OMG. I JUST DIED. THANK YOU etheneria for the heads up! OMG XDXDXDXDXD *DEADDEADDEAD*

BLATANT 2MIN! JONGKEY! LOL 2MIN. 2MIN. Here's a taste of it:

"Minho hyung, I'm here~"

*HEARTS FROM MINHO*KISSES FROM TAEMIN*KISSES FROM MINHO* AND I THOUGHT MINHO SMILED LIKE THE SUN BEFORE!? HE SMILED LIKE A SUPERNOVA IN THIS ONE!!!

"I know this isn't right, but I'm happy~" LOL no implicit meaning there. :D Minho's voice while saying this is so weird. XD

Then Taeminnie gets caught by Onew-seonsaengnim and Key jealously scoffs <3

ONEW'S OLD MAN EXPRESSIONS ARE WIN.

Minho: Even if we're getting punished, I'm happy to be with you." Taemin smiles shyly. "Dongsaeng ah *whispers loudly* SARANGHAE YO~ *one arm hugz*" Key goes ugh!face xD Taemin goes "Of course, you're my other half!"

IF THIS ISN'T BLATANT 2MIN, THEN I'M ONEW'S GIRLFRIEND, not a bad trade actually.!

Then, of course, Key and Jonghyun get jealous xD and become their own SHINing couple or duo of fantasy? that's not dirty at all. and go "dynamic duo CROSS~!" which... I have NO CLUE what they meant by that... but... uhh... I thought of this. HOW COULD WE NOT THINK OF IT WHEN YOU SAID IT SO OUTRIGHT, EETEUKKIE!?!?

Then Onew makes them go into a hetero moment. HAHA. lovely :] THat's actually a good sign XD hahaha. SHINee has HOPE! XD Anyways, TOtaLLY WORTH WATCHING SO GO WATCH IT, GAIZ!!! *STICKY!CAPS*

Changing gears, after a two week strike set up by union members who operate the Viva bus service all across York Region, it seems that they have accepted the offer and it is anticipated that full VIVA service will be back up and running this weekend. It seems that people in York Region are coping with the situation, quite similar to our strike in the Durham Region back 2 years ago. The strike will be distant memories for me of course.

References:

"Viva strike over." Vaughan Today. 10 October 2008. 10 October 2008. <http://www.vaughantoday.ca/story.php?id=1133>

"Drivers vote to end Viva bus strike in York." Toronto Star. 10 October 2008. 10 October 2008. <http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/515754>

Comon' y'all: this could beat our record of comments on a post. I can feel it.

BTW, I'm rockin the Empella fork and have my eyes SHARPLY peeled for some tubs. I may ask for some pick-up assistance on the heliums.

"Yes, honey, he is."

"Is Jesus going to die on it?"

Thank goodness he only had to do that once, right? But what a sweet reminder to be thankful that he already did.

We often forget that these questions were posed the day Jesus died (Matthew 27:37-43). That horrid Friday afternoon Jesus was taunted and mocked before his death to come down and save Himself. Yet Jesus did not come down. He died that day.

There are 2 possibilities of why Jesus didn’t save Himself, either He could not or He chose not to do it. Which you believe depends on who you think Jesus is. This is what I believe:

1.  Jesus could have saved Himself. Jesus could have stopped His arrest (Mt.26:52-54). During His earthly ministry Jesus did chose to save Himself multiple times from death. He escape from kill-hungry mobs: throw Him off a cliff (Lk.4:28-30), stone Him (John 10:39), and strangle Him (Jn.7:30), but no one could touch Him for it was not time…He would disappear into the crowd.

2.  Jesus chose not to save Himself. Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing that His enemies were there ready to kill Him (Mt.16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19). In fact, Jesus knew the kind of death He was going to face (Ps.22:7-18) This prophecy was given hundreds of years before there was such a thing as the Roman crucifixion.

3. Jesus chose to die as the ransom (Mt.20:28). When we hear the word ransom we think of hostages being held captive by bank robbers or terrorists. They have a note demanding payment or the hostages will die. In the days of Jesus it was similar. Ransom was often paid to release people from slavery. All because of sin I am guilt as charged.

The verdict: sin (Rom.3:23)
The sentence: death (Rom.6:23).
The prison: hell
The Judge: God (Rom.5:8a)
The Ransom: Jesus (Rom.5:8b)

How is Jesus death a ransom? Jesus came to release us from spiritual slavery. Sin has a serious price tag. No amount of money or stockpile of good deeds can meet the demand of the ransom. Jesus death paid my ransom. A sinful man cannot die for another sinful man. But Jesus was sinless. Jesus took my place. He chose to die for those who hate Him. Sometimes we wish God would just keep out of our business, but God made our sin His business. It was something He was born to do. He lived to die. Jesus was the perfect plan to pay my ransom: God’s justice demanded a ransom (punishment for sin), and God Himself is the ransom (payment for sin).

Guys,Saturday September 20th Lukasz, my wife Debby and me finally hosted our long planned cyclo cross race called: GP Champion City, and we had a total number of 99 racers racing plus 12 kids participating in their first ever cross race! Thanks to all our volunteers and event sponsors it turned out to be a solid event with some really positive feedback.

