‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Sadie Robertson Befriends Duggar Family, Sparks Rumors of ’19 Kids and Counting’ Crossover

Sadie Robertson meets the Duggar family (Photo: Instagram/Sadie Robertson)

Sadie Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” meets part of the Duggar family of “19 Kids and Counting.”

Christian Post Report – “Duck Dynasty’s” Sadie Robertson recently befriended fellow reality television stars Jana, Joy Anna and Jinger Duggar, and dropped hints of a crossover between “Duck Dynasty” and the Duggar family’s reality series, “19 Kids and Counting.”

“Duck Dynasty,” which airs on A&E, follows the Robertson family and their business, Duck Commander, in West Monroe, Louisiana. Alternately, TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” follows the Duggar family of 19 children in Tontitown, Arkansas. Both the Robertson and Duggar familiesare well known for their Christian faith, which is predominantly featured on their respective reality television series. Late last month, Sadie Robertson shared a photo from her first encounter with the Duggar family, marking an exciting meeting within the reality television realm.

“Truly the most beautiful girls inside & out,” 21-year-old Robertson shared in a caption of a photo on Instagram taken with 25-year-old Jana, 21-year-old Jinger, and 17-year-old Joy Anna.

“Excited about our new friendship,” Robertson added. “Thank you for being so sweet to welcome me into y’all’s beautiful home. So proud of how this family shares their faith with the world.”

The photo of Robertson with the Duggar girls spurred gossip of a possible crossover episode between “Duck Dynasty” and “19 Kids and Counting,” which both appeal to devout Christian audiences. Moreover, a blend between the two shows would boost the ratings for both A&E and TLC by bridging fans of both families.

While the Robertson family and the Duggar clan share similarities in their strong faith, the two families are very different. For instance, Sadie Robertson appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” last year, but Duggar patriarch Jim Bob once told Beliefnet that girls should never dance because it “can be defrauding to a guy.”

Furthermore, the Duggar children practice Christian courting before marriage with strict limitations between men and women. In comparison, Sadie Robertson has been outspoken about practicing abstinence, but the teen and her longtime boyfriend are often seen in intimate embraces and even kissing in photos.

Meanwhile, season eight of “Duck Dynasty” is expected on A&E later this year while “19 Kids and Counting” airs on TLC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.

Source : Christian Post

Duggar Son Officially Courting, Will Make Announcement During Tuesday’s Episode

  • Josiah Duggar
    (Photo: Facebook/Duggar Family Official)
    Josiah Duggar on the beach with his family.

A new Duggar has begun the process of courtship and could not be happier with what the Lord has in store for him.

“It’s been going very well,” Josiah Duggar told People magazine. “I met Marjorie [Jackson] a few years ago, when I was taking Spanish lessons at her house and I was very impressed with the way she was with her siblings and her love for the Lord.”

Josiah, 18, and Marjorie, 17, entered into the courtship on April 6, the same day that his sister Jill gave birth to her first son, Israel David. Courtship is taken very seriously in the Duggar family, with strict rules and the intention that the couple is preparing to marry. “She really caught my eye. That is really where I noticed her.”

The couple went on a mission trip to El Salvador in Dec. and spent time together afterwards before deciding to formally enter into a courtship. Now, the Duggar parents will be involved in the courtship, keeping an eye on the text messages Josiah and Marjorie exchange and making sure that they are supervised and never alone. One of the rules of courtship is that the couple will not be unsupervised on their dates.

“I met him at Spanish class a few years back,” Marjorie said. “For me it was an immediate thing, I have always admired him and his family.”

Jill and Derick, as well as Jessa and Ben, all chose courtship for their relationships and are now happily married. Jill and Derick spoke with The Christian Post about their reasoning for choosing courtship instead of traditional, secular dating.

“I think as far as courtship, we wanted to be purposeful in our relationship and make the most of our time so we wanted to know pretty quickly about those deeper issues—is this someone I can serve God better with than without and really get to the heart of the issues early on,” Derick explained.

