Culture

Sherwood Pictures, 2011, Rated PG Reviewed by Tara Burton. SHERWOOD PICTURES’ latest release Courageous is an uplifting story about family, mateship and fatherhood. Set in Georgia, USA, the local police force are battling crime and gangs. A group of five friends (four of whom are deputies in the local police) are all struggling with life’s trials and tribulations. When tragedy ...

Canterbury Press (London), 2009 RRP $32.95 Reviewed by Peter Harvey, Frontier Services, Flinders Patrol Minister. THIS IS the second book by Katharine Jefferts Schori written as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the USA. Like her first work, On a Wing and a Prayer, it is a collection of sermons and speeches given by the bishop at conferences and ...

Challis Press, 2010 RRP $45.95 Reviewed by Karyl Davison.  THOMAS JAY Oord, minister in the Church of the Nazarene and professor at Northwest Nazarene University, has written or contributed to dozens of books on topics like post modernity, the problem of evil, and the meaning of holiness. However, behind all his work has been a passion for the love of ...

Black Ink Press, Townsville, 2011 RRP $10 Reviewed by Barbara Bailey. THIS IS another superb publication from women involved in the lives of Indigenous Australians. The writer, Althea McKeown, and illustrator, Monique Russell, are related through their grandparents. The author, Ms McKeown, a mother of five and grandmother of two, spent her early years in Thursday Island. She is a passionate ...

SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2009 RRP $23.95 Reviewed by Bevan Lobley, who is interested in dealing with loss personally and to help those who seek his help. THIS IS  not an easy book to read. Talking about something that is very personal and also often quite distressing in our own lives is often hard to take in. Dr Copeland-Payton gives us ...

Canterbury Press. Norwich, 2008 RRP $29.95 Reviewed by Con Graves, who, after 28 years as a psychologist and business executive, switched to a life of voluntary simplicity aimed at reducing his impact on the earth and reducing stress in his own life and the lives of those around him. He worships at Newlife Uniting on the Gold Coast. THIS SMALL ...

Random House NY, 2010 Reviewed by Marian Zaunbrecher. I DON’T usually like war books, especially ones where there is a “hero”. But, travelling overseas, armed with no more than my ebook reader in the laptop and not the usual half suitcase I pack when travelling, I decided to give it a go. Unbroken is the biography of Louis Zamperini, born ...

Distributed by Heritage HM Home Entertainment Reviewed by John Ruhle. FLAG OF my Father is set in modern day America and centres on the wartime experiences, trauma and family relationships of Judith, an Iraq veteran. Judith shares a close and unique relationship with her Vietnam veteran father and this, along with her father’s second marriage, creates a sense of envy ...

The Alban Institute, 2008 RRP $33.95 Reviewed by Karyl Davison, Rural Ministry Coordinator, Presbytery of Central Qld & Lecturer in Christian Education, PLC.  EVERYTHING ABOUT a congregation speaks of its values. Imagine yourself walking into a church you know nothing about. If you see children’s artwork posted on the notice board, hear children singing and playing, and see posters for ...

Darton Longman and Todd, 1990 RRP $29.95  THIS BOOK contains the text of the Standard Edition (and thus includes the apocryopha) with a number of extras: – a Glossary giving succinct notes on around 200 key words and concepts, each ending with several relevant biblical references; – an index of persons with biblical references. – a Chronological History placing biblical ...