"The Faithful Response" - #360

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Hello!

I pray you had a great weekend.

This weekend, Spirit West Coast will be coming to Del Mar!  If you are in the area, then plan to come because it will be an awesome music festival.  Click here for details.  I have some extra tickets, so please contact me if you need some.

Please take a minute and visit JCSM's two polls.  One is about salvation and the other is about your denomination or religion.  They are very brief, but they help us to know who we are reaching.  Poll #1: http://jcsm.org/salvation/ and Poll #2: http://jcsm.org/denom/.

Our Young Earth Creation site has been updated.  We have added numerous links to information about evolution.  A sincere thanks goes to Cyndie for helping compile the article links!  Please see this great new addition to our creation ministry.  Link: http://yecs.org/evolution.htm.

Recently, we improved our "God's Plan Through Pictures" web pages.  They illustrate the salvation message quite nicely.  Please visit and share this evangelistic tool with a friend!  Link: http://godsplan.jcsm.org.

Please welcome our newest OCCM member.  The International Institute for Church Management (IICM) has been approved by OCCM's Board as a Christian ministry that proclaims the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ.  Click here to visit IICM and click here to visit OCCM.

Would you like a free email account?  JCSM offers free accounts through our BelieveandRepent.com domain name.  We give more space than Yahoo and Hotmail, plus you can use our service and evangelize without saying a word!  See http://believeandrepent.com for details.

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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

Contact Us: http://jcsm.org/contact.php

JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"The Faithful Response"

Genesis 22:3  "So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him."

Luke 22:42  "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."

Colossians 3:23, 24  "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

Insight: Are you listening to God and trying to hear what He is telling you?  Make an effort to respond to God's voice in faith.  Decide to love and obey Him right away.  The amount of time between His call and your response will reveal your maturity and faithfulness.

Prayer: "Thank you for loving us, Lord.  Thank you for being worthy of our honor and praise.  Bless us and lift us up.  Help us to respond to You in faith.  Thank you for talking to us and wanting us to listen to You.  Praise You for the awesome examples of faith that we see in the Word.  Thank you for Jesus and for Abraham.  Help us to do everything heartily because we know that we are actually doing things for You, to please and glorify You; not just for earthly people.  We love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

The Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania:

"We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain and establish this Constitution...."  -

Benjamin Weiss, God in American History: A Documentation of America's Religious Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1966), p. 155.  Gary DeMar, The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision, Inc., 1993), p. 65.

"Frame of Government, Section 10.  And each member (of the legislature), before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz: 'I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.'"  - S.E. Morison, ed., Sources and Documents Illustrating the American Revolution 1764-1788 and the Formation of the Federal Constitution (NY: Oxford University Press, 1923), p. 166.  David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1991), p. 23, 143.

A Moment of Introspection

Some people will spend years before they do what God tells them to do.  God will speak to them, put something on their heart, and they'll keep pushing it into the back of their head.  When God speaks to you, write it down.  Don't forget it.  He doesn't waste words.

Write down the next thing God tells you to do; and do it.

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

homologeo (Greek - See Romans 10:9): confess, covenant, acknowledge, confession is made, give thanks, promise

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 9:20-25 - The "just and righteous" Noah (6:9, 7:1) plants a vineyard, gets drunk, and lies around naked in his tent. His son, Ham, happens to see his father in this condition. When Noah sobers up and hears "what his young son had done unto him" (what did he do besides look at him?), he curses not Ham, who "saw the nakedness of his father," but Ham's son, Canaan. "A servant of servants shall he [Canaan] be unto his brethren." This is a typical case of biblical justice, and is one of many Bible passages that have been used to justify slavery. But there are other verses that say that children are not to be punished for the sins of their fathers.

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

Noah prophesies about the future of his sons (which includes all people, tribes, and nations).  We have seen this prophecy come true, but since the prophecy isn't in question or even mentioned, then I will not discuss it either.

God told the Israelites not to punish fathers for their son's sins and to avoid punishing sons for their father's sins.  God owns the right to punish all sinners.  Everyone has sinned, so when they don't receive punishment, they are receiving His grace and mercy.

(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 is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

What did God tell you to do last year that you didn't do?

Love as soon as you can.

There are "good" things that you have done without acknowledging God and responding to Him in obedience that He will not count as pleasing to Him.

There are things that would have crushed you as an unbeliever or immature Christian that would not bother you at all as a mature Christian.

When God calls you to do something, there will always be unknown questions, answers, resources, etc.

God made science, but He is not governed by it.

The physical laws that God made do not contain Him.

Wherever you are, God wants to use you beyond your ability.

If you're going to make a mistake, then make it at full speed.

God's names are symbolic of His character.

God can't learn because He already knows everything.

Do you have something, today?  God provided it.

If you sincerely obey and walk with Christ, the Lord will be seen.

God loves and accepts people as they are when they walk through the door of repentance.

God hasn't called you to figure everything out.  He has called you to trust Him.

Are you aggressively pursuing God?

These quotes came from God, me, and Miles McPhearson.

Do you need more quotes?  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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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.

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

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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!

For more about me and my service history, go to http://jcsm.org/misc/JasonGastrich.htm.

If you have never repented from your sins and believed, trusted, and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please email me!  I would love to share the gospel with you.  The Bible is very straightforward when it speaks about Heaven, Hell and eternal life.  If there is any doubt that you are going to Heaven when you die, please let me know today!  If you’d like to discover the biblical doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ, please go here: Audio Gospel Message - http://www.jcsm.org/godsplan/TheGospel.mp3. or the Textual Gospel Message - http://gospel.jcsm.org.

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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