Paul Long's Ramblings

Oh how I wish Malaysian politicians would learn from this! One nation with many nationalities Two-year-old Jacob Wallis has European and Maori ancestors, but his parents hope he will think of himself as simply a "Kiwi". His mother Clare Wallis, 32, is one of a "leading lights" group of 200 chosen to test each round of the Growing Up in New Zealand surveys, and comes from a Pakeha family in Pukekohe. She and Aaron Wallis, also 32, were teenage sweethearts at Pukekohe High and the fact that Aaron's grandmother was Ngati Porou was irrelevant. "He's not involved with his iwi. You tick a box on a piece of paper, I think that is a sign of New Zealand where we've all got different backgrounds," Clare says. Aaron ticked the "NZ Maori" box on his census form "because that's what my mother would do". His mother was brought up speaking te reo Maori at Te Araroa near East Cape, but Aaron understands only a few words of the lan...

Not been blogging much as I have been very busy. Christmas is around the corner and lots of exciting extra church activities to work on. There's church games day (Youngies versus Oldies) followed by our annual church, family friends and neighbours bbq, and then carolling and the Christmas service.... all on top of my regular duties. And this Sunday I start a back to back 10 week stretch of Sunday preaching. And first week of January I hope to start a series on .... LEVITICUS! It's a tough book to want to preach a series on but I think it will be worth it. It will be challenging! Busyness is also due to preparing to do a gospel magic show - mix of familiar tricks, updated familiar tricks as well as some new tricks. Tricky as I will be doing this show at a retirement village ... but just prior to the show I have caroling duties (the guitarist)! So it will be hard to set up and acts along the lines of McBride's Commando Act, while excellent in theory is way beyond my skill l...

Posted up my Pastor's Notes for 28 November 2010 To read, click HERE

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 Wednesday, November 17, 2010 Iraq and Egypt: al-Qaeda declares war on Christians By Elizabeth Kendal Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 082 Special to ASSIST News Service AUSTRALIA   (ANS)  --  BACKGROUND IN EGYPT:  In July 2010 Camilia Shehata Zakher disappeared after a quarrel with her husband, a Coptic priest in Minya Governorate. Unaware that she was with relatives in Cairo, he reported her missing and accused Muslims of abducting her for forced conversion, a fate not uncommon for Coptic girls in Egypt. When Egyptian Security Forces found Camilia in Cairo and returned her to her husband, Muslims protested, claiming that Camilia was now Muslim and was being held by the church against her will. One fundamentalist sheikh claimed to have heard her say the shahada, the declaration of Muslim...

Now wouldn't this be nice! :-)

Pastor's Notes for 21 November 2010 .... To read click HERE

11 NOVEMBER 2010 Iraqi Christians living in fear after further attacks "If we stay, they will kill us." - Archbishop Athanasius Toma Dawod, a senior Iraqi church leader Christians in Iraq are living in a state of constant fear after a series of co-ordinated blasts targeting Christian neighbourhoods followed a bloody siege at a Baghdad church. At least four people were killed and around 25 injured early yesterday morning when roadside bombs and mortar shells targeted homes and a church in six districts across central Baghdad – all of them areas that are predominantly Christian. The attacks came ten days after a hostage siege at a church in the Iraqi capital left more than 50 people dead. An interior ministry source told Reuters, "These operations, which targeted Christians, came as a continuation of the attack that targeted the church." Two days after the church siege, the Islamic State of Iraq – an Al-Qaeda front group that claimed responsibility for the attack...

Another fine piece from Tawfik Hamid Approaches to Addressing Radical Islam - What Will Work and What Will Not By Tawfik Hamid   The problems of radical Islam have been escalating during the last few decades and have affected the world in diverse ways. On one hand, the socio-religious-political impacts have directly affected our homeland and national security; and on the other hand, they have had a negative impact on our freedoms of expression and the social stability of many countries that have Muslim majorities or significant Muslim minorities. An analysis of the current responses to radical Islam reveals at least 5 different approaches or schools of thought.   The first approach, which is used by many Muslims as a defensive mechanism for their faith, is to simply deny the existence of any ideological or religious role in the problem. This group typically promotes that Islam is a peaceful religion. This approach cannot work in solving the problem, as it always confronts t...

