Orlando "Substance" Rodriguez has officially gone nationwide with his latest release.

The Grand Rapids-based singer-songwriter has been working these songs for the past several years. But "Turn the World Off" made its USA chart debut several months ago, when his song "You're There" reached Billboard Magazine's list of "most added gospel singles."

Navigating between urban and Christian contemporary sounds, Rodriguez features numerous ballads and several up-tempo tunes on this collection. "Living Blessed" boasts tight harmonies with an urban beat and dashes of hip-hop assisted by his label mate Watchmane.

Tongue-tied parents and church leaders who are ill-at-ease discussing sex and abstinence with children and teens have a new, biblical-based ally designed to help them to communicate God’s best for physical intimacy, love and relationships while reducing the number of abortions performed.

The Pregnancy Resource Center of Grand Rapids, 415 Cherry St. SE, recently launched The Whole Sex Talk: Dangerous. Beautiful. Gift., a six-session program (recommended length of time for each of the six sessions is one hour) that shepherds parents and churches in how to have ongoing conversations with kids about sex and its consequences before marriage and why it's God's best to wait until matrimony.

Glenys NellistGlenys Nellist lives in Rockford, but a book published in her native England is the inspiration for her Love Letters from God series of books for children.

When her four sons were young, they loved the book "The Jolly Postman, or Other People's Letters" by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. The story has a postman delivering letters to fairy tale characters, with children able to open the envelope on each page and pull out the letter addressed to their favorite characters.

Nellist brought the book with her to the United States when she and her husband David moved here several decades ago, and it became the inspiration for her own children's books. Her first book, "Love Letters from God: Bible Stories" came out with Zonderkidz in 2014, complete with lift-the-flap letters from God written for young readers.

"I love to write, so when I decided to write a storybook Bible I needed it to be unique because there are so many out there," said Nellist. "God whispered, 'Remember those little letters? Write letters after the Bible stories as if they're from me.'"

Bestselling author Karen Kingsbury has written many books, 24 of which are part of the Baxter Family collection. Her most recent is "The Baxter Family Christmas," released just in time for this holiday season.

The book is first in a new collection featuring the Baxter family. The second, "Love Story," comes out in June 2017 and a third next fall. "The Baxter Family Christmas" has John Baxter eager to bring his family together on Christmas Eve. He also wants to invite the young woman who received daughter Erin's heart after her untimely death.

Some of his family are happy to meet her, but some want nothing to do with this stranger who reminds them of their deep loss.

"I try to create people who are real and readers can relate to," said Kingsbury. "Readers see themselves or a family member in these characters."

Mel Trotter Ministries CEO Dennis Van Kampen: “My greatest satisfaction with working at Mel Trotter Ministries is seeing someone live the life they were meant to live.”When small businesses close their doors, it seldom generates a blip on news organizations’ radar. That wasn’t the case when Propaganda Doughnuts decided earlier this year to shutter its business, stirring a divisive buzz about the public’s view of the homeless — and what can be done to help them.

Formerly located at 117 S. Division Avenue, Propaganda Doughnuts’ owner and landlord said the reasons they closed the donut shop was because customers often complained of panhandlers begging for money, public urination, sleeping in doorways and on sidewalks.

Propaganda Doughnuts was based in the Heartside district, an area in downtown Grand Rapids that’s bounded approximately by Fulton and Wealthy streets and Grandville and Lafayette avenues.

Strong Tower Radio QuartetA throwback to the sounds of yesteryear is helping introduce West Michigan to a new Christian
radio outlet.

The "Old Time Radio Variety Hour" is a Christmas program performed to a live audience on Sat.
Dec. 10 at Wyoming Seventh Day Adventist Church on 44th St SW .

The production is courtesy of Strong Tower Radio affiliate WNHG-FM (89.7) which signed on
locally last summer as part of the Strong Tower network. The event offers a peek behind the
curtain of the medium's "golden era."

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 December:

MercyMe – (l. to r.) Nathan Cochran, Mike Scheuchzer, Bart Millard, Robby Shaffer, Barry GraulMercyMe guitarist Barry Graul says playing alongside a symphony orchestra is heavenly.

"Having that musical atmosphere in and around everything the band is doing...it's just icing on the cake," said the artist from his home near Nashville, Tenn.
"Those musicians are all such great players – and way more professional than we've ever been," he laughed.

The award-winning, inspirational pop band joins the Grand Rapids Symphony for a Nov. 29 concert at Resurrection Life Church in Grandville. Also featured is the Res Life Church Choir. The band has its own Christmas concert the following night in Kalamazoo (details below).

After the first portion of the evening during which MercyMe performs several of its Christian radio hits (including the seminal "I Can Only Imagine"), the band is joined by the symphony for holiday music drawn largely from last year's album, "Mercy Me, It's Christmas."

