Contests
Sign up for now RP’s July 13-22 screen-fast challenge!
Bring peace to your mind while raising $100 for charity.
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Are you struggling with keeping screens in their proper place? Do you or your children find it hard not to reach for your device, almost without thinking? Last year, over 1,000 of you joined us in “breaking the spell” for 10 days. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, making it evident we would all benefit from doing this every year. So for ten days, we're going to get re-oriented. We're asking everyone – as much as it is possible for you – to steer clear from your smartphone, computers, TV, and tablets for the ten days of July 13 to July 22, 2026.
Speaking of together, we’re asking you to sign up with an accountability partner – someone who can see how you are doing and egg you on. And you can do the same for them!
Need a device for work, or to stay in touch with family? No problem. You are welcome to come up with your own exceptions. Just write them down in advance and stick to them.
Some generous supporters have pledged to donate $10 per day for every day you manage to go screen-free from July 13-22. The money will be split between two fantastic kingdom causes – Reformed Perspective and Word & Deed – to a maximum of $20,000 split between both causes.
A few tips
- Commit. Don’t allow yourself to make easy exceptions, even if you are having a hard day. For example, just because you are at someone else’s home doesn’t mean you can enjoy screens again.
- Don't get sucked in. If you still need screens for basic your job or other functions that are essential, go for it, but ensure that you are only using your tablet and phone for that and only that. For example, if you need a phone for directions, don’t take the opportunity to scroll the news. If you need a computer at work, don’t let yourself go to other websites or play an online game.
- Out of sight, out of mind. Help yourself by hiding your devices and make them difficult to access. Maybe even take the TV off the wall.
- Log out. Log out of your social media accounts so that it isn’t easy to quickly open them.
- Hide your app icons. If you need still need to use your phone, hide all the icons of the apps you want to steer clear of.
- Come up with a plan. When you find yourself wanting to reach for a screen, what'll you do instead? Make a plan. It doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. Perhaps say a prayer, take a drink of water, try to memorize a verse, do a set of 10 jumping jacks, or read a couple of pages of a book you’ve been meaning to get to.
- Have alternatives ready and waiting. You and your children are going to need something else to do with your screen time, so you need to have options, otherwise you'll just spend your time pining for your phone. Get out books, magazines, art supplies, a soccer ball, or whatever. For more ideas be sure to check out our article "What can I do anyways? 35 screen-free alternatives.
- Invite accountability. Let loved ones know what you are doing, and ask them to check in on you regularly to see how it is going. Tell them not to let you off the hook!
- Don't let this opportunity pass you by. Don't we all need help on this front? So don't let yourself off the hook - let's do this together!
Register for the July 13-22 nationwide by filling in the form below.
News
Nearly 60% of violent crime cases now being stayed or withdrawn
“Justice delayed has become justice denied,” concluded a recent report from The Hub about the amount of time it is taking for criminal justice cases to be completed.
Digging into the most recent data available across Canada, the report found that the median amount of time it takes to complete a case – from first appearance to a final decision – has increased 60 percent increase in just eight years. It’s gone from averaging around 4 months – varying from 121 to 124 days – for the 8 years preceding 2016, to now being well over 6 months, or 198 days for 2023/24.
There are many costs to delaying justice with a big one being guilty people set free because they haven’t been offered a trial within the “reasonable time” promised in the Charter of Rights. The same report found that over the same time period, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of cases that have been stayed or withdrawn. That means no finding of guilt or innocence has been reached. As The Hub’s David Snow reports:
“Focusing on Canada outside Quebec , the proportion of criminal cases that were stayed or withdrawn increased from just under 35 percent in 2007/08 to 40 percent by 2019/20. The increase accelerated sharply after the pandemic, to the extent that more than 50 percent of criminal cases outside Quebec now end without a determination of guilt or innocence.”
This is particularly the case for violent crimes, where now nearly three in five cases are stayed or withdrawn.
As a result, fewer people are being found guilty, dropping from 63 percent to 46 percent. This isn’t because there are more acquittals. In fact, of the 228,425 adult court cases in 2023/2024:
• 105,371 were found guilty
• 118,265 were stayed or withdrawn
• only 2,442 were acquitted
God, who is perfectly just, calls us to image His justice. “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act" we are instructed in Proverbs 3:27-28. And as we read in Jeremiah 21:12, it must be done promptly. “Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.” So the Charter of Rights’ call for trials in a “reasonable time” is good – we don’t want people who’ve never been convicted, languishing in jail for years on end before they even have a trial. Imagine if you are innocent, and you’re made to wait in jail for even “just” 4 months. This needs to be fixed.
Today's Devotional
July 6 - Your God, my God
“But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” - Ruth 1:16
Scripture reading: Ruth 1:15-18
The covenant Yahweh has awakened in Ruth a living faith. And she’s not afraid to express >
Today's Manna Podcast
Why are you downcast
Serving #1257 of Manna, prepared by Winston Bosch, is called "Why are you downcast".
