“The King of Kings” has overtaken “The Prince of Egypt” to deliver the biggest opening for an animated Bible film in history. 

Distributed by Angel Studios and produced by Mofac Studios, “The King of Kings” features a star-studded cast, including Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Forest Whitaker, Ben Kingsley, Kenneth Branagh, and Roman Griffin Davis. 

The film is a portrayal of Charles Dickens’ “The Life of Our Lord” and frames the story of Jesus Christ in Dickens’ dramatic retelling against the backdrop of Dickens’ son’s obsession with King Arthur.

Through the telling of Christ’s story, Dickens sets out to show his son that Jesus is the true King of Kings.

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In its opening weekend, “The King of Kings” earned more than $19 million, setting a new record for faith-based animated films. 

The previous record was held by the 1998 film “The Prince of Egypt,” which earned over $14 million in its first weekend. That film went on to earn more than $101 million worldwide and received several awards, including an Oscar for best original song.

“The King of Kings” was poised to set new records, as the film earned more than $14 million in presales, at one point outpacing Angel Studios’ 2023 box office hit “Sound of Freedom” in the same timeframe. “Sound of Freedom” went on to gross more than $250 million worldwide. 

That film starred Jim Caviezel, an actor famous for portraying Jesus himself. In “Sound of Freedom,” Caviezel portrays real-life figure Tim Ballard, an advocate against global human trafficking. 

Also over the weekend, “The Chosen: Last Supper” earned more than $7 million, making it a banner weekend for releases focused on the life of Christ. 

RELATED: ‘Sound of Freedom’ Director Alejandro Monteverde Partnering With Angel Studios for a Second Time on New Film ‘Cabrini’

While critics on Rotten Tomatoes scored “The King of Kings” at 63%, viewers seem to love the film. With over 500 viewer reviews, “The King of Kings” has received a score of 97%. 

Christian hip hop artist Lecrae responded to his critics on Thursday, April 11, in an episode of his podcast where he addressed topics including “Diddy parties,” his views on abortion, appearing at a political rally, and a dark period of life he went through around eight years ago. 

In the video, titled “I Need to Repent.,” Lecrae acknowledged mistakes he has made and pushed back on people wanting him to do “penance.” He alluded to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, urging people not to be either the younger or the older brother in Jesus’ story. 

“Being human means I’m not pretending I’m something I’m not,” said Lecrae. “Now I’m not going to lie to you: The struggle with doing a video like this is that I know no matter what I say, there’s going to be somebody who says, ‘I don’t believe it. He’s fake. He’s this, he’s that.’”

 

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The intro to the episode shows clips of several prominent figures, including Nick Jones, Marcus Rogers, and Charlie Kirk, criticizing Lecrae. Lecrae said if he were making his video to try to justify himself to his critics, he would be living for the approval of others, but that is not what is motivating him.

RELATED: Lecrae Shares How He Healed From Church Trauma, Including Finding the Bible, Prayer ‘Triggering’

“I don’t want to be immature and just be saying, ‘Please guys, please love me. Please accept me,’” he said. “I want to be a mature Christian who says, ‘Hey, listen, I’m telling you this for your own benefit and my own benefit.’”

Lecrae: ‘I’m the One That Told You I Was There’

Lecrae is a Grammy, BET and Dove Award-winning Christian hip hop artist. He emphasized at the beginning of his podcast that his video is “not me trying to get people to embrace me. I’m embraced by the Creator of all creators. I’m embraced by my community, by my church, by my wife, by my family. I mean, that’s what I need, who I need to be embraced by.” 

However, Lecrae’s video “is a warning in many ways, to say, ‘Man, I have made some mistakes and some missteps. Don’t repeat these. And other people have made some mistakes that drove me to dark places. Don’t be those people.’” 

“So this is for the older brother who is judgmental and self-righteous and for the younger brother who is irreligious and irresponsible,” he said. 

Lecrae went on to define sin as missing the mark and repentance as aiming for “God’s target,” which is holiness. When people online call him to repent, said Lecrae, what they are really saying is they want him to live how they want him to live, and what they are asking from him is actually “penance.” 

The music video for Michael W. Smith’s new single “Arms Around the Sun” features a familiar face: Jesus. Or, rather, the man who plays Jesus in the hit TV series “The Chosen.”

Jonathan Roumie, the 50-year-old star of “The Chosen,” played drums in a rock band after college, before pursuing an acting career. After he mentioned that musical past to Smith, Roumie ended up contributing to what he calls “a banger” of a song.

“Arms Around the Sun,” which released today (April 11), is about beholding the vastness of God, who’s “too deep to fathom, too bright to behold.” In the music video, Roumie can be seen drumming during the song’s bridge.

On social media, the actor expressed excitement about the opportunity, writing, “I couldn’t be more honored to get to play with the legend himself and my dear friend @mwsmithofficial.” Roumie added that his guest performance “all happened kinda spontaneously,” and he jokingly maintained that Smith and producer Tedd T “tricked” him into the recording.

