The 29th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards will be hosted at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium on Jan. 18. Hailed as “gospel music’s biggest night,” the award show honors top gospel artists from 2013 and will feature performances by Hezekiah Walker, Donald Lawrence, Shirley Caesar, The Winans Brothers and more.

“I am once again humbled by the continued growth of the Stellar Awards, which this year lead us to move to a bigger venue—double the size of the Grand Old Opry,” said Don Jackson, founder and executive producer of the Stellar Awards. “The time, talent and commitment exhibited by the artists continues to make our sold-out live show a must-see event.”

Digital Book World, a educational and networking resources platform for digital publishing professionals and their partners, recognized three InterVarsity Press (IVP) e-books for achieving its Quality, Excellence, Design (QED) certification.

Additionally, Digital Book World announced its finalists for the 2014 Digital Book Awards, including The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Dale Hanson Bourke in the “E-book Flowable—Adult Non-Fiction” category. The award program celebrates innovation in apps and e-book publishing.

Nearly a month after he was first accused of plagiarism, Mark Driscoll apologized Wednesday in a statement from his publisher, Tyndale House.

“Mistakes were made that I am grieved by and apologize for,” said the pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. “As a Bible teacher, I know that Jesus loves us and uses everything for good. I know He cares very much that we do things in a way that reflects His glory. As a result, I have been praying that He would help me learn through all of this to become more like Him and more effective for Him.”

One Media will release the film Persecuted on more than 600 screens nationally May 9 through Regal Cinema, United Artists and Edwards Theaters, with more to be added.

“We are thrilled to be in wide release with more than 600 theaters slated to open the film,” said Daniel Lusko, writer, producer and director of Persecuted. “We have interest from many partners to make this release a success and we look forward to announcing that over the coming months.” 

The time to procrastinate is nearly over for holiday shoppers. ShopperTrak, the world’s largest counter and analyzer of retail shopper traffic, reported in-store retail sales for the week of Dec. 9-15 were down 0.8% from the same week last year. Retail in-store shopper traffic also fell last week by 19.9% compared to the same time period in 2012.

Saturday, Dec. 14 saw a decline in both retail sales and shopper traffic, largely a result of a weekend snowstorm that hit the Midwest and Northeast. Compared to the same day last year, brick-and-mortar retail sales fell 5.4% while in-store shopper traffic fell 25.9%.

A&E has placed Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson “on hiatus” from the network’s most popular show “indefinitely.” The action came after his remarks against homosexuality in a GQ magazine interview.

"We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty," the company said in a statement Wednesday. "His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely."

Rick Warren’s The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life has landed in the No. 1 spot on the Dec. 22 New York Times Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous list following its Dec. 3 release. The list reflects sales for the week ending Dec. 7.

Co-authored with well-known physicians and best-selling authors Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman, The Daniel Plan (Zondervan) details a healthy lifestyle program based on five essential principles of food, fitness, focus, faith and friends. The program was developed and originated at Warren’s Saddleback Church, and within the first year, more than 15,000 members collectively lost more than 250,000 pounds while enjoying better health.