Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year!



To all our readers, benefactors and friends - 
a Happy New Year to you all!
May peace and blessing be yours.

*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette
With thanks to the stone artist

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Lumiere Charity remembers the Homeless



A candle has been lit by Lumiere in remembrance of the homeless.

Have you ever been homeless?
Since starting Charity work, I have slept on floors of slums, worked at railway stations through the night with the homeless.
I have seen elderly lying on the sidewalks, their only possessions thin cotton clothing and a cotton shawl to wrap around their head whilst they slept.
I have experienced being held at gunpoint, shots being fired around me, shacks being torched, bomb blasts.

I have slept on floors in travelling depots; on benches at airports and at bus stations.
But the worst experience I ever had was shortly after I began Lumiere and found myself walking down a street in winter with no home to go to.
I had been ministering to the homeless on the street, and had somehow become a homeless Pastor with them.
One woman was shivering in below freezing temperature with a thin T-shirt and cotton trousers. 
She was hypothermic, and soon warmed after she received clothing and warm food.

Another woman was living in a train station with her three children and the family dog.
They had not eaten for days, and ate the food I gave them with the hunger of the starving.

After ministry I walked down the streets at 3am with nowhere to go to. 
I began shivering. I have never experienced such cold or such fear.

Today I am blessed to have a warm home to go to, sufficient food and clothing.
Many still do not have these basic needs.
Homelessness - no warm shelter or loving people at home to welcome you - is devastating.
In the spirit of Lumiere, is there anything you can do to help someone homeless in your area?

See
http://invisiblepeople.tv/blog/2012/12/bob-homeless-toronto-canada-no-affordable-housing/

*Photograph by Associate of Lumiere Charity


Lumiere Charity remembers Journalists



A candle has been lit in remembrance by Lumiere for all the dedicated journalists who have been injured or who have lost their lives following the call of their duty.
May strength be with their families and friends.

CPJ  is the Committee to Protect Journalists. 
See

Lumiere Charity remembers Syria



A candle has been lit by Lumiere in remembrance of all who have suffered and died in the conflict in Syria.
Please offer a thought or prayer in hope for resolution.
Our Syrian brothers and sisters are suffering.
In the spirit of Lumiere, is there anything you can do to help?

In Syria, Doctors without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has been working in cooperation with an association of Syrian Doctors, the UOSSM, since June. 
They are operating from a house, needing supplies - ambulances - assistance.
Please see the following link;
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=6309&cat=video&ref=tag-index

War Child help the children of Syria - with 'Safe Spaces', a haven away from violence. 
They urgently need assistance.
Please see;
http://www.warchild.org.uk/syria

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/22/syria-children-war-child-rape-child-soldiers-murder_n_1692733.html


Saturday, December 29, 2012

Lumiere Charity remembers Angel of Mercy on New Delhi bus



A candle has been lit in remembrance by Lumiere for 
Angel of Mercy medical student who reportedly died after torture
 and gang rape on New Delhi bus, and for her male friend 
who was also attacked.  May strength be with her 
bereaved family and friends at this tragic time.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Happy Christmas

For unto us a Child is born
Unto us a Son is given
Happy Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
We remember Christ's Birthday and the joy and hope it brings us.
Let's make this next year the best one ever!
A candle has been lit for each Lumiere Charity reader.
benefactor and supporter.
The picture of Mary of Nazareth and Jesus was drawn by
one of the children Lumiere Charity assists.
With thanks to the artist.
Please click this link for the beautiful song by Amy Grant
'Breath of Heaven' - Mary's song
With thanks to Ms Grant, Mr Jose Tony Cortes and Youtube
Why not purchase this inspirational music
and sing it in your Church choir?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Lumiere Charity remembers Newtown Connecticut



A candle has been lit in remembrance by Lumiere for all those 
who have passed away in the recent tragic shooting 
at Newtown, Connecticut.  May strength be with 
all those who have suffered bereavement 
and loss during this sad event.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Good Shepherd Church Seminary; Module 11 The Four Gospels Part 1



