ARE YOU IN REMISSION?

Disease, did you do something to get it? Maybe, maybe not: alcohol destroys, smoking kills, lousy diets wipe out healthy bodies. The list of creative ways we bring the destruction of disease upon ourselves is endless. You might live a healthy life and still get hit with a debilitating visitation. Either way, I feel for you and right now I will pause and pray for you.

"God, thank you for all of the pain free smiles in my life. Thank you for the people who have taken the time to read about remission. You have made new mercies in all of our lives. Thank you for the remission and healing that you have already provided. I'm asking you for more God. Please touch all of the people who read this. Give them a glimpse of peace through eyes that may be pained and blurry with tears. Please provide hope and understanding of your will for their lives. You have a purpose for everything under heaven and we don't understand. Please heal the emotional, physical and spiritual wounds of your children.  You have given us a new covenant which includes remission. Please help us to understand remission. Help us to love each other unconditionally as you love us. Amen."  

What is Remission?

I like to do word studies, they provide a depth of understanding about the original meaning of a word. Etymology is the study of words, their origination and how their meanings have changed over time. Here is what the Online Etymology Dictionary says about remission:

 remission (n.) early 13c., "forgiveness or pardon (of sins)," from Old French remission, from Latin remissionem (nominative remissio) "relaxation, a sending back," noun of action from past participle stem of remittere "slacken, let go, abate" (see remit). Used of diseases since c.1400.

I first read about the word remission in the Bible. Jesus used it and his words were recorded in Matthew 26:27 when he referred to the "remission of sins." In an astounding sequence, Jesus moves from betrayal to blessing. First he is betrayed by a friend and then sits down and has a meal with some other friends. He asks God to bless their meal. His prayer leads to a blessing that is a metaphor pointing toward his soon to be broken body and his shed blood. Here is the sequence of events as it appears in Matthew 26:25-28:

Matthew 26:25-28

King James Version

²⁵ Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
²⁶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
²⁷ And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
²⁸ For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Embrace Brokenness 

Is your body broken now? Have you been shedding blood? Has a friend betrayed you? Brokenness is a good friend of remission. You cannot have remission without brokenness. You cannot grow into new life without brokenness. A visit to the gym will demonstrate that truth fairly quickly. Muscle tissue that has been damaged and traumatized through resistance must be repaired. That's the process of weightlifting that actually increases muscle mass. The increase in muscle is dependent upon proper rest and nutritional intake. The key point here is to embrace brokenness as a way of life. Right now, you might be whole or you might be broken, one thing we know for sure: everyone will eventually experience brokenness.

Once upon a time, a lady broke an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and poured it over the head of Jesus. It's another interesting sequence of events that occurs just before Jesus is betrayed; Enemies are planning to kill Jesus,  he is anointed, his friends grumble about waste and his other buddy is meeting behind his back with enemies plotting his betrayal. Here is how it is recorded in Matthew 26:1-9:

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, ² “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests, the scribes,^[a] and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, ⁴ and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. ⁵ But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany

⁶ And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. ⁸ But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”
¹⁰ But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. ¹¹ For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. ¹² For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. ¹³ Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

So here is your life according to Matthew 26:

1. Something or someone is planning to kill you.
2. Someone anoints or prays for you.
3. Your friends complain that the anointing or prayer wasn't proper.
4. Another friend betrays you.
5. You have dinner (your last meal) with friends and bless them. 

Death is inevitable. New life can be inevitable if you chose to embrace it. Let's look at your life another way using those same 5 events. Your body is the alabaster flask. In the old days, people stored their most valuable ointments in the best material available. God chose to put his Holy Spirit in your body, his best material. The alabaster flask is perishable as is your body. Only God knows when your final breath will be. It would be a good idea to be ready right now. Here's how you can be ready right now:

Admit that you have committed sin (immoral acts.) Believe that Jesus died for your sins.You can change your habits, that's called repentance.  Believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Believe that you will live a new life as you change your habits. Lay your life down so God can raise you up into an imperishable immortality in heaven.