Another honest piece by Tawfik Hamid, a Muslim scholar! The US Must Suppress Sharia Law to Uphold Freedom of Religion   By Tawfik Hamid www.tawfikhamid.com A popular new law that bars Oklahoma courts from considering Islamic law, or Shariah, when deciding cases was put on hold Monday after a prominent Muslim in the state won a temporary restraining order in federal court. This ruling was issued in the name of freedom of religion and minority rights.    U.S. District Court Judge Vicki Miles-LeGrange ruled that the measure, which passed by a large margin in last Tuesday's elections, would be suspended until a hearing on Nov. 22, when she will listen to arguments on whether the court's temporary injunction should become permanent. "Today's ruling is a reminder of the strength of our nation's legal system and the protections it grants to religious minorities," said Muneer Awad, executive director of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma, who...

Just dropped my son off to school as he has to be early for band practice for his High School senior prize giving ceremony. I do not need to be there that early so just killing some time in the office. On the left is the front of the high school invitation and on the left is HIPPY invitation. What is so cool for me is to be invited as a special guest for this - meaning I don't have to sit in the "bleachers" / benches on the balcony that is such a pain on my back. I get to sit in front. Not so exciting is that I have been asked to be in the procession (special guests). I have always felt awkward in processions :-) This invitiation might be a small thing for many but to me it is an honour to be an invited special guest as it indicates that the School recognizes me as a Pastor of a local church who has genuine interest in the affairs of the school and local community. What is a bonus is that when I got in just now, there was waiting for me a letter with another invit...

Pastor's Notes for the 14th November 2010 bulletin. To read, click HERE.

This was sent to me by a friend. Thought it would be good to out on my blog. What has been highlighted is not my emphasis but original to how I got this article. Misconstruing the Constitution - let's stop doing it! Ramon Ramon Navaratnam The Malaysian constitution has been misinterpreted and misconstrued after 1970 in a wide ranging and consistent manner.Hence it has led to polarisation and exclusiveness that has built disunity into the Malaysian polity . This negative trend has been reinforced by the intrinsic promotion an subtle practice of " ketuananship " or Malay dominance and domination. For instance article 153, provides for the ``special position `` of the Malays as well as the ``legitimate interests of the other communities ``. But it is the former constitutional provision that has been emphasized and the latter relatively neglected . This is the root cause for divisiveness and the source of much dissatisfaction for all fair minded Malaysians. The s...

I just returned from joined a small Jewish library located in East Auckland. The Raye Freedman Memorial Library . Has a very limited amount of books on biblical subjects. Mostly on Jewish history, Judaism, holocaust etc. But still, it is an added resource centre for me. And I am sure, in time, the library resources will grow (fingers crossed) Borrowed a few books and a 5 CD audio book on an award winning journalists travels to discover the world of the Bible (books of Moses) - will be interesting listening when I drive. One of the books I borrowed. Looks interesting! This one is certainly worth the trip!

Just posted up my Pastor's Notes for the 7th November 2010 bulletin. To read, click HERE

Have to quickly post up some pictures taken by Ken of the Light Party. Great turn out from the neighbourhood. Praise God! Pam - sporting as ever came dressed up according to the theme - animals Laura and team hard at work painting kids faces And adults as well ...  Just "chilling" before the official programme begins .... 5 to 8 year olds getting ready for games. It never ceases to amaze me how popular balloon swords are :-) 8 to 12 year olds getting set for their games 5 years old and under getting ready for their games A Kiwi must! Sausage sizzle! Magic show about to begin! Fancy dress competition Fancy dress competition madness Youth had to participate too ... First time I used Robbie Raccoon for a live show. Introducing my guest magician ... Jamie Wee. The gag worked well as from what I gathered, the children did not throw away my business card that was put in their "party pack / gift bag". Nice that some c...