Paul Long's Ramblings

Hehehe. These 2 comic strips are good summary of my situation - a broken weighing machine is not helping either :-) *sigh* have to get a new weighing machine as no more excuse as there is now one on sale for $10.49.

A friend sent me this. Now this is magical advertising at its best!!

Writing, Opening a Deep Well Writing is not just jotting down ideas. Often we say: "I don't know what to write. I have no thoughts worth writing down." But much good writing emerges from the process of writing itself. As we simply sit down in front of a sheet of paper and start to express in words what is on our minds or in our hearts, new ideas emerge, ideas that can surprise us and lead us to inner places we hardly knew were there. One of the most satisfying aspects of writing is that it can open in us deep wells of hidden treasures that are beautiful for us as well as for others to see.

Yesterday was the Golden 50th Wedding Anniversary of our church's beloved former Pastor Dr. Max Liddle and his wife Helen. They were married on 27th April 1960 in Ootacamundalam, South India. Max and Helen have impacted the lives of countless people and continue to do so in their golden years. They have been incredible pastors (both of them) to me and I thank God for them. More celebrations this Saturday and Sunday! :-)

Just posted up my latest Pastor's Notes. To read, click  here

A song written and sung by Gladwyn Gomes, one of our church members who currently lives in Wellington.

Busy - busy - super busy. More than busy - also stressed ... so re-centering time! This is a chapter in which my ramblings are long overdue ... :-) JUST DO IT Chapter 28 of Alex Tang's Spiritual Formation on the Run First the chapter, then my ramblings ... I have always been fascinated by the Desert Fathers and Mothers who lived in the fourth century. These men and women left behind everything they had to live in the hostile deserts of Egypt, and later Syria and Palestine. The desert is a deadly, unforgiving environment. In the day, the sun bakes the land mercilessly while the nights are freezing cold. Yet these people left behind comfortable, secure lives and loved ones to live alone in the desert. They moved there to fight the demons in the desert, and the demons within themselves. Like Jesus' temptation in the desert, these elders sought the purifying furnace of the desert to encounter God. Though we are separated by 1500 years, cultural, social and linguistic diffe...

As someone who has in the past attempted suicide, It think that this is another important article by Soo Inn. I am thankful to God that I have good friends who are willing to walk with me when I feel low, and that I am reminded often through Scripture that God loves me unconditionally. One thing I want to add that I think is important - serving God and others. When we who are in Christ spend time helping others in need, it does help take our minds of some of our problems. I find that we begin to better realize the blessings we have been given. Also we receive great joy when we see how the love and grace of Christ positively affects others in need!  GRACE@WORK MAIL 16/10 April 23, 2010 Edition. (Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks:  www.graceworks.com.sg ) Commentary: Another Suicide By Soo-Inn Tan Introduction ---------------- Last week I received a message that a young person, capable, full of promise, her life ahead of her, had taken her own life. The...

What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. - Mother Teresa 

Woah!! Wait a minute! Isn't this blatant corruption and money politics?!! And this is ok because ....!!?? PM throws money at Hulu S'gor voters NEWS/COMMENTARIES Friday, 23 April 2010 Super Admin     But there is catch - Najib said that the additional money will only come provided that Selangor falls back into BN's hands in the next general election.  "We have agreed to pay RM160,000 an acre. The payment will be taken care of when the land is developed... (but) that is in your hands. Make sure that in the upcoming general election, Selangor returns to BN's control," said Najib. S Pathmawathy, Malaysiakini With only less than 48 hours to polling, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today spent his time handing out millions of ringgit to Hulu Selangor voters. His first stop was Sungai Buaya, where he gave out long overdue cash payment of RM50,000 each to 100 of the 363 Felda settlers. The payments were compensation promised by the BN government following a f...

It's Earth Day today ... yet another day created to highlight the many problems facing our world. Interested to know more, click HERE . I like the idea of practical action to highlight the crisis the physical earth is facing, However for me, and I know it is not very PC, it's just another day. I just can't keep up with all the specially assigned days to highlight specific problems. I have enough of a headache as it is with Valentines Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day and Children's Day. What's my problem? I suppose it is simply that I get tired of the commercialization of certain days (Valentines Day and Mothers Day for example) or of some making a big deal out of a special day but once the day is over, it's back to the regular way of life. The earth hour "thingy" some time back is for me an example. All the insistence by some to switch of the lights for an hour to conserve energy. And what happens after that? I know I sound cynical but I fi...