After paying the bills I am happy to announce I will donate $350 to the Kids with Cancer Society and the remainder of all proceedings will go the the "Canada House in Holland" by BONK Cardio Adventures project, supporting a few Canadian cross racers racing in Holland and Europe by joining a Dutch team and being fully supported.

-Tim.

When we think of Christ's dying on the cross we are shown the lengths to which God's love goes in order to win us back to Himself. We would almost think that God loved us more than He love His son. We cannot measure His love by any other standard. He is saying to us, “ I love you this much.”

This cross is the heart of the gospel; it makes the gospel good news. Christ died for us; He has stood in our place before God's judgment seat; He has borne our sins. God has done something on the cross which we could never do for ourselves. But God does something to us as well as for us through the cross. He persuades us that He loves us.

I really shouldn't be writing because I have one more midterm left (SPANISH!  Ahh!), but I just can't help myself.  In fact, I'm surprised at how much I've missed blogging over the past few days.

I just had to read a short play for my English Literature class, and it really struck me, so I thought I'd take my 10, er, um, 11 minutes to talk about it.

Its called "The York Play of the Crucifixion," and it got me thinking about some really fascinating concepts.  Since I'm sure most of you aren't really up on your middle age literature, I'll fill you in a little on the content of the play.

It consists of 5 characters: 4 soldiers and, of course, Jesus.  The soldiers are talking as they work to nail Jesus to the cross, hoist it up, and cast lots for His clothes.  They talk about nailing his hands and feet, about how it will boar through the sinews in His arms and hands.  The discuss how much pain all of this will cause Him.  They talk about it as if they were talking about the wood they were using to build a house.  The make fun of Him, claiming that if He were really God, He could have obviously saved Himself from all of this pain and torture.  Once they finally hoist the cross (after several tries), they comment on how painful it would have been for the cross to be dropped into the hole, the most painful thing of all!

It seemed that the soldiers (at least one or two of them) just got to the brink of understanding what they had just done, when they decided to shrug it off and go on with their daily activities. In a fascinating irony the job that they carry out so cumbersomely is the job that will prove to be the salvation of mankind.  They are blind to the bigger idea of who Jesus really is.

I think the callousness of the soldiers saddened me more than any other thing I’ve read about the crucifixion.  It is quite distressing to see images (such as in the Passion of the Christ), but most often we see it within the viewpoint of someone who is utterly grateful for the gruesome death.  The person witnessing His is death is most often acutely aware of the fact that they are the reason Christ was on the cross.  The most ironic part of the play was the fact that the soldiers were nailing Christ to the cross on two levels:  physically and spiritually.  It was heartbreaking because they did not even know it.  They were not aware AT ALL that He alone was saving them, was experiencing all the pain they were discussing FOR THEM.

It made me think of all the people in our world that know the story of the crucifixion.  Maybe they have even seen Passion of the Christ, but they are missing the bigger picture.  They are missing the point that the death they have heard about was true and deep and spiritual and imperative.

It really breaks my heart...

10:51pm

Read the play online here.

October 05 AM, 2008 - Pastor Tony Bazen

The whole chapter of 1 John 4 might describe God's love better than any other place I have found in the Bible, but I particularly love this part:

1 John 4:10-12 - This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

How amazing is it that God loves us so much that we have been saved from our sin when we don't at all deserve it?  We are loved in spite of ourselves.  The Bible says that love is so much a part of God, that if we show love to others, it is a direct reflection of him.

Praise God for his unfailing love.  We are so messed up, and God loves us so much, that he sent Jesus from perfection in Heaven to sacrifice himself.  Jesus suffered and bled and died for us.

This really is love.

"Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don’t simply learn or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus’ name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son. Readers become what they read."

Eugene Peterson
Eat This Book 

Just like readers become what they read; I believe we are what we eat. I guess in a real literal sense that is true when we start deconstructing everything from chicken and slurpees, calories and carbs, molecules and atoms. But I want to use this phrase in discussing communion.  Communion is called many things for example, the Eucharist, Holy Mass, Passover, or the Lord's Supper. But I like to refer to it as the Jesus meal. 

This is not a meal we eat with Jesus; Jesus is the meal!

We eat His body and we drink His blood. It sounds pretty gruesome, but Jesus uses such a strong illustration to highlight the enormous importance of getting Jesus' life inside our bodies. I think this is one of the major points of communion. I want Him inside of me and the best way to do that is to ingest Him. One of the cool things about communion is it's rootedness in God's story with His chosen people, the Israelites.

Mark 14.12 says, the disciples were planning for the Passover meal. So, communion or the Jesus meal is going to take place on the night of Passover. Now the Jews had been celebrating Passover for a thousand years so this story goes all the way back to Moses and when the Israelites were enslaved to Egypt. Let's look at a few verses from that first Passover.

Moses says to Pharaoh in Exodus 11.4, "Thus says the Lord, 'About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the first born in the land of Egypt shall die.'" Jesus was Mary's first born. And it is on this night that he is going to be led away to be killed. So Jesus is helping the disciples see that this is not a new story, but the fulfillment of the old story.