RELATED: Jonathan Roumie Explains How This Season of ‘The Chosen’ Was His Most Challenging Yet

Michael W. Smith: Drummer Jonathan Roumie ‘Knocked It out of the Park’

Smith, the Grammy Award-winning Christian music icon, explained in an interview that Roumie has “become a dear friend” over the past few years. Speaking with Brandon Woolum on GodTube Music, Smith said he had invited the actor to visit his studio. “I’ve got my whole [drum] kit set up,” Smith told Roumie. “I’m in this historical house, the drums sound incredible.”

When Roumie stopped by, Tedd T “just happened” to be there, Smith said, and “Arms Around the Sun” was up on the computer. Smith and his producer encouraged Roumie to play along to the song, and at one point they let him know they were recording.

“He was a little nervous,” Smith recalled. “We did probably three or four passes of it, and he just killed it. He just knocked it out of the park.”

When it came time to film the music video and Smith realized “there was going to be [a] performance in it,” he asked Roumie to participate. “He said, ‘Absolutely,’” Smith said. “So that’s him playing drums.”

The “Arms Around the Sun” video, directed by 23-year-old Harrison Shook, has a “Spielberg, ’80s, ‘Stranger Things’” throwback vibe, according to Smith.

‘Jesus on Drums!’: Jonathan Roumie Earns Rave Reviews

In comments about the new song and video, fans are posting enthusiastically about the sound—and the guest drummer. Someone said “Arms Around the Sun” seems like a throwback to Smith’s 1988 album “i 2 (EYE).”

A Florida woman has been accused of embezzling more than $570,000 from her church. An investigation into the actions of Melissa Ganey English, 44, began after finance committee members of Amelia Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach noticed discrepancies in the church’s bank statements. 

English had been serving as the church’s financial secretary. She is accused of stealing money from the church to pay for personal expenses from 2019-2024.

English had worked at the church for nearly 11 years. 

Amelia Baptist Church reported possible theft to the authorities after two new church financial committee members noticed discrepancies in the church’s bank documents and records. They traced the discrepancies to a church credit card issued to English.

RELATED: Former Church Employee Who Embezzled $450K Gets 5 1/2 Years in Federal Prison

After making this discovery in October, the church terminated English’s employment and contracted a financial investigator to review the church’s transactions. 

The investigator reportedly found numerous fraudulent transactions beginning in January 2019.

According to News4JAX, Nassau County detectives found that English allegedly stole nearly $40,000 in 2019, nearly $90,000 in 2020, more than $100,000 in 2021, nearly $125,000 in 2022, more than $123,000 in 2023, and more than $90,000 in 2024.

The funds English allegedly stole were used to pay for expenses such as Amazon and Walmart purchases, SeaWorld tickets, concert tickets, baseball tickets, shoes, hotel stays, flights, cruises, Airbnb rentals, a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, and other personal expenses.

“This is a significant breach of trust that has deeply impacted the church community,” said Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper. “The suspect abused her position of trust for years, using church funds meant for ministry and community service to instead fund her personal lifestyle. Our office is committed to seeking justice for the victims of this extensive financial crime.”

RELATED: Treasurer Allegedly Stole $224,000 From PA Church’s Good Samaritan Fund

Forrest Jones, a pastor at Amelia Baptist Church, called the situation “incredibly hurtful and difficult.”

Following the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old student-athlete Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet, his pastor is taking steps to help the community heal. John McKinzie, pastor of Hope Fellowship East in Frisco, Texas, said the trauma extends beyond his church, which Metcalf’s family attends.

This incident is “bigger than just our church or our families,” McKinzie told CBS News Texas. Explaining why he accepted a counseling group’s offer to hold a grief workshop at the church, the pastor said, “It’s the whole community that is trying to make sense of this.”

As ChurchLeaders reported, Metcalf died of a stab wound to the heart on April 2, during an altercation with Karmelo Anthony, also 17. The case has sparked outrage as well as online misinformation and racially motivated threats. (Metcalf was white, and Anthony is Black.)

RELATED: ‘It’s Not Goodbye; It’s See You Later’—Father Expresses Faith After Son Stabbed to Death at School Track Meet

Texas Church Strives for Healing, Unity After Death of Austin Metcalf 

On April 8, Hope Fellowship East offered a free “Navigating Trauma” seminar for “anyone affected by this unimaginable tragedy.” On social media, the church shared, “We acknowledge that this tragedy has repercussions that extend far and wide, and we pray for healing and reconciliation within our community.”

McKinzie ended worship on April 6 by reading from Psalm 34, about the Lord being close to the brokenhearted. “I just felt like it was important to help us focus in the right direction,” the pastor told a reporter. Saying that tragedy often pulls us away from God, the pastor emphasized that he wanted to remind congregants to “draw near to [God] in the Scripture.”

McKinzie also advised worshipers to “be careful what we’re posting” on social media, which he said can be “a thorn in the flesh.” If people feel the need to post anything, he advised, “Post Scripture—something positive to point us in the right direction, rather than divide us with things that we don’t really know the details of.”

