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.