Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., returned to the pulpit this weekend three months after his son's suicide.

On July 27, Warren's wife, Kay, joined him in sharing a message titled "How to Get Through What You're Going Through"—the pastor's first sermon since the April 5 death of their youngest son, Matthew, 27, who struggled with mental illness.

Warren opened the service by thanking his staff, local pastors and his family for their love and support during the last few months.

"We intend to spend the rest of our lives comforting others with the comfort we've been given," said Warren, best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan).

More than 10,000 attended two Saturday evening worship services at the Saddleback campus to hear the Warrens, with an additional 6,500 watching live online. It was the first time Warren had preached in 16 weeks, the longest he has ever been away from the pulpit. The congregation greeted the Warrens with a standing ovation.

Warren then continued by sharing the three things that gave he and Kay stability during their grief. First, life doesn't make sense, but we can have peace because God is with us and loves us. Second, everything on Earth is broken, but we can have joy because we know God has a greater plan. And third, we know that life is a battle, but we can have hope because we know there is more to the story.

"For 27 years I prayed every day of my life for God to heal my son's mental illness ... it didn't make sense why this prayer wasn't being answered," Warren said. "When you go through a difficult time, you automatically start to try and find an answer. But explanations never comfort. You don't need explanations; you need the presence of God."

Kay Warren also shared about her struggle with continuing to choose joy even in grief, a topic which she wrote about in her 2012 book, Choose Joy (Revell/Baker Publishing Group).

"What do you do when hope doesn't turn out the way you think it will? You rebuild your hope," she said.

During the next six weeks, Warren will continue the sermon series by focusing on the six stages of grief: shock, sorrow, struggle, surrender, sanctification and service.

Crossway and The Gospel Coalition (TGC) have announced a significant expansion of their publishing partnership, which began six years ago.

"There are only a handful of organizations whose leadership is committed to producing gospel-centered resources at a level that we trust," said Ben Peays, executive director of TGC. "Crossway has been a close partner of ours since our inception in 2007. We are pleased to deepen our publishing partnership with them going forward."

Justin Taylor, Crossway's publisher for books, added: "The Gospel Coalition is one of the most important and influential organizations in today's evangelicalism, serving churches with resources for reformation and renewal. It is an enormous privilege for Crossway to strengthen this publishing partnership with TGC, and we look forward to producing many unique books together that will create new conversations and provide direction on the things that matter most."

In the new partnership, Crossway will continue to publish TGC resources dedicated to the centrality of the gospel. TGC and Crossway will also work closely together to develop a series of books written specifically by women addressing cultural issues, as well as other "unique resources" focused on faith and work, said officials for both companies.

TGC Editorial Director Collin Hansen will oversee the effort alongside three other editors. TGC Director of Women's Initiatives Kathleen Nielson, The Park Forum founder Bethany Jenkins and Crossway author Gloria Furman will edit the book series, which will be written by women.

Since 2009, Crossway and TGC have produced 18 books, including Don't Call It a Comeback, edited by Kevin DeYoung; The Scriptures Testify about Me, edited by D.A. Carson; and The Gospel as Center, edited by D.A. Carson and Timothy Keller.

Cindy Riggins, president of Riggins International Rights Services, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her company this month.

After serving 10 years as international rights director for Thomas Nelson, she opened Riggins International in July 2003 to help other publishers manage their rights program.

"Our clients are comprised of both small ministry publishers as well as large publishing houses," Riggins said. "While the economy and industry changes have impacted our client list through the past decade, we are proud that we still service some of our first clients.

"Abingdon Press and AMG [Publishers] hired us in 2004, then Upper Room and Warner Press in 2005," she added. "We are in our seventh year of service for B&H Publishing Group, New Growth Press, New Hope Publishers and No Greater Joy Ministries. The last few years we have added Faith Alive, Rose Publishing, Thoene Books and Worthy Publishing."

In addition to U.S. clients, Riggins recently began representing international publishers on a title-by-title basis.

"This is a growing area of our company, which we plan to expand in 2014," she said. "In addition to marketing titles for license, our experienced staff negotiates and issues licenses, then manages the full contract and royalty process. Each staff member has between five and 30 years Christian publishing experience. Also, we are the only rights service that utilizes a licensed paralegal for our contract management. We are a full-service organization, not just an agent."