Texas Pastor John McKinzie: Make the Most of Your God-Given Life

McKinzie has also been urging congregants to pray for everyone involved because “two families…are hurting.” He said, “To the core of my being and to the core of our church’s culture and mission, every person matters to God…and if they matter to God, they matter to me. They matter to us.”

When asked for a “takeaway” from the tragedy, McKinzie referenced James 4:14, about life being a vapor—“it’s here today, and it’s gone tomorrow.” The pastor advised people not to “waste time” but to “make the most of the life that we have.” Instead of focusing on challenges—whether financial, physical, relational, or mental—McKinzie recommended focusing on using what God has given us.

Pastor John Piper addressed Dr. Jordan Peterson’s perspective on happiness and meaning in a recent episode of the “Ask Pastor John” podcast. In it, Piper generally agreed with Peterson’s view based on Peterson’s own definitions but argued that the Bible presents a fundamentally different outlook on happiness compared to Peterson’s understanding of it.

“Given [Peterson’s] view that happiness is superficial and fleeting and unpredictable, and given the potentially positive content of the word meaningfulness, I don’t basically disagree with what he’s saying,” said Piper. “I don’t want people to pursue fleeting, unpredictable, impulsive, superficial emptiness, whether you call it happiness or anything else. I want people to have lives that are profoundly meaningful. So, amen, yes.”

“But for the last 50 years or so, I’ve been pursuing a different strategy than Jordan Peterson,” Piper continued, “in the hope of rescuing people from the pursuit of fleeting, unpredictable, impulsive, superficial, and (I would add) God-dishonoring, Christ-diminishing, Bible-ignoring, damning happiness.”

Jordan Peterson’s Perspective on Happiness

John Piper is the former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis and the founder of Desiring God. He is the author of more than 50 books and is known for his teachings on finding our purpose and happiness in God and on what Piper calls “Christian hedonism.”

One saying the pastor is known for is: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” The result of that truth, according to Piper, is “that you never have to choose between your greatest joy and God’s greatest glory.”

RELATED: Dallas Jenkins Gets Emotional Sharing the Gospel With Jordan Peterson During Interview About ‘The Chosen’

Dr. Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychologist and social commentator. It is common for people to refer to Peterson, whose content is featured on the Daily Wire, as conservative, but Peterson describes himself as a “classical liberal.” While he does not personally identify as a Christian, Peterson is interested in the Bible’s relevance to the human condition and has done lecture series on different biblical books, including Genesis, Exodus, and the Gospels.

On Nov. 24, Peterson posted the following statement about happiness on X: “Life is suffering. The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to find something that sustains you in spite of suffering.”

Life is suffering. The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to find something that sustains you in spite of suffering.

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) November 12, 2024

In a Facebook reel featuring Peterson’s content on Daily Wire+, Peterson states, “We’re obviously not made for happiness because that’s a form of infantile hedonism, that narrow happiness that is counterproductive communally and with regard to the long run.”

As an alternative, Peterson suggested people are “suited for leadership and adventure.” He gave Moses and Abraham as examples, saying they were “called by God” to “great” and challenging tasks. Likewise, we are called to “the enterprise that’s great,” and if we fully accept it, we will find the “justification for life and our manner of not having death destroy us.”

In a clip of comments Peterson made during his Beyond Order Tour in 2023, he suggested people would be bored with a perfectly pleasurable, secure society and are more interested in “adventure, something like adventure.” Suffering, he believes, is a key part of living an adventurous life.

An Alabama pastor has been sentenced to two years in prison following his conviction on sexual misconduct charges. Bradrick Vail, formerly of Tree of Life Deliverance Ministry in Mobile, will serve one year each for two counts of sexual misconduct.

Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of sexual abuse that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.

Vail was originally charged with three counts of first-degree rape, three counts of sexual abuse, and one count of first-degree sodomy before being convicted of seven counts of sexual misconduct. 

Circuit court Judge Jill Phillips later dismissed five of those charges and sentenced him for the remaining two. 

Phillips dismissed the five charges against Vail on procedural grounds, as the statute of limitations had expired. However, she gave Vail the maximum sentence for each of the remaining charges and said that Vail’s actions as a pastor were “extremely disturbing.”

RELATED: SC Pastor Accused of Multiple Child Sex Crimes and of Paying 1 Victim $100 for Her Silence

Vail was originally arrested in May 2024 after two victims came forward to allege that Vail raped them.

One victim alleged that Vail assaulted her in 2022. She said that she had been introduced to Vail by a family member and had begun attending his church. One day, while Vail was at that same family member’s home, the victim said that Vail offered to pray for her. 

The victim recounted that Vail took her into a bedroom and instructed her to get undressed and kneel on top of a Bible. She said that Vail then put a sheet over her and raped her. 

The second victim alleged that Vail raped her in a similar fashion. She recounted being at the church to help paint. She said that Vail raped her after offering to pray for her sore shoulder. 

RELATED: Former Pastor at Church Founded by Jerry Falwell Sr. Convicted of Stalking Former Church Member

While Vail’s defense team pointed out that neither woman called 911 or went to the hospital for a rape kit, both victims indicated that they feared Vail would harm them.