Freeport, Grand Bahama Island - Check out 

Sawyer's Fresh Market Spectacular Easter Bargains! 

Your Grocery Bill Just Got Lower at Sawyer's Fresh Market!

All prices effective Thursday, March 28th to Monday, April 1st, 2013. While Supplies Last!

Sawyer's Ease the Burden Giveaways: There will be four lucky winners of $125 toward your grocery bill Shop Sawyer's and win!...

Prime Minister Perry Christie said yesterday his government is not counting on the discovery of oil in the country for revenue generation.
"Nobody has discovered oil in commercial quantities in The Bahamas," said Christie at the Office of the Prime Minister.
"I most certainly wouldn't be counting that now in terms of projections.
"I'm trying to change the taxation model in the country because I can't work on the premise that there is oil in The Bahamas that I don't know of.
"That's still speculative, still well into the future."
Christie was responding to reporters' questions on the issue.
Recently, the National Citizen's Alliance Coalition (NCAC) said the government should change a sliding-scale agreement it has with the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) for oil revenue and establish a national sovereign trust fund. Under the current agreement, BPC would pay out anywhere from 12.5 percent to 25 percent to the government, depending on how much oil is extracted each day, if oil is discovered.
When pressed about the possibility of oil discovery and if his government would establish a sovereign trust fund, Christie said, "There is no basis whatsoever at this time here for me to build into the thinking of the Government of The Bahamas about oil revenues.
"That is out of the question.
"First you have to dig; secondly, you have to find oil.
"Digging is about $400 million; then you have to find it. Then you have to put in place everything to govern that regime and so forth.
"Do you know what we're talking about now?
"We're talking about three, four years down the road."
Christie said God may have spoken to the clergymen, but he doesn't "get involved when God speaks to messengers".
"With exception to that I'm working on the premise that The Bahamas has to find means to govern The Bahamas using existing sources of revenue as we reshape them," he said.
Christie previously said the church's position on oil and its scathing criticism of BPC was premature.
Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) Economic Committee Chairman Rev. Patrick Paul recently called the government's agreement with BPC "categorically unjust, injurious and unfair to the democracy of our nation".
The church has joined forces with several organizations including the Police Staff Association and the Bahamas Public Service Union in its efforts.
BPC CEO Simon Potter has said the company cannot tell the government what to do with any funds it receives from oil drilling, adding that any discussion about a monetary split is academic at this point.
Minister of the Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett recently announced that the government will allow exploratory drilling to determine if the country has commercially viable oil reserves before it holds a referendum on the issue.
That referendum is expected either at the end of 2014 or early 2015.

The appeal of a policeman convicted of the beating death of a suspect has been delayed.
Donovan Gardiner was fired from the police force last year after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter in the death of Desmond Key.
Key, 28, was rushed to hospital hours after his arrest on June 17, 2007 after Gardiner allegedly beat him with a bat in a holding cell at the Grove Police Station.
Key died in hospital from complications caused by pancreatitis (a swollen pancreas) on January 19, 2008.
Gardiner, who worked as a policeman for 22 years, appeared before the appellate court yesterday to appeal his conviction and 10-year sentence.
However, Gardiner's lawyer, Wayne Munroe, said he was not ready to proceed with the case, as he just received the transcripts from the trial.
Munroe filed his skeleton arguments at the court on Tuesday. As a result, the Crown did not have an opportunity to file counter-arguments.
The appeal has now been postponed until May 16.

When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." - Luke 22:14-20 Today is Maundy Thursday. Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the institution of the Lord's Supper or the Holy Eucharist. When Jesus instituted this meal, He said, "Do this in remembrance of me." What do we remember? We remember His body and blood shed upon a cruel cross. We remember that he did it for us.

Therefore, in worship tonight we join a host of Christians as we gather around the Lord's altar to partake of the Lord's Supper. In doing so, we will remember, all God has done for us in Christ. The Lord's Supper is a foretaste of the supper to come, reminding us and giving us the sure hope that we will one day feast with Jesus in heaven. Concerning this feasting, Jesus once told a parable about a king who was giving a wedding feast for his son. But the ones who were invited to the feast refused to come; they were all too busy.

Many people are invited to the Lord's Supper; many are invited to believe the Gospel, to trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, and to feast with Him at His table, but few come. To ignore the Sacrament of the altar is to keep ourselves from His table in heaven. The king in the parable destroyed those who rejected His invitation, and He invited others to the feast instead. In the end the dining hall was full of guests. This is an illustration of what God is doing now, inviting all who would receive His Word by faith to come to heaven. In Revelation, this feast to come is described as the great marriage feast of the lamb.

An angel says to the Apostle John, "Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb." You who eat and drink of the Lord's body and blood now in faith have the sure and certain hope of the feast in heaven to come to look forward to. On the last day Jesus will raise you up from the dead, and the party will begin just as He promises, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." The Children of Israel were instructed to celebrate Passover in remembrance of what God had done for them.

In the first Passover, the Israelites applied the blood of the slaughtered lamb to the door-frame of their home, so that they were spared the death of their firstborn when God went throughout the land of Egypt and struck down all their firstborns. He rescued them from slavery in Egypt and delivered them to the Promised Land, which he had promised to their forefathers. In celebrating the Lord's Supper, we celebrate a new exodus, the exodus from sin, death and captivity to the devil.

It will not be the blood of a lamb applied to door frames, but the blood of Jesus shed on a cross, sprinkled on us at baptism, given to us to drink in this meal, and applied to our hearts by faith, delivers us from God's judgment and eternal death, and promises us, instead, the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. This meal is not a memorial. Memorials are held for those who are dead. We celebrate an empty tomb. Like Passover, in this meal, we remember. Amen. o Rev. Samuel M. Boodle, pastor at The Lutheran Church of Nassau, can be reached at P.O. Box N 4794, Nassau, Bahamas or telephone: 323-4107; e-mail: lutheranchurch@coralwave.com; website: www.Nassaulutheranchurch.org.