​Abby Johnson: “We don’t spend enough time on our knees in prayer for the conversion of the heart.”When it comes to revealing Planned Parenthood Federation of America's tactics to nudge women to abort their babies, Abby Johnson pulls no punches.

Johnson admits there was a time she was a staunch supporter of the nonprofit organization known for providing women and men reproductive health services, which in its view must include abortion.

She previously believed in protecting and expanding its reproductive health services, a euphemism tied to, but not limited to, abortion.

But no more.

Abby Van Wormer loves kids and love cats, so it made perfect sense for her to write a
book for children that features a big orange cat.

"Scrappy's Search" stars Scrappy, a charming cat who is helped by lots of folks in the
neighborhood but who longs for a real family and forever home.

"The story was inspired by a cat that came to our family when we lived in Oregon,"
said Van Wormer. "We were moving to a new house and the cat just ran into the
house. We kept putting him out but he wouldn't take no for an answer. The family
adopted Garfield, as he came to be called."

The Christmas holiday is fast approaching, which means that Christmas concerts are even closer.
Music of the holidays – already on the radio and in retail stores - comes to West Michigan stages
right after Thanksgiving.

Church pageants and Christmas musicals abound – but note that Calvary Church's "Festival of
Lights" is in year two of its hiatus due to the church's construction project. The East Beltline NE
church is expected to resume the series next year.

This round-up concentrates on the larger scale events and concerts from out-of-town artists. The
list:

Thanks to video streaming on Mike Peters’ Facebook page, many more are hearing about Jesus’ Good News.Editor's note: West Michigan Christian News continues its occasional series that updates the ministries and people previously featured, this time with 4Fires Ministry.

On Wednesdays at 7 p.m. EST, an average of 15 people arrive at Northland United Methodist Church, 1157 Northlawn St. NE in Grand Rapids, to worship the Lord in a Native American contextual ministry known as 4Fires. About 20 minutes later, people from across the nation and around the world join them without walking into the church.

The reason the number of people hearing the Bible study mushrooms is because of live video streaming Facebook makes possible. But it gets better.

Another 200 to 300 will hear Mike Peters' sermons after they're posted on his Facebook page, which can be found online.  People must first "friend" request Peters in order to watch his online messages.

Amelia Rhodes admits to offering up quick prayers for those in need, but forgetting to pray long-term for those needs. Her prayer life was more haphazard than helpful so she figured out a way to get more organized.

Rhodes began a blog series offering an organized list of things to pray for and downloadable cards for readers to print and create their own lists. Readers asked for sturdier cards, so Rhodes and her husband began developing a stand and card pack in September 2015. By March 2015, the Pray A to Z card pack/stand were available for purchase.

Now that initial idea has expanded even more thanks to her new book "Pray A to Z: A Practical Guide to Pray for Your Community," to be released Tuesday, Nov. 15, by Worthy Inspired ($14.99).

"My hope is that readers will become more engaged and excited about their prayer lives," said Rhodes. "I hope the book will be a starting point, that readers will get excited about their relationships with God and go deeper and farther."

"Pray A to Z" offers five topics per letter; three are prayers of petition and two are prayers of praise. For example, the letter A has readers praying for Adoption, Abuse and Alcoholism, and offering praise for Abundance and Almighty.

The letter C offers prayers for Cancer, Court Cases and Caregivers, and praises God as Creator and Comforter.

Steven MalcolmSteven Malcolm is heralding January 8, 2017 as a dream come true.

Amidst the hoopla with the late October announcement of the gigantic Christian music Winter Jam tour, area fans may have missed the addition of a local artist to the bill.

"I will be performing at the Van Andel Arena in my hometown," gushed Malcolm, a Grand Rapids-based music artist, to his 11,000-plus Facebook followers.
The 25 year-old hip-hop artist is officially part of Winter Jam, a cavalcade of Christian music artists which travels to 46 cities from January to April playing in major arenas. Along with top-selling artists such as David Crowder, Britt Nicole and Tenth Avenue North, Malcolm is part of the "pre-jam" opening act roster for the January 8 event, which has an admission price of $10 at-the-door.

His slot on the prestigious tour comes in tandem with his recent signing to a national record label – "4 AGAINST 5" (in Roman numerals, "IVAV"), a hip-hop imprint of industry giant Word Records.

His self-titled national debut releases early next year. The first single - "Hot Boy," with a beat which bounces off a keyboard riff - is already available, listen to the lyric video online.

"I use the phrase 'hot boy' to say I have a burning passion to glorify God in everything I do," he said. "God has given me the gift of music and I want to be on fire with it."

Mike “Brickhouse” Benson starts to give a steel rod a new shape.Mike "Brickhouse" Benson grabs hold of a steel rod and does something with it he calls the Tylenol Bend. The feat gets its name because it's a sure-fire way to trigger a headache.

Wrapping a cloth around the rod's center, Benson places it on his head and with the sheer strength of his massive biceps, bends it into a U shape.

