Paul Long's Ramblings

Was nice to have the LOVE home group take charge of the worship service last Sunday and I look forward to the FAITH home group doing the same this coming Sunday. Always a refreshing change! And the bonus was it was also a baptism service. Finally Greg and Su leading the worship! Praise God! Almost a full music team which was an added bonus! Shuren saying a few words before his baptism "MJ" Moon Ho as usual had us in stitches with his natural  humour which was also as usual a moving honest sharing. One of the best parts of being a pastor - I get to be a baptizer! Baptizing Shuren Baptizing MJ It has been a while since we had people come up to sing during Sunday service - especially men! So this was really nice LOVE group women were as usual the string singers Am glad Li-Ann got such good shots like this. Their first communion. Something special that brings back memories for me!

Finally! Though the problem will be that I have gotten used to the NZ give way rules and will have to relearn. Hope there are no additional accidents due to this transitional change ... Right-turn rule to change but not before World Cup A big advertising campaign will prepare drivers for a change to the idiosyncratic right-of-way road rules, but the change will not come until after the Rugby World Cup. Transport Minister Steven Joyce yesterday confirmed that give-way rules for turning vehicles would be brought into line with the rest of the world by early 2012. He said the Government did consider bringing the law change in before next year's cup, which is expected to attract up to 85,000 visitors to the country, many of whom will be driving and will be unused to the quirky rule. "But it just isn't practical to bring it in in time. You've got to have time for the rule change and the consultation which is prescribed in legislation. You would end up doing it right on...

It is sad that the "name of God" is a cause for tension among Christians. Bu then again, it is about theology and convictions, and I am just as "stubborn" as the rest in my view on this :-( Malay-speaking Christians spurn Jala’s ‘Yahweh’ overture By Debra Chong September 29, 2010 Jala’s personal appeal for his church mates to concede the “Allah” dispute has ruffled feathers. — file pic KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Cabinet minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala is heading the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s efforts to convince Christians to use the word “Yahweh” instead of “Allah” in Malay, but he is facing stiff resistance from within his own church. Putrajaya has dispatched special envoys — including Jala, a Christian — to parley with his community and seek a peaceful end to the “Allah” court dispute, amid Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s overtures to world leaders urging pragmatism in dealing with extremists. The Malaysian Insider  understands, however, tha...

Baptism, a Call to Commitment (Henri Nouwen) Baptism as a way to the freedom of the children of God and as a way to a life in community calls for a personal commitment. There is nothing magical or automatic about this sacrament. Having water poured over us while someone says, "I baptise you in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," has lasting significance when we are willing to claim and reclaim in all possible ways the spiritual truth of who we are as baptised people. In this sense baptism is a call to parents of baptised children and to the baptised themselves to choose constantly for the light in the midst of a dark world and for life in the midst of a death-harbouring society.

Just finished Sunday 3rd October 2010's Pastor Notes. Back to the book of Jeremiah! To read, click HERE .

Just posted up this Sunday's Pastor'as notes (for the 26th September bulletin) Not on Jeremiah. Taking a short break as this Sunday we will be having a baptism service so it's just some quick notes on baptism for the sake of guests. To read, click HERE

Sad that this is probably true for many people I wonder if this will ever get off the ground. Would be interesting if it did. Faithbook.com as a website actually exists but is basically a shell.

Woke up very early this morning full of energy. Surprised myself and got a lot of little things done multi-tasking. Looking forward to planting seeds today. Figured out a simple way to neatly start my seed germination indoors so I get a longer season and more consistent yield despite my limited garden space. I could of course buy "plantlings" but that would be for me costly ("Mr. Stingy" speaking .... :-)) but more importantly it is more fun and thrilling to see things grow from seeds. This season I hope to collect seeds from my own crops for next year's garden. I am getting more ambitious and more "Kiwinized".:-) Been reading the Orthodox Study Bible and enjoying it. I think the articles in it have been every educational for me and gives me a good introduction and summary of the Orthodox perspective. Most things I have been exposed to before but it is nice to have many things systematically available in easy access. Lots of stuff resonates wit...

WARNING - THIS RAMBLING IS A REAL MESS! This week has been another unpredictable one for me. Sunday did not start well as I had a low grade fever on Saturday night, which meant I did not sleep well. Sunday being Sunday was busy and I looked forward to my Monday off. Sunday night, I slept well and work up early on Monday and had a fun morning doing stuff related to gardening. But then by late afternoon started having headaches and that irritating low grade fever. Suddenly I had very little energy. My eyes could hardly open and even lifting my hands to hold up a book / comic book :-) was cumbersome. So I actually skipped prayer meeting! (Yes I know! It's something I hardly ever do, even when I have a cold!) I figured it is best to just sleep so I wake up on Tuesday morning refreshed and well, knowing that I had a busy week ahead. So I slept early (think by 8 PM I must have been asleep). But as life would have it, I woke up at around 9.30 PM because someone texted me! (I keep my ...

