Christian publishing veteran Bruce Ryskamp has been named the recipient of the 2013 Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ryskamp, who served as president and CEO of Zondervan from 1993 to 2005, will be honored during the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's (ECPA) Awards Banquet, to be held April 29 at World Outreach Church in Nashville.

Ryskamp started at Zondervan in 1983 to head up the newly formed Bible Group. In 1987, the book division was added to his responsibilities, and in 1993, he became president and CEO. Ryskamp also served on the ECPA board for 12 years, including a term as chairman from 1992 to 1994.

The Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award is named after the late Charles "Kip" Jordon, former publisher of Word Publishing. Past recipients include Chuck Colson, John R.W. Stott and R.C. Sproul.

The banquet is part of ECPA's Leadership Summit, to be held April 29-May 1 at Ingram Publisher Services' headquarters outside of Nashville.

Click here for more information on past recipients of the Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award.

Buryl Red, a pioneering composer and hymn writer who influenced modern worship music leaders, died April 1 in New York City after a long battle with cancer, Associated Baptist Press reported. He was 76.

Red was the founding musical director and conductor of The CenturyMen, a men's choir made up of Southern Baptist church music directors from around the world. Since the choir's founding in 1969, The CenturyMen have performed across the U.S. and 11 other countries, according to thecenturymen.com.

When The CenturyMen's "Beautiful Star: A Celebration of Christmas" was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2000, Red told Baptist Press: "We see our work as a way to communicate the message of Christ with the secular world. I feel like our music can communicate beyond the musical language of the church."

Red was best known for his collaborations with Ragan Courtney, including the 1970s pulpit-musical "Celebrate Life!," which sold about a million copies in 25 years, Associated Baptist Press reported. Released in 1972, "Celebrate Life!" is still in print, and is sold by LifeWay Worship, the music division of LifeWay Christian Resources. Red and Courtney also created the "Brand New Wings" and "In Remembrance of Me" choir sheet music.

In a blog post, LifeWay Worship Director Mike Harland credited Red with introducing Baptists to the style of modern worship music that came out of the Jesus Movement in the 1970s.

Red "loved virtually every style of music, as long as the presentations of it reached a level of excellence befitting the glorious Savior we love," Harland wrote.

Red's musical works as a composer, conductor, producer and arranger were heard in such diverse venues as Carnegie Hall, Saturday Night Live and thousands of schools, churches and theaters around the world. He had more than 1,600 published compositions and arrangements, produced more than 2,500 recordings, and supervised and composed or arranged music for several hundred shows, documentaries and musical specials for network and cable television, Associated Baptist Press reported.

Red is survived by his wife, Virginia; son, Eric; and grandson, Adrian. A private funeral will be held April 9 in Manhattan, N.Y.

A federal court has granted a request by Hobby Lobby Stores and sister retailer Mardel Christian and Education to have their Obamacare case heard before a full court, instead of the usual three-judge panel. oral arguments are set for May 23 in Denver.

"We are grateful that the court granted Hobby Lobby's petition," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Hobby Lobby and Mardel, regarding the court's decision on March 29. "Full court review is reserved only for the most serious legal questions. This case asks whether the First Amendment protects everyone's right to religious freedom, or whether it leaves out religious business owners like the Greens."

The Oklahoma-based companies sued the Obama administration last September regarding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' abortion-pill mandate, a regulation under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), requiring the chains to offer potential abortion-inducing drugs in their employee healthcare plans.

In November, a two-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the chains' request for a temporary reprieve from the mandate as the case proceeded. But nine 10th Circuit judges will now hear the case. The court also announced March 29 that it will expedite oral arguments.

"It is very good that the 10th Circuit granted a full court hearing on our Hobby Lobby case," Becket Fund Executive Director Kristina Arriaga said. "Furthermore, of all 52 cases filed on the HHS mandate, only one such hearing has been granted."

Singer-songwriter Bebo Norman has decided to retire from music at year's end after 20 years as a musician.

"For those closest to me, this really has been a decision that was years in the making, but after a lot of prayer and continued conversation, my wife, Roshare, and I made the final call back in December," Norman said. "And honestly, I wasn't sure if I would be done right away or what the exact timetable would be.

"But ultimately, I decided that I really wanted to honor my label and publishing commitments through 2013 and tour this new record (Lights of Distant Cities) for at least a year from release just to make sure I finish well."

