There is a new movie coming out and it is supposed to chronicle the life of the man who wrote Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien.
He is a fascinating subject for a movie – an extremely talented writer – veteran of the First World War and one of a group of outstanding Oxford scholars who were also Christians.
Unfortunately, this new movie by Disney, will not feature any of Tolkien’s faith.
According to the film’s director faith was left out because it is boring – difficult to visualize.
“It’s like watching an encyclopedia.” he said.
That just shows he is not the storyteller Tolkien was. There have been some runaway hits which depict faith on screen. The multi-Oscar winning Chariots of Fire is just one. In the past couple of years, films featuring faith have turned box office expectations upside down.
What a missed opportunity to tell the true and exciting story of a man of faith.
I’m Russell Powell for the NSW Council of Churches.
As we rake over the coals and the counting after yesterday’s election, the thoughts of many people now turn to the future of freedom.
Specifically, freedom of speech, conscience and belief. In the last days of the campaign an opinion poll emerged showing just how much Australians care about the issue.
The YouGov poll – shows that across party supporters, the overwhelming majority (around 75% of those surveyed) agreed that freedom of thought, conscience and belief in public through speech, practice and teaching needed to be protected. Only 5% disagreed and 20% were undecided.
It is interesting too that this support has risen more than 10 percent since the marriage plebiscite 18 months ago.
Although the Israel Folau case took up a lot of air-time, the freedom of speech issue is much wider than that – and in one way much more complex to navigate.
But the result is simple. To paraphrase George Washington – if we are not free to speak, we are not free.
I’m Russell Powell for the NSW Council of Churches.
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Broadcasting Pioneer
In 1932 the Sydney Harbour Bridge was still under construction and the hottest social media was local Radio (there was no TV).
In a visionary step, in that same year, the NSW Council of Churches obtained a Radio license from the government and began broadcasting, having established a brand new Sydney radio station called 2CH (‘CH’ stands for ‘Churches’). For over 84 years the Council of Churches has been broadcasting in some manner. Over the past 22 years this has been in successful partnership with the Macquarie Network.
The Council is grateful to participate in the great commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) ‘Love the Lord your God…and your neighbour as yourself’. This is God’s mission plan for human society, founded in creation. We are also part of the great commission given by Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20) ‘Go and make disciples..in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’. This is God’s mission plan for a new humanity in Christ.
Today the Council of Churches in NSW is the peak Protestant body for the Anglican, Baptist, Reformed, Churches of Christ, Congregational, Presbyterian and Salvation Army churches in the region.
Hopefully ‘Advancing a Christian Perspective’ and ‘Making an Eternal Difference’
Warm regards,
Wayne Richards, Executive Director