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Finding Hope in the ‘Great Unraveling’ of COVID

HER NEW ALBUM AND BOOK EXPLORE LIFE ‘UNTIL NOW’

LONGTIME READERS of our online magazine know that a frequent guest over the years is singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer—but we have not talked with her since before the pandemic began. In fact, she is just now releasing her first full album and new book of poetry since the start of COVID lockdowns in March 2020. And, in keeping with her signature spiritual talent, Carrie finds opportunities for hope even in the midst of great tragedy. Please read this cover story and tell friends about it. There’s a lot of good news—and good music and good poetry—you’ll be eager to share.

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From Our Authors—

Lucille Sider—

Knitting Lives Together

AUTHOR LUCILLE SIDER continues her series of stories about finding sources of spiritual resilience in everyday activities from simple prayers—to knitting. This week’s column is about Lucille’s discovery of the joys of knitting gifts for friends, including socks for a girl traveling north from Mexico.

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Dr. David Gushee Welcomes Visitors

AN INSPIRING TEACHER OPENS HIS DOORS ONLINE

Dr. David Gushee ranks as our single most sought-after author by his thousands of readers around the world. That interest in connecting with Dr. Gushee is only going to increase in early 2022 as we launch his new book, Introduction to Christian Ethics: Core Convictions for Christians Today. In our Front Edge Publishing column, this week, we introduce readers to the many text and video resources Dr. Gushee is providing in his welcoming new online home.

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Bill Tammeus Preaches Inclusion

A PROPHETIC CALL TO ‘UNPLUG EXTREMISM’

BILL TAMMEUS, author of Love, Loss and Endurance, continued his months-long nationwide effort to encourage Americans to “unplug extremism” with a Sunday morning sermon, addressed directly to Christians in light of the New Testament. We have a share-able video of that sermon, which is a prophetic call to Christians to confront efforts to subvert the Bible for hateful purposes.

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Larry Buxton’s Leading with Spirit

Do ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’?

In this week’s Leading with Spirit video, leadership coach Larry Buxton tackles the legendary Leo Durocher’s famous claim that “nice guys finish last.” Of course, we know Durocher was wrong, Larry points out, and history proves the fallacy in Durocher’s claim—but the rise of political extremists in America begs the question once again. This is a timely video you may want to share with friends.

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The ‘Best Christian Advice Books for Women’

TWO OF OUR AUTHORS are smiling, this week, to see that the editors at the online magazine Improve Her Health have chosen their books to feature in a short list of “best Christian advice books for women.” Take a look at the list to see which of our authors were featured.

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Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Among Ed’s free reviews and columns:

1. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)—Ed writes, “This is the 70th anniversary of the release of this classic science fiction film. It stood out at the time as the most intelligent film of the genre, carrying a message of peace and tolerance during the onslaught of the Cold War. Unlike other sci-fi films, the menace to Earth came not from alien monsters but from humans themselves.”
2. THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE—Ed praises the new film about the lives of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and says it’s likely to surprise many viewers.
3. BLUE BAYOU—Ed writes, “Actor/director Justin Chon throws light on a little-known aspect of ICE and its ruthless practice of deportation in this highly dramatic story set around and in a bayou near New Orleans. But be for warned—have on hand a handkerchief for the emotionally wrought ending!”
4. REMINISCE—Ed McNulty writes, “Writer-director Lisa Joy blends film noir with science fiction in this tale set in a near future Miami whose streets are being flooded as climate change causes the ocean to rise. Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) is the jaded detective whose specialty is the past.”
5. COME FROM AWAY—”The horrific events that occurred 20 years ago on 9/11 reveal the evil depths that humanity can sink to, but this filmed version of David Hein and Irene Sankoff’s Broadway play celebrates the heights to which humanity can rise.”
6. DAYS OF GLORY—”Co-writer/director Rachid Bouchareb provides a very different perspective on World War II in this tale centering on four North African Muslims who enlist to free what they regard as their fatherland, France.”
7. THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US—”Kate Winslet stars as Alex Martin and Idris Elba as Ben Bass. She is a daring-do photographer willing to take risks, whereas he is an overly cautious neurosurgeon, so their different temperaments fuel the conflict when the story kicks into high gear.”
8. RESPECT—”Director Liesl Tommy and writer Tracey Scott Wilson’s film biography of Aretha Franklin certainly deserves our respect—and gratitude. Covering about 29 years of the singer’s life, it begins with her as a 10-year-old rousted out of bed to entertain her father’s guests to the recording of her greatest hit album, Amazing Grace.”
9. PIG—”Director and co-writer Michael Sarnoski’s film about the reclusive supplier of truffles to Portland Oregon’s upscale restaurant presents Nicolas Cage with a role that rises far above what the actor has sunk into for a couple of decades.”
10. CODA—This 2021 American coming-of-age comedy-drama follows a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults (CODA for short). The movie is a remake of a French film and currently has a 96 percent approval rating from film critics—including Ed McNulty in his review.

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