Yeshu'a Bar-Yosef - Jesus Son of Joseph


GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH SEMINARY
MODULE 11

THE FOUR GOSPELS PART 1

Objectives; 
By the end of this module you should;
1. Know what the gospel means
2. Know who the four evangelists (gospel writers) are in the New Testament of the Bible
3. Know there are links between the gospels in the New Testament and the prophecies in the Old Testament
4. Have read the four Gospels of the New Testament and know the names of the gospels  
5. Know how the gospels came to be written
6. Be able to witness to others about your belief in Jesus Christ as Son of God
7. Know that Jesus was fully human in his Incarnation in this world
8. Know the names of other gospels and writings witnessing to Jesus Christ dating from the earliest times
9. Know that Jesus' name is a transliteration from his real name Yeshu'a Bar-Yosef from Aramaic
10. Know how the transliteration of Jesus' name came about
11. Know that Joseph's real name is Yosef, and Mary's real name is Miriam
12. Be able to prepare a short sermon on Jesus Christ, Son of God

CONTENTS;
1. Gospel - Good News
2. The History behind the Gospels
3. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
4. How did the Gospels get written?
5. Yeshu'a Bar-Yosef - going back in history

1. GOSPEL - GOOD NEWS

The word 'gospel' means good news.

Four people gave accounts of the good news of the life of Jesus Christ on this earth, and the hope He offers us as the Son of God of eternal life in Heaven. These accounts were written down from the earliest times of Christianity, and have been faithfully preserved and translated down the centuries in the Holy Bible of Christianity. The names of the four writers of the Gospels are
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The first three gospels are sometimes called the 'synoptic' gospels - this means the 'same view' gospels. 

This is because they all cover teachings and miracles of Jesus which are also described in another account. 
John's account views Jesus' other words and miracles in a different way entirely, bringing out a different perspective and a particular spiritual meaning. 
There are many links between the gospels and the prophecies in the Old Testament, showing that Jesus Christ as Son of God came to fulfil the prophecies in the Scriptures. 
The gospels are thus a powerful teaching tool and an aid to finding out the truth of the road which we must walk in order to access eternal life with God and Jesus in the state of happiness known as Heaven.

What we need to do is to follow the Ten Commandments brought to humanity from God by the great prophet Moses; and to follow the golden rule 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you', (words of Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter 7, verse 12);  in other words, have empathy. Be kind, fair, considerate, truthful and just.

The gospels explain that Jesus is both the Son of God (divine) as well as son of man (human). They faithfully record His humble baptism - although He was Son of God - at the hands of John the Baptist. 

They recount His great miracle of the feeding of 5000 men as well as additional women and children, from a mere five loaves of bread and two fish.

Also recorded are the major events in Jesus' earthly life when Mary anointed Him, His prayer and suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, His experience of betrayal, His trial, death by crucifixion, death, burial and ultimate miraculous resurrection in which He returned from death to living once again. 

Each writer presents the same story from a different personal perspective. 
This ties in with the fact that although many of us may be at a particular event, each of us experience it differently.

2. THE HISTORY BEHIND THE GOSPELS
Jesus is an amazing man; he changed human history. 
The origins of the gospel stories are rooted in his doings and sayings so many years ago. 
But can any reliance be placed on the gospels? Is the New Testament fabrication or fact?
 In order to examine this question, we need to deal with the origins of the gospel stories about Jesus; how they got to us today; and evidence for Jesus from outside the Bible context.

History is important for Christianity because the Christian faith is not just a collection of ideas about the world, or a philosophy on how to live life; it is a real claim about what happened in the past to a real man named Jesus.

Christians believe that the world is different because of who Jesus really was, because of his actions, and because of what happened to him after his death. 
Why does the truth of the events of Jesus' life matter? 
If it is not true that Jesus performed miracles of healing, changed people's lives, and rose from the dead, then Christianity is useless and obsolete.
 Yet if it is true that Jesus did all these things, and that his claim to be the Son of God was and is indeed true, then it matters for every single human being on this planet.

