Happily Divorced And After

LOS ANGELES, CA- The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is ready to take moviegoers on a cinematic journey with international film screenings from around the globe with the announcement of its Call for Submissions. The 24th annual PAFF, the nation’s largest and most prestigious Black film festival will be held on February 4^th to the 15^th, 2016 in Los Angeles. Over the years, it has showcased films from all parts of the world, representing such countries as Angola, Nigeria, Jamaica, New Zealand, Rwanda, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, England, Mexico, Japan, France and of course, the United States. With the pulse on the international film market, PAFF has opened the minds of its audiences, and transported them to faraway lands and back home again.

“Over the years, the filmmakers from around the world have become more sophisticated in telling their stories,” says Asantewa Olatunji, the director of programming for PAFF. “In our ever shrinking world, it is so important to understand the experiences and points of views of other peoples and cultures.”

Last year, more than 40,000 people attended the film festival, which has long been a highly anticipated event in Los Angeles attended by local, national and international guests. Currently, PAFF is accepting submissions of features and shorts; narrative and documentary films made by or about people of African descent. You can currently apply by going online to the PAFF website at www.paff.org and clicking onto “Submit Film”. Fill out the online application and either upload your film with your completed application or send in a DVD to PAFF at 6820 LaTijera Blvd. Ste. 200, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

PAFF is currently accepting applications for films and videos made by and/or about people of African descent. (Please note: the filmmaker need not be of African descent.) Preferably, films should depict positive and realistic images and can be of any genre – drama, comedy, horror, adventure, animation, romance, science fiction, experimental, etc. PAFF accepts features and shorts both narrative and documentary.

The PAFF competition categories are: Best Narrative Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary, Best Director – First Feature, plus a variety of Audience Favorite Awards. Films in competition must be copyrighted no earlier than 2014. With the exception of Audience Favorite Awards, films are judged by industry professionals. In addition to competition awards, other programming and festival special prizes will be awarded.

For information about the festival, submission procedures, fees and registration, click www.paff.org or email submissions@paff.org. Early submissions will be accepted beginning July 20 through August 7; regular submissions begin August 8 and run through October 2, 2015. Late submissions will be accepted from October 3 to October 31

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Thanks to an initiative first recommended by Board of Education member Danny Till­man, with full support from fellow Board members, 5,000 socio-economically disadvantaged families in the San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) will receive 21st Century technology through a program designed to close the digital divide.

SBCUSD is offering the Family Chromebook Initiative beginning July 6 in partnership with California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF). CETF is providing $100,000 in funding, as well as its School2Home curriculum in support of the Initiative. Through the Board of Education’s Family Chromebook Initiative, SBCUSD will provide free Chromebook computers and T-Mobile Internet service to 5,000 SBCUSD families. Eligible families were contacted by the SBCUSD automated phone system to identify those interested in the program. About 5,000 were willing to participate in the pilot program.

“So much of our society is going digital and we want to provide families who don’t have devices and Internet access at home the resources they need to help their children be successful,” said Barbara Richardson, the director of Accountability & Educational Technology for SBCUSD. “The Chromebook Initiative and School2Home program help provide those with the most need and the fewest resources a chance to even the playing field.”

As part of the Board-led Initiative, one adult and one student from each family must attend the School2Home training program in July. The Board of Education felt the program would only be successful if it included a training component for students and parents. The initial training focuses on basic computer literacy skills and helps participants set up a free email account and connect to Internet-based educational services, such as the SBCUSD Parent Portal. Additional, optional School2Home computer training will also be offered throughout the school year to help parents and students develop their computer skills and build a closer connection to the school community.

All School2Home training will be provided in English and Spanish. Parents and students who need additional accommodations, including services in other languages, will receive those services upon request. SBCUSD will loan participating families one Chromebook and provide limited, home Internet service for one year, as long as they attend SBCUSD schools. The home-based Internet access will have the same protections as school-based Internet access.