Riggins has been very active with the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) as one of the founders of the International Rights Management Association, serving on its steering committee for several years. She was also co-author of the original ECPA International Rights Guide.

A previous board member for the Global Publishers Alliance, ECPA's sister organization that supports publishing initiatives in developing countries, Riggins serves as rights manager for Asia, the Middle East and Scandinavia.

For more information, visit www.rigginsrights.com.

Logos Bible Software and Crossway are giving away digital copies of the English Standard Version (ESV) in a promotion to help alleviate Bible neglect.

Through Aug. 10, anyone who downloads the Faithlife Study Bible (FSB) app at http://faithlifebible.com/ESV will get the ESV free, including offline access when Internet is not available.

Three out of five people surveyed wished they read the Bible more, according to new research by the American Bible Society.

"Logos and Crossway want to help make that wish a reality by giving away not only the complete Faithlife Study Bible, but also a free copy of the ESV, allowing readers to quickly dive into a comprehensive study Bible—anytime, anywhere," Logos and Crossway officials said. "Despite the average American household now owning four or more Bibles, Scripture remains neglected."

Logos started the new year by giving away 2.5 million copies of its FSB, making it available for iPhone, iPad, Android mobile devices, Kindle Fire, Macs, PCs, Vyrso Christian e-books and Proclaim church presentation software.

Celebrating the band's 40-year career, Petra will release a new CD July 30 featuring the pioneering Christian rock group's "biggest and most loved songs."

The standard edition of 40th Anniversary (Star Song Records/Universal Music Group Distribution) will include 27 of Petra's hits, while the deluxe version (digital copy only) will feature 37 songs. Both editions include a new recording titled "Holy Is Your Name."

" 'Holy Is Your Name' is a thank-you to all our fans, but mostly a thanks to God for all the wonderful years," said Bob Hartman, founding member of Petra. "We are happy to include it on the 40th Anniversary compilation."

Compiled by Hartman, the two-disc album features hits such as "This Means War," "Beyond Belief" and "Creed." Longtime vocalist John Schlitt joined Hartman on a seven-city reunion tour this summer.

Petra formed in 1972, endured numerous lineup changes and was regarded as the most popular Christian rock band in the 1980s and early 1990s. The group has released 24 albums, sold more than 7 million copies and garnered four GRAMMY Awards, 10 Dove Awards and several No. 1 radio hits.

For more information, visit www.petraband.com.

Well-known author and artist Joni Eareckson Tada has won a Telly Award for her weekly TV show.

Earlier this month, Joni and Friends received a bronze Telly Award in the religious television show category for "inspiring stories of hope and healing," Telly officials said. In the 30-minute program, Tada, a quadriplegic, talks to people who have endured heart-wrenching trials.

Two Joni and Friends episodes stood out to the Telly Award committee. "Cancer: Joni's Journey" features Tada's battle with breast cancer in addition to her quadriplegia. "The Jennifer Barrick Story" shows how the Barrick family grew closer after a drunk driver severely injured 15-year-old Jennifer.

"Joni and Friends is meant to share stories of God's faithfulness with the world," Tada said. "We are honored by the award and thrilled that our ministry is reaching the troubled and heartbroken. God is faithful to provide for us in our times of need."

Tada's most recent books include Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story (Zondervan) and A Place of Healing (David C Cook).

Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards program honors the best local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, video and film productions and work created for the Web. The latest awards competition received nearly 12,000 entries from 50 states and numerous countries.

Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Third Day and Tenth Avenue North were recently recognized with certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Redman was awarded a Gold certification for "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)" from his album 10,000 Reasons (sixstepsrecords/Capitol Christian Distribution). The RIAA achievement represents 500,000 units sold.

Tomlin's "I Will Follow" and "I Will Rise" were honored with digital Gold certifications.

Third Day's Third Day Chronology: Volume One and Third Day Chronology: Volume Two (both Essential Records/Provident Distribution) have both attained gold, platinum or multi-platinum RIAA certification in music video longform, which means each title have sold 50,000 units for gold, 100,000 for platinum and 200,000 for multi-platinum.

Tenth Avenue North's "By Your Side," from the group's debut album Over and Underneath (Reunion Records/Provident-Integrity Distribution), was awarded a digital Gold status by the RIAA.