Just posted up this Sunday's (19th September) Pastor's Notes. To read click here. I will not try to be too ambitious and just select one thought from each chapter or I may never complete Jeremiah! :-) 5 parts to chapter 2 was probably way too much ...

This couple of paragraphs (below) from Henri Nouwen is much needed. An extra reminder to me which is a "serendipitous coincidence" as one of the key themes that is jumping out in my Sunday sermon's preparation is that Jesus' focus for us is to be faithful not successful.  I know that too often this "being faithful" and not "successful" focus is used as a cop out for lack of growth and even declining church attendance and commitment. Also related of course to the misuse of the "remnant theology" found in the Bible as if to say that a dying church is an automatic sign of faithfulness! But when understood and applied correctly, I think it is an important biblical concept that will result in "success" (as a by product). Of course the "success" may not be the kind of success that is sought after. Oh, the passage I am working on and referring to is Luke 19:11-27 (The Parable of the Minas / Pounds) . Not something I have ...

Just finished my Pastor's notes for the 12the September 2010 bulletin. For CE work this week, now only just two Bible studies and  my Sunday sermon to prepare complete.... :-) To read, click HERE

Had a miserable night of pain last night (abdomen and half my back?!). This has messed up my rhythm and schedule. Have a pile of papers sorted out into things to do in front of me (actually all around me) and am almost feeling overwhelmed. But thanks be to God for amazing grace yet again as things are starting to flow despite feeling so tired and aching all over. Nice to get an email highlighting this performer on America's Got Talent (he made t he finals) and had to check out his performance. Nice!!

Don't want to blog on the earthquake and the many after shocks.. Grateful for the miracle that no one was killed though there is going to be a lot of long term hardship for thousands of people. My planter box has been built. A good 6 hours of hard work but also fun work by SAM the BUILDER, assisted by my son Andrew and myself. Of course most of the time I kept out of the way and did weeding and smaller stuff as I am a bit of a klutz and did not want to mess things up. God was really nice to us and stayed the rain till we were done (weather report was for rain) It's done but not ready for planting as I now have the headache of getting soil. Headache as my back yard is not easily accessible to a truck that brings in dirt. Dread the prospect of having to manually carry many dozen trips with a wheel barrow. Already I have mild aches in my thighs from a lot of squatting yesterday! :-) Sam with one of his many tools, especially important as he had to make my planter box  oc...

Glad no one has made this suggestion to me yet  :-)

This political young gun is a spark of fresh air and hope.   I think her father can learn a lot from his daughter :-) 'Princess of Malay traitors' gives Perkasa royal lashing THU, 02 SEP 2010 16:25 By Patrick Lee and Stephanie Sta Maria FULL REPORT  KUALA LUMPUR: Umno leaders labelled her father Anwar Ibrahim a traitor to the Malay race, and now the same title has been bestowed on Nurul Izzah. Adding a royal touch to their rebuke, the Malay right-wing critics labelled her as the "princess of Malay traitors" and filed a police report over a recent article she wrote. The bone of contention was her interpretation of Article 153 in the Federal Constitution which touches on Malay rights. According to the Lembah Pantai MP, the Article only referred to the "special position" of the Malays as opposed to "special rights". However, Nurul lambasted her critics, especially Perkasa, and stopped short of calling them ignorant for not being able to broach ...

When the weather is good and time permits, I have been doing gardening over the last couple of weeks. It's been fun and therapeutic. So much to learn. Salad plants that survived winter. These grew from seeds that came out of one my original salad plants and I transferred them over a month ago to this container. The seeds were not planned :-) Bonus from God! Reorganized this planter box as the plants planted last year all over in different places have grown new shoots and I have sufficient to replant and reorganize. The various flax plants were removed last year. The scrawny looking plant near the middle is a blueberry bush.Hope it makes it and I get to at least see lots of green in summer. Reorganized and replanted too Planted flower seeds for this planter box. Some I planted about 10 days back so I hope to see some green shoots next week. Over a year ago I bought just ONE strawberry plant. I have been looking after this o...

Interesting read ... (Wall Street Journal). Anwar Ibrahim has an opinion .. but I have to admit being a skeptic in the area of and think Anwar is practicing political "double-speak" ( taqiyya (dissimulation)) as I do not see him really loudly condemning Islamic violence and terrorism in line with his comments and "challenge". Yet Muslims must do more than just talk about their great intellectual and cultural heritage. We must be at the forefront of those who reject violence and terrorism. And our activism must not end there. The tyrants and oppressive regimes that have been the real impediment to peace and progress in the Muslim world must hear our unanimous condemnation. The ball is in our court. A Symposium: What Is Moderate Islam? The controversy over a proposed mosque in lower Manhattan has spurred a wider debate about the nature of Islam. We asked six leading thinkers—Anwar Ibrahim, Bernard Lewis, Ed Husain, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Tawfik Hamid and Akbar Ahme...