GOOD NEWS Newspaper

Page 5 | GOOD NEWS | February 2026
LOVE SAVED SAMUEL L. JACKSON
Hollywood actor credits his wife for saving his life
SHE won top prize of
entertainer of the year at
the 2025 Country Music
Association Awards, along
with album of the year for
Whirlwind, but Lainey
Wilson says she owes it all to
Jesus Christ.
The singer says: “The church
was a huge part of my growing
up and our family foundation.
We love Jesus. And I’m not sure
STAR OF BLOCKBUSTERS: Jackson as Nick Fury in the Avengers series
Easy-Peasy.AI
SHE could have left him –
and many wives would have
done. As someone descends
into a spiralling drug habit,
it can tear marriages and
relationships apart.
But love for her husband and
her Lord led LaTanya Richardson
Jackson to help Samuel L.
Jackson through drug addiction.
She got the movie star admitted
to a New York rehab clinic and
stuck by him until he was free.
It was only then that the actor’s
career took off. Without her,
he would have probably ended
up in crime to fund his habit or
worse still, in a coffin.
Samuel told People magazine:
“She didn’t have to do what she
did.”
The 77-year-old actor has
been married to theatre actress
LaTanya for 46 years.
Early in their relationship,
Samuel got hooked on drugs,
which took its toll on their
relationship. One day, he took
so many that he collapsed and
it was then that LaTanya got him
into rehab.
The Avengers and Pulp Fiction
star told People: “She could have
just said… get out, whatever and
just left me… let me go and be
whatever I was going to be.”
LaTanya admitted that she
felt like leaving him at this time,
but also believed it was her
Christian duty to stay and help
him. She said: “I felt as though
God had spoken to me and said,
‘Now, you can’t leave this young
man like this. So give him some
help.’”
After breaking free of the
habit, Samuel went on to movie
stardom. He holds the Guinness
World Record for the highestgrossing
actor of all time, with
a worldwide box office gross of
over $14.6 billion for the films
he has acted in – much of that
coming from his roles in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe and
Star Wars.
He said: “I was given another
chance to be who I was supposed
to be.”
Cover photo: Philip Romano/
Wikimedia
COUNTRY STAR: ‘I love Jesus. I’m not
sure where I would be without him’
By Mark Ellis, godreports.com
where I would be right now on
this journey without him. It’s
just a part of who I am.”
The 33-year-old Grammy
winner joined the cast of TV
show Yellowstone in 2022, with
some of her songs featured in
the series until it ended in 2024.
Raised in the tiny farming
community of Baskin,
Louisiana, Lainey grew up in
a home where faith wasn’t just
talked about; it was lived.
Her family attended Baskin
Baptist Church every Sunday,
a place where her parents were
married and where young
Lainey made her decision to
follow Christ. “A lot happened
at Baskin Baptist Church,” she
shared in a recent interview
with Us Weekly. “My parents
got married there, and I got
saved [became a Christian] as
a little girl there. It was full of
good people—the kind that
would give you the shirt off
their back.”
That simple, Bible-believing
upbringing shaped everything
about her. When Lainey first
moved to Nashville at age 19,
she lived in a camper trailer
parked outside a recording
studio. Her faith became her
anchor there.
She credits the grit instilled
by her parents—and the
calling she felt from God—as
the driving force behind her
perseverance. “I knew from
an early age that this was
my calling,” she said in an
interview with Movieguide.
org. “I knew that this was a
gift. I truly believe that if you
feel like you have a gift, you’re
supposed to share it with the
world.”
Lainey’s music reflects that
conviction unapologetically.
Songs like Me, You and
Jesus lay it out plainly: true
love and life work best with
Christ at the centre. Her track
Sunday Best draws directly
from her childhood memories
of dressing up for church,
reminding listeners to bring
their best to God no matter the
storms of life.
As arenas fill with fans
singing along to hits like Heart
Like a Truck and Watermelon
Moonshine, Lainey remains
the farmer’s daughter from
Baskin who starts her day
talking to Jesus.
LOVING LIFE WITH JESUS: Lainey Wilson
performing live in Nashville in 2024
Helloburton/Wikimedia
LOVE HURTS: Research shows it really is possible to die of a broken heart
‘This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one
and only Son into the world that we might live through him.’
The Bible, 1 John 4:9
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