I received this video from Karron and have taken the liberty of posting it here.  Thank you, Karron, this is so important for our country at this time!  Many are unaware of our forefather's understanding that God is at the helm, that God grants all to us, and that God's grace, and His grace alone, has made this country great.  Isn't it time we give thanks again, where thanks are due?  Thank You, Lord, Thank You!  I am blessed to live in the United States of America, may we continue to give thanks for our great blessings, and increase in our understanding that they come from You!  And thank you, Karron, for sending this important video!

Tryphaena has submitted this most interesting article for the All Saints Blog.  This is something I had not considered previously, that Barabbas stood as a 'model' or 'type' of the raptured church.  What a brilliant notion!  You will find Tryphaena at the Concord Bridge forum.  If you would like to join this most excellent Christian forum, please email Annie or register at the link provided.






Tryphaena writes:  I wrote this 'discussion question' for my studies with Koinonia House. I was inspired one day with this thought. I posted this at Concord Bridge in September of 2011.

Thank you, Tryph, for this outstanding piece!


Jesus made His triumphal entrance to Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passover feast. Jesus was eventually arrested and tried for crimes. Barabbas was also a prisoner at that time. The penalty for Barabbas' crime was death by crucifixion. At that time in Jerusalem there was a Passover custom which allowed or required Pontius Pilate, the current governor of Judea, to commute one prisoner's death sentence by popular acclaim. The crowd (or multitude) were offered to have either Barabbas or Jesus Christ released from Roman custody. The crowd chose Barabbas to be released and Jesus of Nazareth to be crucified. This account is recorded in the gospels of Matthew (27:15-26), Mark (15:6-15), and Luke (23:13–25), and in John (18:38, 19:16).

Barabbas was a thief, murderer and rebel. Matthew described him as notorious (Matthew 27:16). Everything about Barabbas is true of us today. We are all sinners. Barabbas accepted Jesus as his replacement on the cross. Barabbas knew Jesus was innocent and this innocent Man would die in his place. Barabbas knew he didn't do anything to deserve this freedom. Barabbas accepted the gift of freedom and Jesus took his place on the Cross. Jesus died in the sinner's place. Barabbas was set free. Barabbas, a thief, murderer and rebel was saved at the expense of Jesus Christ, just as we who are believers are saved. The name Barabbas is a combination of two Aramaic words, bar, which means son, and abba, which means father. So Barabbas means “son of the father” ~ which of course, all believers are by their position in Christ.

Jesus was crucified alongside 2 thieves, one on the right side and one on the left. Only in the Gospel of Luke does this discussion take place. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save
Yourself and us. "But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? "And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong. "Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. "And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." Luke 23:39-43

Barabbas walked away a free man. Jesus and two thieves were crucified. While hanging on their crosses, suffering the agony of pain, humiliation and dying one of the thieves blasphemed Him but the other asked Jesus to remember him in Jesus' Kingdom. And Jesus said to him "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." 

There are three groups of people represented here. The "Barabbas group," the believers, accepting the free gift of grace from Jesus and escaping the Tribulation, they are "raptured." Another group is the "unbelieving thief" group. They do not believe, they reject Jesus and they die, and are separated forever. The "believing and accepting Jesus" thief makes up the group that will come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior during the Tribulation. They are the Tribulation saints, they will come to Jesus, endure with their faith but will be martyred. They will be with Jesus in Paradise.

We read in Matthew 20:28 "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." The word “for” there means in place of, instead of. We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He delivered us from the wrath and He set us free

This wonderful article was submitted by Fritzy Ritz.  Thank you, Fritzy, it is lovely, and helps all of us to herald the coming season of spring!  Congratulations!  You are our first guest blogger at the All Saints Blog!





It was a perfect pre-Spring weekend, the kind that firmly declares winter has lost the battle of the seasons. The sun was out. Temperatures were firmly entrenched in double digits. And daffodils began to poke their  little green spikes toward the heavens..   

Who could sit still with such abundant joy?

On this very weekend, my dog and I were invited to visit a friend's lovely home a good distance from here. I cleared my schedule, and so did the dog, because we are both fans of spontaneous joy.

Upon arrival, we happily saw that spring was not limited to just our neighborhood. The hound jumped into the river and swam happily as if it was August. I danced a mambo beneath the tall, budding trees that swayed in the warmish breezes. Songbirds provided the soundtrack as they chirped their most sensual tunes to prospective mates. This was, indeed, the day the Lord had made and we were definitely among those who would rejoice and be glad.

Our frenzied activity did not stop at sunset. My friend surprised me with tickets to the theater. We had to drive quite a distance to get there, much of it through two lane highway that wound through forested hills. We zipped through the countryside with no problem, and arrived at the theater still quite revved up from the day. Our seats were in the front row, close enough to see spit flying from the actors' mouths.  

What could be better?

The play could have been better, for one thing. The script was about a dysfunctional upper middle class family who moaned over lost dreams and existential angst. The entire play took place in a well-appointed parlor complete with fully-stocked, in constant-use bar. Think “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” but without the cheerful optimism. This was not the sort of thing one wished to endure with springtime in the air.

The only high point, for me, was the drunk heckler in the audience. “Shut up,” he shouted during one particularly long monologue. “Quit complaining,” he yelled during another. My friend and I exchanged glances only once during this chaos, for fear we would bust out giggling and make things worse.  

During intermission, we stepped outside to enjoy the night air and share a few giggles. As luck would have it, the heckler found us.  

“Did you hear me in there?” he asked excitedly. “They told me not to yell anymore or I'd be thrown out.”  

“Wow,” I said, for I could think of nothing else to say.

At this point, the heckler's mood instantly changed. He hung his head a bit and shuffled his feet. He pouted, “I don't like this kind of play. I like comedies a lot better.”

We agreed with him.

“I don't know,” he said again as he raised his head toward us. He looked confused. “Maybe this is what rich people do, talking about their feelings all the time. I don't like to do that.”

He sighed a long sigh. “If someone comes up to me and tries to talk about their feelings, I tell 'em to shut up. If I did that with my buddies, they'd tell me to shut up, too.”

I wanted to tell him that he just confessed his feelings to us, but kept silent for fear he'd tell me to “shut up.” It was a wonderfully hazy springtime moment.

Our heckler friend kept his silence throughout the rest of the play. This, of course, made the production completely tedious. If not for the amusement of actor spit flying across the stage, I might have taken up the heckling tasks. By the final curtain, we were ready to race out of parking lot and zip back through the hills to get home.

It was then we discovered the parking lot was blanketed in fog. This was not a light fog, but a pea soup so thick it made it difficult to find the car. Springtime sucked enormous amounts winter moisture from the ground and suspended it in the air. Here was a visual testament springtime's transformational power.  

That was all well and good for the earth. But we had to drive thirty miles in this fog, on a two lane highway. We had to travel alongside other similarly road-challenged drivers through areas where deer often frolic. There was no shortcut, no easy path, nothing to do but take the journey moment to moment.  

Once we resigned ourselves to the conditions, we crept along the highway. We downplayed the potential for doom as we talked about the day we just experienced. We noticed the beauty of the way things appeared in this fog. We learned to appreciate where we were in that moment and not be preoccupied with what would happen next, or tomorrow, or the following month. What seemed like an impediment actually turned out to be a wonderful drive.

Afterward, I thought about how much of life gets consumed by preoccupation with what might be. We get so busy with plans for a time to come, we forget to slow down and appreciate the time that is already here.  

I was reminded once more: This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad. Once in a while, the Lord gives you a foggy haze just so you can see more clearly.