Sean Bean and Hans Zimmer Are Indicative of the Production Quality of Upcoming Miniseries 'The Bible'

Mark Burnett and Roma Downey provided additional detail to The Christian Post on the upcoming TV series "The Bible."

Married since 2007, the couple conceived the idea for the series based on Scripture three years ago.

"It's a passion project for Mark and myself." Downey shared.  She also explained that casting for "The Bible" would have been impossible without prayer.

"Casting began with prayer," the actress said, noting the challenge and significance of selecting the right actor to fill the role of Jesus in the series.

"We had been scouting locations in Morocco and were 'looking for Jesus,'" the actress quipped. "Six weeks before filming began, we still didn't have Jesus."

Fortunately, Downey and Burnett came across the name of Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado. "He has a gentleness and humanity about him." Burnett said of the actor.

As the producer of major hit shows including "Survivor" and "The Voice," Burnett has first-hand knowledge of how to create compelling television.

"'The Bible' is going to be seen by millions of people, and it looks like a $100 million feature film," said the creator of "The Apprentice."  Because of its potential reach accuracy was key and researchers and theologians were consulted on every part of the script.

Beyond Burnett's production pedigree, the series has other indicators of quality.

Hans Zimmer, who has worked on music for films such as "The Dark Knight Rises," provided the musical score for "The Bible."

The series features stars such as "Game of Thrones" actors Sean Bean and Nonso Anozie, while Roma Downey herself portrays Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The 10-hour series will bridge the Old Testament with the New Testament, or as Burnett said, "from Genesis to Revelation" with several in-depth portrayals of Bible stories.

It is the hope of Downey and Burnett that "The Bible" can become a template for learning and added to curriculums the world over.

"A great story that happens to be our faith," concluded Burnett while speaking to CP about the series.

"The Bible" is set to air on The History Channel following its current and final stage of editing, with the last episode in the series airing on Easter Sunday.

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Chad Michael Murray May Be ‘Left Behind’

Chad Michael Murray is in negotiations to join the cast of Left Behind. The former One Tree Hill actor would be playing the role of journalist Cameron “Buck” Williams in the end-of-the-world thriller. Nicolas Cage is also starring in the Left Behind reboot. The film is based on the first of the 16 bestselling faith-based novels written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Left Behind was first adapted for a series of movies starring Kirk Cameron starting in 2001.

Third Day's Golden Christmas Offerings

Third Day has earned another Gold record with its 2006 Holiday album, Christmas Offerings. This marks the band's ninth career RIAA Gold Album Award.

Released in 2006, Christmas Offerings was the third project in Third Day's successful Offerings series, also comprising Offerings I, Offerings II, and the Christmas Offerings DVD.

TobyMac To Perfom on ABC's Annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade

TobyMac is capping off his whirlwind year with a performance on ABC's 29th annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade. He will perform his Christmas song "Christmas This Year" while being featured along with performers including Lady Antebellum, Backstreet Boys, Colbie Caillat, Brad Paisley and American Idol Season 11 champion Phillip Phillips. Hosts Nick Cannon and Mario Lopez, along with co-host Maria Menounos, will lead the two-hour telecast, which is scheduled to air on ABC on Christmas Day beginning at 9:00 AM CST (check local listings).

Newsong's The Christmas Shoes To Be Featured on The Mike Huckabee Show

Eddie Carswell, co-writer of the holiday classic "The Christmas Shoes" and a founding member of NewSong is slated to talk about the song's inspiration and continued popularity on radio's "The Mike Huckabee Show" this Friday, December 21. "The Christmas Shoes" is the biggest song of NewSong's career and has become a Christmas standard since its release more than a decade ago.

For King and Country To Make Late Night TV Debut on Jay Leno

New duo for KING & COUNTRY will make their late night debut on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on January 10, 2013. They are set to perform "The Proof of Your Love" from their debut album, Crave.

"To share our music with such a wide audience on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' is a humbling and exciting way to greet the new year!" said Joel of for KING & COUNTRY. "Our motto has been and will continue to be, 'no matter what we say, what we believe, or what we do, we're bankrupt without love.'"