“We promised to save ourselves physically for marriage so we could focus on communication,” Jill added. “But I think it really is beneficial. We really wanted to set our standard high and not compromise. We made different standards we wanted to hold to, and if we wanted to change them, do so on the front end.”

The family will address Josiah’s relationship in a special message airing on Tuesday night on TLC.

Source : Christian Post

‘Fantastic Four’ News: Jamie Bell Reveals How He Prepared for ‘The Thing’

Fantastic Four Youtube/file

Christian Post Report – The cast of Fantastic Four takes a selfie to mark end of filming for the reboot of the movie. Shown here are Kate Mara, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell.

When Jamie Bell was cast to play the character of Ben Grimm or “The Thing” in the reboot of “Fantastic Four,” many observers could not believe how the likes of Bell, who first made his film debut as a young ballet dancer in “Billy Elliot,” would do the role. The casting news also came with details about how the film’s director, Josh Trank decided to make use of motion capture technology for “The Thing” instead of the usual prosthetic suit that was used in the previous movie.

Bell, in a recent interview reported in The Huffington Post, shared some details about he prepared to play one of the Fantastic Four. The 29-year old actor mentioned that he worked closely with renowned performance capture actor Andy Serkis for the film. Serkis is known for his work in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy for the character Gollum, “King Kong” and “Planet of the Apes.”

In order to do justice to the character of “The Thing,” he listened to Serkis, whom he also considers his mentor, having worked with him before.

“It’s about capturing the essence of a human being inside of that character when he is transformed and you do that through motion capture. It’s a technique that my friend Andy Serkis has very much spearheaded – he is the guru of performance capture,” he said.

Instead of donning a prosthetic suit, Bell said he wore the standard motion capture dotted leotard. He also said he was on a strict diet and exercise routine while they were filming.

The film’s director, Josh Trank, shared something about Bell as Ben Grimm.

“Jamie in real life is a tough guy. He exudes this strength. Ben is Reed’s best friend in the archetypal, spiritual way, and you want that character to have that warmth and that strength,” he explained.

Bell on his part expressed his excitement to see the film, which he said is “very much an origin story of the characters.”

The film will be released in theaters in August 2015.

Source : Christian Post

Is There an ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’ Spinoff in the Works?

Agents of Shield Youtube/file

Christian Post Report – The cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Even if the Marvel TV series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” has yet to receive a firm renewal order for another season, rumors are circulating that a spinoff series is in the works. The show’s executive producer Jeffrey Bell and writer Paul Zybyszewski are “quietly working on the spinoff,” according to reports.

Another report in E! Online says that this move supposedly has the support of Marvel and ABC, although Marvel has yet to confirm if the news is true.

Entertainment Weekly, who first reported the news, could not specify yet which characters from the current series will be moving to the new series, or if new characters will be developed. They claim that the rest of the episodes in the current S.H.I.E.L.D. season will “lay the groundwork” for the new series. It also said that the new series will not be introduced via “a planted episode” which is a usual strategy employed. By the end of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2, the spinoff plot is expected to be clearer.

As to when the spinoff will likely be ready for a TV premiere, the report predicted a fall premiere or maybe even a midseason premiere. But this may also be dependent on the network’s decision on other pilots that are being lined up in the coming TV season.

The possible third series will be added to Marvel’s growing TV universe. Aside from “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” it also has the “Agent Carter” series that stars Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, a character from “Captain America.”

“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” is said to average 7.4 million viewers and has a 2.8 rating for adults between ages 18-49. “Agent Carter” is also waiting for a renewal order but according to the EW report, it has a 60 percent chance of renewal.

The E! Online report also cited that Marvel is also working with Netflix on other superhero series, starting with “Daredevil” to be followed by solo shows about three other superheroes and a team-up series.

Source : Christian Post

Giving Place to the Word of God

Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
— Matthew 11:1

  • Greg Laurie
    (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)
    Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014.

