Hello!

I pray you had a great weekend.

Are you ready for one of the most encouraging, free messages on the internet?  We'll, keep reading!

My campaign is exciting as ever.  I've accepted two debate offers; one at the University of California at Berkeley and one at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo.  You can see my press releases (six from last week) and keep up with my campaign here: http://www.jasongastrich.com/press.htm.

My debate with Farrell Till has resumed.  It's amazing how a little distance and time can give you a renewed perspective!  You can follow the debate here: http://iidebate1.jcsm.org.

Right now, I'm working on a Ph.D. level, Philosophy course.  It is quite interesting and I'm just getting started!  I'm also studying for my final exam in my Holy Spirit course.  Please pray that I do well.  I have earned 6 credits and need 54 more before I get my Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. 

I hope that you seek God and His kingdom, first, and experience the riches of His love.

This is your ministry, so please feel free to link to JCSM and forward these devotions to your friends and family. On JCSM, there are over 50,000 web pages of pictures, forums, midis, Bible lessons, humor, proverbial stories, links, devotions, poetry, prayer journals, and much more!

JCSM has encouraging sermons, exciting debates, and the Bible on MP3 online and you can freely stream and download them!  Come and listen at http://sa.jcsm.org.

If you consider yourself either a theological scholar, a seeker, or a student of the Word, then you'll enjoy the Inerrancy Discussion Board.  It's the #1 place for discussing the inerrancy of God's Word!  Come and see: http://www.inerrancy.com (the Inerrancy Discussion Board is sponsored and administrated by JCSM).

Would you like to support God’s work on the web? If this ministry has touched you in a special way, please pray and consider sending a gift to JCSM. You can join us in our vision to reach people on the web with the good news! Either email me for more information or simply go here: http://vision.jcsm.org.

Visit the JCSM Study Center!  We have over 450mb of resources like English and foreign Bibles, maps, ancient literature, commentaries, Greek and Hebrew dictionaries, and concordances and much more!  Plus, it's all free.  Link: http://study.jcsm.org.

Welcome to the new readers of this message! Here is your Devotion, A Moment of Introspection, JCSM's Challenge, the Word of the Week, a faith-builder from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained," and the Quotes of the Week. Have a fantastic week and God bless you!

Love in Christ,

Jason Gastrich, B.A., M.A.B.T.

ICQ#: 20731140

The Weekly Devotion (click here to listen!)

"Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding"

Proverb 1:7  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverb 2:6, 10-12  "For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things."

Proverb 9:10  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding"

1 Corinthians 3:19, 20  "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is written, 'He catches the wise in their own craftiness' and again, 'The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.'"

Insight: Growing Christians will be seeking God's knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.  They will find them in sermons, in the Bible, through prayer, and from wise, Christian friends and mentors.

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us wonderful things, Lord.  Please increase our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.  Thank you for giving us pure qualities that glorify You and edify ourselves and others.  Help us to see You as You are.  Forgive us for adopting worldly wisdom into our lives.  Help us to purge ourselves from it and accept only the perfect, pure wisdom that You have and give.  Thank you for your Word and how it teaches us.  Make us like You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Robert Winthrop (1809-1894) was an American orator, author and Legislator.

". . . the Word of God is the only authoritative rule and the only adequate sanction."

"Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet."

"It may do for other countries, and other governments to talk about the State supporting religion.  Here, under our own free institutions, it is Religion which must support the State." - "The Christian History of the American Revolution," by Verna M. Hall, 1849.

"The Bible is its own best witness.  No evolution produced that Volume, and no revolution of thought, or action, or human will can prevail against it.  Revisions and new versions may improve or may impair the letter, but they can never change its essential character.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ, through which He brought life and immortality to light, like its Divine Author, is the same 'yesterday, today, and forever.'" - "A Cloud of Witnesses," by Steven Northrop.