Applause and shrieks of amazement arise in the cafeteria at Discovery Elementary School in Kentwood where around 400 kindergarten to 5th graders are gathered to witness feats of strength at a recent motivational assembly that's fronted by Benson's Grandville-based the Conquerors International Strength Team.

Other strength demonstrations included Yago "Batman" Williams successfully snapping a baseball bat in two and blowing into a hot water bottle to the point of it bursting. Benson bent a 12-inch frying pan into the shape of a burrito while giving a horseshoe an entirely different look.

Directed by Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge is a faith-based movie that tells the true story of Desmond T. Doss, a medic in World War 11 and, because of his Christian faith, Doss fought as a conscientious objector. Tagged a "coward" and constantly prodded by military commanders to "go home", Desmond hung tough and stayed, going on to save 75 lives. He found the injured men following the battle at Hacksaw Ridge, and lowered them to safety by rope, facing great danger every time. He kept praying each moment after saving one, "Lord, just give me one more," and then he prayed this way again and again, until he had saved the 75.

Doss was a Seventh-day Adventist, and his conscience was guided by a framed poster of the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, one his father had purchased where Doss grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia. An image on the poster of Cain holding a club above his dead slain brother, Abel, is an image Doss never forgot. He asked himself how a brother could do that to his sibling.

According to the book, Hero of Hacksaw Ridge, written by Booton Herndon, the men of the 77th infantry told him, "When we go into combat, Doss, you're not comin' back alive. I'm gonna shoot you myself!" They added, "You're nothing but a coward!" But Doss stuck to his firm belief that his mission was not to kill, but to heal. His fellow soldiers changed their minds after being rescued by him and seeing how he put himself at great personal risk.

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

Sculptor Mic Carlson stands near one of his sculptures depicting St. Francis preaching at Assisi, Italy’s Temple Minerva.Surrounded by towering trees at the Dominican Center at Marywood, 2025 E. Fulton St., is an urban haven of undeveloped land that invites visitors to till the soil of inner peace and learn about a man's steadfast devotion to Christ.

The 11-acres of terra firma is called the St. Francis of Assisi Sculpture Garden that first started taking tangible form in 2009. Work continues today to make the pathway into a continuous loop as funds become available.

Luke and Joel Smallbone of For King & Country at the 2016 Dove AwardsIt's a movement that includes a book, feature film, song and now a concert tour.

"Priceless" contains a message for justice presented on multiple platforms by singer-songwriters Joel and Luke Smallbone and their band For King & Country.

"When we began traveling as a band several years ago we started to share (about the tragedy of human trafficking) and were amazed at the response," said Joel Smallbone, 32, from an office in Nashville, Tenn.

"We knew there was a bigger story to be told," he said of its emphasis on God-given human worth.

Their "Priceless" concert tour stops in Muskegon on Nov. 4.

The theme is woven through their song "Priceless," which topped Christian radio charts last summer, and the August release of a book of the same title (Worthy Publishing).

Dan Biro, (left) and his band Hawk NelsonThe Christian pop-rock band Hawk Nelson doesn't mind serving as an opening act for the better-known Tenth Avenue North.

"We actually love supporting other artists," said bass guitarist Dan Biro from his Peterborough, Ont. home. "There's just more strength when you're together."

The tour comes to Community Reformed Church in Zeeland on Oct. 27.

Hawk Nelson (named after a superhero character) had already been around for several years before its 2004 national debut. Beginning with a pop-punk sound, it has transitioned into more conventional pop-rock. Even with fair success in Christian radio, the band has long had a role in multi-artist tours and performed for hundreds of thousands of fans.

Lynn Austin Popular novelist Lynn Austin moved from the Chicago area two years ago, and naturally set her next novel in her new home. Early Holland, Mich., is the setting for Waves of Mercy, which came out the first week of October.

Austin is author of a dozen standalone novels, three series (Refiner's Fire, Chronicles of the King, The Restoration Chronicles) and one nonfiction book, Pilgrimage.

Austin, who had book signings in Grand Rapids and Holland, answers questions about Waves of Mercy, her life, and her writing.

Q: What inspired you to write Waves of Mercy and set it in Holland?
A: My husband grew up in Holland, so when we decided to move back there two years ago, I began researching Holland's history to see if it would make a good novel. Also, I grew up in the area of New York State that was originally owned and settled by the Dutch, and I visited Holland for the first time when I attended Hope College. I was immediately impressed by how proud the community was of their faith and Dutch heritage.

Author Kathy Fannon is a holistic health coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.Slow down, make memories with friends and family, drink more water, set up a budget, get your nose out of your iPhones and iPads and be more active.

And by all means, take the time to enjoy your food.

It's sage advice amid a circus of deadlines and demands that can go a long way in enabling women to enjoy life more — but only when they're real about their feelings, struggles and perceived failures, said Jenison resident Kathy Fannon.