"The Proof of Your Love," is the second single from the duo's debut album, Crave, which was released earlier this year to outstanding critical praise. The video was the first-ever Christian music video to officially premiere in partnership with YouTube Music. for KING & COUNTRY were named as one of Billboard's 17 acts to watch in 2012 and are already Contemporary Christian Music's best-selling new artist of 2012.  Their music has also piqued the interest of music fans outside the Christian genre. ET's "The Insider" said the duo, "make music that speaks directly to your heart" and have been "gaining popularity in the alt-rock genre." American Songwriter commented that "for KING & COUNTRY may just be Australia's answer to Coldplay."

Matthew West on Fox and Friends After the Show Show

Watch video here.

Member Changes Announced for Disciple

Rock band Disciple recently released a brand new album, O God Save Us All, but there are a few significant changes happening with the band's lineup. Guitarist Micah Sannan and Bassist Israel Beachy have departed the band, and vocalist/frontman Kevin Young has announced a couple of fill-in members for 2013...

"Tonight in Germany will be the last show with our beloved friends Micah & Israel. Micah is leaving the band to pursue his passion of recording & producing. Israel, a new father, is coming off the road to be near his family. Micah & Israel have been a strong foundation in this band for the last 5 years and have made life very easy for me and the other guys because of their hard work ethic and stress-free environment they create. They will be sorely missed.

I know that their departure will raise some questions, so I will try to answer some of them now. Disciple will continue on with me and Trent. We are very excited about the players that will be joining us for our Spring tour: Rich Ward on Lead Guitar (Fozzy/Stuck Mojo), Josiah Prince on Guitar (Philmont), and Jason Wilkes on Bass (Lead Singer of High Flight Society). So tonight marks the end of an era as we say farewell to the "Beard" and "The Backflip." Please join me in this post as we thank Micah & Israel for their service to this ministry for the last 5 years, and pray that God will richly bless them in the future - Kevin"

Mary Mary Open Up On Potential Split, Strippers and Difficulties of Being On Camera

Mary Mary, Grammy Award-winning gospel music duo, recently premiered the second season of their reality television show and are opening up about featuring strippers on the series, criticism, and the group splitting up.

Mary Mary group members and sisters Erica and Tina Campbell recently opened up to Gospel Talk online radio host Mona Austin about some of the criticism they have received for doing a reality television show, especially after a sneak peek of Season 2 included a stripper at their sister Alana Atkin's bachelorette party.

"My sister was getting married, there was nothing rude or crude. Of course on TV, it's a clip and you're not sure. People's minds are left to wonder to create whatever they think happened." Erica said.

The 40-year-old singer explained why she doesn't feel the need to respond to her critics.

"It's a lot of fun and a great time. We don't really take time to respond to critics that much because we'd be talking about something every single day," she said on the Gospel Talk radio show. "When there is something that genuinely hurts people or something that genuinely causes people to go 'wow' then I'll respond to that."

Still, the singer explained why viewers were given a glimpse of strippers at a bachelorette party.

"When you open up the cameras to your life, we wanted a true show. We didn't want a fake show, I didn't want this party where we're eating crumpets and tea. Mary is a virgin so we teased her about sex and played and laughed and had a good time," Erica said. "You know, the same thing that any family would do. Everybody that was there grew up in church with me. We're all church girls."

While some people may be wondering why a successful gospel-singing duo would want to reveal their lives on a reality television show, Erica explained her reason for doing so.

"It was our opportunity to let our lives be a witness. People have a lot of misconceptions about what a Christian life should look like," one-half of the gospel singing duo said on the radio show. "Not just ridicule from church people it was opinions from people who are unchurched and their only version of what a Christian life looked like was their grandmother."

Viewers of the television show will also get some insight into the group's struggles trying to stay together. While Erica has been performing solo to give Tina time to rest after giving birth in August, some have been questioning if the duo will split for good.

Tina did not deny the possibility of a group split taking place.

"They're going to have to watch the season to find that out! It is very challenging having two very filled lives that are individual lives," Tina said on Gospel Talk. "We don't have a life of Mary Mary we have a life of Erica and Tina and our husbands and our homes and they're very different. So it can be very challenging trying to maintain one unit that's like a marriage when we're already married at home. So it's hard."

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Cee Lo's 'Mary Did You Know' Unlike Any Other Christmas Video You'll See This Season

The video for Cee Lo Green's version of the Christmas standard "Mary Did You Know" uses clips from the upcoming series, "The Bible"and brings to life scenes from Christ's birth to His resurrection.

The video has at least one prominent fan in Pastor Joel Osteen who wrote on his official Facebook page: "At least a few of his more than 2,641,000 million followers must have checked out the video, which has been viewed nearly 300,000 times on YouTube.