If Jesus indeed rose from the dead and spoke the truth as recorded in the gospels, then in the light of what he claimed about himself he is the ultimate ruler of the world and of eternity.
The history of the gospels is that there are four of them. They are named after four authors; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

MATTHEW
A disciple called to follow by Jesus Christ


MARK

A companion of Peter

LUKE
A travelling companion of the apostle Paul

JOHN
Either the apostle John or another disciple of Jesus named John.

The four gospel writers are also known as the evangelists.

In the early church, Jesus' disciples witnessed to the words and actions of Jesus to those whom they met. 
The disciples had heard Jesus teach many times, and Jesus was indeed a master at adapting his stories and sayings to suit different audiences. 
He often spoke in parables, or types of folk stories, which had a moral and hidden meaning in many instances.

Also, Jesus was excellent at sayings which were easy to remember, and contained a core truth which had direct relevance in all of our lives. 
The sayings were often directives as to how to behave. 
Jesus believed that godly behaviour was to treat others with goodness, kindness and forgiveness. 

Jesus also attested to the fact that he was the Messiah long awaited in the Jewish tradition, the Son of God. 
He affirmed Simon when Simon declared that Jesus was the Son of God, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, a because it was no human agency b that revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.' (The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 17 to 18.)

3. MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN
If you open your Bible, you will find the first four books of the New Testament are stories testifying to Jesus' life. 
They are titled Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - the four Gospels. 
If we study where they came from, we need to delve into the issues of how the Gospels were passed onto us and into our Bibles; the history of how they were originally written; and what we know about the authors of the Gospels.

The modern day Gospels in modern Bibles are translations of a text which was originally written in the ancient language of Greek. 
The Greek text from which the translation comes from was constructed by comparing hundreds of ancient copies of the Gospel text with each other. 
These ancient copies have varying dates from between AD 120 and the Middle Ages. 
These copies are all copies of earlier Gospels, which were in turn copied from earlier versions. 
All these go back eventually to an original Greek version. 
All of the original versions are no longer extant, that means, they have been lost.

The names of the authors of the Gospels have been linked to the Gospels since the earliest times. Christians have believed from the very first that the authors' names meant the apostle Matthew, Mark who was a companion of Peter, Luke who was a travelling companion of the missionary apostle Paul, and either the apostle John or another disciple of Jesus named John.
These suppositions may be correct, but there is no complete certainty at this stage as to who actually historically wrote the Gospels. 
What is important is that the witness accounts of the Gospels give us a good understanding of what the authors believed they were doing in writing their stories about Jesus.

Luke explains in his Gospel that he decided to write the Gospel (addressing a friend Theophilus), in order to give an orderly account so that Theophilus would know the truth concerning the things about which he had been instructed in Christianity (Luke Chapter 1; verses 1 to 4).
Luke spoke about the events of Jesus' life, and used sources. 
He affirmed that his information came from people who were eyewitnesses to the events surrounding Jesus.

John also affirmed in Chapter 21, verse 24, that he himself was an eyewitness and a true one at that, to the things he spoke of about Jesus' life, actions, death and resurrection in his gospel. 
Thus we conclude from their own relayed sayings that the Gospel authors were adamant that they were writing accurately about the history of what actually happened.

4. HOW DID THE GOSPELS GET WRITTEN?
The gospel writers were inspired by Jesus' life, death and resurrection to pass the good news to others that He was the Son of God Who promised salvation and eternal life to each human ever conceived. 
What better way to document the happenings of Jesus' Life in a rapidly growing church of believers in early Christian times than by a church newspaper and letters. 
Different witnesses to the events of Jesus' life gave their personal testimonies as experienced by themselves.
 Four of the main newspaper journalists/witnesses were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John whose words have survived over many centuries to inspire us today that the historical Figure of Yeshua Bar-Yosef  (Jesus) was in fact also the Son of God.