Christian Post Report – There are times when I have gone into the pulpit with a prepared message and have ended up saying things that I never planned on saying. I believe that is because God will speak through the person who is teaching His Word. Something supernatural takes place when we hear God’s Word being taught in person.

There are times when people have walked up to me after a church service and said, “That thing you said. . . . It was just like it was for me!”

I’ll tell them that maybe it was. That is because I didn’t plan on saying it.

Others have said, “Who has been telling you about me?” They seriously want to know.

“What do you mean?”

“You were talking about the details of a person doing a certain thing, and that is what I have been doing.”

When we open our hearts to the Word of God, He will speak to us in a specific way. That happens when we are gathered together as the church. And the job of a pastor is to preach and teach the Word of God. Paul wrote to the young pastor Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). Preaching is God’s primary way of reaching lost people.

Yet there are churches today that don’t give place to the Word of God. For them, it is more about music and drama and skits and interpretive dance and clips from movies. But give me something that I can’t find anywhere else. Give me the Word of God. That is what I need to hear. And that is what you need to hear. That is what we should be longing to hear: the Word of God.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000

Used with Permission

Source : Christian Post

‘The Young and the Restless’: April 13 to 17 Spoilers, Avery’s World is Rocked After Joe’s Accident

The Young and the Restless Facebook/The Young and the Restless

Christian Post Report – The cast of The Young and the Restless

Last Friday on “The Young and the Restless,” Sharon hears a noise outside and calls Dylan. Dylan, who’s at Avery’s office, tells Avery that he has to go so he can check on Sharon. Avery is not happy to go to the gala alone and complains that Sharon seems to need him all the time.

Meanwhile at the penthouse, Chelsea tells Adam that the doctor called and said that he’s concerned that Connor might have a corneal infection. Adam insists on driving to the hospital.

At the hospital, Adam takes charge when the doctor tries to take Connor for some tests without Chelsea. Later, Chelsea thanks Adam and said it was like her late husband was there again for them. The doctor said that Connor’s body isn’t rejecting the corneal tissue, he just has conjunctivitis. Chelsea hugs Adam.

At the gala, Joe presents Avery with the Better Days Award. Avery thanks him in her speech and says that she’s honored to know him.

After the party, Avery gets news about the lab results and calls Dylan. Joe catches up with her and tells her that the Bingham inheritance will be given to the Better Days foundation. They go up to the suite to celebrate.

On Joe’s terrace, he and Avery toast to Constance. They kiss, and Avery pushes him away, but Joe says that he can’t pretend anymore and that they have to try and make things work between them. He kisses her again. Avery pushes him away, and Joe falls off the balcony.

Here are “The Young and the Restless” spoilers for April 13 to 17:

April 13 (Monday): Avery’s world is shaken after Joe’s fall from the balcony; Dylan considers Sharon’s innocence after evidence points to her.

April 14 (Tuesday): Phyllis and Jack’s wedding day commences; Billy talks to Ashley about the cyber attack at Jabot.

April 15 (Wednesday): Adam gets divorce papers from Sage; Ashley pushes Victor into a corner.

April 16 (Thursday): Billy and Victoria revisit the past.

April 17 (Friday): Summer talks to Abby about her relationship with Stitch; Michael and Dylan help Sharon.

“The Young and the Restless” airs from Mondays to Fridays at 12:30 p.m. on CBS.

Source : Christian Post

Next ‘Spiderman’ News: Release Date, High-School Aged Superhero Details (VIDEO)

The Amazing Spiderman Creative Commons/ file

Christian Post Report – The Amazing Spiderman 3 is set to premiere in 2018.

The new reboot for “Spiderman” will be ushering in a high-school aged Peter Parker when the remake makes its entrance in theaters in 2017.

Sony has announced its confirmation that their “Spiderman” reboot will feature a teenaged Peter Parker, who’ll be introduced as a high-school student when the film opens on July 28, 2017.

The new incarnation of a teenaged Peter Parker as “Spiderman” will first be introduced in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016, followed by a solo movie for summer 2017.