A Moment of Introspection

Please see the lyrics to a song for this week's MOI.  Here is "Hands of the Potter" by Caedmon's Call.  You can see the chords and hear my rendition of this song here: http://jcsm.net/50PC/50Songs.htm.

Lord if I’m the clay then I’ve been left out in the sun
Cracked and dried with the mud from the sty,

Still clinging to the prodigal son
But I'm on my way back home, Yes I'm on my way back home

Into the hands, that made the wine from the water
Into the hands, hands of the potter

Lord if I'm the clay, then let your living water flow
Soften up my edges, Lord, so everyone will know
I'll be on my way back home, yes I'm on my way back home
Into the hands, that made the wine from the water
Into the hands, hands of the potter

And Lord, when you listen for the song of my life
Let it be, let it be, a song so sweet
Let it be, let it be, a song so sweet
Let it be...

Lord, if I'm the clay then lay me down
On your spinning wheel
Shape me into something you can fill with something real

I'll be on my way back home, yes I'm on my way back home
Into the hands, that made the wine from the water

Into the hands, hands of the potter
 

Pray for wisdom!  Ask God to increase our wisdom and look for ways to grow in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!

sophia (Greek): wisdom - higher or lower, worldly or spiritual

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 4:15 - But God is worried, too. He says whoever kills Cain will be punished sevenfold (whatever that means). Just to make sure, though, God puts a mark on Cain so no one will kill him. Good idea. But it contradicts the law given in Gen.9:6 that says whoever kills shall be killed.

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:

There are several things at work here.  First, a punishment was pronounced on whomever would kill Cain.  Next, God protects Cain.  In Genesis 9:6, God gives a command to humans that a person should be put to death if they murder another human.  Genesis 9:6 reads, "Whomever sheds mans blood, by man his blood should be shed."  As we will see all throughout the Bible, simply because God commands people to do something, it doesn't mean they will do it.  Nonetheless, this isn't a contradiction.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and explains over 3,000 difficulties regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.)

There were no quotes this week.  If you'd like some, we have thousands in our archives!  They are located here: http://quotes.jcsm.org.

These quotes can be used for sanctification and fun. Most of them are directly based on scripture and scriptural principles. Some of the quotes are humorous or rhetorical, others are written from sermons and Bible studies, and some are lyrics from songs. If you’d like me to go into more detail on any of them, please email me.

Like most verses in the Bible, they can be debated. To use what I’ve written in the most beneficial way, try and trace them back to the scriptures and apply the true principles to your life in a meaningful way! Please don’t sell my quotes or publish them for profit. If English is not your first language, you may not understand some of the quotes. I'm sorry, but some of them are English metaphors and deal with multiple word meanings. God bless you all!

Please make a commitment to pray for this ministry. As every believer is tempted and tried, this ministry faces trials also. God has blessed me, JCSM and the people who have been reached! Unfortunately, the enemy knows this and spiritual warfare is the result. Please at least pray that the devotions continue to be written religiously, the web pages stay on the www and the readers are blessed, sanctified and protected from evil. Thank you very much in advance!

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Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

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Along with getting support, we also give support! JCSM regularly gives to churches, Christian ministries and needy people. Another function of this ministry is to do counseling. We are always answering questions about life, the Lord and everything in between. Lastly, we do a lot of research on religious topics on the internet and library. You will definitely see the results of our hard work and your loving support, in the web pages, and in the weekly devotions!

Fishes and Loaves (FALO) is a great, missions organization.  They have helped many people embark on missions trips to the uttermost parts of the world.  If you are interested in missions, please visit http://www.gofalo.net.

Do you need to find a solid, Christian church?  I've attended numerous, Calvary Chapel churches and I've been very blessed by their Bible-based sermons, inspiring worship, and kind members.  If you don't have a home church, if you're traveling, or if you need to find a new church, I recommend visiting the following site and locating a Calvary Chapel near you: http://www.calvarychapel.org.

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Jesus loves you!

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."