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The Costs and the Ultimate Value
‘God has taken us on such a journey’
DR. DAVID GUSHEE marks the publishing-industry milestone of selling more than 25,000 copies of his book Changing Our Mind—which explains the biblical need to embrace LGBTQ Christians. On this special occasion, Dr. Gushee writes about both the costs of publishing such a daring book—and the ultimate value of this book in the thousands of lives inspired by it. Please read this Cover Story, which appears in our Front Edge Publishing website, and then share this inspiring story with friends.
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And Speaking of Mentoring …
Leading with Spirit
LARRY BUXTON, this week, asks a question many of us are wearily asking: In our polarized American culture, is there any point in trying to share our wisdom with each other? Yes, Larry argues in his Leading with Spirit video. Today, he says, there is “a crisis of purpose” and “a crisis of mentoring” but leaders must continue to reach out and mentor friends and colleagues if we hope to build a more hopeful future. (While you’re visiting Larry’s website, consider signing up for a free weekly email about his latest videos—via a convenient box in the lower left area of that web page labeled: “Join this community.” Larry’s short videos are drawn from both biblical resources and the latest headlines—and they’re great to share with your small group to spark discussion.)
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Reaching to the Stars
Why do we continue to explore the creation?
BILL TAMMEUS writes this week about another milestone in world news: the continuing deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope. “Almost no matter where you look to find the history of humanity, you discover that we are explorers and that our questions are endless,” Bill writes in this thoughtful column.
Bill is widely regarded as a dean of religion journalists and his thoughtful analysis of the impact of faith on contemporary life is always worth reading. Here’s a second great example: If you are inspired by his column about exploring the heavens, then you’ll also want to read, What happened in the ’90s that changed religion in the U.S.? Like Larry Buxton’s videos, Bill’s columns are guaranteed to spark spirited discussion in Sunday School classes and other small groups in your community.
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Holidays & Festivals
Planning for the Eid al-Fitr
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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 on this photo of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to read Ed McNulty’s column about his Zelenskyy’s TV series ‘Servant of the People,’ which is streaming now.
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Click on this image to learn about the April issue of Visual Parables Journal, packed with discussion guides to films including Winter on Fire—Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, Writing with Fire and Frederick Douglass in Five Speeches.
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:
- SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE—Netflix now is streaming two dozen episodes of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 2015-19 TV series, Servant of the People. Ed McNulty writes about the “life-imitates-art” experience of watching this series in the midst of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. There are two parts: Here is Part 1: Ed’s commentary on the opening episodes. Then, here is Part 2: Ed’s follow up, focusing on later episodes.
- COMPARTMENT 6—”Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen takes on the strangers on a train genre in this slow moving story about Finnish student Laura (Seidi Haarla) studying in Moscow sometime during a winter of late 80s or mid 90s.”
- 7 DAYS—Director Roshan Sethi is also the co-writer (with star Karan Soni) of this romantic tale of two Americans, Ravi (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan), whose Indian parents want to set them up for an arranged marriage.
THE BATMAN—”Director Matt Reeves and co-writer (with Peter Craig) have given us an almost three hours long story so dark that film noir looks like screwball comedy by comparison.”- THE OUTFIT—”Set in the 1950s, director Graham Moore’s film is the story of Leonard, who has been opening up his modest shop in the same seedy side of Chicago ever since leaving London’s Saville Row after WWII.”
- FREDERICK DOUGLASS IN FIVE SPEECHES—Ed writes, “Although in just 54 minutes director Julia Marchesi cannot possibly include all of the massive amount of information in David Blight’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Frederick Douglass, she does an excellent job in portraying the man and his great influence upon his times and especially upon President Lincoln.”
- FLEE—”Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s triple Oscar contender about a war refugee is different from other documentaries in that it is 95% animated.”
- WINTER ON FIRE—“I hope that freedom-loving people all over the world will tune in to Netflix’s new documentary. An Oscar nominee for Best Documentary, it provides a fitting prelude to the current violence unleashed by the ruthless land-grabbing Russian tyrant, as well as a fitting tribute to the brave people opposing him.”
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