A Convention of Hope: What I Saw at National Religious Broadcasters

As a conservative journalist working in the belly of the beast that is Washington, D.C., and mostly focused on shining a light on what’s going wrong in America, I find it all too easy it’s all too easy to forget that there’s a lot going right, especially outside the capital city I affectionately call “Mordor.”

This past week at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Orlando Florida, I crossed paths with conservative giants such as Dennis Prager, Eric Metaxas, and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., but I also met numerous Christians and Jews with a heart for sharing the hope that is in them—through filmmaking, radio, podcasting, poetry, children’s TV, and more.

The convention represented a flourishing of conservative religious culture that my heart had longed for—and it was surreal seeing it in person.

This past year, the Angel Studios streaming show “The Chosen” has introduced millions to the stories of Jesus’ disciples, but in the months ahead, the studio is launching even more. On July 4, “Sound of Freedom” will hit theaters. This action-packed thriller with Jim Caviezel—yes, Jesus from “The Passion of the Christ”—will tell the story of a man freeing people from modern-day slavery. I had the honor of hearing from Tim Ballard, the man whose story that movie is based on, and to call it inspiring and convicting would be a vast understatement. READ MORE