Other eyewitnesses came forward and there are a plethora of other discovered gospels and writings such as the Nag Hammadi Library; a collection of early Christian texts discovered by Mohammed Ali Samman near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. c
This collection includes The Gospel of Thomas and The Gospel of Philip. 

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene was discovered in 1896 in a 5th-century papyrus codex. The codex Papyrus Berolinensis 8502 was purchased in Cairo by German scholar Karl Reinhardt. 
Two other fragments of the Gospel of Mary have been discovered since, both written in Greek
(Papyrus Oxyrhynchus L 3525 and Papyrus Rylands 463.) 
Most scholars date this gospel to the second century.

5. YESHU'A BAR-YOSEF - GOING BACK IN HISTORY
Jesus' real name is not, in fact, the way we say it today. It is Yeshu'a.

Jews in the first century had only one name, plus 'son of his father' - bar in Aramaic and -ben in Hebrew. 
Jesus would have used the name Yeshu'a Bar-Yosef, which means Yeshu'a Son of Yosef in Aramaic. Yosef is the Aramaic of Joseph.
The standard spoken language in First Century Galilee and Judaea was Aramaic. 
In Aramaic Jesus could also have used the name Yeshu'a Bar-Miriam, which would have signified that He is Yeshu'a Son of Miriam - as He was conceived as God in the womb of the virgin Miriam, or our English version Mary.
In Hebrew He would have used Yeshu'a Ben-Yosef. 
He could have used Yeshu'a Ben-Miriam; however in the culture of the day it is almost certain He would have used Yeshu'a Bar-Yosef or Yeshu'a Ben-Yosef.

Jesus used his self-referent of 'Son of Man' which would have been bar enash in Aramaic.
In Hebrew he would have used ben adam or ben enosh. 
The term is used in Old Testament (OT) Hebrew to mean a mortal human being. 
By using this term so clearly on numerous occasions, Jesus constantly emphasised his complete humanity to us. Jesus thus witnessed that he had mystically left his Divinity totally behind and chosen to incarnate WHOLLY as a human; not as a split God/man but as a totally human person, exactly the same as any of us. 
How did he do it? What were the ramifications of His Godhood incarnating as fully human?
It is - in essence - deepest mystery.

In Greek, the lingua franca of the time, Jesus' name would have translated as 
Iesous Iosefides.  Ο Ιησούς γιος του Ιωσήφ

The original Hebrew-Aramaic name of Jesus is Yeshu'a (תשווע), which is a post-Exilic modification of the Hebrew Yehōshu'a (Joshua) יהושע.
Hellenization of Yeshu'a (תשווע) occurred. 
This led to the Greek Ιησούς (Iesous).
Then this led to the Latin Iesus.
Eventually the word 'Jesus' was transliterated.

The changes to Jesus' name Yeshu'a (phonetically pronounced 'Yay-shoo'-ah' occurred through translations from the original Aramaic to non-Semitic languages; first to Greek, then Latin.
In the Vulgate the name was then established as 'Iesus'. 
The Latin spelling differed from the Greek because the two alphabets are not identical.

As time wore on, and the pronunciation of the European languages and the manner of writing the various letters changed, the letter 'I' gradually became the letter 'J' with the current 'J' sound.
The long 'u' sound was lost, and led to a short 'u'.
The newly invented printing press printed out bibles and the Latin version of the name gradually became the name 'Jesus'. 
Eventually the English pronunciation as we know it today was gradually adopted.

