Denise Fase is GR Initiative for Leaders executive director.Around Greater Grand Rapids are teens and young adults who have learned biblically-based leadership skills that they in turn make the most of to transform their schools, churches, related-ministries, businesses and communities.

What they learned didn't happen overnight. They committed and applied themselves with one of five programs that GR Initiative for Leaders (GRIL) offers at its Southeast Grand Rapids location.

Bestsellers – March, 2016

Fiction
1. Brush of Wings – Karen Kingsbury
2. Atonement – Beverly Lewis
3. If I Run – Terri Blackstock
4. Room for Hope – Kim Vogel Sawyer
5. Sensible Shoes – Sharon Brown
6. Return to Paradise - Barbara Cameron
7. Burning Proof – Julie Cantore
8. Always Watching – Lynette Eason
9. Behold the Man – Brodie & Brock Thoene
10. God's Not Dead 2 – Travis Thrasher

Alison Hodgson knew that eventually she would write about the fire that destroyed her home, but she didn’t think that story would also involve a pug named Oliver.

Hodgson’s first book, “The Pug List: A Ridiculous Little Dog, a Family Who Lost Everything and How They All Found Their Way Home,” released on April 5 (Zondervan, $15.99) and she and the dog have been on the run ever since.

They’ve been on local television, traveled to California and Colorado, and will make an appearance at Book Expo America in Chicago in May. Hodgson will also do a number of local events wherein she talks about the book and people fawn over The Real Pug Oliver, as he’s known on Instagram.

Dietrich BonhoefferThe life – and sacrifice – of pastor/author/teacher/theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is highlighted in the latest Master Arts Theatre production, "The Beams Are Creaking."

The biographical drama, featuring local actor Tim VanBruggen in the lead role, opens April 14.

"The messages and themes that emote from this play are still relevant today," noted director Bob Karel.

Randy Hekman’s heart beats for revival and unity among believers in Jesus Christ.Randy Hekman’s big picture goal extends beyond people praying together for one hour during the local National Day of Prayer at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids.

“I really want to see revival,” said Hekman, executive director of The Grand Awakening, a nonprofit he founded that desires to see a spiritual awakening sweep across a unified Body of Christ in West Michigan.

And because Hekman dreams big, he wants to see it impact the nation as well.

Singer Adam Crabb of the Gaither Vocal Band was part of group founder Bill Gaither's 80th birthday celebration last week. "It was a surprise party, and it went really well," said Crabb, 36, from near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Crabb is a relative newcomer to the celebrated group, which Gaither began in the early 1980s – a successor of sorts to his original Bill Gaither Trio. Crabb and fellow singer Todd Suttles joined the group just two years ago.

"When that first Gaither (Homecoming) video came out, that's what hooked our family into music," Crabb recalled of he and his four siblings who for many years sang as The Crabb Family. "We loved the music and the sound and the message. It's pretty wild how eventually God brings things full circle and now I'm singing with the group that really inspired me."

Harry Lantinga has enjoyed attending the churchmen’s luncheon for about 35 years.Harry Lantinga has been a faithful attendee of Westminster Presbyterian Church's Churchmen's Luncheon for more than 30 years.

"It's always a different speaker and that's half the enjoyment," said Lantinga, a retired real estate broker. "The other half of the reason is my friends are here."

It was the day between Good Friday and Easter that singer-songwriter and Bible teacher Michael Card carried a Hudsonville audience through the Holy Week story at Grace Community Church.

Backed by the church's 40-voice choir and a small string section, Card's 80-minute, 16 song-set included many of his past ballads and anthems on Christ's passion, and several newer songs that fit the theme.

West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area's faith-based arts and entertainment events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for April:

(l to r) Mel Trotter Ministries community relations director Abbey Sladick and Adrienne Goodstal, vice president of programs, stand in the Youth Emergency Shelter’s common living area.Abusive homes, aging out of the foster care system and feeling intimated by older homeless men are key reasons why Mel Trotter Ministries launched its Youth Emergency Shelter (YES) for men ages 18-24 at its gospel rescue mission in downtown Grand Rapids, located at 225 Commerce Ave. SW.

Besides providing an overnight refuge for a maximum of six young men for a 21-day stay, YES's separate space provides immediate basic needs including meals, access to a bathroom and shower, clean clothing, a designated sleeping room and a living room style community area.

If there is one emotion or attitude that can destroy someone's life it is bitterness. Bitterness is a monster that has destroyed marriages, families, churches and even nations. When a bitter spirit is loose somewhere there is no telling the damage and havoc it can bring about. The heart of bitterness is rooted in an unforgiving spirit toward someone or about something that happened to us in life. Bitterness is often easier to see in others, but very hard to see in ourselves.

If you went to a doctor for checkup, the doctor might check our blood, take our blood pressure, and measure our height and weight against standard targets. A number of tests and measurements could be taken. But is there a test for bitterness, hidden anger and resentment? While there may not be a specific test, there are some signs. Here are a few: Do we experience a loss of energy on a regular basis? Have we dropped out of things we used to enjoy doing? Do we spend less time with people? Do small things really bother us? Do we resent hearing sermons on grace, forgiveness and the Cross?  Do we share our faith with others?

