Mac Powell, lead singer of Third Day, performs at Unity at 7:10pm Saturday Aug. 12Kevin Newton has part of the Unity Christian Music Festival since year one. And it's been quite a ride.

"We certainly didn't know back in 2001 that it would become not only an annual event, but one of the largest Christian festivals in the U.S.," said Newton, Unity director and part of Alive on the Lakeshore, the umbrella organization sponsoring the four-day event.

The festival draws tens of thousands of fans each year and showcases today's top Christian music artists, as well as offers various other faith-related opportunities.

West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer offers some suggestions for faith-based arts and entertainment events. Here are his three picks for August:

David Smith: “The Garden of Eden is an image where society is working, before everything gets destroyed.”David Smith sees a strong bond between the Garden of Eden and education. Apparently, John Amos Comenius also understood the connection, even though he lived centuries before Smith was born.

Smith works the dual role as director of Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning and director of Calvin College's graduate studies in education. He recently spoke at AMDG Architects' July Speaker Series about the relationship between gardens cultivating people's moral, spiritual and virtue through education.

Lifehouse (l. to r.) Ricky Woolstenhulme Jr., Bryce Soderberg, Jason Wade, Steve Stout Singer-songwriter Jason Wade of the band Lifehouse never dreamed his song "You and Me" would become a wedding standard.

"That's a song I wrote when I proposed to my girlfriend when I was 19 years old," recalled Wade during a conference call from the band's Los Angeles recording studio.

"It didn't show up until our third album six years later."

The melodic song was one of mainstream radio's top hits of 2005 and re-established the band's impact made with its 2001 debut smash, "Hanging By A Moment."

"You and Me" still echoes at nuptials around the country. "We've played it ourselves for at least three weddings," said Wade. "And we've been asked to help guys propose on stage when we play it at shows.

International Needs president/CEO Michael Cooper stands on a rooftop in Nepal last November. Michael T. Cooper gets around.

So far, he's journeyed to 14 or 15 countries since becoming president and CEO last October of Hudsonville-based International Needs.

In the future, the ministry's big tent goals will take him to various nations in the world, including Turkey, Nepal, Burkina Faso in West Africa and Columbia.

That's to be expected when you're head of a multi-prong ministry like International Needs, founded in 1974 by Ray Harrison.

"I love being around folks from around the world," said an enthused Cooper. "We have staff and national workers spread across the globe, where we pray and dream with them in how they're going to reach their countries and fulfill their vision to spread the gospel."

Joseph Warren (left) and Adam’s Road Joseph Warren and Adam's Road are on a new mission.

Warren and his fellow band members are all former Mormons. And now they're presenting their musical testimonies of a newly-found gospel salvation message.

"We're just trying to put the gospel to music and to share our stories," said Warren, 32, by phone from a concert stop in rural Vermont.

The ex-members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (better known as Mormons) have carved out their own path as they've embraced Christian orthodoxy and proclaimed it publically. And it has come at some personal cost.

Let me tell you, we're talking about a really big "if."

If I think about it long enough and hard enough, I can remember what it was like—what it was like long, long ago—to be a kid.
If.

For starters, the piano practice was torture. I'd be sitting there, plunking out tunes on black and white keys even though I thought my fingers looked much better on the orange of a basketball.

And my mom, the human metronome, would sit beside me on the bench, tapping the end of a pencil against the piano to help me keep rhythm. It drove me crazy.

If it wasn't piano lessons that had me in misery, it was homework—hours of multiplication, history, and grammar keeping me away from the South Carolina skies that were calling my name.

Ace McKay (left), and Jeff Veley"Yes... Jeff and I are saying good-bye to you," JQ-99 (WJQK-FM) radio personality Ace McKay told listeners on their June 29 afternoon show.

After two and a half years as on-air teammates, McKay and co-host Jeff Veley both left their duties on the local contemporary Christian outlet at the end of June. Breaking the surprising news proved difficult.

"Don't you make me weepy," Veley warned McKay during their bittersweet announcement which both said was made with "heavy hearts."
"You guys (listeners) are family," Veley added.

Ever wonder how a music artist with a 30-year performing career chooses songs for a concert tour?

“Some people may be shocked,” advised gospel singer-songwriter CeCe Winans. “But I’m singing every one of the songs from my new album on this tour. I want people to hear all these new songs.”

“Let Them Fall in Love” is the veteran artist’s first all-new collection in nine years. She calls them “songs that everyone can learn something from.” It’s another milestone in a decades-long inspirational-gospel career, which included many years in a successful R&B-gospel duo with her brother BeBe Winans.

Cece, 52, brings her music to DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids on July 13.

Pastor Jay Schrimpf is Bethlehem Intergenerational Center’s executive director and Susan Davidson is its director.Senior adults and children can significantly benefit from one another, but too often don't get the opportunity to interact. Bethlehem Lutheran Church is helping to bridge the generational gap thanks to its recent opening of the Bethlehem Intergenerational Center (BIC).

The BIC offers combined and enhanced day care for young children and seniors, building on the church's 46 years of experience in child care and education.

How about taking a little drive this month? Visit one of our outlying area venues and see a free-will offering concert in an informal setting. West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer has some suggestions in that direction for the month of July:

Dr. Rex M. Rogers American culture is actively forgetting what it used to believe.