Matthew West to Entertain National TV Audiences with Appearances on Fox & Friends and Katie

Matthew West is slated to perform before two national television audiences over the next week with stops at Katie and Fox & Friends. West will perform his hit single, "Forgiveness," which has inspired radio listeners and is featured on his new album, Into The Light. Also set to appear on Katie are Renee Napier and Eric Smallridge, whose touching story has become the inspiration behind "Forgiveness." The singer-songwriter will perform live this Saturday, Dec. 15 on Fox & Friends, which airs at 6:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST on FOX News Channel. His performance on ABC's No. 1 new talk show, Katie, will air next Wed., Dec. 19 (check local listings).

Controversy Would Have Driven Alfred Hitchcock Psycho

New film on Hitchcock has brought renewed interest in the director.  A biographer said that the famous director, Alfred Hitchcock, at the end of his life, shunned religion. Not true, according to Jesuit priest, Mark Henninger.

Henninger recounts his visits to Hitchcock near the end of his life to have mass in his home.

Former Beatles Exec Pens Memoir

GRAMMY® Award-winning former Beatles executive and music industry icon Ken Mansfield chronicles a deeply personal journey of faith and struggle in his highly-anticipated fourth title, Stumbling on Open Ground: Love, God, Cancer, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (January 15).

Revealing ongoing trials with two bouts of cancer, Mansfield’s memoir thoughtfully frames his spiritual struggle and physical pain in the light of ultimate healing and triumph. Sharing personal prayers and honest insight alongside remarkable moments from his storied music career, he confronts his failing body, a faith that both falters and soars, and the questions that aren’t supposed to be asked—but need to be answered.

“Dealing with cancer is not as linear as most books describe the ordeal,” Mansfield shares. “Going into it, going through it, and coming out of cancer is not that orderly. The battle is more of a hanging on, a falling apart, a sense of loss, and a lot of lonely flailing among the rubble.”

“This is a quest for deeper comprehension, a desire to dip beneath the opaque surface,” he adds. “As a child, I would ask my earthly father how to do things. As a child of God, I am asking my heavenly Father how this all works between Him and me.”

Ken Mansfield’s legendary career in the music industry includes tenures as the U.S. manager of the Beatles’ Apple Records, an executive at Capitol Records, a vice president at MGM Records, and president of Andy Williams’ Barnaby Records (CBS Records), among numerous influential roles. He has worked with such artists as the Beach Boys, James Taylor, Roy Orbison, Glen Campbell and Lou Rawls.

Instrumental in launching country music’s “Outlaw” movement in the 1970s, Mansfield was involved in the careers of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, among others. He produced Colter's #1 hit "I'm Not Lisa," as well as Jennings’ 1975 landmark recording, Are You Ready For The Country. He also produced the Gaither Vocal Band’s GRAMMY® Award-winning 1991 Homecoming album. The seminal release precipitated the resurgence of Southern Gospel music and the Gaither Homecoming series of recordings, videos and concerts.

Since devoting his life to Christ more than two decades ago, Mansfield is now an ordained minister and sought-after speaker.

Lisa Welchel Makes It to Final Six on ‘Survivor’ and Gets a Visit from Her Pastor Brother

As one of the most emotional contestants on Survivor: Philippines, Lisa Whelchel developed a coping mechanism to survive being away from her family. "I tried not to think about my loved ones at home, except to pray for them," Whelchel tells PEOPLE. "But I couldn't help but anticipate and hope that I made it long enough in the game to get to see my brother."

On Wednesday's episode of Survivor, Lisa is visited by her younger brother, Justice Coleman, 28, a pastor from Chatsworth, Calif., and the visit didn't go as planned.

"I came running out to give her the biggest hug of her life," Coleman tells PEOPLE. "I wasn't prepared to see her at that level of desperation. It was immediately obvious she had hit rock bottom."

"She broke down in my arms and was sobbing so hard and it was hard for me not to cry," he continues. "I wasn't expecting her to be at the end of her rope. She is a Survivor super fan and so I imagined her enjoying the game and having a blast."

"I almost didn't recognize her," he adds. "She looked absolutely ragged: physically and emotionally torn up. I was imagining a big smile on her face, since she was so deep into the game and doing so well, but she started crying so hard. I was legitimately concerned for her."

After the tears were dried, Coleman maintained he's proud of his sister for making the final six. "My sister has always been my role model growing up," he says. "In fact, she still is."