Juanita Bynum: Brand New Easy, Breezy ... Cover Girl

By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

Move over Beyonce!

Halle Berry, look out.

Juanita Bynum is the latest black celebrity gracing the cover of Essence magazine – and she has major plans to evolve beyond the scope of being regarded as just a Pentecostal Prophetess.

That's no offense to the holy rollers!!!

For the January 08' edition of the best selling black women's magazine, the popular televangelist opens up to lead Essence features writer Denene Milner in part two of her explosive interview about life after her alleged abuse – at the hands of her estranged husband Bishop Thomas Weeks, III last summer.

"The drive has become making Juanita whole and taking it one day at a time," the 48-year-old Chicago native stated said.

"It's still very early in my situation, and as you know, it's not over," she declared. "When I'm asked questions about my husband's case, it really becomes almost difficult for me to focus on that direction. The focus is so on repositioning my life."Repositioning her life is not only the $200,000 she's raising to build a threshing floor (to talk to God on contributor's behalf – see video), but to also go full throttle in territory that the aforementioned Destiny's Child frontwoman and Academy Award winning beauty have already conquered with their respective talents.

In addition to publishing her next book, tentatively titled 'Accessing the Power Within,' Essence reports that the gold-selling gospel recording artist is returning to the studio, this time as a producer.

Bynum also recently signed a deal to distribute her own line of candles and cosmetics.

And she just wrapped up her feature film debut with a role in the upcoming film adaptation of Vy Higginson's legendary musical 'Mama, I Want to Sing!,' which stars Ciara, Patti LaBelle, Lynn Whitfield, Hill Harper and Kim Porter.

Bynum is also in the midst of planning a reunion conference in Atlanta tied to her now-famous "No More Sheets" sermon.

Her bouncing back and doing so much is proof positive that what some of her detractors are putting out in the universe about her hasn't become an deterrent.

"If you go look on YouTube, you would think my ministry is in absolute ruin[s], but it hasn't affected me," she said, adding that "people hating on me now are always going to hate. Half the people saying this stuff, if I walked up to them in a beauty shop or in a store, would never say these things to my face. When I reflect on what God is still doing [in my life], I don't have time to focus on people who don't like me."