LOS ANGELES – Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (“MLKCH”) announced that the privately-owned, non-profit hospital is now fully licensed, accredited, and opened to the public as of Tuesday July 7, 2015.  An opening dedication is scheduled for August 7, 2015.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital is a brand new state-of-the-art facility, with all new equipment, technology, staff, and administration. MLKCH has a total of 131 beds, including 93 medical/surgical beds, 20 intensive care beds and 18 obstetrical beds. Inpatient specialties will include Anesthesiology, Cardiology, Emergency Services, Gastroenterology, General Medicine, General Surgery, Infectious Diseases, Neurology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Radiology, Pulmonary Medicine and Urology.  The hospital’s medical staff includes six hospital-based physician groups that will be on-site 24/7.

“After much hard work and dedication, we are excited to open our doors to the public,” said MLKCH’s Chief Executive Officer, Elaine Batchlor, MD, MPH. “We designed this hospital from the ground up to meet the urgent health needs of our community, and we are eager to welcome them. Working with our staff, physicians, and partners at the County of Los Angeles and the University of California healthcare system, we are bringing compassionate, collaborative, quality care to South Los Angeles.”

MLKCH has completed licensure by the California Department of Public Health, and accreditation by The Joint Commission, a national agency that monitors health care organizations and promotes the highest standards of quality and patient safety.  The Emergency Department, Labor and Delivery, and other hospital services will be open for patient care on July 7^th.

“MLKCH will be a leading model of innovative, collaborative, community health care,” added Dr. Batchlor. “We have assembled a world-class healthcare team that includes highly-qualified clinical leaders and a diverse, multilingual staff.  MLKCH will be a leading force in addressing the long-standing health disparities in our community.”

ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital is a private, non-profit, safety-net hospital, administered by the Martin Luther King, Jr. – Los Angeles Healthcare Corporation (MLK-LA), a 501(c)(3) organization.  The 131-bed community hospital has a 21-bed emergency department, 20 ICU beds, and 18 labor, delivery, and postpartum beds.  The hospital’s mission is to provide compassionate, innovative and quality care, and collaborating with providers and our community to create a healthier South Los Angeles. The hospital will serve 1.35 million residents of South Los Angeles regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.

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Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

In our relationship with one another we don’t have to tell someone that our love has grown cold towards them… they know it! They know it because of how we behave towards them. God wants you to know today that He is aware that your love has grown cold toward Him and that it breaks His heart that the thrill is gone.

You know the apostle Paul wrote [1Cor. 13:3 and John 4:24] a message to the church of their need to examine themselves and their love for Christ. He said, “Don’t try to worship God with lies. Don’t’ tell Him that you love Him if you really don’t love Him. Don’t’ try to convince Him that you love Him by telling Him all you do for Him. When two people really love each other, they aren’t mechanical in their relationship. Their love is spontaneous.” When you fall in love with someone, you don’t think its strange to tell them so over and over. And if you can’t see them that day, you’re sure to call or write just to remind them that you love them. You don’t neglect to let each other know you still have that same love. You don’t keep quiet just because you take it for granted that they still know it.  When you stop telling your mate you love them, that’s an indication that perhaps you no longer do love them. You can’t keep love quiet. When you really love someone, you’re not ashamed to express that love. It doesn’t sound repetitious. No, its music to their ears. How much more should we tell the Lord we love Him, even though we know He is aware of it? Because apparently Him knowing is very important [John 21:15]. Listen, there’s nothing harder than a one-sided marriage, where one mate loves the other but receives no love in return. A love relationship needs to be mutual if it is to grow. Now, the Lord loves you, and He doesn’t want that love to be one sided. He gives you His love but also wants to receive your love and devotion. I tell you, some of us need to go back to that, “Old Time Religion, When It Was Good Enough for Me.” Some of us need to ask God to “Take Us Back to Where We First Received Him.” Think back to where the Lord found you and what He did for you when He saved you by Grace. Remember those days when just the mere mention of the name of Jesus was enough to bring tears to yours eyes. Remember those days when “Amazing Grace” made you nearly have a shouting spell. That is where the Lord wants to bring you back to!