In October, Lights of Distant Cities was released by BEC Recordings and distributed by EMI CMG Distribution, now known as Capitol Christian Distribution.

"Everything that I had left in my heart for music, I feel like I squeezed out and emptied into writing and recording this latest project, which I love so dearly," Norman said. "And to have had the chance to write and record such a personal record with my close friend and longtime live collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Gabe Scott, was the perfect way to finish out my recording career."

To celebrate his career's end, Norman, 39, will release his final radio single, "Sing of Your Glory," April 19. He will also be co-headlining a tour throughout the summer and fall with Andrew Peterson and Sara Groves.

In 2010, Norman received a Dove Award for Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year for "The Only Hope" from his self-titled album. His hit songs include "I Will Lift My Eyes," "Great Light of the World" and "Falling Down."

Click here for more information on Bebo Norman's tour.

Christian Retailing is calling on all vendors planning to exhibit at the 2013 International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) to submit their booth numbers, new product information and show specials.

Please click here or go to www.christianretailing.com/icrs to submit your exhibitor information—or as much as you have available at present—to help retailers plan ahead for ICRS. Christian Retailing will publish ICRS information free of charge in its June and July issues, with the July issue available to show attendees at the Charisma Media booth.

For information on exhibiting, visit www.christianretailshow.com.

Discovery House has released a new app for Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest classic devotional.

Offered for $4.99, the interactive app—available via the Apple Store for Apple devices and Google Play for Android devices—allows readers to bookmark and journal on each of the 365 devotionals, as well as share their thoughts via e-mail and post links to Facebook and Twitter.

"This app is a new use for the classic material of Oswald Chambers," said Carol Holquist, publisher at Discovery House, which has published numerous editions of the top-selling devotional. "We're delighted to offer My Utmost for His Highest in this most contemporary format.

"We're praying that even more people, especially younger, more tech-savvy readers, will discover the spiritual depth and insight of Oswald Chambers," she added. "We also hope Chambers' work finds its way into the everyday lives of phone and tablet users via this app."

A Scottish Bible teacher, theologian and writer, Chambers was a World War I chaplain to British soldiers in Egypt, where he died in 1917 following an emergency appendectomy at age 43.

My Utmost for His Highest was first published in 1924. Sales of the updated version of the devotional, which includes journals, calendars and children's books, have reached more than 12 million copies, Discovery House said.

The devotional's title is taken from one of Chambers' sermons, where he said: "Shut out every consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only—My Utmost for His Highest."

Click here for more information about the My Utmost for His Highest app. 

More than 100 million viewers watched The Bible TV miniseries, which aired Sundays last month on the History Channel—culminating on Easter, March 31.

The conclusion of the epic drew 11.7 million viewers, with 12.3 million watching the final hour and edging the finale for The Walking Dead (12.29 million) and the premiere of Game of Thrones (4.4 million), The Hollywood Reporter reported. More than 13 million viewers watched the first episode of the 10-hour miniseries, the highest-rated cable show of the year, and it consistently garnered 10 million viewers for each episode.

Survivor creator Mark Burnett and his actress wife, Roma Downey, of Touched by an Angel fame, produced the miniseries of major Bible stories, from Noah's ark and the Exodus to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

"Audiences embraced The Bible in numbers and with passion we never could have anticipated," Downey and Burnett said after the finale aired. "More than 100 million of them chose stories of God's deep and sacrificial love for all of us over anything else on cable or broadcast networks. It proves once again why the Bible is called the greatest story ever told."

Twentieth Century Fox (Provident Distribution) released The Bible on DVD and Blu-ray April 2.

"The demand is incredibly high," Simon Swart, executive vice president and general manager of the North American division of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, told TIME magazine. He added that many retailers, who plan to stock the DVD, have already increased their orders.

Many chains in the Christian retail channel have gotten behind The Bible. Mardel Christian & Education is offering both the DVD and Blu-ray for $49.99 each. LifeWay Christian Stores, is offering the DVD and Blu-ray for $49.99 and $59.99, respectively, and Family Christian Stores is offering the DVD and Blu-ray for $44.99 and $52.49, respectively.

Click here to read a column about The Bible miniseries by Downey and Burnett in the February issue of Christian Retailing.

Click here for more information on The Bible miniseries.