March 26, 2012

Friend of The Forgiveness Foundation

100 2^nd Street NW

Charlottesville, Virginia 22902

Re: April 2012 Newsletter

Dear Friend,

By the time you are reading this, it is less than two weeks until Resurrection Sunday.  As we prepare to celebrate the triumph of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ over sin, we live in a world that hasn’t changed much since Eve was deceived by the serpent and Adam chose to disobey what God had told him.  They ate of the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, inviting sin to enter God’s perfect creation. (Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 3:1-19) The first recorded murder on earth appears in Genesis chapter 4, where Cain murdered his brother Abel. Eve had a choice, Adam had a choice, and Cain had a choice.  The choice they made was to disobey God and face the consequences of their disobedience. Sin is defined in James, Chapter 1:13-15, “Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, for He himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (ESV)

People have not changed since Adam chose and Eve was deceived, by the serpent, to eat of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. On Sunday March 18, Joel Shrum was murdered because of his perceived relationship with Jesus Christ by an al-Qaeda linked group of terrorists, Fighters of Ansar al-Sharia or Partisans of Sharia.  “The attack is in response to a Western campaign to preach for Christianity among Muslims,” claimed Ansar al-Sharia through local press.  It has not been established by any source that Joel was a missionary as claimed. Joel was employed as the deputy director of a Swedish language school. Joel is survived by a widow and two children. Please pray for them.  Please pray for the men who murdered Joel.

Jesus Christ defeated sin for all sinners. The task was not easy. Jesus accepted the punishment for every sin that had ever been committed and every sin that ever would be committed. It was real and it was painful. The Bible proclaims that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23(a)).  Jesus accepted the punishment for the sin of the entire world, Jesus accepted death for all of us. Unlike us, Jesus overcame sin (Romans 6:23(b)) and rose from the dead so that all who believe in Him would be saved from their just punishment for sin. Unfortunately, for those who refuse Jesus’ free gift, they will receive the punishment for their sin.

Adam and Eve knew they were naked after they ate of the fruit and attempted to cover their sin with leaves they took from trees. They were ashamed of their sin. They soon learned that leaves could not cover their nakedness as God shed blood of innocent animals that He created to make clothing for the people He made in His own image. God loves us, as He demonstrated through Adam and Eve, more greatly than can be imagined. God asked His only Son, Jesus, the Christ, to come to earth as incarnate man, to be born of a virgin, to live a sinless life, to be rejected by His own people, to be tortured by Roman soldiers, and to be crucified, to suffer death accepting the punishment of the sin of the entire world, and to defeat death so that all who believe in Him shall be saved and share everlasting life in the kingdom to come. Praise Jesus for loving His Father and us so much that He was obedient to death and that we may share in His righteousness. All praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

The Lord has blessed The Forgiveness Foundation with an international ministry through the World Wide Web and, as I write this newsletter, I am happy to report that The Forgiveness Foundation has received over 2,100 more visits to our website than we did at this time last year. One change that has occurred this year is the large number of visits that we are receiving from the Muslim nations of the Middle East, including the Palestinian Territories. Praise the Lord! Please visit us at: www.theforgivenessfoundation.org.

When I think of Joel Shrum’s murder, it brings sadness to my heart while serving as an example of God’s love for each one of us. God does not force us to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. God allows us to accept Jesus or to reject Jesus. God’s direction to us through the Bible is to go into all nations, sharing the Gospel of Jesus. He doesn’t tell us to kill all of those who don’t believe.  God’s instruction to us is simply to share the Gospel and be available to help those who accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.  The sad part of the story is that those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior will receive the punishment for their sin. A terrifying thought!

Two men, Jesse Hernandez of Texas and Tommy Arthur of Alabama await their March execution dates, 28^th and 29^th respectively, as this newsletter is being written. Tommy, who has written to The Forgiveness Foundation, was granted a temporary stay of execution by the Federal Court of Appeals 11^th Circuit on Friday. The appeal was granted because Alabama changed the drug it uses for executions. I expect The United States Supreme Court to remove the stay and allow the execution to go forward since it has never stopped an execution because the drug “Pentobarbitol” was used. 

