The Chosen Expands To 90 Languages
The runaway hit, “The Chosen”, is a multi-season series about Jesus and the people of 1st Century Galilee. The beloved show, tells the story of Jesus through the lives of his followers and others in His ministry. No longer simply a streaming hit, two years after it first launched, The Chosen is now a worldwide streaming ministry. Season one, which premiered in 2019, now includes subtitles in more than 90 languages, including seven languages (Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, among them) in audio dubbing. Read more about this exciting series here.
Oregon Megachurch Pastor Steps Down
Ben Courson, founder of Hope Generation and pastor of Applegate Christian Fellowship, is also a regular on The Hallmark Channel, ABC Family, TBN and can seen on more than 400 TV Stations. But now Courson has taken a leave of absence from the ministry following recent allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse. The pastor is accused by three female former church members of initiating sexual relationships with them. Two elders from Applegate have also resigned, claiming that the megachurch refused to discipline Courson and took action only after the allegations went public. Read more about the scandal here.
Danny Gokey Releases New Album
Milwaukee native, “American Idol” finalist and three-time Grammy nominee Danny Gokey prayed over his new full-length album, “Jesus People,” which was released Aug. 20. Gokey describes it as the type of album where people can “get their soul fed” while rocking out. “There’s so much going on in our world, there’s so much division, it just feels like we’re being pitted against each other that there’s not a lot of unity, there’s not a lot of love,” Gokey said. The songs on the album speak to those themes. Read more about the new album here.
$140 Million Dollar Star Sapphire Discovered
A boulder containing a cluster of 2.5 million carats in star sapphires was unearthed by workmen digging a well on the island of Sri Lanka. Colored pale blue, the find has been given the name the ‘Serendipity Sapphire’, and could be worth $140 million on the international market, pending inspections and certification by world experts. The island nation, no bigger than West Virginia, is the world’s leading exporter of sapphires and other precious stones, which generated half a billion in revenue last year as one of the five biggest gem producers. Read more about the discovery here.