You know that death will eventually happen. Evil is real and would love to take you out of life's race with a lie. Even if you are currently terminal and facing physical death soon, you have life. If you are fading quickly and you cannot focus through the pain, just remember one word: Blood. The power of life and death is in the Blood of Jesus. "Pleading the Blood" of Jesus is a way of covering yourself with eternal life, eternal healing and eternal protection from evil. It is very possible that the act of believing in the Blood will cure your current physical ailment no matter how far gone you think you are. Keep seeking God and his answers.

Breaking the alabaster flask or your body is an act of yielding your whole, body, mind, soul and strength to God. What pours out of your alabaster flask is repentance. When you pour the oil of your repentance over Jesus head, you are anointing his body for burial. The metaphor is about burying your sins as he was buried. He died for your sins and carried them into the grave so they would die and you would live. After the burial of your sins through belief in Jesus death and resurrection, you will experience the remission of sin without any penalties. Jesus paid the fine and you go free. Make your last meal the Body and Blood of Christ. Nobody knows when their last meal will be, eat well.

If you keep following the events in Matthew 26, you will find that Jesus asked God to take his suffering away. He also accepted the plan that God had for his life. The acceptance was painful and what happened to him devastated friends and family. Eventually the fruit of his life became an eternal story that will not die. His excruciating pain became exultant joy as he conquered death. What's your eternal story? Are you writing your story, speaking your testimony or recording what God is revealing through your trials? It may be that God's will and his plan for your life include being a positive role model for folks seeking remission. Ask God what he would like you to reveal. Break your alabaster flask and pour out your dreams. Pour the oil of your repentance over the head of Jesus. Plead the Blood of Jesus over your circumstances. May the God of new mercies grace you with the strength to run your race with perseverance.

Thanks for your time. Jesus loves you and so do we.

A YWAP Quarterly Report

It is with honor that I am called to write this report regarding the activities of Youth With A Purpose Inc. as performed under the covering of Last Days Fellowship. We are grateful to receive support in the amount of $30 monthly that helps us perform our missionary responsibilities.

Youth With A Purpose (YWAP) is a full time - 24/7 ministry.

The YWAP Ministry Home is located at 157 Locust, Buffalo, New York. The YWAP Director and his new bride reside on the upper floor. Linda has embraced the YWAP Ministry as a calling on her life. She is a prophetic prayer warrior with a compassionate heart who absorbs the pain of those she ministers to. The first floor is currently occupied by 4 young people. One young man has been here the longest (almost 1 year.) He has a child and the baby and his mother stay here often. We are trying to get the family support through the St Gianna Molla Pregnancy Outreach Center. Another young man moved in several months ago. He is currently in Canada seeking some employment and has said he will be back sometime in July. We have not received any financial support from them as of yet. They have been told that they need to contribute $165 towards utilities to help pay the bills. We are currently in arrears on the water, garbage and gas bills. The electric and the mortgage are up to date. The house is still in need of major reconstruction.

 We have been blessed with the expert help of several ministries including Daryl Boss from Xertion Youth, a work crew from Hamburg Wesleyan Church painted our porch, a couple of young men named Steve and Kyle, a man named Watson, a couple of guys named Jerry and Marion, Rickie Wilson, and several more neighbors and friends. We have also had furnishings and building materials donated by many folks including: Jenn, Jerry, Janet, Karen, Marion, Rickie, Trey, Suzy, Simon, Daryl, Gerry, Pete, CYC - Christian Youth Corps, We Care Community Block Club and several other individuals. We are in serious need of a roof (we are leaking) and new electrical service. The kitchen ceiling on the first floor still needs drywall and we need to fix the roof before we do that.

The YWAP Mentoring Program expanded again this year. We facilitated mentoring programs in more elementary schools, high schools and colleges than ever before. Mentoring is among the best answers to the dismal graduation rate in the Buffalo Schools. We will keep pushing forward to have a mentoring program in every Buffalo Elementary school. We developed a new Facebook Page called: Mentor Force that gives expert advice on how to mentor. We are not interested in building a mentoring empire for YWAP - we only want to advance the vision of giving all children the opportunity to be mentored by a compassionate mentor.

