"Jesus Christ's Family" - #390

The JCSM Study Center

America's Christian Foundation

Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

NKJV Web Hosting and Services

JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3

The Online Christ-Centered Ministries

The JCSM Chat Room

Seminary Notes and Papers

The Picturesque Photo Albums

Hello!

I pray you had a great Christmas.

This year is coming to an end and I hope you have had a good one.  I also hope you have a safe New Year's Eve celebration.  There are lots of accidents and fatalities, so please try and be wise this year.  I'm not sure what we are doing, but we'll probably see a local fireworks show.

Beginning on January 9, numerous people from my church and I am going to go on a 21 day fast.  This will be a fruits and vegetables fast, so all other foods will be avoided.  I'm going to do some journaling and draw closer to Christ.  If you're interested in joining us, just let me know.  I'd be happy to chat with you about it and it will be good to encourage one another via email throughout the 3 weeks.

As I said before, famous atheist and philosopher Antony Flew has decided that there is a God!  He has been one of the most influential, British atheists in the past 50 years as he has written many books, taught, and debated theists.  We have his interview with Gary Habermas regarding his new faith in God.  I've fixed the link to this interview and you can see it here: http://jcsm.org/1on1/AntonyFlew.pdf.

After several months off, I have returned to usenet to minister to unbelievers.  Usenet is part of the "old internet" and a discussion area available to all internet users; even though it is seldom used or recognized.  Atheists have been using it as their lair and if you have very thick skin, let me know and I'd be happy to have you come and join me.

On my first day back, several atheists told me to leave them alone and several of them cursed and swore at me.  A few of them were cordial, though.  Please pray for them.  They know the truth of God will be convicting them and I need to have discernment, grace, and love as I approach them.

Would you like a daily dose of godly wisdom?  Click http://jcsm.org/Wisdom.htm for JCSM's Quote of the Day!

Do you need a free email account?  JCSM offers free and inexpensive 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.

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 70,000 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.

Visit the JCSM Study Center!  We have over 1GB of resources like English and foreign Bibles, thousands of sermons, 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

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

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

"Jesus Christ's Family"

Matthew 1:1-16  "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ."

Matthew 12:47-50  "Then one said to Him, 'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.'  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, 'Who is My mother and who are My brothers?'  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 22:37-39  "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"

Insight: Jesus was related to sinners.  He wasn't just related to ordinary sinners, but some of his relatives were very wicked.  In His life, He met sinners too, but He knew that He came to love them to repentance and not condemn them, yet.  We should do the same with our relatives.  Before we think we are better than them for our faith or righteousness, we should remember Jesus' perfect ideal.  We all fall short and we all need to be loving others to the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: "Bless us, Lord.  Give us the qualities and fruits of your Spirit.  Thank you for being perfect and holy.  There is no other God like You!  Remove our worries and fears and give us peace.  Lift our eyes and heads to You, Lord.  Help us to love others despite anything.  Help us to love like You love; without keeping score.  Let others love us as well.  Thank you for your awesome love and your fantastic example to all of us.  Help us to see You as You really are, then become like You.  Forgive our sins.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Library of Congress 1800, was set up primarily to assist Congressmen in preparing laws, although it is open to all scholars.  It was burned by the British during the War of 1812, and subsequently rebuilt.  In 1897, it was relocated into its present building, along with an annex added in 1938.  Numerous quotations from Scripture can be found within the walls of the Library of Congress.  President Eliot of Harvard selected the following verse to be inscribed on the walls:

"He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God.  (Micah 6:8)"  - July 27, 1962, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, in a message delivered in Congress two days after the Supreme Court declared prayer in schools unconstitutional.  Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia:  Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 66-69.  Gary DeMar, The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision, Inc., 1993), p. 55.

The lawmaker's library has engraved the quote from the Psalmist:

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.  (Psalm 19:1)"  - ibid.

Also seen inscribed is the verse:

"The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.  (John 1:5)"  - July 27, 1962, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, in a message delivered in Congress two days after the Supreme Court declared prayer in schools unconstitutional.  Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia:  Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 66-69.

A Moment of Introspection

There is a difference between those that practice sin and those that stumble into sin.

Make a New Year's Resolution and stick to it!  This could be something short term or long term.  Make a promise to God that you will do something positive, in Jesus' name, then do it.  Feel free to tell someone (even me) if you want some accountability.

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

adelphos (Greek, see Matthew 12:50): a brother (figuratively or literally) near or remote

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 19:5 - Two angels are staying at Lot's house when all the men of Sodom come to visit. They ask Lot to "bring them out unto us that we might know them."

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

This is correct.  The men of Sodom want to have sex with the angels.  If this doesn't epitomize their depravity, I'm not sure what can.

(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.)

One of Jesus' titles is King of Sinners.

Christ didn't come to stay away from sinners.  He came to become sin.

Jesus Christ had the same kind of sinners in His family that we have in our families.

The genealogies don't simply show that Jesus is related to David.  They also show that Jesus was related to sinners.

God knows exactly what you're going through.

Jesus felt our sin on the cross.

Jesus touched lepers while people were staying many feet away from them.

You need to spend quality time with your loved ones.

Many believers are 911 Christians.  They only call on God in cases of emergency.

When you don't feed the Spirit, your spirit suffers.

Nothing good comes from evil desires.

If you think there won't be any bad consequences for evil deeds, you are mistaken.

God will give you the strength to avoid practicing sin.

You can choose joy.

If you choose to have love, joy, peace, and patience, what can bother you?

Self-control is denying self and controlling impulses.

Ask God for the right gifts.

Imagine how much better your life would be if you had more of the fruits of the spirit.

To follow the spirit, we must surrender every part of our life.

Some of us were extreme sinners, but now timid believers.  Why?  Hasn't God given you a bold and extreme spirit to live life on the edge for Him?

The only way to access God's power is to surrender your life to Christ.

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

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!

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.  We host tens of thousands of web pages 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.

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:

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!

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.

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.

Over 70,000 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."