Paul Long's Ramblings

On TV this morning's BREAKFAST SHOW, I viewed an interview with the NZ Police commissioner (I think) on the problem of the growing NZ binge drinking culture. Seems this was highlighted on last night's CLOSE UP - and they showed some clips of what the police have to go through every weekend. What really connected with me was the obvious frustration of one officer. I agree that surely the police have better things to do. And on a personal note, I remember how frustrating it was for me personally last year when during an emergency one late weekend night, I called the police for help. A life was in a high risk potentially dangerous situation and the police were unavailable. The police apologized that they had no staff available to help and wold not have any for hours because it was the weekend and personnel were tied up  dealing with public drunken behaviour! And what irks me is that a huge percentage of binge drinkers seem to students! If so, is this what student allowances a...

Over the past few months, have had a number of emails, letters,telephone calls and personal visit (all cold calls) promoting various ministries and organizations, Christian and non Christian alike ... In my humble opinion, all FAILED big time. And I am the type of person who will actually try my best to take time to be courteous and listen, and even respond .... so like I said FAILED big time. Reasons ... 1. If you email me about your ministry and promote yourself, ask me to buy your merchandise, financially support your ministry, promote it etc., then for goodness sake, have the courtesy to respond to my email queries. I won't name the ministries but it seems ridiculous to me that if I happen to read your email a couple of minutes after it arrives in my in-box (meaning even if if is spam as you got my email from my church website), and I respond with a couple of questions about your ministry, please answer! And if you do answer, it ought to be within a few days. Just...

Pastor's notes for the 27th May 2012 bulletin To read, click HERE

For the 20th May 2-012 bulletin To read,. go HERE

Pastor's notes for 13 May 2012 To read go HERE

Something is seriously wrong with some NZ youth! Too much money,too much free time, spoilt, immature and plain stupid! SAD!! Dunedin's 'possum' drinking game goes global UPDATED 12:35 PM Friday May 4, 2012 A story about a student drinking game called possum - in which young people drink in trees until they fall out - has captured imaginations around the world. Yesterday's  Otago Daily Times article highlighting concerns of Dunedin Botanic Garden staff about the craze sparked a flurry of media coverage in the UK, Australia and the United States. In the UK,  the Guardian  called the craze 'a bizarre new branch of the drinking game' and the story ranked as the second most-read in its world news section. The Sun  also picked up the story, prompting comments including 'what a bunch of prats'. Fox News in the United States, Nine News in Australia, the  Bangkok Post in Thailand and France's  Le Point  have also climbed on board to...

I subscribe to all kinds of email lists. I certainly do not check or read them all the emails I get from these lists - in fact most of them end up deleted without a second glance ... But every now and then if something catches my eye and I have a little extra time, then glancing through an email does at times results in some helpful information One list I subscribe to is Christianity Today's Preaching.com. I wonder, is it just me who is rather disturbed that it is a site that charges money to listen / read good sermons? The email heading caught my attention: The Good Samaritan Like You've Never Heard It: Preaching Today So I thought, hmmm... interesting ... And then even more interesting was the first line after the date Wednesday, May 02, 2012 Featured sermon:   The Parable of the Good Samaritan , by D. A. Carson I know DA Carson is an excellent expository preacher So I click on the link ... http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/outlines/2012/april...

Of late my sleep has been restless so I often wake up tired. By afternoon (with or without lunch) I often find my eyes drooping and my head heavy, and it takes a lot of effort to focus. A few days ago, I got this an email and have extracted the following from the email According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.  Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical man, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies." The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. The moralist explained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when ...

Pastor's notes for 6 May 2012 can be read HERE

S o much has been happening in Malaysia. Just read a cyber friend's blog post  The Pulpit the Pastor and politics .  My writing this blog post is not a response to his post nor to advocate my position but more for my own personal development This kind of spins off from my recent readings of the words of two of my passive mentors ...  The first Henri Nouwen's words that came in my mail on Friday .... 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 tr...