So; Yeshu'a's real name תשווע became Jesus. 



a Simon son of Jonah
b Literally, 'flesh and blood'
c With thanks to Wikipedia.org and the Nag Hammadi Library
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nag_Hammadi_library

*Photograph taken by Rev Catherine Nicolette. With thanks to the sculptor

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Lumiere English Academy - How to use Verbs and their Tenses correctly (2)


Lumiere English academy
A Basic Grammar
Studying English


THE PRESENT INDEFINITE TENSE 
I love
We use this tense when we talk about something that always exists, e.g. , Peter is very absentminded, or Peter is not very absentminded
Also in the headlines of newspapers, Shopping Mall opens the gates
Also about things that usually happen; Once a week we attend Worship Service

EXERCISE:

1. We all (know) ....................... that Marianne is going to get engaged (know)
2. New gaffe (spark) ................................. off protests (sparks)
3. It (be) ...................... generally accepted that correct diet (be) ................. important 
(is)  (is)       
4. Christmas (fall) ............................... on 25 December (falls)
5. Steady leader (revive) ............................... teams' flagging spirits (revives)
6. (be) ............................. you aware that a healthy mind (need) .............. a fit body?
(Are) (needs)
7. In the morning some people (have) only toast and coffee (have)
8. Police called in as Mary (confront) ....................... furious fans (confronts)
9. Sometimes Janine (make) ........................ her own clothes (makes)
10. Every few weeks James (have) ........................ a professional haircut (has)
11. Before Christmas and Easter we always (clean) ..................... the house from top to bottom
(clean)
12. As soon as Mother (come) .................... home, we all have supper (comes)
13. Father (do) ..................................... not believe in buying goods on credit (does)
14. Neither Paul nor Jim (be able) ................................. to sing in tune (is able)
15. Shakespeare's plays still (continue) ............................. to create interest (continue)
16. At Christmas we (sing) ........................ carols and (decorate) ................... the tree
(sing) (decorate)
17. Percy never (forget) ................................. anyone's birthday (forgets)
18. A mother's love (be) ................................ a blessing (is)

THE PAST INDEFINITE TENSE

I loved
We use this tense when we talk about something that always existed in the past, e.g., Peter was very absentminded (until he went to memory improvement classes)
Also about events that took place but are now finished, e.g. in 2001 I graduated from college
When I was small I always rode my bicycle to school
Also used in newspaper heading; Philanthropist always kept an open purse for the poor

EXERCISE

1.   In days gone by, the ladies (wear) ............... crinolenes and towering hairdos. (wore)
2.   At that time, the teacher (say) .............. to his disciples. (said)
3.   In my time children (respect) ........................ their parents and elders. (respected)
4.   When I was living with my parents, I (manage) .................. to save a part of my salary.
(managed)
5.   The customer (express) ...................... his appreciation of the professional service.
(expressed)
6.   When I was young I (have) ...................... plenty of hair.
(had)
7.   I was happy when I (obtain) ......................a study bursary.
(obtained)
8.   Whenever I went out, I always (take).................... a packed lunch to save expense.
(took)
9.   Studying night and day (help) ........................ me to pass the examinations. (helped)
10. Eating the wrong kind of food and smoking (destroy) ................ my health. (destroyed)
11. I never (leave) ....................... my parents' home until I turned twenty-one. (left)
12. Father always (be) ..................... the first to wake up in our house. (was)
13. Singing at our place of worship as a child (be) .......... a much favoured pastime. (was)
14. Long ago there (live) ........................ a little princess in a big castle. (lived)
15. When she (stop) ................... trying to make trouble, I breathed a sigh of relief. (stopped)
16. The doctor who (examine) ............................. me said I was suffering from bronchitis. 
(examined)
17. Father never (earn) .................... enough money to give us luxuries. (earned)
18. Years ago Grandmother always (cook) .................................. for us. (cooked)
19. At the end of last month the supermarket (be) ..................... full of customers. (was)
20. Last year we (go) .......................... to Durban on holiday. (went)
21. My youngest brother was born when I (be) .......................... ten years old. (was)

Dr. Luky Whittle

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Lumiere English Academy - How to use Verbs and their Tenses correctly



Precious student, show some sense
About tenses don't get tense

Until you know how to decline the most basic auxiliary (helper) verbs, you cannot hope to use verbs and their tenses correctly.

First, however, a word of advice. Please don't get tense about the tenses. 
Tense just means time, from temps, the French word for time. 
The tenses are not nearly as frightening as we tell ourselves. 
Half of them are second nature to us already, while we're not even aware of it.