Eight men are scheduled to be executed during the month of April:

Please pray for Michael, Carey, Garry, David, Mark, Shannon, Thomas, and Beunka. Pray for salvation if unsaved, peace if saved, and if any of these men are innocent that it be discovered before they are executed. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of Michael, Carey, Garry, David, Mark, Shannon, Thomas, and Beunka’s sins at Calvary. All that remains is for them to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, to receive the free gift of salvation and eternal life. Please pray earnestly for these men, keeping in mind that in God’s eyes, murder is a sin and in the eyes of Utah, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, Delaware, Arizona, and Texas, murder is a crime that, in these cases, is punishable by death. At Calvary, over 2,000 years ago, Jesus accepted the punishment for the sin of the murders these men committed and now they need to accept the salvation and forgiveness Jesus desires to give them.

The Forgiveness Foundation would like to thank everyone who has been praying for our ministry.  We are sure that our ministry has been blessed with sharing the Gospel with so many souls because of your prayers and our dedication to sharing the unabridged Gospel of Jesus with all who are willing to hear.  Additionally, we are thankful for all those who have contributed financially to our outreach.  We continue to need your help in two very important ways.  Please continue to pray for our ministries.  If you currently are not praying for our ministry, I encourage you to pray for our work.  Secondly we need your help in praying for the work of our ministry. The Forgiveness Foundation has operating expenses like all ministries and business out there. We need your financial support to pay for postage; for our internet and telephone services; to pay the rent; and to purchase toner, envelopes, and other supplies we need to touch the world with the love of Jesus Christ. In addition to our regular expenses we need to raise $10,000.00 in addition to the $900.00 already raised to purchase the following:

We need to upgrade our website and to upgrade our equipment so that we can deliver the message of the Gospel in a more efficient way across the World Wide Web, and to provide high quality printed materials to the men and women we minister to on death row.  You may make your gift online by going to, www.theforgivenessfoundation.org, clicking the PayPal logo, and following the instructions. If you prefer, you may mail your gift to: The Forgiveness Foundation, 100 2^nd Street NW, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902. Thank you for your prayer and financial support.

Resurrection Sunday is the time of year that the Christian church thinks more closely about forgiveness. Forgiveness is a very difficult topic for people, Christians included. Forgiveness is something that we like to receive but find difficult to give.  I encourage you to search your hearts to find forgiveness withheld.  Adam and Eve could not hide their sin under garments made from leaves. God knows the real thing. Forgiving is important to God. It is important in your relationship with God. Forgiving can be hard. There is no reason for it to be impossible. If you are struggling with forgiving, or just want to know more about Christian forgiveness, I encourage you to go our website, www.theforgivenessfoundation.org, and read the three articles we have posted regarding Christian forgiveness. Seek God’s help if you have difficulty forgiving and allow Him to help you.

Imagine Calvary about 2,000 years ago.

(45)Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the land until the ninth hour. (46)  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying , “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” this is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (47)And some of the bystanders, hearing it said, “This man is calling Elijah.” (48) And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. (49)But others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. (Matthew 27: 45-48 ESV)

It is Friday and Jesus is crucified. “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” this is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words express a separation of Jesus from God, and Jesus accepting the punishment for the sin of the entire world. Our forgiveness is not free. Jesus paid for it by accepting the punishment we earned for our sin, death. It is only Friday, Sunday is coming!

(1)Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. (2)And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. (3) His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.  (4)And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. (5)But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. (6) He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. ..  Matthew 28:1-6(a)  

Praise the Lord, sin (death) has been defeated and God now sees you and me through the righteousness of Jesus the Christ!

                                                                            Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday,

                                                                            Rodney Rexrode, The Forgiveness Foundation