Paul Long's Ramblings

pastor's notes for the 2 Dec 2012 bulletin To read, click  HERE

Pastor's notes for the 25 Nov 2012 bulletin To read click HERE

another excellent piece by Tawfik Hamid Analysis of the Gaza Clash By Tawfik Hamid www.tawfikhamid.com The recent military confrontation between Israel and Hamas organization in Gaza raises several concerns. One of these concerns is:  Who is behind this escalation & why have they occurred at this particular time? Some Palestinian leaders such as Saeb Erekat have accused [i] Prime Minister Netanyahu of plotting the conflict for political gain, suggesting that the conflict will help Netanyahu's party in the coming Israeli elections. These accusations are somewhat illogical as the conflict is more likely to put the Israeli government in a serious Catch-22: accepting a cease fire will not satisfy those Israelis who support an invasion of Gaza , whereas invading Gaza may displease  a significant percentage  of the Israeli population. Hamas is indisputably part of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB ) [ii] (according both to the second item of the  Hamas ...

Pastor's notes for the 18 November 2-12 bulletin. 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 14, 2012 UK Charity Commission Says Christianity Is Not Necessarily for Public Good By Peter Wooding Europe Bureau Chief for ASSIST News Service LONDON, ENGLAND   (ANS)  --  Britain's charity watchdog has put the charitable status of the nation's churches in question after it ruled that a congregation in Devon in the South West of England did not exist for public benefit. Charity Commission Logo According to a Christian Concern article under charity law, churches and other organisations must show that their existence has some form of "public benefit." But in a letter to the Plymouth Brethren, the Charity Commission explained its refusal to grant charitable status to one of the denomination's churches in Devon. Head of legal services for the commission, Kenneth Dibble, sta...

http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/11/radical-clerics-seek-to-legalise-child-brides/ Radical Clerics Seek to Legalise Child Brides By  Cam McGrath Reprint   |               |    Print   |   Send by email A Salafi rally in Cairo. Islamist leaders are pushing to reduce Egypt's legal marriage age for girls, some arguing for as low as nine. Credit: Cam McGrath/IPS. CAIRO, Nov 14 2012 (IPS)  - An ultraconservative Salafi cleric recently sparked outrage among Egypt’s liberal circles when he attempted to justify his opposition to a proposed constitutional article that would outlaw the trafficking of women for sex. Speaking on privately-owned Al-Nas satellite channel, Sheikh Mohamed Saad El-Azhary said he feared the proposed article could conflict with the local practice of child marriage. He explained that in Egypt, particularly in rural areas, there is a culture of marrying off girls as soon as they hit puberty. “T...

Pastor's notes for the 9th Nov 2012 bulletin. To read, click HERE

Seems MANY non USA citizens are praising and celebrating Obama's re-election. Hmmm... And in the light of this guardian article entitled .. Barack Obama has another chance to deliver his foreign policy promises The US president has taken a back seat in the world's dramatic changes over the past four years, but that may change http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/07/barack-obama-foreign-policy-promises ... I wonder especially in the light of Raymond Ibrahim's latest piece ... (see below) Muslim Persecution of Christians: September, 2012 by Raymond Ibrahim Gatestone Institute October 31, 2012 http://www.meforum.org/3371/ muslim-persecution-of- christians-september-2012  Print  Send  RSS Share:          Be the first of your friends to like this. The aftermath of  collective punishment  for Pakistan's Christians—the inevitable byproduct of the notorious Rimsha Masih blasphemy case, concerning a Christian girl fal...

Pastor's notes for the 4th November bulletin To read click HERE