Studio president Kevin Feige said the next web crawler would be around 15 to 16 years old, but did not reveal any casting hints for the role.

The previous actors who played Spiderman, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, initially started off playing the role of high school students, as well, but Feige said the studio is looking to keep the chosen actor in the same age setting for an extended period of time to make room for more stories on the webslinger.

“Some of my favorite Spider-Man arcs and Spider-Man stories, he’s in high school for a lot of it,” Feige told Collider in an interview. “We want to explore that. That also makes him very, very different from any of our other characters in the [Marvel Cinematic Universe].”

The uniqueness of a teenaged Peter Parker will also make an interesting foil when his character is pitted up against and fights side by side with other superheroes in the MCU.

Feige also mentioned that despite there being five existing “Spiderman” films to date, there still remains a number of story arcs that have yet to be explored for the character, including the many facets of the Peter Parker persona, supporting characters, and villains.

He also said the studio was excited over the premise of the young and often out-of-place Peter Parker who gains considerable confidence in his abilities to defeat the bad guys as soon as he puts on his mask and swings across the metropolis.

Source : Christian Post

9-Y-O Yazidi Girl Pregnant After Rape by 10 ISIS Men; ‘She Could Die If She Delivers a Baby,’ Says Aid Worker

iraq (Photo: Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, sleep on the ground at Bajed Kadal refugee camp, southwest of Dohuk province, August 23, 2014.

Christian Post Report – A nine-year-old Yazidi girl, who had been raped by at least 10 frontline militants and suicide bombers of the Islamic State terror group in Iraq, is pregnant, and an aid worker says she is so young that she could die if she delivers a baby. She is among more than 200 Yazidi women and children released last week after eight months in captivity.

“This girl is so young she could die if she delivers a baby,” thestar.com quotes Yousif Daoud, a Canadian-based aid worker who recently returned from the region, as saying. “Even a caesarian section is dangerous. The abuse she has suffered left her mentally and physically traumatized.”

The girl was released along with other women and children last week. “Sending back those girls and women is a way of shaming the whole community,” added Daoud, not his real name.

The aid worker said most of the men who assaulted her are from Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, are frontline fighters or suicide bombers, and they were given girls “as a reward.”

It will be difficult for the women and girls to live in their communities. “If they are married, their husbands won’t take them back if they are pregnant. And it’s clear that the babies will never be accepted,” Daoud said. “I don’t know what the future would be for their babies. The girls and women don’t want them. They have suffered so much they just want to forget.”

A Kurdish aid group has taken the pregnant girl to Germany to be looked after by a medical charity.

The Yazidi minority is one of the main ISIS targets, along with Christians.

There are about 600,000 Yazidis in Iraq, who consider themselves to be Kurds ethnically and live mostly in north-central Ninevah province and northeastern Iraqi Kurdistan.

Yazidis believe that God governs the world through seven angels with “Malak Tawous,” or Peacock Angel, as the leader, who disobeyed God’s command to bow down to humanity but was forgiven and made the head angel due to his devotion. Therefore, Yazidis are accused of worshipping the Devil, or Satan, as the leader angel resembles Satan in Abrahamic texts.

ISIS aims to form a Caliphate in the Levant, a region also known as the Eastern Mediterranean, through “jihad,” and has asked minorities to flee, convert to Islam, or be killed.

An all-female police force of ISIS recently released a manifesto which was laced with references to the Islamic scriptures, encouraging girls as young as 9 to marry Jihadis and asking women to remain “hidden and veiled” and serve their “masters.

“It is considered legitimate for a girl to be married at the age of nine. Most pure girls will be married by sixteen or seventeen, while they are still young and active,” it said.

The document portrays the Western society as “the model preferred by infidels in the West,” which has “failed the minute that women were ‘liberated’ from their cell in the house.”

In its English propaganda publication, ISIS earlier sought to justify its barbarity, saying it is “Islamic” to capture and forcibly make “infidel” women sexual slaves.