That truth is objective and knowable reality – that truth is not defined by gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, partisanship, Left or Right political philosophy, culture, might, I.Q., riches or poverty, beauty or brawn, feelings or preferences, or even religion per se.

In the 1970s, the late Christian philosopher Francis A. Schaeffer coined the intentionally redundant phrase "true truth" to remind the emerging morally relativistic culture that truth is not subjective. It is not something we can pick and choose. Truth is absolute. Truth stands outside all of us.

A generation or two hence, American culture is racing pell-mell toward full-on relativism. Now, no one, no entity, nothing can be trusted because everything is reduced to power and rights, not truth.

Grand Rapids pastor and national music artist Bishop Marvin Sapp has released a brand new song from his forthcoming album.

"Close" is the type of gospel ballad which has faithfully delivered his musical testimony in years past.

Sapp, 50, is co-founder and pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center Church on Madison Ave. SE in Grand Rapids. But he's also a nationally renowned, award-winning gospel music artist.

A keyboard-based anthem, "Close" takes advantage of a live setting and a background singing choir as the verses and chorus positively point beyond current troubles to a fulfillment of a divine plan.

It's another season of diplomas, of caps and gowns, of students marching across a stage and into a new life. So whether they're on to college, a career, the military, or just a bit of wandering, it's time to hail the graduates!

Today, this message is for you, Graduate—yes, you, with your education in hand, your tassel freshly flipped, and pink Silly String on your shoe. As you take your next steps into this ever-changing world, your brain has been packed with information, facts, trivia, and far too many essay questions.

RIDE GR is an interdenominational prayer bike ride around Grand Rapids. Bicyclists often pedal around the city to burn calories, take in the sites and work off some stress. Stockbridge Boiler Room's (SBR) June 24 RIDE GR is no exception, but there's more to its 20-mile trek than enjoying the great outdoors.

RIDE GR is an opportunity for bikers to stand in agreement and prayerfully intercede on behalf of churches' and the neighborhoods they are based in, said Tim Collier, overseer of the local SBR.

The original cast of “Father Knows Best” (Lauren Chapin in lower right) Actress Lauren Chapin has a surprising description of her six years on the 1950s TV sitcom "Father Knows Best."

"It was my saving grace," said Chapin, who portrayed Kathy "Kitten" Anderson, the youngest child of the family depicted in the heart-warming series.

"I believe God had me in that (show) for a purpose, because my real family life at home was so contrary to that of the Andersons," recalled Chapin, 72.

Members of the Grace Fellowship Church Praise Team lead music at Praise in the Park in RockfordRichard Moll has a pleasant predicament with the weekly Praise in the Park series in downtown Rockford. "We're running out of summertime Sundays," said Moll, founder and coordinator of the music series now in its sixth season.

There are so many area church worship teams – and other inspirational artists – interested in participating that Moll can't accommodate them all in a single summer.

For 2017 there are nine churches, two bands and one solo artist leading the worshipful music Sunday evenings in Garden Club Park.

The popular Princess Party at Baker Book House (10:30 am Tuesday, June 13) is more than a dress-up opportunity for author Glenys Nellist. While she'll wear a tiara, she'll also read from her new book "Love Letters from God: Bible Stories for a Girl's Heart" (Zonderkidz).

"Because this is an event specifically for girls, it seemed appropriate to read from this book especially designed for girls," said Nellist, who lives in Rockford.

Ken Wytsma, founder of The Justice Conference and author of the new book "The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege," will speak at Baker Book House on Wednesday, June 7.

The event, titled "Privilege is Real," is free, though tickets are required. Copies of his new book will be available for purchase at the store.

"We're so pleased to have Ken Wytsma in the store to talk about these important issues," said Darron Schroeder, assistant manager. "These are topics than need to be addressed, especially by Christians."

Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, and Gazelle Sports have partnered to host one of the fastest American women in history, Sanya Richards-Ross, on Friday, June 2, for a book signing at the Gazelle Sports store in Grand Rapids from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The event precedes the release of the Olympic gold medalist's new book, Chasing Grace: What the Quarter Mile Has Taught Me About God and Life, and her children's book, Run with Me: The Story of a U.S. Olympic Champion, both available on June 6.

"As a dedicated runner myself, I'm thrilled to host Olympic track star Sanya Richards-Ross in West Michigan," said Tom Dean, VP of Marketing, Zondervan Trade Books. "Runners and non-runners alike can learn from Sanya's dedication and perseverance."

Baker Book House jumps into its Children's Summer Reading Program with a bang this year. The Adventures in Michigan program runs June 1-August 26 and features a wide array of activities and prizes.

"The program is all about promoting literacy at an early age, to encourage kids to read and love books," said Darron Schroeder, assistant manager at Baker Book House.

This year's program puts special emphasis on the state of Michigan, with at least seven Michigan authors visiting the story for special programs. Authors include Glenys Nellist, Crystal Bowman, Gary Bower, Laurie Keller, Tracy Madder, Kenneth Kraegel and Katie Newell.

A graduation ceremony for the 2017 GRIL graduates was held at Calvin College.Seeded throughout Greater Grand Rapids are a new crop of leaders dedicated to bringing out the best in themselves and others.

GR Initiative for Leaders' (GRIL) 2017 graduates include its first class from its Emerge program, a nine-month curriculum for adults who want to take their leadership skills to the next level and become leaders in their community, according to Denise Fase, GRIL's executive director.