God tells Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12 to "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, on the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves...Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old...the congregation is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night."

So, the lamb that is killed is unblemished (prized and valuable) and it is the sacrifice as well as the meal. The meal part is really what I am trying to get at. We desperately need to consume the sacrifice as well as assimilate and internalize it, by the Spirit, into our daily lives. It is not merely just reminding ourselves of the sacrifice but ingesting it and allowing it to nourish and sustain us.

Back to Mark 14, Jesus says, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many." What is this covenant? Is it the old covenant or the new? I think it's the new. Jesus is making a new covenant and his plan is to be a sacrifice and also a meal. Jesus dies on the cross and becomes our sacrifice and punishment. But one of the great things about the covenant, is it also includes Jesus doing something on the inside of us. There is going to be a reformation of our inner nature--our hearts and souls.

Jeremiah 31.31-33 says it so well:

31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

There is a new covenant that God brought to us in Jesus and it was to put His law inside of us and to write it on our hearts. The law is not something that is going to be on a wall or in a book that I am going to have to read, study or consult with. It is going to be alive and inside of me via Jesus' Spirit. So what this means is I will naturally, easily and routinely live out the law. Which ends up being summed in one saying, "Love God and love others."

How does this happen? We consume Jesus. Jesus says in John 6.63, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."  As we listen to Jesus and read His red words the Spirit gives life. So, one of the central ways we do this is by eating our meals whether it be bread and wine or party burritos and water in faith and trust that Jesus is going to fill us. He forgave us to fill us. And what we need so desperately is to be filled with Him. I will leave you with one more statement from Jesus the king of kings and the Meal of meals.

"53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55"For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."

Seek the kingdom,
Jon

1)The Criminals alongside the cross.
Observed the word ‘Rebellion’. It is on the cross and it is around the cross. Noticed at verse 35 - And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One." 36The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, 37and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself! And if there is any consolation, the other criminal hanging alongside also hurled insults at him in verse 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us! Incredible torments not in a physically point of view but mentally as well. In a sense you can see rebellion at its worse, from the dominion of the spiritual forces around him, and the dominion of the forces of evil on earth. It is mutiny of the worse kind. Satan’s forces cooperating with human forces on earth. Rebellion against God is defiance against God, At Calvary, there is a sum of all that was evil put together; you could say that it was an organized attempt by Satan forces to overthrow the authority of God by killing the very Son of God. Like the Parable of the tenants in Matthew 21: 33 – when the harvest came, the master sent the servants to collect the harvest, they seized the servants, beat them up and killed them one after the other and last of all, he sent his son to them saying they will respect my son but when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, this is the heir, come let’s kill him and take his inheritance. So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When after the religious teachers heard this parable, they knew he was taking about them. They looked for way to arrest him. And now it is coming to pass. And now their scheme in a sense was working. Jesus is on the cross where they planned it to be. In a small way, these soldiers and religious leaders were all partaking in that rebellion by joining Satan in this evil scheme. They were hurling insults at him continuously. The original translation is at best translated, they kept on hurling insults at him over and over and over again... not once but many times, continuously. Rebellion is seen in the soldiers who executed the decision, rebellion is seen in the religious leaders hurling insults at him and seeing their adversity was finally put down; rebellion is also seen in the crowds. They were standing still in silent agreement, looking curiously at a man, once famous as the teacher and healer from Galilee. They probably shake their head and spoke to one another – my, my we thought that he was the one who will deliver us but look at him – he is finished, he is pathetic – he is just another one of those religious teacher who comes and who is now gone, just like the rest of them. They were ones who saw all the miracles that Jesus ever did in the three years; they were all spectators to the healing of blind Barthimaeus; they were there to see and even ate the loaves of bread and fish in the feeding of 5000 people and once with 4000. They were there to witness the resurrection of Lazarus, healed lepers, freed the demon possessed, healed the paralytic man, the mute, cure all kind of diseases and so on. These were the crowds who were said, they were amazed at his teachings. These were very ones who saw so much and heard so much and yet at the end of the day, Jesus was disappointed that they were filled with unbelief. They were rebellious in their silence and they chose to be mere spectators. In a sense in our day, these were the kinds that are non committed, non-involvement and just want to be comfortable and cosy in their own world and let things go by without them. This is as much a rebellion than the one who execute it and condone it. In fact we saw how even one of the criminals alongside Jesus also heaped insults upon him – if you are the son of God, save yourself and us. You know, as far as God was concerned, the criminals were not just those who hung alongside Christ, the criminals were all the same – Pilate who signed the execution, the religious leaders who planned the execution, the soldiers who mocked, and flocked Christ, and proceeded to Calvary to conduct the execution, there the crowd who all there to witness the execution. It was the Passover and I am sure it was pretty crowded, what more a crucifixion. The criminals alongside Jesus on the cross is witness by the criminals who planned it alongside the spectators who themselves were criminals of the very sin whom Jesus was paying the very price.

