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Award-winning Music Artist Scheduled for Calvin College Visit

Written by Terry DeBoer on 19 January 2015. Posted in Local

   Grammy-nominated, faith-based hip-hop artist Lecrae is coming to West Michigan in March as part of the Calvin College Festival of Faith and Music.

     The reflective musician will give a keynote address at the conference, as well as perform in an open-to-the-public concert March 28 at VanNoord Arena.

     Securing the high-profile Lecrae, who only recently performed on “The Tonight Show” on NBC-TV, is a coup for the biennial festival. The visit was announced last week by coordinating committee member Ken Heffner.

Family Christian Stores Adds Filmmaking

Written by Editor in Chief on 19 January 2015. Posted in Local

The idea that turned the nation's largest Christian retail chain into a giving engine to support widows and orphans now expands to movies. Family Christian Stores' new sister company, Family Christian Entertainment (FCE), announces the Atlanta shoot, starting Jan. 26, of 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN, the 2004 New York Times best-selling book about Pastor Don Piper's near-death experience.

Youngest Known Survivor says Best Birthday Present to Her is Never Forget the Holocaust

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 17 January 2015. Posted in Local

Survivor Tova Friedman said it’s vital to keep the Holocaust on the forefront of public thought.Tova Friedman considers Jan. 27 her birthday, even though it’s not the actual date she was born.

Jan. 27 is when 70 years ago Friedman was among 7,000 prisoners liberated by the Soviet Army from the Auschwitz death camp.

But, Friedman said, being liberated from the Third Reich’s atrocities has not emancipated her from the unsettling memories of the Nazi regime’s systematic mass murder of six million European Jews, known as the Holocaust.

One Night Movie Event Coming: Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus

Written by Edwin L. Carpenter on 12 January 2015. Posted in Local

A big event is soon to arrive for Christians and for those simply interested in archaeological examinations and historical events of the past. A one night screening of Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus, a documentary, is being shown nationwide in select theaters Monday, January 19. It will be screened at Celebration Cinema North and River Town Crossings in Grand Rapids at 7 pm. And it will screen as well in Benton Harbor at the Celebration Cinema. It is directed by Timothy P. Mahoney.

“Did the Exodus really happen?” asks Mahoney in a short video on the website, FathomEvents.com. “That’s a question that led me on an incredible 12-year investigation.” We are not certain of Mahoney’s conclusions, but we do know that he wanted to examine the “physical evidence from a scientific perspective.” Referring to the audience of this film, he said, “We let them make up their own mind.” The documentary features a panel of experts sharing their point of view.

New Year Brings Concert Variety

Written by Terry DeBoer on 11 January 2015. Posted in Local

Third Day The new year features a smorgasbord of faith-based musical expressions in churches and other venues around West Michigan.

January started with a bang thanks to Winter Jam, the jam-packed Christian music tour featuring Skillet, Jeremy Camp and numerous other artists that filled Van Andel Arena back on Jan. 4. Read a review online. You can see a repeat of Winter Jam at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Feb. 21).

Other nationwide tours by well known artists such as Third Day, David Crowder and Matt Maher are coming through the area over the next several months.

God is Telling a New West Side Story through Bridge Street House of Prayer

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 10 January 2015. Posted in Local

BSHOP’s coffee shop, the Pavilion, serves free coffee with a purpose.Ryan Waalkes and his handful of staff members purposely live on the West Side of Grand Rapids. They do so with their eyes wide open.

It's an ethnically diverse area where salt-of-the-earth people live, where the marginalized poor can use a friend.

The West Side is where God has called Waalkes to live and minister to through the urban ministry he helped found in 2005 called Bridge Street House of Prayer (BSHOP). The name of the ministry is based on Isaiah 56:7, because BSHOP is where the hurting and outcast can experience the presence of God.

West Michigan Veritas Forum to Explore World Christianity

Written by WMCN Editor on 05 January 2015. Posted in Local

Focusing on the theme “Unity in Diversity: Learning from World Christianity,” speakers from around the globe highlight the 2015 West Michigan Veritas Forum, which will take place on Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 8-10, at Pillar Church in Holland.

The mix of keynote addresses and panel discussions, the Forum will explore the growth of Christianity around the world and its implications for a fresh understanding of the Gospel. The public is invited to attend any or all of the events, and admission is free.

ICCF Dares to Believe Housing Necessary for Life’s Success

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 03 January 2015. Posted in Local

Jonathan Bradford will mark 34 years with ICCF in March 2015.Receiving Jesus' grace and acting as His ambassador to a harsh and indifferent world requires Christians to possess a clear-eyed understanding of why it's biblical to help the homeless find a better way of life, said Jonathan Bradford.

"God is indeed completely sovereign over all dimensions of human engagement and activity," said Bradford, president and CEO of Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF), a nonprofit affordable housing provider that serves more than 2,500 families annually through its programs and services. "Christ's earthly ministry was preferential to the poor, the sick and for the outcast."

Terry’s Picks: January 2015

Written by Terry DeBoer on 02 January 2015. Posted in Local

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 January:

Living Nativity Offers Glimpse into the First Christmas

Written by Terry DeBoer on 15 December 2014. Posted in Local

Church youth assume the roles of Joseph and Mary at the manger.Several West Michigan churches offer live nativity scenes each Christmas season – depictions of Mary, Joseph and the baby in the manger on that first Christmas night. And the multi-church dramatic "Journey to Bethlehem" in Grand Haven is a supreme effort to tell the entire Christmas story.

But few individual churches put as much effort into such a display as Jenison Bible Church, on 14th Ave. at 44th St. in Hudsonville.

Partners Worldwide Leads Charge to End World Poverty Through Business People’s Expertise

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 14 December 2014. Posted in Local

Doug Seebeck is president of Partners Worldwide.Doug Seebeck knows when Christians hear the word “ministry” many often think of pastors, evangelists and missionaries. Businesspeople usually are not in that mix.

“I’ve talked to businesspeople who feel their job is to plant their feet in pews, write a check and stay out of the way,” said Seebeck. “But business is a calling from God.”

Exodus: God and Kings Veers from Biblical Story

Written by Edwin L. Carpenter on 14 December 2014. Posted in Local

A lot of people were disappointed with the recent release of Noah, starring Russell Crowe. It strayed from the biblical text and featured unusual plotlines, such as Noah wanting his own grandchild dead and it included a stowaway on the ark, bent on killing Noah. Well, we have Exodud, sorry, I mean Exodus: Gods and Kings, to now contend with.

The movie is huge, featuring lavish costumes, and sphinxes. When the Hebrew people begin their exodus from Egypt it looks every bit like there are six thousand of them, thanks to CGI. Both Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton are sufficient in their roles as Moses and Ramses, but they don’t fill the long shadows of Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner.

But the number of times the film veers from the biblical account is staggering. Here are just a few examples: there is no voice that comes from the burning bush. We see a young boy show up, begin talking to Moses, and he declares, “I Am.” This may be representative of God telling His people to come as a little child, but this scene is definitely not to be found in the Bible. Also, we do not see Moses kill the Egyptian that was beating a Hebrew slave. Instead, Moses kills several people in unaccounted for slayings. He does not demand, “Let my people go,” either. The plagues just start up, the first one being the water turning to blood. The way it is depicted happening? Crocodiles eat several men and their blood apparently infects the water and soon there is blood everywhere.

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