Switchfoot worked through a daunting creative process on its latest album and arrived at a place "Where the Light Shines Through."

The hopeful song titles the new release, which is the Grammy-winning band's 10th album.

"We've been through a lot as a band, and in writing these new songs we went through some mountains and some valleys," said keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas during a call from a tour stop in Minneapolis, Minn.

Larry Gerbens discusses artist Robert Barnum’s rendering of the prodigal son parable. Gerbens said Barnum was drawn to God’s racial grace, so depicted that the buildings are shaken off of their foundations.The parable of the prodigal son is sourced only in the gospel of Luke, but as Larry Gerbens' art collection attests, the allegory about forgiveness resonates with artists and people from around the world.

"This country needs a huge dose of forgiveness and people seeking forgiveness," Gerbens said at a recent afternoon talk titled, "The Art of Forgiveness" that was hosted by AMDG Architects in downtown Grand Rapids.

"Forgiveness is huge and untapped in today's world. Art elevates us culturally."

Tim Van Bruggen in his role last spring as Dietrich BonhoefferBYRON TOWNSHIP - Master Arts Theatre (MAT) executive director Tim Van Bruggen is nearly a full year into his new position with the faith-based community theater group.
And he's overseeing a season of stage productions which includes him as an actor and director – both simultaneously in the opening musical "Horizons of Gold," playing now through Oct. 8 (details below).

"When I came on board (late last year) they were making the final decisions on the coming season," recalled Van Bruggen, 48, from his MAT office on 77th St. SW. But he did have some influence in the resulting schedule.

"I was so excited about this show ("Horizons") that I ended up directing it," he said.
The musical is a re-telling of the biblical book of Ruth, and set in rural Kansas of 1940 in the middle of the devastating "dust bowl" 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 October:

The West Michigan based gospel rap/hip-hop artist Beacon Light has released his fourth album, titled "Lit." Its boisterous song "Haters" is showcased in a remarkable new video.

The video version pictures the artist fleeing from an SWAT-style group of armed soldiers in an abandoned building. With some cool slow motion and other special effects, he stands up to the threat proclaiming, "I love the haters."

There are plenty of beats, drops, dance moves and other of the genre's stylish features.

Hall’s feature film will be released early next year.There was a time when Ron Hall would have been an unlikely guest speaker for Guiding Light Mission's Oct. 5 annual banquet.

Equally improbable was him becoming an advocate for the homeless and a New York Times best-selling author, as well as a new feature film to be released early next year.

High finance, owning his own art gallery and working as an international art dealer who bought and sold museum quality masterpieces in major countries were Hall's career priorities years ago.

Bestsellers – September, 2016

Fiction
1. Without Warning – Lynette Eason
2. Selfless Act – Wanda Brunstetter
3. Guide Me Home – Kim Vogel Sawyer
4. 2nd Half – Lauraine Snelling
5. Witness – Robert Witlow
6. Until I Love Again – Jerry Eicher
7. Traces Of Guile – Dee Henderson
8. Sensible Shoes – Sharon Brown
9. If I Run – Terri Blackstock
10. Gone Without A Trace – Patricia Bradley

Josh WilsonAs the fall season sweeps in, there are plenty of musical offerings from faith-based artists in a variety of West Michigan venues.

Just compiling and listing them all in a single column is a challenge.

From Muskegon to Holland to Grand Rapids, there's music from Southern gospel to classical, aimed at audiences from youthful to senior citizen and everything in between.

Evangelist Mike Benson holds the Spanish and English versions of “Who I am In Christ.”Some 25 years ago, an elderly woman who lived in Florida handed Kathi "Kibby" Byker a stack of lined paper with a string of Bible verses handwritten on them.

The woman made it clear the reason why she was giving the pile of papers to Byker.

"She had written them out in her shaky little handwriting," recalled Byker, who now lives in Grandville with her husband of 45 years, Dave. "She said to me, 'Here honey, you're going to need to know who you are in Christ.' I was a new Christian then, and after I became a Christian, I started listening to God's voice and felt it (the scriptures) needed to be in book form."

A huge crowd saw Mark Schultz close this year’s W.O.W. series Four long-term volunteers are retiring after years of service with the summertime "Worship on the Waterfront" (W.O.W.) series at Grand Haven's Waterfront Stadium.

At this year's final event on Sun. Aug. 28, a crowd of more than 2,500 gathered to hear inspirational singer-songwriter Mark Schultz. And the audience also showed its appreciation to volunteers Irv Boersen, Bob Bennett, Sharon Yonker and Carolyn Manting.

Four of the seven-member Old Time Gospel Singers perform songs that included “When He Was On The Cross, I Was On His Mind”; and “That Night Old Jack Daniels Met John 3:16.”Loneliness washed over Gloria Cole of Sand Lake when her husband of 52 years died in January 2016. Since his passing, she's been attending the 2nd Chance Cowboy Church to ease her solitary life.

"It gives me a night not be to home alone and to hear God's Word and the beautiful music and hear Ron share about what he's doing for troubled kids," said Cole.

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 otherwise be overlooked. Here are three highlights for September:

Guiding Light Mission executive director Stuart Ray said the recent closing of a donut shop in the Heartside neighborhood punctuates the need for sustainable, collaborative solutions.The recent closing of a donut shop in the Heartside district of Grand Rapids illustrates the need to do less finger pointing and more implementing of achievable solutions, according to the head of an area nonprofit ministry.

"I don't know if we're doing anyone any favors by blaming anybody versus finding more common, more sustainable solutions," said Stuart Ray, executive director of Guiding Light Mission.