Ordering Our Desires Desire is often talked about as something we ought to overcome. Still, being is desiring: our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our souls are full of desires. Some are unruly, turbulent, and very distracting; some make us think deep thoughts and see great visions; some teach us how to love; and some keep us searching for God. Our desire for God is the desire that should guide all other desires. Otherwise our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls become one another's enemies and our inner lives become chaotic, leading us to despair and self-destruction. Spiritual disciplines are not ways to eradicate all our desires but ways to order them so that they can serve one another and together serve God. * Sentences in red my own emphasis ... ----------- NIV Psalm 42:1 For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.  As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.   2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I...

Just posted up this Sunday's Pastor's Notes. To read, click HERE .

I thought this was funny! 

I had a meeting this morning to discuss my possible further involvements in my local community. A fruitful meeting and here are my options. From the meeting, it seems that I would be able to contribute much. 1. Join the Kelston Community Trust (KCT) Board as a trustee. OR 2. Join the Kelston Boys High School  (KBHS) Board as a trustee. To do this I have to submit my papers for elections by 12 noon Friday. But even if I am not elected, I can be co-opted as a full member. 3. Join both. Issues for me are: 1."TIME" 2. How much can I actually learn and contribute After discussion and now much thought and more prayer, I do believe that joining KCT is definitely something I should do. Hours required are not only shorter but it would also a. be a great learning experience b. be a place I can contribute by also exploring way sin getting my church involved c. be a wonderful networking opportunity. All the school heads are on the board plus some business...

Is it just me or is the quality of internet scams becoming a lot poorer? Not that I want to encourage higher quality internet scams :-) Just the grammar in this particular one made me laugh out loud especially since it "supposed" to be from someone whose is not just British but whose dearly departed husband worked for a "UK Embassy".... Was tempted for a second or two to write to this person and see how this scam unfolds. But I do have better things to do with my time :-) So back to work. I have a very busy week ahead of me. This morning's meeting went well so it is a great official start to my week. Dear Beloved I am sending you this mail in good faith. I am Mrs. Amelia Cooper now undergoing medical treatment for cancer. I was married to Mr. Peter Cooper who worked with United Kingdom embassy in Malaysia for many years before his death in 2002, we both made a deposit of some amount of money worth $6.5M in a financial institution in Europe . Recently, my d...

Reading Spiritually About Spiritual Things Reading often means gathering information, acquiring new insight and knowledge, and mastering a new field. It can lead us to degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Spiritual reading, however, is different. It means not simply reading about spiritual things but also reading about spiritual things in a spiritual way. That requires a willingness not just to read but to be read, not just to master but to be mastered by words. As long as we read the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowledge, our reading does not help us in our spiritual lives. We can become very knowledgeable about spiritual matters without becoming truly spiritual people. As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down the book we are reading and just listen to what God is saying to us through its words.

It's a quiet day today. Basically sitting in the office working on 2 upcoming sermons and 2 pastor's notes. But it's "heavy" in the sense that it involves Bible reading and reflection. I'm working on a sermon series I have titled "Reflections on Jesus' Parables (very unimaginative I know - but that's me :-) ... I started a month ago on The Parable of the Sower and the next two is on The Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. I am enjoying re-reading the Parables (trying to do this afresh even though it is hard as they are so familiar) and it has been a blessing especially since for many years now I have been freed from worrying that I am not interpreting them correctly! :-) BTW, this was due to my inner conflict where I never agreed my heart and head with the "principle" (hammered into me back in my B.Th days in the 1980s) that  a parable has to have only one main point! I am so glad for Craig Blomberg's book "Int...

From the Malaysian Insider. First it was to be a "small fry" body - now it is to be an "impotent" body? Why bother then? I think the  MCCBCHST made the right stand! UMNO MPs want impotent inter-faith body Some BN lawmakers want the inter-faith committee to be replaced with one on race. — file pic By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 —The Cabinet-endorsed inter-faith committee must have no powers and should only be a platform for religious dialogue, several Umno lawmakers have said today. There has been growing discontent in the Muslim community since the establishment of the committee, especially from right-wing NGO Perkasa and, recently, the Perak Fatwa Committee led by influential state Mufti, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria. Batu Pahat MP and deputy education minister, Puad Zarkashi, said the panel should not be used to pressure the government on religious matters. “This panel can be accepted as long as it does not have any authority but can [only]...