Let me tell you a story of, “Undying Love.” …The story of Hosea and Gomer… I want you to know that Hosea is one of the most emotional books in the Bible, an outpouring of persistent love from God’s heart. Hosea begins with a love story – a painful, personal love story, the prophet’s very own. Hosea had married a woman who became unfaithful to him and brought great shame upon him. Yet though she cheated on him, Hosea still loved her. Though she humiliated him, he did not divorce her. Why not? Because God had told him that his painful love story would help him understand and feel with another more painful love story: the painful love of God for His people. Hosea’s feelings about Gomer give us a sense of how the Lord felt about Israel and how He feels about us today.  God made Hosea live the tragedy of Israel’s unfaithfulness by marrying a harlot. And if Hosea scandalized the good people of Israel by doing this, that’s exactly the reaction God wanted… because Israel’s own idolatry and spiritual adultery was shocking and scandalous in God’s eyes! According to one theologian, “In God’s eyes, whoever forsakes the Lord is an adulteress, a harlot, and a whore. There are no religious “singles” in God’s eyes. Everyone is either faithfully married to God or is a prostitute to the idol they are serving” he said. God made you for himself. If you “get your kicks” from somewhere else, you are committing great harlotry against God. That was Israel’s condition.

And so God took Hosea and said, as it were, “Before I give you a word of judgment and grace for Israel, I am going to make you know what it’s like to be married to an unfaithful wife. Hosea, marry a harlot!” His marriage is an acted-out parable of God’s relations to Israel.  Hosea would understand and feel the magnitude of God’s broken heart and deep sorrows. “If the prophet could be so wounded in his spirit by his wife’s adultery, then what must the Lord feel by centuries of such treatment by the very people He had formed for His own glory, as His personal possession?”  Stop and think about what it would take for a loving father or mother to say to a child: “I disown you. I disinherit you. You are no longer my son or my daughter, I will not show you anymore love, mercy, or pity, no matter how much you cry out to me!” It would take decades of rebellion, hate, and evil atrocities on the part of an adult held to merit such a harsh judgment, right? So God wants us to feel His heart here, which has been broken and trampled on, for centuries, by the people He loved and rescued and cared for all these years! To know that you deserve to be broken, disowned, and shown no more love, how could God remain just and righteous in His judgment of us, and at the same time, show us such bountiful mercy? The only answer – God, in His immeasurable grace and mercy, will not give up on His people forever. This is a love that will not let us go! Does this grip your heart? Does this move you to respond to God’s mercy? It should! And if it doesn’t, then you better check to see if you have a spiritual pulse. Cry out to the Lord and ask Him to revive you.

Listen, the Christian life is about loving Christ. It is about loving Him singularly. It is about loving Him totally. It is about loving Him sacrificially. It is about loving Him obediently. It is about loving Him worshipfully. It is about loving Him in terms of service. It really is about loving Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to be a Christian. Now, if you understand the Old Testament, the great commandment was to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This is the sum of all that God requires, and your neighbor as yourself. But it starts with loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, which is just a way of saying loving God comprehensively, totally, completely. Now if that’s the sum of the law, then that has to be the sum of the relationship. That can’t be altered when it comes to being a Christian.

So I ask you as a believer today – “Have you left your first love? Have you become so busy and preoccupied with life, that Jesus is no longer that important to you? If you sense you have, you need to stop and remember what it was like when you really loved the Lord. You need to repent of the things that have come between you and Him. And you need to return to the basic things of a relationship with the Lord: joyful worship, glad serving, and thankful living. Remember your first love…Remember how much you loved Jesus at the beginning and go back to that. Love Him like you used to!

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— From leaving the office to grinding all night in the studio, to street promotions, to doing shows from city to city, Indie Artists hustle and they hustle hard to be heard. On Saturday, August 1, LUE Productions will be acknowledging those hardworking artists at the first annual “My Music, My Mic: Indie Artist Award Show”. The award show will take place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Sports Center at the National Orange Show located at 690 S. Arrowhead Street in San Bernardino.

