Paul Long's Ramblings

I have been rather "busy" the last few weeks not so much overwork ... but I think not being my normal 100% health wise has made everyday things harder than they normally would be. And my boys schedules are getting a little bit messy and being the one who has flexi -hours, I tend to be the main chauffeur. Not too much of a problem except that for someone like me who works best when there is a "flow", too many such interruptions can be tough as it takes a lot more effort to get back into the "flow". If that makes no sense ... then think "rhythm" instead of "flow" and if that still does not make sense, be thankful as it probably means this is not something that affects your productivity! :-) Re-centering exercises do seem to help and I guess indulging in hobbies. Been a while in the area of indulging in hobbies ... But yesterday I did. I received a 3 DVD set I bought on trademe. Brand new and what I found interesting was that there were t...

Last Sunday I preached at Lincoln Road Bible Chapel. My first Sunday preaching outside KCC . Some of my Kiwi "European" church members tried to make me nervous by teasing me about how I need to be extra careful about my accent, speed and mannerism etc because the congregation would find it hard to understand me ... unlike them who had gotten used to me :-) Well, it wasn't as tough as they made it out to be ... phew! Was interesting though ... As part of my introduction I "apologized" ahead of time that I was not a "politically correct" person and that if anyone had a problem with what I said, to please let me know after the service. LOL . Not even sure why I said that as it was not in my script. I certainly was not very politically correct and it would have been hard to be too due to the topic I was asked to preach on (relates to migrants adapting and serving in NZ). Anyway I did things like tell stories about my " unscientific research" of...

For the record I have not been following "American Idol". Stopped watching after the season where the cute Jasmine Trias (the one with the flower behind her ear) got kicked out :-) Not sure what season that was ... Anyway once in a while I watch the show (if it is playing in the background) and I thought this guy was good. Did not realize he was a "worship pastor"! (never heard of that term either ...) Interesting ANS report and I wish Kriss all the best in his ministry ... ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Thursday, May 21, 2009 Hometown Acoustic Rock Worship Leader Wins American Idol Competition By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service LOS ANGELES, CA / CONWAY, AR (ANS) -- More than 100 million votes were cast in the American Idol final to catapult a Southern hometown Christian worship leader to stardom against a West Coast glam-ro...

Yup. It's true. She actually asked me for a cuddle, and then she snuck in the kiss ... The stranger was a Maori (I think) woman about 5 feet tall ... but it's obviously not as racy as it sounds ... she's a grandmother with grown up grandchildren and I think she is around 70 years old. Oh and the kiss was a peck on the cheek :-) Ah ... the magic of balloons helped. What happened was that I went to the post office to check the church mail, then popped over to buy a box of printer paper (sale) and since I felt a little hungry (I was over confident and just packed for my lunch 2 slices of bread) so I thought that on the way back to the office I would drop by the local supermarket and see whether there were any special breads or pastries on offer. Duh! I forgot, it was too early for that - half price stuff is I only on offer at the end of the day, late evening ... so thought I might as well get a loaf of bread for tomorrow. Then as I was waiting in line at the express checkou...

It feels great to have completed my sermon preparation, I think my "re-centering" yesterday contributed to a good flow today (despite my having a bad sore throat which seems to be trying to develop into a cough!) No home group meeting tonight too so this evening I am off to visit 2 new people by the invitation of a church member who has been helping them. Am stoked as he called me last night to make the arrangement for me to visit and pray for them! A privilege to be called and so wonderful to see this man so excited about sharing his faith ... telling these 2 his testimony and how good Jesus is! I think it is significant that two Hindus are willing to allow a Christian pastor who is a stranger to them to come to pray for them! Anyway with the sermon done and a short free slot in between stuff, catching up on some reading and here's two articles I found challenging (posted a third on the MBS alumni blog) ... Are you a good Christ? The following article is located at: http...

