Paul Long's Ramblings

Pastor's notes for the 30 June 2013 bulletin A brief reflection on Joshua’s ordination as a leader. In my reading this week, Numbers 27:18-20 caught my special attention. In them Moses is told by God to “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.   Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight . You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. (ESV) The phrase in verse 19: “in whom is the Spirit” emphasizes that Joshua position of leadership is God ordained. It marked him out as different from all the many capable leaders of Israel.  It made me ponder again why God chose Joshua to take over from Moses. There were others who were surely eligible for this position. There were for example 70 elders who had experience in leadership, there was Eleazar, Phinehas and even Caleb. Perhaps the most obvious re...

For the 16 June 2013 bulletin The common language of brokenness I read a fascinating story some months back which I filed away that I would like to share. It was about a North Carolina Judge Jesse Caldwell who told a story of Vietnamese woman who was waiting her turn to be examined in a crowded hospital emergency room. She gradually became aware of a frustrating “non-conversation” being attempted a few seats down. A nurse was trying to ask a new patient for some details on her illness. The patient spoke Spanish. The nurse did not. The Vietnamese woman listened for a minute then realized that while she didn’t speak Spanish she did understand the broken-English bits and phrases the Spanish speaking patient offered as answers. Because of her own experience of learning to communicate in “broken English,” the Vietnamese woman could hear the heart and gist of what this other woman was trying to say. The Vietnamese woman offered to “translate” the broken English of the Spanish...

For the 9 June 2013 bulletin How do we use the time God has given to us? Earlier this week, someone posted on FB a link to a NZ Herald story in which a 19 year old Whangarei man who was "sick of playing Xbox" while on home detention asked and was granted his wish to serve the rest of his sentence in jail. He had already served 10 months of an 11-month home detention term and with one month to go "had run out of Xbox games to play", and told the police that if he wasn't picked up and taken to jail, he would breach his home detention sentence.. Apart from the usual expected incredulous reactions to this story, I found myself wondering how I would spend my time if I could not leave my house for 11 months. Psalm 90:12 came to mind : “ So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” .  And it made me wonder:  Would I have wasted my time like this young man or would I have been able to use it wisely? There’s a lot of teaching in the Bible...

For the 2nd June 2013 bulletin Jesus Loves Me Anna B. Warner, 1820–1915 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.  (Luke 18:17) The story is told of a brilliant professor at Princeton Seminary who always left his graduation class with these words: “Gentlemen, there is still much in this world and in the Bible that I do not understand, but of one thing I am certain—‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so’—and gentlemen, that is sufficient!” Without doubt the song that has been sung more by children than any other hymn is this simply stated one by Anna Warner. Written in 1860, it is still one of the first hymns taught to new converts in other lands. Miss Warner wrote this text in collaboration with her sister Susan. It was part of their novel Say and Seal, one of the best selling books of that day. Today few individuals would know or remember the plot of that story, which once stirred the ...

For the 26 May 2013 bulletin A pastor’s struggle with same sex attraction I recently came across this blog / article I found very helpful. It is by Sam Alberry, an associate pastor at St Mary's Church in Maidenhead, UK. The following is some excerpts from his article. You can read the full article at: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/01/10/how-can-the-gospel-be-good-news-to-gays/ ) Homosexuality is an issue I have grappled with my entire Christian life. It took a long time to admit to myself, longer to admit to others, and even longer to see something of God's good purposes through it all. There have been all sorts of ups and downs. But this battle is not devoid of blessings, as Paul discovered with his own unyielding thorn in the flesh. Struggling with sexuality has been an opportunity to experience more of God's grace, rather than less. Only in recent months have I felt compelled to be more open on this issue. For many years I had no intention of...

For the 19 May 2013 bulletin PASTOR’S  NOTES The following piece was submitted by Magdalene, which I found so timely as last week I was discussing  with a number of church members the stories  behind some of the great hymns of the church. Enjoy! Story behind the  hymn: Great  is Thy Faithfulness Thomas Obadiah  Chisolm  (1866-1960) had a difficult early adult life. His health was  so  fragile that there were periods of time when he was confined to bed, unable to  work . Between  bouts of illness he would have to push himself to put in extra hours  at  various jobs in order to make ends meet . After coming to Christ at age 27, Thomas found great comfort in the Scriptures, and  in  the fact that God was faithful to be his strength in time of illness and weakness,  and  to provide his needs. Lamentations  3:22-23 was one of his  favorite  scriptures:  “It  is...

For the 12 May 2013 bulletin PASTOR’S NOTES Happy mother's day! I got this in the mail earlier this week and thought it would be nice to have something light on mothers this Sunday ... Why God made Mums Brilliant answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions : Why did God make mothers? 1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is. 2 . Mostly to clean the house . How did God make mothers? 1 . He used dirt, just like for the rest of us. 2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring What ingredients are mothers made of? 1 . God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean. 2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think. Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom? 1 . We're related 2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me. What kind of little girl was your mom? ...