“Before Shaytan [Satan] reveals his doubts to the weak-minded and weak hearted, one should remember that enslaving the families of the kuffar [infidels] and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Shari’ah that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Qur’an and the narration of the Prophet … and thereby apostatizing from Islam,” stated the ISIS’ glossy propaganda magazine “Dabiq,” named after a site in Muslim apocalypse mythology.

ISIS is an al-Qaeda offshoot which has gained control over large territories in Iraq and Syria.

Source : Christian Post

Nelly Arrested for Drug Possession in Tennessee

Nelly (Photo: Reuters)

Christian Post Report – Rap artist Nelly has been detained in Texas earlier this week after police found heroin, marijuana, and a loaded gun on his tour bus on Wednesday.

American rapper Nelly was placed under arrest over the weekend by state troopers in Tennessee on several counts of possession of illegal drugs.

The rapper and songwriter was nabbed on a number of drug charges, including felony possession Saturday after state troopers stopped the vehicle he was traveling in for a minor infraction.

Nelly, 40, whose real name Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr., was traveling in a motor coach tour bus with five other companions along Putnam County when they were stopped by state troopers, who spotted the absence of a U.S. Department of Transportation and International Fuel Tax Association sticker on their vehicle.

According to the arresting officers, they detected the odor of marijuana and conducted a search, which turned up a minimal amount of the drug, as well as a plastic bag containing five crystalline rocks found positive to be methamphetamine, 100 pieces of small-sized Ziploc bags, and a number of handguns, including a 50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol covered in gold plate.

According to allegations published in People.com, a small contraband amount of ecstasy, also known as MDMA or molly, was uncovered during the search, as well.

The rapper was charged with simple possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and felony possession of drugs.

According to Nelly’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, the rapper was not in any way associated with the illegal substances discovered on the bus as he was only one of several individuals traveling through Tennessee when the vehicle was stopped and searched.

Rosenblum further stated there were an estimated 15 to 20 people who had access to the tour bus before the incident, and he was confident his client would be declared as uninvolved in the incident surrounding the discovery of the drugs.

The police have already identified Nelly’s fellow travelers, including Brian Jones, 44, who has a prior felony conviction, and was found to be in possession of the handgun. Both men were placed at the Putnam County Jail until they posted bail the same day and were released.

Source : Christian Post

‘Game of Thrones’ First 4 Episodes Leaked on Torrent Sites

Game of Thrones FACEBOOK/ Game of Thrones

Christian Post Report – HBO’s “Game of Thrones”

“Game of Thrones” season five premiered Sunday, April 12, but was preceded by an unprecedented leak of the first four episodes the day before its scheduled outing.

The highly anticipated fantasy miniseries, “Game of Thrones” debuted its fifth season on HBO but not before a massive leak of its first four episodes went viral on torrent sites Saturday.

Popular sites Torrentz and Kicka– were inundated with nearly 50,000 downloads within the first two hours the leaked episodes were uploaded Sunday, with more than a million downloads for a single episode within the day.

Fans of the show, who were eager to view the first four episodes before the rest of North America on Sunday night and on Australia’s Foxtel on Monday, seemed unmindful of the low quality definition of the leaks, with one torrent user even describing the torrent files as “Christmas come early,” The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The leaks were traced to a screener for season five labeled as strictly for review and translation purposes only. The episodes were on a DVD intended for review by the press, and appear to have had their digital watermark intentionally blurred. Speculations have also emerged leaks of episodes five and six were on queue to be released soon.

The network says they are currently investigating the breach.

One of the most pirated television series in the world, TorrentFreak records that “Game of Thrones” season four was illegally downloaded by an estimated 1.5 million online torrent site users, making it the most pirated show for the last three years in a row, the Internet tracking site said.

Major download sources were pinpointed in the U.S, Canada, Australia and the UK. HBO has even announced they would be telecasting “GoT” season five simultaneously in 170 countries to prevent global piracy of the show. Their recently introduced HBO Now service offers “GoT” and other shows at $14.99 without the need for a cable subscription.

Source : Christian Post