Last night I was flipping channels and happened upon a documentary about Juanita Bynum.  I had never heard of her before, and maybe you haven't either:  She is a wildly popular Prophetess and Minister and she often speaks particularly to women's issues.  She's apparently a huge figure in the Christian scene, and has even got her own magazine!

Watch a portion of her No More Sheets Sermon, which vaulted her to fame.

I just have not seen intensity like hers in a loooooooong time.  It's interesting to me, this evangelism.  I can see why people find strength in her sermons and at the same time I am not a religious person AT ALL, and cannot say I agree with her views.  She has a very powerful presence though and it's exciting to watch her careen through the riled audience while they jump up and down and scream with their arms raised:


I don't know why exactly, but the documentary I saw piqued my interest.  I might even be slightly obsessed with Juanita now.  Maybe it's because her life is so different from mine.  Maybe it's because the amount of confidence and strength it takes to get up in front of people and go off like that is way beyond me.  Maybe it's because to me, she seems a little nuts.  I just can't get enough of Dr. Juanita right now!  Watching someone preach is pretty foreign to me, and, as someone who reads an awful lot of media, it's interesting to realize that there's people out there who are famous to millions of people who I have never even heard of.

Just like most other prominent ministers these days, a scandal has recently hit Juanita.  Her second husband, also a minister, beat her in a hotel parking lot, and this put her back in the news over the summer.  It's sad because she has positioned herself as this figure of empowerment for women, with all her preaching about not needing a man and how to get ahead on one's own, and yet she has twice now been the victim of physically abusive marriages.  It is interesting to watch clips of her on YouTube from various tv shows like Good Morning America these last couple of weeks defending herself, her faith and her marriage as well as her right to not have spoken up about this abuse until he actually beat her in a public place.  It's so at odds with all her teachings!  She's obviously a complicated person.

We carry Dr. Juanita Bynum's CDs in our Gospel section!