Secondly, the Conversion from the cross.
Look at Verse 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" 40But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41"And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And here is where we find the word repentance.
Repentance is a realisation of God that triggers the realisation of self that leads to a realisation of what needs to be done that leads to conversion. Repentance is not an option in conversion, it is a necessity for salvation like this dying criminal. Listen brothers & sisters, if there is no repentance in our lives, I hardly think we have ever fully understood the gospel. Repentance is not just sorry. It is a feeling of genuine regret or a deep sense of shame over the past or feeling of contrite for having done something wrong and something not right and are prepared for judgment and whatever that he or she is ready to face – This dying criminal had all the characteristic of a repentant person – v41 "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." That is genuine repentance. Let me add one more definition to it. Repentance is also to turn from where we are after being sorrowful, and make that decision never to go back. This dying criminal on the verge of passing into eternity without hope turned to the Lord. He turned his last breath to the Lord in 42And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" With that sentence of faith, the door of paradise was open for him. If he ever had a chance to live again, he would live it differently. But NO there is no chance of another life– that few moments is enough for him to realise that Jesus was his only saviour.
The Lord wants genuine repentance. We have knowledge, fine; we have good deeds, fine; we have a role to play in the church, fine; we have a good standing in society, fine; we give our tithes regularly, fine; we are holding a position of leadership and are faithful every Sunday, fine; but are we repentant to our sin. Do we earnestly take sin seriously, are we eager to make our wrongs right...these are things that matters to God even more. Paul in 2 Corinthians 7 wrote a letter to a carnal church in Corinth and the letter brought much sorrow to the church but Paul was concern for their spiritual being. In V9I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. People asked how do we know what is repentance, well it is all here. These words mark a repentant spirit, look at the words – what earnestness, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong, in everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent. Beloved are we like that? I trust that is the standard of how we ought to remain at all times. Jesus was so serious about repentance in Luke 13 he said unless you repent, you too will all perish, referring to the Jews who think of themselves self-righteously. They are many today in Christian churches who came to Jesus Christ on the basis of salvation and heaven; but never on the basis of ever repenting. That is dangerous theology. In Acts 2, when the crowd heard the sermon from Peter, the text say, when they heard this, they were cut to their heart and cry out “Brothers, What shall we do” In my version of the NASB in v37Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 38Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Is Repentance crucial – yes! Absolutely fundamental as far as the gospel message is concern.

Thirdly, The Calls from the cross.
Jesus said some remarkable statements on the cross. 34But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” This remains one of the defining characters of God’s mercy, compassion and grace. This is so contrasting to the attitude of those who are still hurling insults at him from the foot of the cross. This is God’s leniency, this is God’s kindness, this is God’s patience all sum up in his divine character. You want to study all about God’s heart, there are so much of it in the last dying moments of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The heart of God was crushed to the very limit when he would not intervene in the heavens above with legions of his angels looking downward to save him at the word GO; but no word came from his dying son. The only words that actually came were the very ones we are now reading – “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”
Beloved, when the love of God fills us, it fills us in the same way like how he endured on the cross. Remember Stephen’s final words in Acts 7 when they wanted to kill him as the bible says he was filled with grace and power in verse 59They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" 60Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Love of God change him inside out and he responded exactly like the Lord Jesus. Paul tells us in Romans 5:5 – “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The word “poured out”, not sprinkled here and there like droplets but literally poured – like a fountain or a waterfall gushing downwards. That’s how much God’s love is for us. You will never loved like the way God loves if you do not have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. You cannot help it as you will be overwhelmed by it so much, you will not contain it anymore, it will burst out of your life. Like Jesus telling the Samaritan woman in John 4: 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. Ephesians 3:19 Paul urged us to know this love that surpasses knowledge, in other words it is incomprehensible because it is beyond our human understanding—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Jesus said “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. It is another continuous tense in the original language that suggest that Jesus keeps on praying to the father – Father forgive them, father forgive them, father forgive them; they do not know what they are doing, in a sense pleading before the father to have mercy on these ones who are hurting him – give them another chance, and another chance and another chance. Like the Father who ran out to embrace the prodigal son who left him, and now returns, he ran out at the expense of his own reputation and embraced him with no conditions attached, no hatred, no preconditions, no detestation whatsoever – only love in all its purity from his heart of love. It is the same love that forgives Peter’s denial and brought him back to ministry. Same compassion that made Jesus wept when he saw Mary wept over lazarus. There is no one else that could describe it more appropriately than Paul himself. He quotes in 1Timothy 1: 13 - even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Jesus knew the heart of men and the heart of God his father, and the one thing that was needed most is the forgiveness of God. Beloved, without God’s forgiveness, where are we today? Without God’s forgiveness, we are what the bible describes in Ephesians 2 as ‘dead in our sins, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath, we were far off, we were separated from him through the wall of hostility; in Colossians 1 we were told that we were under the dominion of darkness, we were alienated from God, we were enemies of God without hope of reconciliation. Jesus say “Father forgive them” is a plea as a mediator as a go-between, to bridge the great divide of sin and hostility; because without that we are all finished. Without God’s forgiveness, there is no chance of making peace with a holy God. Roman 5:1 -Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning before we were justified what are we? We were enemies of God. Jesus’ blood was needed to atone and to appease a righteous God and his forgiveness is needed and thats why Hebrew 9 tells us - without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. When Jesus say : “Father forgive them” God the father knew exactly what his son was talking about because he was bleeding as he was saying those words and God the father accepted the sacrifice and the atonement was granted. All compensation from the dawn of time till today was paid in full. That’s the reason why forgiveness is not a difficult thing in our life time, if we fully understood forgiveness from God’s point of view, then we can freely forgive others, no matter what people do to us. If God can forgive, what right have we to judge others, worse still not to forgive – it is a crime. Father, forgive them they do not know what they are doing – it is fundamental that we understand this statement fully, in doctrines and in practice. Let’s quickly look at the second statement and then we’ll end.
In verse 43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”. This criminal found redemption at the last remaining breath of his life. He was redeemed at the last minute, like today we exchange a voucher we say to redeem it for something; you could say that we buy it back. Jesus buy back the soul of this condemned man at the last few breath. A condemned man who was clearly beyond salvation was given salvation. A man who deserved an eternity in hell for what he has done and the crimes he committed was delivered into heaven’s glory in a second– today, you shall be with me in paradise. The moment he close his eyes and breath his last, he will be walking with the Lord Jesus hand in hand in the land of glory called paradise. This man who was discarded, rejected and put out of society for whatever crimes he has committed was prevented from hell at the last minute and given the status of citizenship in heaven, as if nothing has ever happen in his life. This man who was at the hands of satan and almost sure of being seized by the jaws of satan himself and condemned forever by sin was literally rescued and set free by the power of God in a second. Just one sentence by the Lord Jesus was enough to do the job. This man could not do anything else as he bled profusely from his hands and feet, only one thing left - believe. It is interesting that in Matthew’s account in chapter 27:44 – the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. Bible scholars were of the opinion that perhaps somehow in the closing stages of his life, observing there is no hatred but only love demonstrated by the Lord Jesus – remember he was as close as the other thief, and every word could be heard – and I guess you could say that he heard Jesus pleading before the father; his whole perspective about this man change. When you could forgive like that, that is power of God in action. That’s why beloved, forgiveness is such a powerful weapon. If it can be use to convert a hard core criminal like this man, think of what it could do when you use it with your friends and relatives. Like we say, action speaks louder than words – this is one of them. No wonder he was ready. Lord remember me when you come in your kingdom.
The calls from the cross was sufficient to save no 1 - those who hurl insults at him and deserved the wrath of God; and no 2 - sufficient to save the one who throw himself at the mercy of God.

