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‘Newsboy’ John James Returns with New Book, Music

‘Newsboy’ John James Returns with New Book, Music

Last updated on: August 31, 2026 at 9:25 pm by DeWayne Hamby

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‘Newsboy’ John James Returns with New Book, Music 2026-08-31T21:25:51-04:00 DeWayne Hamby

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John James, best known as the former lead singer of the Newsboys, is telling a story he once swore he would never tell in print—his own.

John James image courtesy of Pure Publicity.

“Newsboy: My Story of Hope and Second Chances,” released this June by Broad Street Publishing, chronicles James’ journey from a troubled past to redemption and a returned sense of purpose. At the same time, he has released new music for the first time in nearly 30 years — an album titled “God of the Second Chance” — a project James calls “surreal” and “one of the most intimate times with me and the Lord.”

“For some time I’ve been incredibly blessed and fortunate to be able to be sharing my testimony,” James said. “Several years ago, a lady there that was from a publishing company saw a special that the 700 Club did on my testimony. She said, ‘Your story of brokenness and redemption has to be a book.’”

James frames the book around his childhood to “lay a foundation” and explain how he was emotionally and psychologically wired in his formative years. He said his journey toward faith began at 15 through the influence of a visiting youth worker.

“I first encountered this incredible God when I was 15,” he said. “Through his love and his witness, he was the vehicle that God used to turn me towards the kingdom of God.”

The memoir is part testimony and part ministry. James has spent years speaking in churches, schools, prisons and military bases, using his story to offer spiritual hope. He is open about the cost of speaking publicly about personal failure.

“Fear, anxiety, apprehension,” he said when asked about the first time he went public with painful details. “It’s kind of like you’re just standing naked in front of people, and you don’t know how people are going to react.”

James said he has had to develop what he calls emotional EQ and “become a little bit more thick skin,” especially in an era where social media can amplify criticism and suspicion. Still, he added, “there’s going to be people who celebrate my story of redemption and there’s going to be people who are cynical.” He emphasized that his motivation is obedience: “I have to be faithful to what I feel the Lord’s calling me to do.”

“Newsboy” book image courtesy of Broad Street Publishing.

The new album marks an unexpected return to music for James, who left the Newsboys and swore he would never sing again.

“When I walked away from the Newsboys, I said I’d never sing again. For almost 30 years, mate, I never sang a note,” he said. “But a year and a half ago, God did the impossible and touched that dead area of my life.”

He called the process of recording and releasing the album a kind of resurrection. “He restores the dead things, the broken things,” James said. “For me it was singing and a bunch of other areas in my life.”

The album’s title points to the theme he hopes listeners will take away: restoration through grace. “No one is so far broken or lost that can’t experience God’s love and redemption,” he said.

James also recalled the creative era of the Newsboys, especially the band’s 1994-95 album “Going Public,” and the collaborators who shaped it. “There were some really wonderful songs that collaborated with Peter and Steve Taylor, the brilliance of Steve Taylor,” he said.

He praised the records’ lasting sonic quality: “Even today, when you listen to it … they still sound really, really good.”

The memoir and the album are being offered as companion pieces to multiply hope beyond a single platform. James said purchasers of the book who email his ministry will receive a free download of the 11-track album.

“If you email us and say, ‘Hey, I just got the new book,’ we’ll send you a link for free to download my whole new album,” he said. “Just to say thank you for people for purchasing my story.”

James is candid about the wreckage in his past and the long work of repentance that followed.

“I can’t change the past, and I have a wake of brokenness in my past,” he said. “But with how many years I have left, I want to live a life that bears authentic fruit.” He invites readers and listeners to examine their own lives in that light: “Look at my life now that I would live a life in accordance to true repentance.”

“Newsboy” and “God of the Second Chance” are the latest chapters in a life that James describes as an ongoing testimony to grace.

“Nobody is so far broken or lost, no one is so far gone that can’t experience the hand and the reach of God’s loving redemption,” he said. “That’s my prayer. Whoever picks up that book may experience this incredible God.”

For more information and to request the album download after purchasing the book, James directs readers to iReachUSA.com.

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