In English we do not simply use one verb at all times as we do in some other languages. 
At certain times in the positive and nearly always in the negative use of our verbs we help ourselves by the use of auxiliary verbs. 
This word auxiliary is derived from the Latin "auxilium" which means help. 
The auxiliary verbs are the ones which help us.

FIRST CHECK THE MOST GENERAL AUXILIARY (help) VERBS

Infinitive         Present       Past         Present Participle       Past Participle

To be               I am            I was        I am being                 I have been
To do               I do             I did          I am doing                I have done
To have           I have         I had         I am having              I have had

HAVE CAN ALSO MEAN: TO EAT OR DRINK, E.G.
I was having breakfast         I was having my omelette        I was having my sandwiches
Would you like to have some tea?

AND WE CAN SAY
I was having problems         I was having a good time        I was having visitors
BUT WE CANNOT SAY:
I was having a headache.
INSTEAD WE SAY:
I had a headache
THOUGH WE CAN SOMETIMES SAY:
I was being careful      AS WELL AS   I was careful

Always remember that after using the present and past tenses of to do, we use the infinitive "did think" whereas after the present tense of "to have", we follow it up with the past participle: "have had". 
After auxiliary verbs like may, can, must, we also use the infinitive: "I may think" but past tense "I might have thought", "I can think" but I "could have thought", "I must think" but "I must have thought".

SO WE SAY:
I did (not) do              I did go            I did sing           I did read        I did obey
BUT
I have (not) done       I have gone     I have sung       I have read     I have obeyed

LEARN THE DIFFERENCE TO ENHANCE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH

Dr Luky Whittle


Saturday, December 8, 2012

Happy Hannukah





The blessed Festival of Hannukah begins tonight at sundown. 
A candle has been lit by Lumiere Charity in remembrance of the Festival.
A peaceful and blessed Hannukah to all. 

Lumiere English Academy - Participles and a List of Principal Parts


Lumiere English academy
A Basic Grammar
Studying English
Dear student,
Teachers will cast verbal darts
Till you know your principal parts

Before any real study of English can commence, students should be aware of the principal parts of the verb, for without these students will betray an ignorance of English at every turn. As the jingle states, however, this is not nearly as formidable a task as we tend to convince ourselves it is while we are studying at school. Relax, seat yourself comfortably and meet the challenge head on. If you find the principal parts tricky to memorise, read them into your tape recorder. Listening to the repetition while you are washing the dishes, changing a tyre or driving a car will soon help you to memorise them. Even after the third or fourth playing of the tape, you will find yourself answering some of them in unison with the recorded words. If you can tape them yourself, all the better, for there is something reassuring about the sound of one's own voice.

THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE
This is the same for regular and irregular verbs. It always ends with -ING, e.g. loving. The only thing to remember about the present participle is that you use the infinitive, but lop off the unsounded E at the end if there is one, before adding the ING. So, in the case of words such as love, leave, derive, deride, you use lov, leav, deriv, derid, before adding ING, i.e. loving, leaving, deriving, deriding. When the word ends on a consonant, e.g. look, you just add plain ING, SO look-ing. To repeat: Never have an E before the ING of a present participle, NOT DERIVE-ING but DERIVING.

THE PAST PARTICIPLE
In the case of regular verbs, the past participle is formed by adding a D to a word ending on an unsounded vowel, e.g. love-D, and by adding ED to a word ending on a consonant, e.g. look-ED.

THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF REGULAR VERBS
There are three principal parts of verbs given and they should be memorised from the outset, for until you know your principal parts you will not be able to deal correctly with your verb tenses (i.e. times, yesterday, today and tomorrow). The principal parts are given for the present, the past indefinite and the past participle, e.g. I love, I loved, I have loved. The past participle is the same for the past perfect tense, I had loved as for the present perfect tense I have loved. 

