More than 100,000 listeners have enjoyed Howard’s half-hour dose of hope and resilience
This week, we’re sharing 6 fan-favorite episodes
COVER STORY—Howard Brown begins this week’s Cover Story with the words: “This celebration isn’t about me—it’s about the more than 100,000 times people have chosen to listen to these stories of hope and resilience. Editor David Crumm invited me to write this column because we want to celebrate the lives this podcast has touched—perhaps yours. … If you’re hearing about my weekly Shining Brightly podcast for the first time—then I’m sharing six samples that will welcome you into our nationwide community of listeners.”
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More inspiring news, this week—
Laura Elizabeth is taking us back to her island off the Atlantic coast
IN OUR FRONT EDGE PUBLISHING COLUMN, this week, we share the big news that cozy mystery writer Laura Elizabeth has a second Island Mysteries novel in the works. And, we’re giving you an easy link to keep in touch with Laura, so you won’t miss the launch.
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MSU School of Journalism Bias Busters
How might key religious groups shape the upcoming election?
MSU BIAS BUSTERS PROFESSOR JOE GRIMM draws on information from two of the Bias Busters guidebooks as he looks at how key religious groups might shape the upcoming election.
One column is headlined: Do evangelical Christians support Biden or Trump? Yes.
A second column is headlined: Could religiously unaffiliated “nones” swing this election?
THANKS TO THE BIAS BUSTERS for all of their hard work in researching and producing more than 20 books to help combat bias with “100 Questions & Answers” about a wide range of minorities in our communities. They like to say, “We’re answering the questions everybody’s asking but nobody’s answering.” You can see the entire MSU series of books here.
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‘Young Life’ Recommends Jeffrey Munroe’s ‘Telling Stories in the Dark’
ALL OF US AT ReadTheSpirit magazine are honored that the nationwide Young Life ministry network recommended the new book by Jeffrey Munroe, Editor of the Reformed Journal and earlier in his career a Young Life leader. Why is Jeff’s new book so valuable? Because, Young Life’s column says, “Through these stories, Munroe illuminates the transformative power of faith amidst adversity, offering profound insights into the human experience and the enduring hope found in Christ.” To read this entire column about Jeff and his new book, click here to visit the Young Life website.
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What we can learn about embracing our ever-changing world from the Cherokee
THIS WEEK, Editor David Crumm has posted a review in Goodreads, highly recommending a new University of California press book, The People of Kituwah. In recent years, our online magazine has published dozens of stories about the wisdom all of us can find in exploring the Native American traditions that form a spiritual tapestry across our continent. If you find this review helpful, please share a link to it with friends.
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And from a half dozen of our authors
Resources to help your congregation welcome LGBTQ+ friends
OUR MAY 6 COVER STORY was inspired by the historic news that America’s third largest Christian denomination—the United Methodist Church—has reversed more than half a century of LGBTQ+ exclusion. And now—the challenge voiced by United Methodist bishops, pastors and lay leaders nationwide is—”Welcoming all people into the embrace of God.” If you missed it last week, please enjoy that helpful story, which begins with some of the best news headlines about this historic milestone—then offers an inspiring video introduction to a wide array of authors. And, if you are inspired, take a moment to share this cover story with friends this week via social media and email. Together, we can help to expand the compassionate circle in communities nationwide.
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Holidays & Festivals
If you see flames this Sunday—
It’s likely a Pentecost celebration
FLAMES AND RED VESTMENTS are common at Pentecost, a Christian celebration of “the birthday of the church.” Holidays & Festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton has the story for us.
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WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com
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Click this movie poster to read Ed’s review of “The Fall Guy.”
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 film reviews and discussion guides. This resource is used nationwide by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.
Here are some of Ed’s most recent free reviews and columns:
- THE FALL GUY—Ed writes, “Whatever genre you think director David Leitch’s new film belongs in … it ranks at the top of that genre.”
- DOGMAN—Ed is more ambivalent about Luc Bresson’s weird new film—and even warns about the level of violence.
- THE ASCENT—As he likes to do, Ed reaches back across the decades to recommend this 1977 film from Ukraine.
- HARD MILES—Ed writes, “This film will leave you feeling hopeful that redemption can come to seemingly hopeless youth—and also will leave you with a sense of awe at the grandeur of Nature.”
- SUZUME—”Director/writer Makoto Shinkai and his team of animators provide a mythological interpretation for the hundreds of earthquake tremors Japan suffers each year.”
- WE GROWN NOW—”Writer/director Minhai Baig’s ‘must-see’ film is an elegiac story of an imaginative boy facing the end of a way of life. It makes me believe all the more that the best of films are being made by independent filmmakers.”
- PROBLEMISTA—”In this surrealistic film, writer-director Julio Torres provides an unusual twist to the story of an immigrant struggling mightily to stay in this country but is harrassed by a soulless immigration bureaucracy.”
- CIVIL WAR—Ed writes, “Many angry citizens, who are upset over seemingly intractable political disputes, have talked about civil war breaking out in our nation—and would do well to watch writer/director Alex Garland’s film.”
- DUNE, PART 2—Ed urges us to continue with this remarkable series. “The incredible production values are matched by the A-list actors.”
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