The night will be filled with photo ops, raffles, live  performances, vendors, a fashion show hosted by Josh Scott and LUE Productions models, and much more! To kick the night off and keep things upbeat, Comedian Anthony Stone and JaNay JaNiece the Model will be the hosts and announcing some of the hottest talent to emerge out of the Inland Empire.

The recipients that will be recognized this year include: Yung Miss, Nya Banxx, Carl Fontaine, Aaron Swift, Teknik Yung Prospect, Official Bizz, Dunamis L1019, Imon, Gwapp Fam, T-Bone, Paul Douglass, Justified Smith, Hannibal Lec, Yung Muuisk, C Dub, Speaker Junkiez, Cali G, Lowla Scott, and Mack Pepperboy. In addition to the artist award recipients, there will also be special community recognition of individuals and companies that will be receiving The Allen Award for their hard work, dedication, and commitment that show in the community and for the support that show indie artists. These individuals include: Westside Story Newspaper, Monivision TV, Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce-Inland Cities, Mike C a.k.a. The Guru of the I.E., The Real dirty Birdy, and Bigg Dee.

Immediately following the award show there will be an exclusive after party from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. hosted by Lil Mike Tyson of THAD and LUE Productions models Faith and Cassandra. After party performances include Radio Base, Cali G, Teknik Young Prospect, Imon, Justified Smith, C Dub, and Shafik City.

This will be an epic night that you don’t want to miss out on. The Inland Empire will stepping out in their best and latest attire. Tickets can be purchased for $10 before Monday, July 20 and $15 at the door. For more information or to purchase your ticket, please call (909) 567-1000, (909) 496-2151, (909) 556-7637, or (714) 833-3196.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Eta Nu Omega Chapter announced at their chapter meeting on June 6, at Brandman University in Riverside that five men who provided support to the sorority programs and the underserved in the Inland Empire have been identified and recognized as recipients of the 2015 Men of Valor recognition award.  Ms. Shalimar Anderson Horsley, Committee Chairman stated, the recipients of the Men of Valor 2015 recognition included: Mario Hall, Eric Issac, Ratibu Jacocks, Jerry Murry, and Danny Tillman. Each recipient received from the chapter an Eta Nu Omega Chapter Certificate of Recognition, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from Assembly Member Cheryl Brown.  Congratulations to all recipients who are all so deserving of this recognition for their support to the communities in which they live and serve.

For more information regarding Eta Nu Omega Chapter events, contact Linda Gaines-Brooks,  at rmzbroks@yahoo.com

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Craving some local produce wrapped up into warm, freshly baked French bread? Jimmy John’s is coming to San Bernardino and many other cities all over Southern California! Jimmy John’s opened its first doors in 1983 and since then has opened over 3,000 locations in more than 43 states. The franchised company has over 300 in route to open in the next two years in Southern California alone!

Alright, alright enough with numbers and history! What makes Jimmy John’s so special?! Aside from the fact they support local businesses, they deliver! When you call up some of their delivering competitors it can take up to an hour or more… with Jimmy John’s you can expect freaky fast delivery time in less than 10 minutes. Work in the area and can’t find the time to clock out for lunch? That’s no problem! Their veggies are sourced right here within the community and the meats are premium cuts. They also do catering for all occasions.

Come join them on Tuesday, July 21 for the opening of your soon to be (if not already) favorite sandwich location! They open at 10:30 a.m. and close at 10 p.m.! Jimmy John’s is located at 1060 Harriman Place in San Bernardino, right behind the Costco off of Harriman Place and Tippecanoe Avenue.

For Catering Inquiries contact Angie Eichmeier, Director of Marketing, at (480) 818-8254.