The present perfect is easily explained by saying that the verb to have is used in the present tense, while loved is in the past or perfect, whereas the past perfect gives us the past tense of the verb to have followed by the perfect for the verb to love. An inability to understand this basic rule accounts for many mistakes made by second language English speakers. More of this later. First the spadework: the principal parts.

The principal parts of regular verbs are quite predictable. In the case of regular verbs the past indefinite tense is formed exactly as is the past participle explained above, i.e. we add an ED when the verb ends with a consonant, e.g. look-ED, while we simply add a D to the unsounded vowel, e.g. love-D. In the case of regular verbs, the past participle is the same as the past indefinite tense.

EXAMPLES OF SOME REGULAR VERBS
Infinitive        Present         Past Indefinite       Present Perfect
To smile        I smile          I smiled                I have smiled
To laugh        I laugh          I laughed              I have laughed
To frown       I frown          I frowned              I have frowned

PRINCIPAL PARTS OF SOME VERBS ENDING WITH A "Y" OR A "Y" SOUND
This is slightly more complicated but not when you remember that when a word ends on a y, this may be changed to an ie when a d is added, although this is not the case when a word ends on an unsounded y, e.g. obey, convey, in which case it is followed by -ed.

Infinitive       Present         Past Indefinite            Past Participle     
To convey     I convey       I conveyed                  I have conveyed
To cry          I cry             I cried                        I have cried
To deny        I deny           I denied                     I  have denied
To desire      I desire         I desired                    I have desired
To obey        I obey           I obeyed                     I have obeyed
To rely         I rely             I relied                      I have relied
To stay         I stay             I stayed                     I have stayed
To sigh         I sigh             I sighed                     I have sighed
I vie             I vie               I vied                        I  have vied
To shy          I shy              I shied                       I have shied

In the case of irregular verbs, the past participle, while it is often the same as the past tense, sometimes varies. So it has to be learnt and memorised.