Beloved let us recap. The criminals alongside the cross – rebellion against God. They are those who openly rebel and they are those who silently rebel. Secondly, the conversion of the cross. Repentance is so important and the dying man repented before Jesus – we deserved to die because we are paying the price of our wrongs; but this man has done nothing wrong; and thirdly, the conversion of the cross – the dying criminal threw himself at the mercy of God and found redemption – Lord , remember me when you come into your kingdom.

If you are a thoughtless, careless man about your soul, you will take no interest in the subject of this tract. Faith and assurance are mere names and words to you: they are neither land, nor money, nor horses, nor dress, nor meat, nor drink: like Gallio, you care not for them. Alas, poor soul! I mourn over you. The day will come when you will think differently.

Reader, if you really desire to go to heaven, and to go there in the Bible way you will find the subject of this tract of the deepest importance. Believe me, your own comfort in religion, and your peace of conscience, depend exceedingly on understanding the matter about which I am going to speak. I say then, that faith in Christ, and a full assurance of being saved by Christ, are two distinct things.

A man may have saving faith in Christ, and yet never enjoy an assured hope, like the Apostle Paul. To believe, and have a glimmering hope of acceptance, is one thing; to have joy and peace in our believing, and abound in hope, is quite another. All God's children have faith: not all have assurance. I think this ought never to be forgotten.

I know some great and good men have held a different opinion: I believe that many excellent ministers do not allow the distinction I have stated; but I desire to call no man master. I dread as much as anyone the idea of healing the wounds of conscience slightly; but I should think any other view than that I have given a most uncomfortable gospel to preach, and one very likely to keep souls back a long time from the gate of life.

I would not desire to make one contrite heart sad that God has not made sad, or to discourage one fainting child of God, or to give a soul the impression that you have no part or lot in Christ, except you feel assurance. I do not shrink from saying, that by grace a man may have sufficient faith to flee to Christ, really to lay hold on Him, really to trust in Him, really to be a child of God, really to be saved; and yet to his last day be never free from much anxiety, doubt, and fear.

"A letter," says an old writer, "may be written which is not sealed; so grace may be written in the heart, yet the Spirit may not set the seal of assurance to it."

A child may be born heir to a great fortune, and yet never be aware of his riches, live childish, die childish, and never know the greatness of his possessions.

