Culture

Mary meets Mohammad is a stunning and very timely contribution to a very toxic public discourse, and a presentation of issues which many people will find easy to follow. It speaks to the heart and the head. If you care about social justice, and are confused by the current poisonous politics, this is a must see. Island people like Tasmanians ...

Bush Nurses starts with a story about a nurse who saves a baby in-utero by physically holding the cord off the baby’s neck until the flying doctor can arrive as backup. Right from the beginning this book consistently delivers fascinating stories. Healthcare is offered very differently away from the big city in regional areas, and between regional and remote country ...

Love, tears & autism By Cecily Patterson Ark House Press, 2011 RRP $19.99 How do we face the challenges that life throws our way? Where do we draw our strength? Some of my best friends have daughters or sons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) so I was very interested in this easy to read Australian book. I was riveted by ...

Loss and Discovery Edited by Margaret Wesley Mosaic Press 2013 RRP $29.99 Here is an in depth collection of articles presenting the Christian viewpoint on responding to grief with the compassion of Christ and the skills of God's people. This is not for the beginner, mildly curious or the faint hearted. In fact, this is the collection of all the ...

101 Great Ideas for Growing Healthy Churches By (Editors) John Nelson, Michael Lofthouse, and Anton Muller Canterbury Press, Norwich, UK RRP $39.95 MODEM is a registered charity in UK dedicated to bringing business and management skills from the corporate world to the churches. There are some very high-profile contributors from business and clergy. The table of contents lists all the ...

The 25 excellent essays in this volume were prepared in honour of the life and ministry of Rev Dr Norman Young, a wise and respected scholar, teacher, author and colleague to many. The papers were first presented at a conference in November 2010 to mark his eightieth birthday and the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination in the Methodist church. As ...

Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby lacks the sly, subversive quality of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original novel, but it still captures its essence, retelling it in Luhrmann’s flashy, theatrical style. Imagination is one of the most important human qualities; it is how we overcome problems, navigate our futures and—perhaps most importantly—empathise with people around us. The Great Gatsby is ...

“And you are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven.” (The Doctor, The Wedding of River Song) By Dianne Jensen. Who is this man with the power to forgive? For 50 years, the world’s longest running science fiction hero has embodied the quintessential English eccentric. Doctor Who is the solitary traveller whose name is unknown, the immortal who brings reconciliation and healing ...

Mosaic Press, 2009 RRP: $23.95 Reviewed by Wendy Scott. People of Compassion is one book you will not take lightly. If you want to be inspired, encouraged, and have a light shone in those dark unloving places in your heart, take courage and read this very slowly. Then read it again in a month's time. This book starts with pithy ...

Mosaic Press, 2013 RRP $29.95 Reviewed by Bob Warrick. In his introduction, Lyons writes, "My methods [in preparing my preaching] were simple. Begin by reading the scriptures … consult at least two commentaries and then go to the internet to browse sermons … to gain a sense of how other preachers had approached the texts". His methods indicate the way ...