Reach

Christian musicians are grappling with the news that the Juno Awards have placed the Christian/Gospel Album of the Year category on hiatus.

The change is part of a broader restructuring that sees four categories paused for the 2024 awards, though organizers have Canada's largest music awards have yet to explain the reasoning.

An NFL player who was shot during an attempted robbery returned to the field Monday to give thanks to the first responders who helped save his life. 

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest last Saturday by a 17-year-old who was attempting to rob him.

He was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered that the bullet had entered his chest and exited his back without hitting any vital organs. He returned home to recover the next day.

A sibling duo from Virginia turned a sour experience into something sweet. 

Late last month, 10-year-old Rebecca Caldwell and her brother, 8-year-old Joshua were hosting a lemonade stand in front of their home, when a man came up to the table and robbed them while their mother was inside the house. 

The initial shock left the family upset. However, they decided to pray and forgive the man who stole their lemonade stand funds. 

New Democrats are huddling in Montreal to strategize a new path forward ahead of the fall parliamentary session — one that doesn't include the Liberals at their hips and ideally makes them a credible alternative to the Conservatives at the next election.

The three-day caucus retreat kicking off Tuesday comes less than a week after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced the end of the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals. 

It's also taking place in one of the two cities where the NDP is hoping to win a byelection on Sept. 16. 

Matthew West released his new single “Last Page of the Bible” featuring Anne Wilson, just ahead of his new album set to be released next month. 

"This song is inspired by the late Billy Graham who famously said, ‘I’ve read the last page of the Bible and it all works out in the end,’" says West. "The last page of the Bible says, ‘He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.’ I love this verse in Revelation 22:20. It reminds us of the ultimate hope we have in our God who reigns in victory! I hope you love it."

Isaiah 46:4

Even to your old age and gray hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

---

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

Mark 6

"Grab here, amigo." I grabbed. "Hold on tight." I held on. "When you come back toward the shore and I blow whistle, you pull cord pronto!" Within seconds I was airborne. A loud "whoosh," a long strong jerk, and I was three hundred feet or so above the picturesque beach at Puerto Vallarta.

You guessed it...my first try at parasailing. Four-and-a-half minutes of indescribable ecstasy sandwiched between a few seconds of sheer panic. Talk about fun!

The family of a 15-year-old girl who was lit on fire at a Saskatoon high school has asked people to wear purple Tuesday when classes resume. 

“It is her favourite colour,” the girl’s grandmother said in an interview.  

“It’s going to be a very long recovery, and we’ve put it out there just to let her know that people are thinking of her and praying for her.”

Students are to return to Evan Hardy Collegiate on Tuesday, where last week a witness said the girl had liquid from a black canister poured onto her head which was then lit on fire. 

The Juno Awards has told committee members that it is getting rid of four categories, including the Christian/Gospel category for the next round of awards in 2025.

The Canadian Press reports that it has verified a letter in which "organizers told committee members last week of plans to put on 'hiatus' reggae recording, children’s album, Christian/Gospel album and international album of the year."

One of two men sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years for firearms violations and mischief at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., says the time he has already spent behind bars has changed him and his "solemn weapon” is now love.

"Stay strong, live free, spread love — not war," Anthony Olienick, reading from a prepared statement, told a Court of King’s Bench judge before sentencing.

“I've gained a stronger understanding into what divine destiny awaits me," he added.