And so also a man may be a babe in Christ's family; think as a babe, speak as a babe, and, though saved, never enjoy a lively hope, or know the full privileges of his inheritance.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ a man must have, beyond all question, if he is to be saved. I know no other way of access to the Father: I see no intimation of mercy excepting through Christ. A man must feel his sins and lost estate, must come to Jesus for pardon and salvation, must rest his hope on Him and on Him alone. But if he only have faith to do this, however weak and feeble that faith may be, I will engage, from Scripture warrants, he shall not miss heaven. Never, never let us curtail the freeness of the glorious gospel, or clip its fair proportions. Never let us make the gate more strait, and the way more narrow, than pride or love of sin have made it already. The Lord Jesus is very pitiful and of tender mercy. He does not regard the quantity of faith, but the quality He does not measure its degree, but its truth. He will not break any bruised reed, nor quench any smoking flax. He will never let it be said that any perished at the foot of the cross. "Him that cometh unto Me," He says, "I will in no wise cast out" (John vi. 37). 1

Yes, reader! though a man's faith be no bigger than a grain of mustard seed, if it only brings him to Christ, and enables him to touch the hem of His garment, he shall be saved: saved as surely as the oldest saint in paradise; saved as completely and eternally as Peter, or John, or Paul. There are degrees in our sanctification: in our justification there are none. What is written is written, and shall never fail: "Whosoever believeth on Him," not whosoever has a strong and mighty faith, "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed" (Rom. x. 11).

But all this time, I would have you take notice, the poor soul may have no full assurance of his pardon and acceptance with God. He may be troubled with fear upon fear, and doubt upon doubt. He may have many a question and many an anxiety, many a struggle, and many a misgiving, clouds and darkness, storm and tempest to the very end.

I will engage, I repeat, that bare simple faith in Christ shall save a man, though he may never attain to assurance; but I will not engage it shall bring him to heaven, with strong and abounding consolations. I will engage it shall land him safe in harbour, but I will not engage he shall enter that harbour under full sail, confident and rejoicing. I shall not be surprised if he reaches his desired haven weather-beaten and tempest-tossed, scarcely realising his own safety till he opens his eyes in glory.

Reader, I believe it is of great importance to keep in view this distinction between faith and assurance. It explains things which an inquirer in religion some times finds it hard to understand.

Faith, let us remember, is the root, and assurance is the flower. Doubtless you can never have the flower without the root; but it is no less certain you may have the root and not the flower.

Faith is that poor trembling woman who came behind Jesus in the press and touched the hem of His garment (Mark v. 25). Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his murderers, and saying, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts vii. 56). Faith is the penitent thief crying, "Lord, remember me" (Luke xxiii. 42). Assurance is Job sitting in the dust, covered with sores, and saying, "I know that my Redeemer liveth" (Job xix. 25). "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job xiii. 13).

Faith is Peter's drowning cry as he began to sink: "Lord, save me!" (Matt. xiv. 30). Assurance is the same Peter declaring before the Council, in after times, "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts iv. 11,12).

Faith is the anxious, trembling voice: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark ix. 24). Assurance is the confident challenge: "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth?" (Rom. viii. 33, 34).

Faith is Saul praying in the house of Judas at Damascus, sorrowful, blind, and alone (Acts ix. 11). Assurance is Paul, the aged prisoner, looking calmly into the grave, and saying, "I know Whom I have believed," "There is laid up for me a crown" (2 Tim. i. 12; iv. 8).

Faith is life. How great the blessing! Who can tell the gulf between life and death? And yet life may be weak, sickly, unhealthy, painful, trying, anxious, worn, burdensome, joyless, and smileless to the very end.

Assurance is more than life. It is health, strength, power, vigour, activity, energy, manliness, and beauty.

Reader, it is not a question of saved or not saved that lies before us, but of privilege or no privilege, it is not a question of peace or no peace, but of great peace or little peace, it is not a question between the wanderers of this world and the school of Christ, it is one that belongs only to the school, it is between the first form and the last.

He that has faith does well. Happy should I be if I thought all readers of this tract had it. Blessed, thrice blessed are they that believe: they are safe; they are washed; they are justified. They are beyond the power of hell. Satan, with all his malice, shall never pluck them out of Christ's hands. But he that has assurance does far better, sees more, feels more, knows more, enjoys more, has more days like those spoken of in Deuteronomy, even "the days of heaven upon the earth" (Deut. xi. 21). 2

Reader, whoever you may be, I exhort you never to be satisfied with anything short of a full assurance of your own salvation. With faith, no doubt, you must begin, with simple, child-like faith: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." But from faith go on to assurance. Rest not till you can say, "I know Whom I have believed."

Believe me, believe me, assurance is worth the seeking. You forsake your own mercies when you rest content without it. The things I speak are for your peace. It is good to be sure in earthly things; how much better is it to be sure in heavenly things!

Make it then your daily prayer that you may have an increase of faith. According to your faith will be your peace. Cultivate that blessed root more, and sooner or later, by God's blessing, you may hope to have the flower. You may not perhaps attain to full assurance at once: it is good sometimes to be kept waiting; we do not value things that we get without trouble. But though it tarry, wait for it. Seek on, and expect to find.

FOOTNOTES:

1 "He that believeth on Jesus shall never be confounded. Never was any; neither shall you, if you believe. It was a great word of faith spoken by a dying man, who had been converted in a singular way, betwixt his condemnation and execution: his last words were these, spoken with a mighty shout 'Never man perished with his face towards Jesus Christ.'"  Traill.

