mightychurch.com

Movies thread

2009-03-28T17:37:21+10:00

This is a thread for movies you’ve seen lately :)

I watched The Dark Knight on DVD last night, and despite very positive reviews I thought it was overrated - maybe something was lost in the transition to the small screen, or I needed to see the prev movies or something, but it just didn’t seem to have much soul. 3 stars.

What have you seen lately?

Anyone use free Libre Office?

2011-08-10T16:19:55+10:00

Just wondering if they’re going to use a FORUM soon, instead of the infuriating email list, to support the community.

http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

Football thread (League/Union/AFL/Soccer)

2009-03-03T08:25:27+10:00

What teams do you go for? Looking forward to the new seasons where applicable?

I’m a Dragons tragic (league). Don’t really follow union or AFL, but I play some soccer for fun.

Men v’s Women gets Scientific

2011-09-28T09:14:29+10:00

Interesting article in the Weekend Oz Magazine called “the Testosterone trap.” Relevant to Sydney Anglicans perhaps because of their $100 million black hole and women pastors invading the pulpit.
Some quotes. ” the new science of Neuroeconomics suggests that hormone driven traders are a disaster waiting to happen”. ” They (women) may have compelled the male risk takers to show off to the ladies”
The Economist coined the phase “Womenomics” and argued that excluding 50% of talent from crucial positions in business and finance was not only discrimitory but caused serious harm to stabilty and growth”
I wouldn’t dare to give an opinion on women in the pu;pit- to much theology involved- but I do think women have always been in charge, so let’s make it official.

TV shows

2009-07-09T17:44:54+10:00

This news was unexpected :

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25756594-5001021,00.html
All Saints axed by Channel Seven

By Erin McWhirter, TV Editor
July 09, 2009 05:05pm

AFTER much speculation Channel 7 has confirmed hospital drama All Saints has been axed after 12 seasons on-air.

While filming will continue on the Australian production until the end of August, 493 episodes of the drama will have streamed into lounge rooms across the nation since All Saints began with Georgie Parker leading the cast as nurse Terri Sullivan on February 24 1998.

“All Saints is a show which viewers and Seven have loved,” said Seven’s head of programming Tim Worner.

“However, an audience shift and increased production costs are behind this decision. The cast and crew deserve the highest admiration and respect for what they have achieved. All Saints has made a significant contribution to the rich history of Australian drama.”

The announcement comes after Seven attempted to attract new audience interest by introducing a Medical Response Unit branch earlier this year.

It is believed the new unit increased the All Saints production budget by approximately $150,000 per episode.

Books

2009-12-03T19:30:41+10:00

Read any books besides the Bible?

I love action and crime fiction. Right now actually reading a Christian book called “The Reason For God” by Tim Keller. Only on Chapter 2 - it seems like a good read so far.

I heard this nifty album….

2011-08-15T12:13:24+10:00

I was trawling a website called bandcamp, which has a lot of albums by independent artists that you can listen to via streaming, and I stumbled across this album by a band called Sojourn, which consists of blues-folk-rock versions of Isaac Watts hymns. I know some of you might be interested so I thought I would share.

I particularly like it because most of the ‘worship’ music I have heard has been of a pop/rock slant and so it was nice to hear something quite different. The production values are ace as well so it just sounds brilliant.

DOCUMENTARIES on TV

2009-04-30T16:28:43+10:00

The next “Four Corners” looks intriguing :

This week on Four Corners “They Killed Sister Dorothy.”

On February 12th 2005, Sister Dorothy Stang, a catholic nun from Dayton, Ohio, was shot six times and left to die on a muddy road in the Brazilian Amazon. Who was this woman and why did her work amongst the poor arouse so much anger from ranchers and cattlemen?

“They Killed Sister Dorothy” is an investigation of her death told through the testimony of her supporters, her killers and the legal teams that battled over who should take responsibility for her death.

Seventy three year old Sister Dorothy came from Dayton, Ohio. She was a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Known as the “Angel of the Amazon’, she became a naturalised Brazilian citizen so she could work and live with the local farmers struggling to compete with wealthy ranchers for the fertile land in central Brazil.

Her goals were two-fold. First she wanted to protect the Brazilian rain forest. Second, she championed a scheme that provided poor people in rural areas with parcels of land that would be partially cleared. In this way they could live while protecting the rainforest.

The first settlement she organised was modest, providing land and housing for just six hundred families in the area around Anapu in central Brazil. And yet it threatened loggers and ranchers who also laid claim to the land proclaiming Sister Dorothy, “persona non grata.” While she was loved by the people she worked with including the federal prosecutor, Felicio Pontes, who oversaw the legal aspects of the settlement, she was reviled by others who said quite openly she got what she deserved.

In this compelling film the investigation into the death of Sister Dorothy is documented by family, fellow activists and eye-witnesses, including the men accused of her murder. The man who shot her describes how her demands that he leave disputed land incensed him to the point where he “emptied his gun into her .”

The killer then reveals that despite his personal anger towards the defenceless woman he had not acted alone. Instead her murder had been ordered and paid for by two wealthy and powerful cattle ranchers. The fee for murder ? Just fifty dollars American.

From here the story becomes a riveting legal battle filmed inside the court house. There teams of lawyers battle it out. The prosecution attempts to reveal the full extent of the conspiracy that led to the death of Sister Dorothy. The defence counters claiming Sister Dorothy has come to the Amazon jungle as part of an American inspired plot to take over parts of Brazil. She is accused of arming local people to rise up against the wealthy cattlemen.

With the local court packed with Sister Dorothy’s supporters, including her brother, the atmosphere is electric and the verdict on the conspiracy to murder charges remains in doubt right up to the end.

Killing Sister Dorothy is a classic David and Goliath tale, as poor landowners do battle with powerful and brutal ranchers. What makes it so compelling is the access given to the filmmakers and the brutal frankness that each side brings to the court case.

“They Killed Sister Dorothy” is narrated by Martin Sheen, produced by Just Media and HBO. It will be broadcast on Four Corners on Monday 4th May, at 8.30 pm on ABC 1 and replayed on Tuesday 5th May at 11.35 pm.

Like

2011-01-04T21:01:21+10:00

The Lion Book of the Bible

2011-01-14T14:25:22+10:00

Kevin will hate me for this since we are mortal opponents in most things religious. However I must applaud his decision to buy and distribute some copies of the “Lion Book of the Bible”.
When I first read chapters of the Lion book from the local library some years ago, it was a memorable event. Better than Billy Graham by far, but not as good as Pauls’ flash of light on the road to Damascus.
The book was so honest and easy to read. No Latin or Greek to give an appearance of authenticity. Just a good account of the lost and abused history of the Jews trying to explain the seed, the genes and memes sown in them by God in order to inculcate their faith and belief.
There is no threats of eternal damnation. promises of eternal life or miracles to ram down ones gulible throat if you can’t make up your mind. The Lion book just does the best that “word of mouth” history can do to nourish your faith, your quest to find Gods’ presence inside you.