Four-D College

For those who may now have heard the news by now, Four-D College has permanently closed its doors due to uncontrollable circumstances. Four-D College has been accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) since 1996. The job placements of its graduates have been accepted without question up until 2011. For unknown specific reasons, the agency began to deny the job-related placements of its graduates without provocation. Due to the actions of ABHES rejecting the placements of graduates into viable employment, ABHES issued an act to deny the renewal of Four-D College’s accreditation. The institution has diligently, with legal counsel, tried to have ABHES accept its placement records in recent years. It should be noted that the placement of graduates in job-related fields from other institutions accredited by ABHES, have been accepted at the same level or below submissions of Four-D College. Due to ABHES’ actions, the Institution’s Title-IV funding has been gravely effected and has made it impossible for the Institution to continue to operate. Below is a statement from the founder of the college, Linda Smith:

“I have had the pleasure of operating a private Christian College for 23 years. In our environment we were able to pray with students, faculty, and staff. Many students accepted the Lord as their Savior while on campus. Students and faculty prayed at the beginning of each class and prayers were read over the intercom daily. What occurred to Four D College was unprecedented and of our control. I sincerely apologize to all that all of my endeavors to keep the school open were unsuccessful. Below is information provided to you, the reader, and agencies.”

Linda Smith

She continues, to agencies:

“This is the official notice that Four-D College is closed. The plague of unfair circumstances brought upon the institution by ABHES and legal counsel are unprecedented. It is a known fact that all schools job related placement for pharmacy technician is pharmacy clerk positions and VN graduates are placed in related fields until they obtain their license.             Four-D College graduates in these fields were placed the same as other ABHES’S schools. The only difference, particular between American Career College and the Dallas School of Nursing, is each of these schools have staff members as ABHES Commissioners. This fact was repeatedly ignored during the multiple presentations with legal counsel and the Commissions.

From 1996 to 2011 Four-D College never was required to place graduates in title specific job only and all of our job related position were rejected by Mike White and the Commission. As the President of a private Christian College, I know that the Lord will oversee all of the ugliness that was directed at us. We all are grateful to God that for 23 years we had an environment where we could pray with our students, faculty and staff. Thank you and God’s speed. Linda Smith.”

LONG BEACH, CA- The Fifth Annual Long Beach Gospel Fest, founded by Pastor Wayne Chaney, Jr. and wife Myesha of the Antioch Church of Long Beach, just added Grammy-nominated star of WEtv’s hit series Mary Mary, Tina Campbell, to this year’s star-studded lineup for the highly anticipated citywide worship event. Showcasing some of the best gospel artists in music today, Campbell joins previously announced multi-award winning performers Tasha Cobbs, Deitrick Haddon, Kierra Sheard, Jonathan Nelson, Myron Butler, Jessica Reedy, Brian Courtney Wilson and more. The free, open-to-the-public event takes place on Sunday, July 19, at Marina Green Park.

Inspiring fans on the shores of Long Beach since its inception in 2009, the successful annual event is one of the city’s premier summer festivals.  Anticipating more than 20,000 attendees, the Festival experience includes a monumental morning worship service led by Pastor Chaney, followed by the afternoon concert with Gospel’s top performers.  A special tribute with clergy and performing talent honoring the victims of the Charleston Emanuel AME Church mass shooting is planned. In addition to the worship service and concert, a vibrant marketplace with vendors for food, merchandise, and fun family-friendly activities is accessible to festival goers throughout the day.

The Gold Experience ($50) is also available to attendees who prefer to enhance their Festival experience through priority check-in, reserved seating, vendor concierge service and artist meet and greets. Tickets are available online.

Marina Green Park is located at 386 E. Shoreline Drive in Long Beach. The worship service will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by the concert at 12:30 p.m.  Red carpet arrivals begin at 3 p.m.  Vendor and sponsorship opportunities are still available for a limited time only; for more information, tickets, and updates, please visit www.longbeachgospelfest.com.