2 "The greatest thing that we can desire, next to the glory of God, is our own salvation; and the sweetest thing we can desire is the assurance of our salvation. In this life we cannot get higher than to be assured of that which in the next life is to be enjoyed. All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth: some saints enjoy a heaven while they are here on earth." Joseph Carlyle. 1658.

If I were to candidly sum things up concerning my inner life since entering the Church, I might be tempted to say some pretty horrible sounding things. I might be tempted to say, for instance, that I am worse now than I have ever been. Depression, anxiety, anger -- my poor wife is having one hell of a time dealing with me at times, and I do not mean that in the vulgar sense. I find myself feeling as though I'm at wits' end all too often these days.

However, despite my tendency to dwell only on that half of the story, that's not all there is to it. With my time in the Church, things are getting clearer, far clearer than my eyes care to see. Bl. Fr. Seraphim Rose said that the Christian should expect nothing less than to be crucified, and God help me, it's one of the most insightful things I've ever read about the Faith apart from Scripture. I look in the mirror, and I don't like what I see. I'm not talking about sins here and there that I fall into anymore. I'm talking about the fundamentals of what have made me who I am, roots that only now are being exposed; and while the faithless man might despair to learn such things about himself, I am finally learning from them about how to fight this fight.

I've never understood until entering into the Church just how deeply sin -- or, perhaps better put, death -- is rooted in me. I can't hide from it. There were months where I confessed the same exact sins to my spiritual father over and over again, and it was only when I grew so despairing and despondent that I began to give up on the Faith that the Lord again showed His face, which revealed in me darkness I have always hidden from. How often it is that we only notice God's presence when we can no longer bear to notice anything else, and how humbling it is!

This is why theosis takes longer than our lifetimes. I am rapidly finding that theosis is more than just beating a few habitual sins and establishing a decent prayerlife -- no, most of us are so tangled up in the passions that we can barely even move our eyes around to see how bad it is, and indeed, perhaps we can't because without God's grace, we can't find it in ourselves to try. Thankfully, it is not solely up to us to escape, for Christ gave us Himself and His Church for the defeat of the passions and the healing of the soul.

Those who suffered and knew themselves to be "lowlives," so to speak, were often the ones most receptive to Christ while He walked in the flesh on this earth. Why? I think they were the most self-aware. They couldn't free themselves, but they recognized the Lord Who could. Those who rejected Him -- Pharisees, temple authorities, and the like -- could not recognize Him, because they did not even recognize themselves for what they were, sinners. A broken heart and a contrite spirit; these, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

I am often tempted to look at myself and say that since entering the Church, I've gotten worse. Perhaps by worldly standards, that's so, but I'm not blind to myself anymore. The Church with Her grace has exposed corruption in me that I couldn't see before, and though it hurts worse than anything I've experienced to date (remembering what Fr. Seraphim said about crucifixion), the Lord Almighty has the power to raise us from corruption.

This line, from one of the Paschal hymns, comes to mind: I desire My creation to shine with joy, and all sorrow will pass away.

“ Lord, to whom shall we go?” (John 6:68)

Having had a lightning glance at the Old Testament, we now move on to see what the New Testament tells us about security. We'll work our way through, looking at what the Gospels tell us, what Acts tells us, and then what the various letter writers tell us about this subject, and finally see something from the book of Revelation.

7.1 The Gospels

In a previous chapter we looked specifically at how Peter related to Jesus. We start this chapter with Peter again as we consider the verse above. People had been finding some of the things Jesus had been saying difficult to take in. Some of his apparent followers now started turning back, so Jesus turned to the twelve and asked them if they wanted to leave as well. It is then that Peter comes back with these words: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know you are the Holy One of God.”

When they had first been called and left everything to follow Jesus, they perhaps wondered what it was that had actually attracted them and made them leave the security of their everyday lives and follow this travelling preacher. These weren't average Bible School students, potentially religious devotees! These were fishermen, tax collectors and so on, men out of the rough and tumble of hard working life. What made them leave this security for something intangible?

For the answer we have to go first to Luke 5 where Jesus borrows Peter's boat, to use it as a floating preaching platform. It was at the end of that sermon, which Peter may or may not have understood, that Jesus suggested that Peter put out into the deep to catch some fish. Now Peter was a fisherman who knew these waters and knew fish, and he knew there were no fish there! After all, he had been out the whole previous night with no catch. There was nothing around!

Yet something in what he had heard and seen in Jesus made him want to respond positively. When they put the nets down they were nearly swamped with the catch. Peter is devastated. There are no fish here but the nets are full. Suddenly something of who Jesus is broke in on Peter. “Depart from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Suddenly he is aware of his total inadequacy, so much so that he feels an awful sense of unworthiness. It is at this point, as he falls before Jesus, that Jesus instructs him to follow. Peter responds. Perhaps because of what he has heard from this man, but mainly because of what he has seen him do.

Peter's brother, Andrew, was probably there as well and he had encountered Jesus earlier, up near Jerusalem (Jn 1:40), and so perhaps he followed for similar reasons. He has heard and he has seen and somehow confidence has been created in him that makes him feel he also can go.