EXAMPLES OF PRINCIPAL PARTS OF SOME MORE COMMON 
IRREGULAR VERBS

Infinitive, Present, Past Perfect, Past Participle, Past Perfect Participle
To be              I am              I was                    I have been         I had been
To bear           I bear            I bore                   I have borne       I had borne
To begin,         I begin          I began                 I have begun       I had begun
To bid,            I bid             I bade                   I have bidden      I had bidden
(order)
To bind,          I bind            I bound                I have bound       I had bound
To bite,           I bite             I bit                     I have bitten        I had bitten
To break,        I break          I broke                 I have broken      I had broken
To bring          I bring          I brought              I have brought     I had brought
To buy            I buy             I bought                I have bought      I had bought
To catch          I catch          I caught                I have caught       I had caught
To choose        I choose       I chose                  I have chosen      I had chosen
To cling           I cling          I clung                  I have clung         I had clung
To do              I do              I did                     I have done          I had done
To draw           I draw          I drew                   I have drawn        I had drawn
To drink          I drink          I drank                 I have drunk        I had drunk
To eat             I eat              I ate                      I have eaten        I had eaten
To feel            I feel             I felt                     I have felt            I had felt
To fight           I fight            I fought                I have fought        I had fought
To find            I find            I found                  I have found        I had found
To fly              I fly              I flew                    I have flown         I had flown
To forbid         I forbid         I forbade               I have forbidden  I had forbidden
To forget         I forget          I forgot                 I have forgotten   I had forgotten
To get             I get              I got                      I have got           I had got
To give           I give            I gave                    I have given        I had given
To go              I go              I went                    I have gone          I had gone
To grind          I grind          I ground                I have ground       I had ground
To grow          I grow          I grew                    I have grown        I had grown
To hid             I hide           I hid                       I have hidden      I had hidden
To hold           I hold           I held                     I have held          I had held
To keep           I keep          I kept                     I have kept          I had kept
To know          I know         I knew                    I have known       I had known
To lay             I lay             I laid                      I have laid           I had laid
(bricks)
To lay             The hens lay They laid                They have laid     They had laid
(eggs)
To lead           I lead            I led                      I have led            I had led
To light           I light           I lit                        I have lit             I had lit
To lose            I lose           I lost                      I have lost           I had lost
To make          I make         I made                   I have made         I had made
To mean          I mean         I meant                  I have meant        I had meant
To play            I play           I played                 I have played       I had played
To ride            I ride           I rode                    I have ridden        I had ridden
To ring            I ring           I rang                    I have rung           I had rung
To run             I run            I ran                      I have run           I had run
To see             I see             I saw                     I have seen          I had seen
To seek           I seek           I sought                 I have sought        I had sought
To sell             I sell            I sold                    I have sold            I had sold
To shake          I shake         I shook                 I have shaken        I had shaken
To shrink         I shrink        I shrank                I have shrunk        I had shrunk 
To sing            I sing           I sang                     I have sung          I had sung
To sit              I sit              I sat                       I have sat             I had sat
To sleep          I sleep          I slept                    I have slept          I had slept
To speak         I speak          I spoke                  I have spoken       I had spoken
To spin           I spin            I spun                    I have spun          I had spun
To spring        I spring         I sprang                 I have sprung       I had sprung
To stand          I stand          I stood                   I have stood         I had stood
To string         I string          I strung                 I have strung        I had strung
To strive         I strive          I strove                  I have striven       I had striven
To sweep        I sweep          I swept                  I have swept         I had swept
To swim          I swim           I swam                  I have swum        I had swum
To swing         I swing          I swung                  I have swung       I had swung
To take           I take            I took                    I have taken         I had taken
To teach          I teach          I taught                  I have taught       I had taught
To tear            I tear            I tore                     I have torn          I had torn
To tell             I tell             I told                     I have told           I had told
To think          I think          I thought                I have thought      I had thought
To thrive          I thrive         I throve                 I have thriven       I had thriven
To tread           I tread          I trod                    I have trodden     I had trodden
To understand  I understand  I understood         I have understood I had understood
To wake           I wake          I woke                   I have woken        I had woken
To wear           I wear           I wore                   I have worn           I had worn
To weave         I weave         I wove                   I have woven        I had woven 
To wind           I wind           I wound                 I have wound       I had wound
To wring          I wring         I wrung                  I have wrung        I had wrung
To write           I write          I wrote                   I have written       I had written 

VERBS THAT EITHER DO NOT CHANGE, 
OR HARDLY CHANGE THEIR TENSES 

To beat           I beat           I beat                    I have beaten        I had beaten
To bend          I bend          I bent                    I have bent           I had bent
To bet             I bet            I bet                      I have bet             I had bet
To build          I build         I built                    I have built           I had built
To cut             I cut            I cut                      I have cut             I had cut
To hit              I hit            I hit                       I have hit              I had hit
To hurt            I hurt          I hurt                    I have hurt            I had hurt
To lend            I lend         I lent                     I have lent             I had lent

BUT
To mend        I mend         I mended                I have mended      I had mended
To read          I read           I read                    I have read           I had read
*Pronunciation is as follows; to read (pronounce 'to reed', I read (pronounce as 'I reed'.
 I read past perfect is pronounced as 'I red', I have read is pronounced as 'I have red,'
 and I had read is pronounced as 'I had red.'                   
To rend          I rend          I rent                       I have rent           I had rent
(This is in the case where I rend garments, i.e. I tear material of clothing)

BUT
To rent          I rent           I rented                   I have rented          I had rented
(This is the case where I rent a room or house)
To send         I send           I sent                       I have sent             I had sent
To set            I set            I set                          I have set               I had set
To shed         I shed          I shed                       I have shed             I had shed
To shut          I shut           I shut                       I have shut             I had shut
To spill          I spill           I spilled                   I have spilt             I had spilt
To spread      I spread       I spread                   I have spread          I had spread

ONCE YOU HAVE MEMORISED THE PRINCIPAL PARTS YOU WILL BE READY TO LEARN THE VARIOUS TENSES.

Dr Luky Whittle