The Heartside District is bounded roughly by Fulton and Wealthy streets and Grandville and Lafayette avenues. Guiding Light is located in the core of Heartside at 255 S. Division where it provides homeless men with temporary shelter, substance abuse counseling, employment assistance and biblically based mentorship programs.

Chris Tomlin (center) and fellow music artists kneel at “Worship Night in America”Picture this: author/pastors Max Lucado and Louie Giglio, singer-songwriter worship leader Chris Tomlin and several other special guests lead a "Worship Night in America," showing one-night only in select theaters and churches nationwide.

The on-screen event, scheduled for Tues. Oct. 25, is actually a presentation of a sold-out gathering taped earlier this summer in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Interviews and back-stage footage are part of the package.

Third Day (l. to r.) Mark Lee, Mac Powell, David CarrThird Day is a heritage Christian band with a stack of hit songs and slew of awards over its 20+ year recording history. Along the way they've played to a generation of followers. But recently they were introduced to some new friends.

"We were on tour with Steven Curtis Chapman, and some nights we asked the crowd if they had ever seen us (in concert) before," said Third Day lead singer Mac Powell of their concert pairing.

"There definitely were some who never had. So hopefully we are making some new fans."
Powell and his Third Day band mates are still riding on their 2015 release "Lead Us Back." Although worship-based songs are sprinkled throughout their catalog, this collection is their first full-fledged worship album in 12 years.

Calvin College chaplain Rev. Mary Hulst’s book advises pastors to receive sermon pointers from their congregation.Every minister who puzzles over ideas for his or her next sermon shares a common trait: They want their congregations to grasp a nugget of biblical insight that will help them understand God on some deeper level.

And those listening to the sermons will affirm that doesn't always happen.

Rev. Mary S. Hulst's new book, "A Little Handbook for Preachers: Ten Practical Ways to a Better Sermon by Sunday" (InterVarsity Press, 191 pages) intends to bridge that gap so pastors' sermons can spiritually resonate with their parishioners.

Dan SeabornI like to do something notoriously associated with the female gender. Let's just say it involves clothing, sometimes high heels, undergarments and even an occasional teddy. Oh for Pete's sake now before your mind wanders too far in the wrong direction let me just tell you right up front – I like to shop, especially for good deals!

I particularly like shopping for my wife, Jane, which means I frequent what would traditionally be known as women's stores searching for what might be called "delicates". Trust me when I say I get some pretty strange looks and concerned glances when I shop there. But once these ladies see that I'm serious about finding a deal or not settling for anything except a perfect match in colors and accessories, they accept me as one of their own!

Singer-songwriter, music minister and West Michigan radio personality Perry LaHaie has released a new music video for the title track of his latest album, "Ahead."

Picturing LaHaie and his guitar walking down a desolate gravel road, the lyrics are a musical prayer for strength and guidance. The theme hinges on the quote from Navigators' founder Dawson Trottman which suggests, "....when you can't see very far ahead, go as far ahead as you can see."

(left to right): Rene' Wheaton is Faith Hospice’s administrator and Vila “Vi” Daniel is its chaplain. Faith Hospice chaplain Vila "Vi" Daniel has witnessed first hand terminally ill people end their final days on Earth with an expectation that their lives will indeed continue after leaving this mortal coil.

"I think the bottom line is that they feel a presence, they feel God is in their midst," said Daniel recently at Trillium Woods, 8214 Pfeiffer Farms Drive SW in Byron Center. Trillium is the residential hospice center of Faith Hospice, which is Holland Homes' hospice care division.

Bestsellers – August, 2016

Fiction
1. 2nd Half – Lauraine Snelling
2. Sea Rose Lane – Irene Hannon
3. Sensible Shoes – Sharon Brown
4. If I Run – Terri Blackstock
5. Traces of Guilt – Dee Henderson
6. Two Steps Forward – Sharon Brown
7. Missing – Lisa Harris
8. Like A River From Its Course – Kelli Stuart
9. Beauty Refined – Tracie Peterson
10. Deadly Encounter – DiAnn Mills

Dan SeabornHave you tried to fix a child's toy or a kitchen utensil by conventional means only to have it break five minutes later? Do you remember the last time something broke and you didn't have the right tools at the time to fix it? I've encountered both dilemmas and have turned to duct tape for fast, effective relief. I've used duct tape, just like you, for almost every problem in my life. I've sealed leaky containers, fixed an old broom, held the door closed, and even had some fun with people.

But like everything in life, there are challenges even when it comes to handling duct tape. Challenges I don't like but are an inevitable part of the process. It's when you peel off a lengthy piece and just as you are about to apply it to the repair you are hoping to make, the piece of tape actually gets stuck to itself. The two sticky sides cling together like magnets and from my experience it is impossible to pull them apart. When duct tape adheres to itself, it stops being an effective tool to repair a particular item, but as a bonding product it provides an excellent example for us as to what can happen when we apply this kind of adhesiveness to our lives.

Carol Wallace never got through her great-great-grandfather's magnum opus Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, first published in 1880.

"I always lumped it in with books that were great stories but too boring to read, like The Last of the Mohicans and all of Jules Verne's books," said Wallace from her New York City apartment.

But she grew up in a house full of books and her dad was an American history buff keen on his ancestor Lew Wallace. Her parents attended the New York City premier of the 1959 movie Ben-Hur, and she enjoyed the book The Story of the Making of Ben-Hur, which released when the original movie came out.

Judah Ben-Hur is a Jewish prince betrayed by a Roman friend and sent into slavery. He survives and gains his freedom, and returns to Israel to exact revenge. But his encounters with a Nazarene carpenter named Jesus change his life.