Sweet Love,’ as well as her powerful interpretation of Bill Wither’s ‘Grandma’s Hands’

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article courtesy of BvBuzz.com

A fan wore James’ new Miami Heat jersey to the Indians and New York Yankees game, and he had to be escorted out of Progressive Field by security.

He taunted Cleveland fans with the jersey as he made his way to the left-field bleachers, which then resulted in boos and vulgar chants from the Indians fans. The woman with him was also taunting the crowd, and she was scene giving fans an obscene finger gesture as they were escorted out of the bleachers.

Hundreds of fans were booing, shouting and snapping pictures before security led him out of the stadium. A number of fans also followed him out to the gate, chanting the entire time.

Cleveland fans have not been quick to forgive LeBron James for the way he left his hometown team for the Miami Heat, and Wednesday night’s Indians game is the most recent example of the city’s disdain for its former “King.”

A fan wore James’ new Miami Heat jersey to the Indians and New York Yankees game, and he had to be escorted out of Progressive Field by security.

He taunted Cleveland fans with the jersey as he made his way to the left-field bleachers, which then resulted in boos and vulgar chants from the Indians fans. The woman with him was also taunting the crowd, and she was scene giving fans an obscene finger gesture as they were escorted out of the bleachers.

Hundreds of fans were booing, shouting and snapping pictures before security led him out of the stadium. A number of fans also followed him out to the gate, chanting the entire timm.

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article courtesy of Newsnet5.com

2008 Gospel Dream winner and recording artist Melinda Watts prepares for her first conference known as The Dream Girlz Gathering. The conference takes place on Aug. 19-21, 2010 at Cumberland County College in Vineland, NJ. Targeting young ladies ages 8 to 18, the conference will feature workshops, seminars, and events designed to encourage healthy self-esteem and positive life choices. The conference will also feature an all star ladies concert featuring Crystal Aikin, Nicole C. Mullen, Karima Kibble, and Michelle Bonilla.It is expected to hit Brooklyn, Sacramento, Cleveland and 12 other cities within the next year.

We are giving away the newest CD from Fred Hammond called ‘Life in the Word.’ This CD is not even released yet. It will hit the stores this summer. Register here to win.

In a Newsweek cover story titled “The Reinvention of the Reverend,” writers Allison Samuels and Jerry Adler give their perspective of  the “indefatigable” Al Sharpton.

Read a snippet of the News Week article below

If the Rev. Al Sharpton didn’t exist, he would have had to be invented. In fact, the novelist Tom Wolfe has claimed he did invent him, in the character of the Reverend Bacon, a supporting figure in The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Each generation of black America gives birth to its own incarnation of the charismatic preacher-activist who confronts the white power structure in the streets and talks circles around it on Meet the Press.

Just a few months after the fictional Bacon made his appearance in 1987, the real Sharpton burst onto the national stage as the fiery advocate for Tawana Brawley, a New York teenager who claimed to have been raped by a gang of white men, including a policeman.

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Al Sharpton at the round table

On July 24, 2010 Coco Brother along with Gospel music artists Brian Courtney Wilson, Earnest Pugh, James Fortune, Joanne Rosario Condrey, Ted Winn, John P. Kee and Wess Morgan made a huge impact by Standing for Jesus in Charlotte, NC. Many people were saved and set free!

Coco Brother’s groundbreaking project Coco Brother Live Presents Stand 2010 features songs and inspirational moments from some of today’s top Gospel music artists such as BeBe Winans, Israel Houghton, James Fortune & Fiya, Joann Rosario Condrey, and Tye Tribbett.