Hello!

I pray you had a great weekend.

Thanks very much to those that told us about their church in our International Church Directory.  I noticed a good number of responses to our midweek message.  If you still haven't signed the directory and told us about your church, you can do so here: http://intlchurchdir.jcsm.org.

My debate with Stan Kohls went very well.  It lasted over 2 hours and I answered a great number of attacks on the Bible.  My recording device captured the first 31 minutes and you can here those here: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=111303173856.  Charlotte Poe is the leader of the Ventura Freethinkers and she has promised me a copy of their video, so let's hope we get it soon.  I'll make it available to you (at least via MP3) as soon as I get it.

The Ventura Freethinkers were staunch atheists with a lot of grievances against the Bible and Christianity.  However, they did buy a couple copies of my book and several of them emailed me after the debate with kind words.  Let's pray that they saw the love and truth of Christ through me, Pastor Gene Cook (my friend and the debate moderator), and my wife and decide to seek Him.

I'm pleased to announce that I've been awarded a Doctorate degree in Theology (Th.D.) for my outstanding academic and ministry achievements.  A small, Christian, Bible college in Florida has given me this blessing.  Nonetheless, I'm still pursuing my Ph.D. in Biblical Studies through Louisiana Baptist University.  Please pray for me because I have a lot of work to do.

Last week was a record week for JCSM.  Our web pages received approximately 7,000 unique visitors!  This is our largest, one week total.  Please pray big and ask God to increase these numbers times ten!  This would be a small thing for God to do and an enormous blessing to those that find JCSM.

More great news: I received two messages from people that found our web pages and gospel message, repented from their sins, and got saved!  Please pray for them and their recent commitment to Christ.

Do you have a website or newsletter that needs sprucing up with colorful graphics?  Do you want your emails to stand out with a graphical signature?  Create custom graphics for free at FlamingText.com.  They offer numerous fonts and 30+ styles or you can choose from their archive of pre-made logos, clipart, backgrounds, buttons, and more.  The FlamingText, graphics creator is also available as PC software.  Incidentally, JCSM's title graphics were created with the FlamingText software.

Do you need to update your Windows software?  If you haven't downloaded any service packs or updates for awhile, then you need to visit http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp.  The updates are free and some of them fix security issues.

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 550mb 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

ICQ#: 20731140, AIM: MrJasonGastrich, YIM: Jesus_Saved_Jason

The Weekly Devotion (click here to listen!)

"The Almighty God, Creator of Everything"

Genesis 17:1  "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.'"

Psalm 103:19  "The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all."

John 1:1-5  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Revelation 22:13  "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

Insight: God is Almighty.  He is on the throne and not applying for the job.  He always was and always will be.  Worship God and love Him.  He is the Almighty Creator of all.  He has all of the power and deserves all of the glory.  Praise Him for He is God.

Prayer: "Thank you for being awesome, Lord.  Thank you for being Lord of all.  There is no other God like You.  Bless us.  Help us to see You as You are.  Forgive us for putting other things before You.  Forgive us for being foolish and wrong.  Let us understand your ways.  Help us to conform our thoughts and beliefs to yours.  Praise You for giving us your Word.  Thank you for being faithful to us.  Increase our faith in You.  Remind us that we serve a living God that is Holy and true.  We love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an author, scientist, and printer.  He served as a diplomat to France and England and was the Governor of Pennsylvania.  He gained wide acclaim as a literary genius for his book called, "Poor Richard's Almanac."

Ben Franklin taught himself five languages.  He made many discoveries in the sciences and was awarded several honors from Harvard and Yale Universities.  He also organized the first postal system and took part in a number of public, service activities that formed and shaped America.

"I never doubted the existence of the Deity, that he made the world, and governed it by His Providence." - "Maxims and Morals of Benjamin Franklin," by William S. Pfaff, ed.

"Hope and faith may be more firmly grounded upon Charity than Charity upon hope and faith." - "Maxims and Morals of Benjamin Franklin," by William S. Pfaff, ed.

"The pleasures of this world are rather from God's goodness than our own merit." - "Maxims and Morals of Benjamin Franklin," by William S. Pfaff, ed.

"Moses lifting up his wand, and dividing the red sea, and pharaoh in his chariot overwhelmed with the waters.  This motto: "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." - "Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife," John and Abigail Adams.

"Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world." - "This Nation Under God," by Charles E. Kistler.

"A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district - all studied and appreciated as they merit - are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty." - "The New Dictionary of Thought - A Cyclopedia of Quotations," Tyron Edwards, D.D.

"Hence bad examples to youth are more rare in America, which must be a comfortable consideration to parents.  To this may be truly added, that serious religion, under its various denominations, is not only tolerated, but respected and practised.

Atheism is unknown there; Infidelity rare and secret; so that persons may live to a great age in that country without having their piety shocked by meeting with either an Atheist or an Infidel." - "Advice on Coming to America," George D. Youstra, ed.

"May we continue, under the influence of republican virtue, to partake of all the blessings of cultivated and Christian society." - "The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States," by B.F. Morris, pp. 253-254.

"It is that particular wise and good God, who is the Author and Owner of our system, that I propose for the Object of my praise and adoration.

For I conceive that He has in Himself some of those passions he has planted in us, and that, since He has given us reason whereby we are capable of observing His wisdom in the Creation, He is not above caring for us, being pleas'd with our praise, and offended when we slight Him, or neglect His glory.

I conceive for many reasons that He is a good Being, and as I should be happy to have so wise, good and powerful a Being my Friend, let me consider in what Manner I shall make myself most acceptable to Him." - "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin," by Leonard Labaree, ed.

"That I may be preserved from atheism and infidelity, impiety and profaneness, and in my addresses to Thee carefully avoid irreverence and ostentation, formality and odious hypocrisy, Help me, O Father." - "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin," by Leonard Labaree, ed.

A Moment of Introspection

Have you found your niche for ministry?

God has given all of His followers certain gifts.  We should be using these gifts for His glory.  Some of His gifts include teaching, preaching, giving, and helps.  These can be performed in a number of practical ways.  When you use your spiritual gift for God, it will seem very natural and you may not even know that you are doing it!  It will likely seem fun and not like work.

Seek God and find your spiritual gift that you can use for His glory.  It will be your ministry to others for Him.

Pick five people and pray for them.  Just take a few minutes to pray for some people besides yourself.  These people can be your friends, family, or anybody else.  If you can, try and think of people that are either poor or in great need and pray for them.

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

Yarden (Hebrew): Jordan - a descent or descender, the principle river in Palestine

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 6:5 - God decides to kill all living things because the human imagination is evil. Later (8:21), after he kills everything, he promises never to do it again because the human imagination is evil. Go figure.

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

"Every thought and imagination of the heart was evil, continually" is what Genesis 6:5 says.  In order to give humans comfort and security, God promises not to destroy the Earth with a Great Flood, again.  In Genesis 8:21, God says that "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth," but He will still not destroy all the Earth with a Great Flood, again.  This is a great synopsis of humanity and the need for redemption.  From the youngest ages, humans have evil thoughts and they need God.
 

(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."