Reach

Former country singer turned pastor, Granger Smith, had an encounter recently with the first emergency responder to arrive at his home the day his son River drowned in the family pool.

While eating tacos at Chipotle with his three-year-old son Maverick over the weekend, Granger noticed a couple of deputy sheriffs sitting a few tables over from him.

"Maverick was watching them," said Granger. "And then all of a sudden, Maverick gets up and goes over to their table and says 'You got a police car?' And I'm thinking, man this kid's got nerves of steel."

Canadian Christian artist Solange Legal recently shared the inspiration and creative process behind her new song 'You Are'.  

A look at national news events in September 2024

1 - Israel recovers the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including an Israeli-American hostage. The family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin says they have confirmed his death, ending a relentless campaign to rescue him that included meetings with world leaders. The 23-year-old Goldberg-Polin was seized by militants at a music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, and was last seen with his left hand missing and speaking under duress. The army says the hostages were killed shortly before they could be rescued. 

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

---

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Isaiah 26:3–4

I invite you to focus your full attention on one of the rarest of all virtues. It is a virtue that everybody pursues, but very few possess on a regular basis. I’m referring to the often-longed-for but seldom-found virtue of peace. 

Jimmy Carter, the self-effacing peanut farmer, humanitarian and former navy lieutenant who helped Canada avert a nuclear catastrophe before ascending to the highest political office in the United States, died Sunday at his home in Georgia.

He was 100, making him the longest-lived U.S. president in American history.

Concern for Carter's health had become a recurring theme in recent years. He was successfully treated for brain cancer in 2015, then suffered a number of falls, including one in 2019 that resulted in a broken hip.

A look at national news events in August 2024

1 - The Israeli military confirms the death of Hamas' military leader, Mohammed Deif. Deif was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July, knocking another leader of the militant terror group off Israel's hit list. Israel says it targeted Deif in a July 13 strike on the outskirts of Khan Younis, but hasn't been able to confirm the kill for weeks. The Israeli confirmation came a day after an apparent Israeli airstrike in Tehran killed Hamas' top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. 

Tragedy has struck a close-knit Australian community after a beloved youth pastor was killed in a shark attack while spearfishing off Humpy Island in Queensland’s Keppel Bay Islands National Park.

Luke Walford, 40, was in the water with family members on Saturday afternoon when the attack occurred on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef according to local news reports.

Online predators are becoming increasingly resourceful in trolling media platforms where children gravitate, prompting an explosion in police case loads, said an officer who works for the RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in British Columbia. 

Data show the problem spiked during COVID-19 when children began spending more time online — but rates did not wane as police anticipated after lockdowns ended.

In B.C., they soared, almost quadrupling from 2021 to 2023.

A look at national news events in July 2024

1 - The strike is over at WestJet. The Calgary-based airline reaches a deal with its mechanics to end a strike that had disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of travellers over the Canada Day long weekend and saw 829 flight cancellations. In a statement on its website overnight, WestJet says there will still be flight disruptions in the week ahead as its planes are brought back into service.