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

If you have to die and go to Heaven or Hell, it just makes sense that you should go to Heaven, doesn’t it? Just stop and think, how ridiculous it is to try to talk someone into going to Heaven. To have to holler and scream and beg and plead and pry and kick, to try and talk someone into going to Heaven is, to me, one of the most absurd thoughts in the world. You ought to be jumping at the chance. You ought to be begging, “TELL ME HOW!” It ought to be that anybody who knows he’s got to die would have enough sense to want to go to Heaven when he dies. Listen, I have not been commissioned to tell you what I believe, or what I think. I have been commissioned to tell you what God says. We know what God says is true. We know that there is a Hell. We know that we must warn men to escape the “wrath to come.” So my question to you,  is anything worth taking a chance of going to Hell over, any sin or any personal rebellion? … No, certainly not… Is it wise to gamble with your soul?… No, because life is so short and can end so quickly…. That is why the Bible says, “Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation.” Jesus expressed it is senseless to “lose your own soul.” Jesus said, “What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” You would be a wise man, woman, boy and girl to come to Jesus before one day you wake up in a dreadful permanent place called Hell. Why not come to Jesus today? He will save. He will satisfy. He will secure, if you will only come to Him. It’s an awful thing to remember that you could be in Hell in another minute. David said, “there is but a step between me and death” (1 Sam 20:3) What if Christ is not your Savior? This means that you would be doomed forever.  Now you may deny the fact of Hell, but that does not change the fact that it exists. Fire burns, whether you choose to believe that it does or not… poison kills, whether you believe it will or not. The world is round, whether you believe it or not and Hell is a reality whether you believe it or not. And if you reject the offer Christ is making today, you will go to Hell, whether you believe you will or not.

Now listen to Jesus. He knew the truth about Hell. He spoke more about Hell than anybody else in the Bible. In fact, He spoke more about Hell than everybody else in the Bible combined. And He defined it as conscious, eternal punishment. He told the story of a certain rich man who died and went down to Hell and was in torment. He said that the man cried out, “I am tormented in these flames.” He said that the man was anxious for his brothers to repent, so that they would not come to that “place of torment.” [Luke 16:14-31]. Now look at the biblical expression which describe Hell. It is called a Lake of Fire – a bottomless pit – a horrible tempest – a devouring fire – a place of sorrows – a place of weeping and wailing – a place of torments – everlasting destruction – a place of outer darkness – a place where men have no rest – a place where men are tormented with fire and brimstone – a place where the fire is not quench. It is a place of separation from God.  It is a place of unsatisfied desires.  It is a place of vilest companionship. The worst people, the meanest, cruelest, filthiest people will be there. And to add to the horrors of Hell for some people. They live clean lives, they are cultured and refined, they are good citizens, and they are nice to their family and friends, but they reject Jesus Christ. One day they will be cast into Hell, to live the rest of eternity with liars, adulterers, murderers, drunkards, homosexuals, and the vilest of creatures. This will be an awful thing for them and will last forever. They can never die and leave these people, and they can’t get up and move away. It is a place of hopelessness. It is a place of suffering. It is a place of memory. The misery of hell will be so great that you will not want to be there. Whatever you believe or do not believe, when you choose against God, you will be shocked beyond words. Your misery will be so great that you will want to do anything in your power to escape. Esau wept bitterly that he could not repent [Hebrew 12:17]. The Hell he was entering into he found to be totally miserable, and he wanted out, but it was too late! Don’t wait until it’s too late?

You know, the 19th chapter of Genesis gives a very sordid picture of the city of Sodom. In that great and wicked city lived a man named Lot. God was about to destroy Sodom in a fiery judgment. But He sent two angels to lead Lot and his family out of the city before judgment fell. Yet Lot lingered. He knew the city would be destroyed, but he hesitated. In doing this he reminds us of an awakened sinner. Like Lot, the awakened sinner knows that judgment is coming. Like Lot, he knows he must turn away from sin, come out of the world, and come to Christ. But even as Lot lingered in Sodom,  an awakened sinner hesitate, hold back, and linger on, without coming to Christ. Don’t do it! Don’t go to Hell! The angels were sent as messengers to lead Lot out of danger. And so it is that the Holy Spirit has compelled me to lead you out of the path of destruction, and point you to Christ. It is a sign of God’s mercy to encourage you to come to Him. Don’t defy God in salvation. If God is dealing with you with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, pressing you to come to Christ, oh, don’t strive with Him! Don’t stand against Him as did Pharaoh of old. If God wants you saved, submit to His wooing’s. May you make the right choice.