If there's one thing I've learned in thirty years of parenting, it's this: there's no pill you can take or give to your kids to make everything work out perfectly. Trust me—I've checked. These things just don't come in a bottle.

In parenting, then, it's important to establish some parameters for ourselves as we deal with our children. Over the years, I've built some guidelines for myself, and three in particular have been so beneficial that I'd like to pass them on.

I call them the Three W's .

Starfysh founder/president Steve Edmondson prays with a mother and her gravely ill daughter.Dr. Steve Edmondson acknowledges he felt over his head when he launched Starfysh, a nonprofit grass roots movement that started with a simple idea that has since mushroomed to some ambitious initiatives intended to alleviate the abject poverty of the 100,000 people who live on the island of La Gonave, Haiti.

"Mine is a story of what God can do even when someone is ill equipped," said Edmondson, an affable man who's a family practice physician in Saranac and the founder and president of Starfysh. "It's since become obvious to me God had something bigger than I had in mind. Since then, I've tried to keep up with what God is doing with us."

People sometimes think they can make it alone. But it's not so. Aristotle thought men and women were social animals. He got the first part correct. Human beings are indeed first, last, and always social.

But we're not animals. We're something different, a creation "a little lower than the angels" made "in the image of God." People who forget this sometimes end up feeling alone, or they end up going alone.

In the extreme, people who think they can go it alone end up kind of freaky weird. Think Howard Hughes, Bobby Fischer, maybe the Unabomber.

(l to r) Death penalty panelist included Shane Claiborne, Gail Rice, Bernard “Chris” Dorsey and Randy Steidl.Randy Steidl knows firsthand what it feels like to be sentenced to death. Bernard “Chris” Dorsey argues capital punishment undermines the Christian faith. Gail Rice, whose police officer brother was killed in the line of duty, believes the death penalty is disproportionally waged against minorities and the poor. And Shane Claiborne believes no one, including convicted murderers, is beyond redemption.

The four-member panel that comprised the death penalty forum was of varied backgrounds and experiences but all argued for the same conclusion: the death penalty should be abolished.

Bestsellers – March, 2016

Fiction
1. If I Run – Terri Blackstock
2. Cold Shot – Dani Pettrey
3. Always Watching – Lynette Eason
4. Mermaid Moon – Colleen Coble
5. Restoration – Wanda Brustetter
6. Sensible Shoes – Sharon Brown
7. Room For Hope – Kim Vogel Sawyer
8. War Room – Chris Fabry
9. Two Steps Forward – Sharon Brown
10. Behold The Man – Brodie & Brock Thoene

Don't think academics when you're listening to the debut solo project from singer-songwriter Marty Lamain.

"So Break It," the seven-song release by the former Grand Rapids church music minster, just happens to double as Lamain's graduate school thesis (Lamain moved to Nashville two years ago to study vocal performance at Belmont University).

I give him an "A" for effort on this expressive and often soul-baring package of tunes.
The title track comes from a line in the ballad "It'll Take Something Beautiful." The lyrics tell of the emotional wall built by the writer to keep out pain and hurt, yet revealing a longing for connection. "It'll take something beautiful to break it down....so break it down," he invites.

Henry Sapp This is the sixth straight year that West Michigan-based comedian Henry Sapp has been part of LaughFest.

"I've been in it since the very first one," Sapp said of his part in the annual 10-day festival sponsored by Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids.

But in the 2016 version the married father of two is actually headlining a show – scheduled for March 19 at Living Word Christian Center.
"They came to me and said, 'You've always brought (other comedians) in, why don't you headline this year?'" said Sapp, 45. "And I said...that would be sweet."

Todd Cioffi is co-director of the Calvin Prison Initiative.Most inmates will never see beyond their prison walls while others eventually will be released, but what they share in common is a "moral rehabilitation" infused in their lives due to a newly accredited program called the Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI).

Up to 20 prisoners a year from any of the 31 prisons in the Michigan Department of Corrections system can apply to earn a bachelor of arts degree in ministry leadership. The program is a joint venture between Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary.

Encore Alliance of Greater Grand Rapids president L. James Harvey with his wife of 63 years, Jackie.L. James Harvey knows he faces an uphill battle, but he is convinced there should be more in store for senior adults than while away their time after they retire. Want proof? God says so, said Harvey, president of the nonprofit ministry, Encore Alliance of Greater Grand Rapids' Encore Living Program (ELP).

"I've taken a look at the Bible from beginning to end on what it has to say about longevity," said Harvey, 85, whose background includes former president of Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland, dean of students at Hope College in Holland and vice president of William Rainey Harper Community College in Palatine, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and author of Christian books.

The moment a person knows they are loved by someone things usually change for the better. The moment a person doesn't feel loved by someone you often have the beginning of trouble. That, in a nutshell, is how the world functions. Sometimes we try to complicate things, but it often boils down to how much or how little love people experience. The main problem we all have in life, however, is that almost no one told us this fact. As a result, people spend much of their lives trying to figure this out and then more time trying to fix it once the problem has been defined.

West Michigan Christian web writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area's faith-based arts and entertainment events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for March: