The Day After, The Sabbath

On the next day after Jesus' crucifixion, the chief priest, pharisees and the temple guards were all gathered together as they figured it was very important to look after and protect their reputation, after all Jesus Christ was just a trouble maker and He still could make trouble for them. When Jesus was still alive, He stated that He would die and three days later He would rise from the dead to life again. and the religious leaders did not need that to happen so they planned to keep the tomb under lock, key and guards for the next while. Soldiers were posted outside the tomb with a large stone placed in front of the opening of the grave and a seal installed to make sure no one could get into the tomb to disturb anything or steel the body, especially those pesky disciples of Jesus.
Not much went on this day but the guarding of the grave so we will let the people carry on until tomorrow.
Wilf Blakey

Easter Friday

It is now Friday, Jesus is still in the posession of the soldiers, priests and the government heads of the town. Things are not looking good so far. The priests had taken Jesus to Pilate, the head of the Roman government for that area and tried to prove to Pilate that Jesus was a real bad dude. However their accusations were just that, accusations, and didn't hold any weight so Pilate decided that "The King of the Jews" was not guilty of anything as far as he was concerned so go take Him elsewhere. Next stop on the merry go round was with Herod, he was the local person of authority for Jerusalem. Herod was anxious to see Jesus as he had heard rumours about Jesus and His miracles that He had done. I believe that Herod actually wanted Jesus to perform for him and entertain him. This was not to be as Jesus was not in the mood to entertain any head of government whether that person was a local head or a bigger district head. He was there for a purpose and that purpose was not doing miracles to make politicians laugh.
Seeing that Jesus was not co-operating with these people, they started to taunt Him by wrapping Him in a royal robe and then sent Him back to Pilate. Maybe Herod figured that if he couldn't make Jesus dance then maybe Pilate could. Because of this happening, Pilate and Herod became buddies, which is something that had never seemed possible before that date.
Pilate gathered the mob of priests, scribes and the people to address them and said "You have accused this man with many riotous actions before me but I can't find anything wrong to entitle me to have Him killed. Even Herod couldn't find anything wrong either because he sent Jesus back to me to deal with. I will give Him forty lashes and send Him on His way! We do have a tradition here that allows me to release a prisoner to you, the one in mind is Barabus so make up your mind whether it be Barabus or Jesus?"
The crowd was going wild and yelled for "Jesus" to be crucified with no other recourse in mind. Pilate finally gave in and announced that Jesus would be crucified to keep the mob satisfied.
Jesus was taken to the Praetorium where they stripped off most of His clothes, tied him to a post and struck Him with a whip that had pieces of steel and glass fastened to the ends of the thongs. When the thongs hit his flesh, it tore the flesh and muscles underneath so it was causing much distress to Jesus. I can guarantee that if that was done in modern day time there would be a serious uproar and a jailterm to the people doing the whipping but that was the common punishment in those days.
After this was done, the guards took Jesus and placed a crown of thorns on his head and shoved it down into his scalp. Then Jesus was made to pick up the cross beam and carry it to the hill outside the town where he and two thieves were to be crucified before a large crowd of onlookers. As Jesus was moving along the street, He collapsed from the weight of the beam and the loss of blood from the whipping. The guards picked a bystander from the crowd, Simon from Cyrene, and forced him to carry the beam for Jesus.
When the procession reached the top of the hill at Golgotha (the place where the crucifixions took place) the guards took Jesus and threw Him down onto the beam so His arms were spread across it. There Jesus was nailed with three big spikes to hold Him to the cross, one nail in each wrist and one nail through both legs above the feet. Then the cross was raised and the bottom was dropped into the hole prepared for it.
There were three crosses in three holes with two criminals and Jesus standing on the hill at Golgotha on display in front of the crowd, waiting for the three men to die of suffication because of their crimes, but Jesus had done no crime and was suffering for Mankind's sin.
At the sixth hour of the day, the sky turned pitch black and stayed that way until the ninth hour. Jesus cried out in another language "My God, My God, why have you forgotten Me?" Shortly he cried out again "It is finished" and He died.
Many strange things were occuring at that moment as the earth was shaking as in an earthquake, the veil in the Temple tore in two, the ground opened up and many dead souls came to life again and walked into the city. Boy that was weird.
The next day was the sabbath and no bodies were allowed to stay on a cross at this time so they had to be removed from the crosses. A rich man named Joseph from Arimethea, asked to take down Jesus body and the soldiers agreed so it was done. Joseph took Jesus, wrapped Him in clean linens and placed His body in Joseph's own new tomb that he had carved out of the rock. After this he placed a rock across the opening to the tomb and left. Mary (Jesus' mother), and Mary Magdelene were there watching Joseph as he placed Jesus in his tomb.
Well that is all for this dark and gloomy day so we will close on this scene and wait to see what happens tomorrow.
Wilf Blakey

The Salvation Army

I went to visit the local Salvation Army Church in Kirkland Lake, lately and had a guided tour of their premises. They have moved there recently over the last five or so years, from a crowed church property on a back street in town as well as having their Thrift Shop in a rented store near the downtown section of town. The new location is a definite improvement from the last one as they now have property at the front and one end for parking and they don't have to worry about blocking neighbours driveways on either street at the corner where they used to be. The building is much larger and considerably more modern with a more comfortable environment as well. The building houses their church sanctuary, the Thrift Store, the food bank, as well as the Captains' office. The setting is very pleasant as you walk through the front doors into the entrance area at the front. The Army has also installed a ramp at the front adjoining the entrance so it is wheel chair accesible and that is a good thing. As you can see from the pictures that the building is very modern looking and very inviting for a person to enter into. The location is just a short town block north of the main street on the East end of Kirkland Lake. The inside of the building is very well laid out and efficient in its use of space. The sanctuary is on the left of the main entrance door so it is quite accessible for people going to worship services and any other activities going on. The Thrift Store is on the right end of the building and also very close to the front entrance. There are at least two people on duty when it is open for business on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Army carries a good supply of clothing as well as other household goods such as kitchen appliances at prices that are well affordable to anyone of any income level. Their sale goods are in good condition so the buyer doesn't need to worry about getting it fixed shortly after purchasing it. There is also a food bank run in this building to help the needy people in our community, with the economy the way it is today, there are many souls with hardly enough to fill their stomachs three times a day so that is part of the mandate of the Salvation Army to help look after the needs of the underprivileged.






I have included a brochure from the Corps explaining their purpose and goals.

_____________________________________________________

THE SALVATION ARMY Kirkland Lake Corps

Mission Statement

The Salvation Army as an international movement is an evangelical branch of the Christian church.
Its message is based on the Bible.
Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, supply basic human needs, provide personal couseling, and undertake the spiritual and moral regeneration and physical rehabilitation of all persons in need who come within our sphere of influence regardless of race, colour, creed, sex, or age.

How to reach us:

Mail: P.O. Box 424
Kirkland Lake,On. P2N3J1

Phone:
Church/Office (705) 567-5877
Food Bank 567-5877
Thrift Store 567-3534

Fax: (705) 567-3534

Location:
6 Sylvanite Ave.
Kirkland Lake,On. P2N2C7

_________________________________________________________

The Salvation Army
Kirkland Lake Corps
____________________________________________________________________

Church
The Salvation Army welcomes you
to join with us for Christian worship. Services are Sunday at 10:30 AM
6 Sylvanite Ave
(705)567-5877
____________________________________________________________________


Emergency Food Bank and
Community & Family Services

Monday, Wednesday, & Friday
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
6 Sylvanite Ave
(705) 567-5877


Closed first week of each month.

____________________________________________________________________
Thrift Store
Tuesday & Thursday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
6 Sylvanite Ave
(705) 567-3534

Donations accepted during store hours
____________________________________________________________________

Want to Help?

Become a Volunteer
Contribute Financially
Donate Resources (food, clothing, etc)

Contact us (705) 567-5877
____________________________________________________________________

"Giving Hope Today"

The Last Supper

This is a news article as it would have been written back in the time of Jesus, if there were newspapers like those of today.
This series of events took place in a city in Israel, called Jerusalem. Jesus Christ was with his apostles talking and they were asking him about the Passover celebration and where it would be held. Now you see Jesus and his crew had no place or residence of their own so one could almost call them vagrants or whatever word you would use but the truth was that they were traveling missionaries in the land.
Jesus told his men to go to the town and look for a man carrying a pitcher of water. they were to follow him to his place and ask him to let them use his guest chamber. Here the apostles were to prepare the feast for their Master. Jesus and the remainder of his crew joined them here in a short while so they all could partake of the Passover meal that was part of the Jewish tradition.
When the men had finished eating, Jesus took off his robe and proceeded to wash the feet of his men. Next He startled them with a statement they did not expect. He said that one of them was going to betray Him and of course everyone was asking "Is it me?" and He replied it is one of you 12 men. Judas, one of Jesus' apostles and money bearer, departed from the scene and reported to the chief priests as he had already planned earlier.
Backing up a little bit earlier, we will see what Judas was up to. He had met with the chief priests , I guess because he was getting a little disgusted with Jesus, maybe because he had thought all along that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman government and solders whom had overtaken the whole country where he lived but he was finding out that this was not Jesus' intentions. Anyways, Judas saw a way to get even with Jesus and make some quick money while he was at it. Getting back to the story, Judas visited the priests and asked them what they would do for him if he did expose and turn over Jesus to them. Their offer was to give him 30 pieces of silver, Judas thought, "not bad at all" so he accepted this offer.
Meanwhile back at the party, when the meal was over, Judas had left the party and reported to the chief priests , telling them where and when they could arrest Jesus and take Him to the High Priest. He arranged with them to lead them to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsamine and when he kissed Jesus the soldiers and priests would subdue Jesus and put Him in custody.
In the meantime, Jesus had invited his apostles to follow him to Gethsamine so He could do some serious talking with His Father, God and that is what they did. While Jesus left them and walked a little distance to a private spot so He could pray, the apostles fell asleep instead of praying with Him. He prayed earnestly to God that He would not have to go through with this but if that is what the Father wanted then He was not going to be rebellious and refuse to do so. Finally, Jesus stopped praying and went back to join the others, whom He had to wake up. A crowd of soldiers and priests were marching very noisily towards them carrying swords and other weapons. Judas came forward and did his deed by giving Jesus a kiss as he had promised the priests that he would do and identify his master for them.
Well things were going downhill from that moment on as the guards were approaching Jesus to arrest Him and one of Jesus men took a sword and sliced off an ear from one of the High Priests servant. Jesus didn't think this was necessary so He put His hand on the servant and healed his ear right then and there. I bet the priests didn't think too much of that!
The soldiers arrested Jesus and took Him into town to the High Priests house for further action.
To Be Continued-------------
Sorry for the disappointment but tune in tomorrow for the continuing Saga of the Easter Story
Wilf Blakey

Service Please

Today's article is about one of Kirkland Lake's automotive service centres "Kirkland Tire and Auto". Shawn Armstrong and Chris Lambert are the owners/operators of this establishment and offer , first of all, tire sales and installation/repairs. Beside this , they perform automotive diagnosis and repairs to all makes and models of vehicles including full size cars / trucks / vans and compacts. Along with the road vehicles, they repair small engines like lawn mowers, snow blowers and atv's plus many more items I can't even think about right now.
Chris and Shawn have two service technicians and an apprentice looking after the many jobs that the customers bring in to them
The boys have used car sales in their repertoire and have had some rather nice units for sale at reasonable prices.
Kirkland Tire can be found at the bottom end of Main St in Kirkland Lake and are open from 8:00 AM to 5 PM Monday to Friday every week so come on down to see the boys and they will be glad to look after you.
Wilf Blakey