News round-up: January 15
Jesus movie — with a difference — at cinemas soon
Starring Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) and Tom Felton (the Harry Potter series), Risen is a new mainstream movie that is bringing Jesus back to the big screen from February 18. Unlike most other movies about The Messiah, though, Risen focuses upon what happened… after Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. Not only is Risen about the Resurrection, it also approaches these amazing events from the perspective of a skeptical Roman commander (played by Fiennes). This commander is charged with proving the Resurrection is a hoax, setting up audiences for an ancient-world crime thriller about the evidence for Jesus Christ.
1000 gather at Aboriginal Christian conference
Last week, more than 1000 people attended the bi-annual Australian Aboriginal Fellowship’s national conference. Held at Port Augusta in South Australia, the conference swelled to almost double the size of the previous conference’s attendance. Despite the continued issues experienced by indigenous Australians on the social, economic and political front, AEF’s national secretary Ray Minniecon told Eternity newspaper that “this is a fellowship to encourage Aboriginal Christians to continue to press on. Some of these big challenges can cause us to lose faith, to lose sight of who we are. It’s really important for us to support each other and carry each other’s burdens.”
Nigeria — the most dangerous place to be a Christian?
A report released this week stated that while North Korea is, overall, the worst place to live if you are a Christian, Nigeria was named “the most dangerous”. This report was compiled by Christian charity Open Doors but a Nigerian Christian has politely challenged the group’s findings.