Mouw Mountain is a place of rejuvenation and teaching for the YWAP family. We are thankful to the Mouw family for allowing our YWAP family to use their property on Mouw Mountain. Our first camp of the year was with the boys from the 6-8th Grades at Buffalo School #94. This was the greatest group of well behaved young guys that we ever had, and we have been camping for many years! Teachers and Staff from PS#94 along with YWAP Staff enjoyed a weekend filled with fun and learning. We also want to extend huge gratitude to Principal Poles for her support. We used the camp for mentoring several times and hope to plan more this summer.

The YWAP Music Ministry is growing. We have had several street corner music ministries outside the Youth Center at Holy Cross. We have one rap video to our credit and we are working on more. This weekend (6-26-13) we will be rapping in Caz Park, South Buffalo. We are working on a CD and having a blast.

Prayer The Book was written and published online by the YWAP Director. All of the proceeds will go to YWAP Programs.

Media has been kind to us once again this year. We were mentioned in several Buffalo News articles as well as radio and TV. Yesterday morning we were featured in a call in show with a radio program from Baltimore, Maryland.

The YWAP Wilderness Adventures continue! Our first climb of the year was with the Youth Group from Hamburg Wesleyan Church. Despite being shut down before reaching the summit of Giant Mountain (3 feet of snow) we had a blast. The Youth Pastor played the guitar under a leaky tent and we sang and learned about God and each other. We all grew.

Cub Scout and Boy Scout Camp takes up most of July. The YWAP Director and Asst. Director will be camping with the Scouts as they learn life and character skills within the Scout Advancement Program.

The YWAP Block Club Basketball Team has started the year with 2 forfeits. Sometimes our volunteer staff has to go and get a real job and we are left short handed. We hope to have a coach in place today. The season runs through Aug. 22 and every game features a character building session at half time.

The provision to continue to operate YWAP comes from God. He has used many of you and your generosity to financially support our programs. You will all be receiving a personal note of thanks soon. I am always amazed when we are short in our pocketbook, God raises up one of you guys to send a few bucks our way. Thanks, we are honored to partner with you in providing more opportunities for young people to become self sustainable and contributing members of God's family of servant leaders.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we.

Bob & Linda Kuebler
YWAP Directors

"Find new ways, 

  in as many ways, 

    in more excellent ways, 

      on all of your days, 

        to show love." 

Bob Kuebler
YWAP Director

Youth With A Purpose

In School & After School
In The Mountains & In The Hood "All Children Are Gifted"

157 Locust Street

Buffalo, New York 14204

716-830-8240http://www.youthwithapurpose.org/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Youth-With-A-Purpose-Inc/111808805513470

http://thebrightspotreport.blogspot.com/
A Scholarship for a young person to attend a 3 day Wilderness Adventure in the Adirondack Mountains is valued at $185. We are a 501c3 and your donations are tax deductible. You may give online at:
http://www.gofundme.com/73te4
If you are looking for a speaker for parents or youth or both, please call us.  

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.

I FELT A TAD SAD THE OTHER DAY

While walking along the waterfront near Downtown Buffalo, we stopped at a bench near a bird blind. It was a beautiful place except for the demonic graffiti. I felt more sadness for the writer of the graffiti than I did for the defacing of the bird blind. I could still see the beauty of God's creation in the midst of evil garbage. If I could speak to the graffiti writer, this is what I would say:

"It's good to see you! I'm glad you're here. Have you noticed that cormorant over there? Have you seen the blue heron or the oriole? Did you see the flight patterns of those birds dive bombing after bugs? This place is incredible! Turtles, fish, deer, sailboats, cool breezes, did you ever wonder where the wind comes from?

 Did you know that God has a plan for your life? In all of history, past, present and future, there is only one of you that will ever be created. If you don't become what you were created to be, then you have wasted you. Life is about sowing and growing. The things you say and do are seeds for your future. Everything in life comes full circle. If you don't appreciate what has been freely given to you, there will come a time when you will not be able to freely receive. If you habitually destroy property, what you own will not be respected by others.

 Go do something nice for somebody. That's a seed worth sowing. You are loved unconditionally by a God who watches your back. You may not understand now because life seems full of rejection, but you will - if you want to. I believe in you and if you want me to help you learn about the deeper meaning of life - I will."