Likewise James and John, who had been nearby washing their nets. The other disciples when they were called must have had a variety of reasons why they left their jobs and followed Jesus. Something about Jesus attracted them and gave them a sense of security. Some times it was his words, but so often it was the obvious power that he exhibited that said, “This man is in control. This man can be trusted. With this man you can feel secure!”

That at least Peter felt secure with Jesus, we have examined in chapter 5. The truth must surely be that as they travelled with Jesus, as they heard his teaching, as they saw his healing ministry, as they saw the miracles, as they saw the way he loved people, their lives must have been changing. How could you remain unchanged in the face of all this? So, when others are drawing back, these men have caught something more in their hearts that made them stay.

Yet even these words of Peter seem very frail when we consider how they all later abandoned Jesus to the Cross. No, the picture of security in the Gospels is a very fragile one. They had watched and they had heard, but still their faith is very fragile. At this point in ‘church history' the followers of Jesus still feel very frail and their awareness of the security that is theirs is very limited. So when the Cross comes they are devastated, they do not understand, it doesn't conform to their expectations and so almost without exception they flee and hide. So, for a while at least, their security comes from being behind locked doors!

Now, before we pass on from the Gospels, perhaps we would do well to examine one of two things that Jesus actually taught about security. Here we are on firmer ground. Chapter 5 and the first part of Chapter 6 of Matthew's Gospel show us the Sermon on the Mount as it covers behavioural issues. But when we come to 6:19 Jesus starts speaking about security issues.

First of all Jesus warns against putting your trust in material wealth (v.19-21), and then a bit later challenges us not to worry about food, clothing, and provision generally (v.25 on). He tells us that God our Father knows what our needs are and that He will meet them, so all we need do is simply focus on God's will and leave Him to sort out the rest. Here is a critical challenge. Security, he says, comes from knowing God and doing His will and leaving the rest to Him. Many of us have reversed this: we focus on the rest and make knowing God and doing His will a secondary issue.

When it comes to ministry, Jesus comes out with some equally challenging teaching: “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff” (Mt 10:9,10). What is he saying? Don't rely upon human support or human methods. That sounds rather different from some of the ministries we sometimes encounter in the Christian world!

A little bit later on he says “do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (10:19,20). Again, what is he saying? He's saying don't worry about trying to prepare for crisis situations, but instead let the Holy Spirit give you the words you're going to need. That's a bit different from the training we give today.

Yet further on he says more upsetting words: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,” and then goes on to include the whole family. What's he saying? Don't put your final trust and your final love in people, even the closest to you. This is not an excuse not to love your family, but it is a challenge to ensure our final security is in God and not in people (as much as He may use them to bless you!)

In the next verse he bangs the final nail in our coffin: “anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (10:38 ,39). What is he saying? If you place reliance in yourself you're in trouble, but if you give up reliance on yourself you'll suddenly find the real meaning of life. Security isn't found in self achievement or self effort, only in giving your life over to God.

The message from Jesus in the Gospels keeps on coming:

• Your security will not be found in wealth or material possessions.
• It won't be found in human effort or methods (including science and technology).
• It won't be obtained from education or clever preparation.I
• It won't come from relying on people, especially yourself

Security, real security only comes through knowing God intimately through Jesus.

New Faith Clipart- These faith based illustrations are just heavenly. Graphics have a primitive and country feel to them, warm and inviting colors are used. Includes nine graphics.  Cross and Flower accents are included!

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One of the cross shaped windows in Hampton Court Palace.

f/5.6 | 1/320 | 55mm

ORLANDO - Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 -- Another 21 Red Cross volunteers will join the relief efforts in Texas today. 
  Today, 21 Red Cross volunteers, most of them trained from Althera Staffing in Lakeland, took off from Orlando Airport at 1:15 p.m. They completed an intensive training this week to serve as Red Cross sheltering, feeding, and bulk distribution volunteers alongside a half-dozen current volunteers from the Polk County Chapter who also deployed today.
  The local Red Cross drove them together on a bus to the airport to make their flight. Red Cross volunteers and staff were on hand to wish them well. 
  The grand total of volunteers deployed to help victims of Hurricane Ike from the Mid-Florida Region is now 100. This includes volunteers from the Polk County Chapter and 8 from Central Florida which have left over the past 18 days. The Mid-Florida Region includes the Central Florida, Coast to Coast, Polk County and Space Coast Chapters. 
  The American Red Cross is still sheltering more than 1,600 people in nine shelters. More than 2,500 Red Cross disaster workers and volunteers from around the country are on the ground to assist in the recovery. That includes 195 Emergency Response Vehicles in the state going out into communities to deliver aid, assistance, or encouragement. 
  For more information about the American Red Cross response to Hurricane Ike, visit the online newsroom at http://hurricaneike.wordpress.com. For information on how to prepare for a tropical storm or hurricane, please visit www.redcross.org, or en Español – www.cruzrojaamericana.org. To help the Red Cross respond to this and other major disasters, donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or visiting www.redcross.org.