Hello!

I hope you are having a great weekend.

This week, the devotions are being sent a little early.  I'm leaving on Sunday night for Turlock, California.  I'm staying with a friend and continuing to UC Berkeley for a debate on Monday.  I'll be debating several of California's gubernatorial candidates and it should be quite exciting.

Please pray for my trip and debates.  I'll also be debating some candidates, on Tuesday, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  You can see my campaign site here: http://jasongastrich.com.

I have awesome news!  JCSM has finally received its 501(c)(3) status!  Many months ago, we were granted non-profit status with the State of California, but the federal application has been pending for quite awhile.  Now, we are an official, 501(c)(3) organization.  This means that we can begin applying to foundations for grants and it also means that all of the donations we receive are tax deductible.  Praise the Lord for this great blessing.

JCSM's server is temporarily down for maintenance.  Hopefully, it will be up again, soon.  It appears that some people are able to visit our web pages, but not everyone.  Please pray that everything is fixed, soon.

Dr. John Morris has been confirmed for our next, Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference in San Diego.  It is scheduled for Saturday, March 27, 2004.  It will be a lot of fun to speak again, meet Dr. Morris, and enjoy the worship.  Here is the web site for this free event: http://macsd.org.

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!)

"God Shows No Partiality"

Deuteronomy 10:17  "For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe."

Romans 2:11  "For there is no partiality with God."

Acts 10:34, 35  "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.'"

1 Peter 1:17-19  "And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

Insight: God is not a "respecter of persons."  This means that worldly titles, wealth, social status, and popularity does not influence His righteous judgment and character.  He judges people on whether or not they love and obey Him.  Seek to love and obey God and don't let pride tell you that you are righteous or worthy without His righteousness.

Prayer: "Thank you for loving us, Lord.  Thank you for loving us because of your great character.  Help us to understand You and your ways.  Forgive us for being materialistic and worldly.  Help us to see things as You do.  Bless us and lift us up, Lord.  Let us bless others and encourage them to glorify You.  Help us to obey You and not worry about titles, wealth, status, and popularity.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

George Eugene Belknap (1832-1903) was a U.S. Navy Commodore and Rear-Admiral.

"No nation can materially enlarge her borders and rise to great ascendancy except on the basis of Christianity and its revealed Word.  In such ferment of unrest, such tumult of change, the old religions will surely give way to the power of the Cross."

"The Light of the World will irradiate those fair lands.  The utterly indifferent temperature of the Chinese conduces to this ambition of Japan, and so surely as she accomplishes her lofty ambition, so surely will the Cross of our Savior be uplifted over it all in all the significance of its power."

"As an eye-witness, I assert it to be a fact beyond contradiction that there is not an official, or any other person, from emperors, down to the lowest coolies in China and Japan, who are not indebted every day to the work of our American Missionaries." - recorded by Stephen Northrop in "A Cloud of Witnesses"

A Moment of Introspection

Some people misunderstand the scriptures that indicate "God is not a respecter of persons."  This isn't saying that God doesn't respect people.  There is ample evidence that God loves people and blesses them, greatly.

God is not a respecter of worldly gain and accolades.  The things that impress people like fancy titles, popularity, and money do not sway God.  They do not cause Him to tolerate sin.  God is a good and just judge.  His judgment is righteous and based on the truth; not on any superficial circumstances.

Seek to see people as God would.

I know this is a rather "intangible" challenge.  However, it is important.  Try and avoid worrying about the way a person looks or how much money they have.  Try and see them as God does; without partiality.

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

corruptible (Greek): phthartos - decayed, that is by implication perishable

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 4:16 - "And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD." So I guess it is possible to hide from God, which means that God doesn't know everything.

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

This Hebrew word for "presence" can be used figuratively.  Cain left the blessings of God's intimacy.  This is not unlike Adam and Eve's situation when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

(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 aren't any new quotes this week.  However, 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!

Do you want to help people receive the good news?  We’re reaching new people every day with God’s awesome Word! If God has blessed you and you wish to send a love offering to JCSM, please send your gift to the address below.

You can join our vision and help this ministry! Your donations will keep these ministries running and further our visions for evangelism. Hundreds of web pages have been created to lead people to the Lord. Frequently, we make new ones and they are used to bring more and more people into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. We’re certain there will be more ways to reach people in the future.

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization.  If you wish to contact us in the mail or send support, please make checks payable to Jesus Christ Saves Ministries.  Here is our mailing address:

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

3219 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. #212

San Diego, CA 92117

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.

OCCM (Online Christ-Centered Ministries) has certified JCSM as a ministry that preaches the true, biblical gospel of Jesus Christ.  OCCM is a professional membership association for Christian ministries and people that reside on and off the internet.  Are you OCCM certified?  For more information, go here: http://www.occm.org.

Would you prayerfully consider supporting JCSM with $5 per month?  If God leads you to take this step of faith and bless this ministry, PayPal will process a donation subscription for you.  It will only take a minute and you can join us in this dynamic ministry that constantly reaches people all over the world.  Here is the link for $5 donations: http://5.jcsm.org.

Over 50,000 web pages!

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."