Culture

Eleanor Margesson and Sue McGowan Inter-Varsity Press, 2010 RRP $17.95 Reviewed by John and Debbie Nickerson, a young married couple from Pine Rivers Uniting Church who don’t currently have children, but would like to. The subtitle tells most about the focus of this book: "Help and strength in the struggle to conceive". It talks about how God works in our ...

Sheila Bridge Monarch Books 2010 RRP $19.99 Reviewed by Bob Warrick, a husband, father of two daughters and grandfather of two granddaughters. The author assures us that she does not want to make the reader guilty or miserable – she wants us to feel at home in our beautiful body whatever shape it’s in, and this reviewer thinks she has ...

Lynne M. Baker Australian Academic Press, 2010 RRP $34.95 Reviewed by Marian Zauchenbrecher. According to author Lynne Baker, domestic abuse is the elephant in the room whenever the church gathers to worship. She estimates that one out of three women suffer from domestic abuse, be it physical, emotional, psychological or economic abuse or a combination of these, yet is it ...

Joe Bageant Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 2009 (first published USA 2007). Reviewed by Marian Zaunbrecher. Deer Hunting with Jesus is a prophetic, angry polemic. It is prophetic because Bageant writes about the coming economic catastrophe in the USA, warning that unless there are changes in American corporate and consumer cultures there would be a resultant chaos. It is angry because Joe ...

Gerald O’Collins SJ Paulist Press, 2009 RRP $24.95 Reviewed by Rev Dr Rob Brennan, who was, before ministry, a workaholic yuppie. The title initially grabbed me as I have known the struggle of trying to maintain a relationship with God while you are working far too many hours in a job you find challenging and rewarding. Even now I find ...

Robert Barry Leal St Pauls Publications RRP $14.95 Reviewed by David Weddell, who presented 2 eco-themed electives at NCYC, and writes about climate change at convenientsolutions.blogspot.com Robert Leal’s book lives up to its name as it thoroughly examines the bible “through ecological eyes” to discover the message we often overlook. A message about God, the earth He created, and our ...

Morag Zwartz Publisher Parenesis publishing, 2008 RRP $29.95 Reviewed by Marian Zaunbrecher. When I brought this book home my daughter grabbed it and said “Can I read it?” She had nearly been won over by the Melbourne Christian Fellowship during her student days in Melbourne, and now, very wary of it, wanted to know the full expose of these “Christian ...

Kim V. Engelmann IVP Connect, 2010 RRP $19.95 Reviewed by Brian Hoole, a minister of 15 years, currently in Hervey Bay, who has a strong belief in the importance of small groups, and a frustration at what often appears to be a failure of people to commit to them. Kim Engelman writes in a narrative style that people will find ...

Shimon Gibson HarperOne, 2009 RRP: $25.99 Reviewed by Rochelle Nolan, Uniting Church Foundation manager. There is much archaeology can contribute to our understanding of people, places and events – and Shimon Gibson demonstrates it can also inform our understanding of the final days of Jesus. Mr Gibson, a senior associate fellow at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in ...

Edited by Louise Morse. Published by Monarch Books, Oxford, UK and Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA 2010. RRP $19.99 Reviewed by Ann Hewson who has worked as a Chaplain in Aged Care for over five years. This book begins by providing some background comments regarding dementia and the pain it can bring to both the individuals who suffer with this disease ...