This coming Sunday's Pastor's Note s have been posted up. It is related to the World Vision's Forty hour famine . Glad my church young people keep this as an important part of their calendar every year. Food crisis facts Around 55 million children around the world suffer from acute malnutrition (ACF-IN and MSF"One Crisis May Hide Another: Food Price Crisis Masked Deadly Malnutrition", 2009) Around 1.5 million children die annually due to wasting - a severe form of malnutrition caused by acute food shortage and illness (World Health Organisation, 2008)

It has been a busy week and weekend. Fruitful but tiring. Yesterday's day off was great but I guess to many things have been happening that has thrown me a little off centre. So instead of working on my growing "to do list" I thought a few hours of reflecting and "re-centering" and with it blogging (which is kind of my " journaling " ) would do me good. On Sunday I preached on "Can you hear the voice of the Lord?" using Psalm 29 as a launch pad. In response to the sermon received a good word of encouragement and thanks from someone I greatly respect for both his strong grasp of theology and ministry etc which was great. But nothing from anyone else. Not that I feel the need to have people praise my sermons :-) and it could be that it was a "crazy" busy Sunday with new people to talk to, and some quick pastoral encounters etc so there wasn't that much time for people to speak with me. But it did make me wonder about whether my a...

Another great piece by Soo Inn. This is my first re-posting of any of his e-commentaries in my new blog (now that I have closed down my Multiply blog) so a quick promo ... 1. He is a great guy - genuine and down to earth (though some may think too "down to earth" ! :-) ) 2. I consider him a mentor and I miss our sessions as part of a mentoring triad. 3. I am a financial supporter of grace@work and I do commend it 4. He makes a lot of sense Ok , some additional comments. While I am seeking to see how I can "formally" work at developing leaders as well as be developed as a leader, I think the reality is that most of leadership development (also called disciple-making for the more spiritually / biblically inclined :-)) happens informally ... as a natural part of trying to living our lives honestly by the grace of God. I am so glad for this as a wise man commented (and then prayed) on Sunday something along the line of "God has raised up leaders" and that...

Just posted up this week's Pastor's Notes .

Haven't been blogging much of late as I have been busy and fell sick. It's been two days now since I caught some bug. Headaches, nausea, vertigo, vomiting and diarrhea. Miserable two days but feeling much better now. Just headaches and diarrhea now. Mothers Day was nice despite being a busy day. Preached the Mothers Day sermon and then we had a finger food lunch prepared by fathers and children. Mothers were not allowed to cook or bring food, or clean up etc. There was a lot of food and I was pleasantly surprised at the variety and how enthusiastic everyone was. Some of the food was prepared and cooked by young children and it was very good. My experimental curry puffs was well received despite the weird sizes and shapes. LOL Duh! Don't know why I never thought of cutting the pastry into circles!! :-( Oh well, next time ... After lunch was our overdue church leadership committee meeting. Then home for a short rest and early dinner (Malaysian food at our favourite Malaysia...

First a joke (From Reader's Digest) to set the mood (and NO, it wasn 't told in the seminar... ) During his children's sermon, our assistant pastor asked the kids, "What is gray, has a bushy tail, and gathers nuts in the fall?" One five-year-old raised his hand. "I know the answer should be Jesus," he began, "but it sounds like a squirrel to me. " One workshop I attended and enjoyed was by Mark Strom , Principal of Laidlaw College (formerly Bible College of New Zealand). The title: "Must every sermon from the Bible find its way back to Jesus?" Bottom line, Mark says YES. Some reasons(I may be paraphrasing ...): 1. Because what is distinctive about Christianity is Jesus! 2. From the perspective of the NT writers ... "To whom else would we go!!" 3. Good news is Jesus and Jesus alone! 4. Fundamental good news is the "resurrection of Jesus" 5. The whole OT is screaming out for a resolution - and that resolution is J...

This is so sad ... don't know what to say except pray for Malaysia, especially Perak ... and God have mercy! Anthony Lokes' blog has a compilation of reports. Read them yourself if interested. http://oldtestamentpassion.blogspot.com/2009/05/read-for-yourself-about-perak-state.html Here's a video (thanks Sivin )

This is so sad. ... ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Egypt's Swine Destruction Threatens Coptic-Run Industry Government vows to continue slaughter in spite of international criticism By Jeremy Reynalds Correspondent for ASSIST News Service CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- Authorities yesterday pressed ahead with the slaughter of Egypt's pigs - crippling the livelihood of thousands of swine breeders, nearly all Coptic Christians - in spite of World Health Organization (WHO) criticism that the measure was unnecessary for fighting the A(H1-N1) flu strain. According to a story by Compass Direct News Service, no cases of the so-called "swine flu" have been reported in Egypt, but the government last week ordered the slaughter of the country's pigs as a precautionary measure, which Copts saw as an attack on the minority Christian population. Af...