"We're Stewards of His Gifts" - #395

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Hello!

I pray that you had a great week and weekend.

We like to submit JCSM's web pages to 800 search engines and links pages.  It gives them a boost and helps them get noticed by people all over the world.  We also like to occasionally submit other Christian sites.  If you'd like a free submission, please give us your web site's address and we'll put you on our list.

JCSM is now supporting three kids in Kenya through Compassion International.  Compassion is an excellent, Christian organization that gives 81% of the money directly to the kids, 10% for advertising, and less than 10% for operational costs.  Please pray for our kids in Kenya!

My friends from high school named Ray Waldron was convicted of murder.  As you may remember, we had been writing letters to each other as he sat in jail.  The verdict has finally come in and they found him guilty.  This is his third strike and in California, that means life in prison.

Ray has a girlfriend and a son on the way.  Please pray for them.  Please pray for Ray as well.  You can read about this decision here: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/4128980/detail.html.

My fruit and vegetable fast went very well.  It ended on Saturday night at Midnight.  Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.  If you wish to read my journal and the details of this fast, please go here: http://jcsm.org/Fasting/FruitVegetables/.

During my fast, I recorded a lot of music.  In fact, I recorded 21 songs!  One of my favorites is an instrumental song called Noodles.  You can visit our large archive of songs here: http://jcsm.org/worshipsongs.htm or you can download and hear Noodles here: http://jcsm.org/Songs/Noodles.mp3.

Lately, I've been talking to a pastor from a Oneness Pentecostal church.  If you know anything about these churches, then you'll know that they distort the deity of Christ and deny the trinity.  If you'd like to know more, then see this page: http://www.gospeloutreach.net/opgospel.html.  If you'd like to join us in our conversation, let me know and I'll send you a link.

I started with a new guitar student last week and I plan to begin teaching another new student this week.  Please pray for them and my existing students.  I have nine students and eight of them are learning Christian songs.  It's a blessing to teach them how to glorify the Lord with the guitar.

There is a Christian music festival in Irvine (Southern California) called FishFest.  Tickets go on sale this Saturday.  Michael W. Smith, TobyMac, Audio Adrenaline, Kutless, and many others will be there on April 16 at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater.  See http://www.thefish959.com and click on FishFest 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!)

"We're Stewards of His Gifts"

Matthew 25:14-30  "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’  His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"

1 Corinthians 6:19, 20  "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."

1 Corinthians 4:1, 2  "Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful."

1 Peter 4:10  "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Insight: God has given you things and He expects you to use them for His purposes.  Bless Him and bless others.  When you see others with awesome things, remember that they belong to God.  Everything belongs to the King and we need to be mindful of this as we use "our things" because God will require an explanation from us one day regarding how we used His things.

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us great things, Lord.  Thank you for giving us the awesome asset of time.  Help us to use everything for your glory.  Help us to bless You and other people.  You are our great God and there is no other like You!  Forgive us for using things for selfish purposes.  Forgive us for wasting things.  Give us wisdom and understanding and give us altruism, so we can use your gifts for your glory.  Remove selfishness from us.  Remind us that we have a lot of time each day and we need to use it for You.  Help us be mindful of the conversation we will have with You in the future regarding our time and resources and how we spent them.  To You be all the glory, honor, and praise!  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Samuel Sullivan Cox (1824-1889), was a Congressman, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and popular speaker. In the work Memorial Addresses, published by the United States Congress in 1890, Samuel Sullivan Cox’s address to Congress is recorded:

“I believe in the religion which was taught and exemplified in the life of the Nazarene, and I never fail to bear testimony to the ennobling and purifying influence of the Christian religion….
“There was a poignancy in my heart when I saw the old church, where I so often worshipped, raised to the ground. Was it not there I attended my first Sunday-school? There it was that I learned my Bible verses, and received my red and blue tickets for proficiency. There it was that I accomplished the memorable task of reciting all of St. Paul to the Romans….
“Those early memories were cut in durable stone. Tarnished by worldliness, dusted with the activities of life, there have pursued me through the various vicissitudes of professional, literary, and political life.
“They became the nucleus of studies in college; the very coat of mail in the struggles against selfishness and skepticism; in fine, they prefigured and preordained my choice of spiritual belief against the delusive sophistries of new philosophies and mere material science.
“They have enabled me, in following and studying the physical advancement of the past century, to perceive in all the atoms, forms, and forces of nature, and the phenomena of mind, the truth and benignity of the great scheme of human redemption, which is founded on the veracity of Christ, and becomes, with lapsing years, more beautiful with the white radiance of an ennobling spirituality.” - Samuel Sullivan Cox addressing Congress. Memorial Address (United States, 1890). Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), pp. 101-102.

A Moment of Introspection

Why should God keep feeding your ministry?  Why should He keep you alive?  What are you doing for Him with what He has given to you?

Ask God whether or not you are using your gifts for His glory.

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

oy-kon-om-os (Greek, see 1 Corinthians 4:1, 2): house distributor (that is, manager), or overseer, that is, an employee in that capacity, by extension, a fiscal agent (treasurer), figuratively a preacher (of the gospel): - chamberlain, governor, steward.

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 20:12 - Abraham married his sister, and God blessed their marriage (Gen.17:15-16). But such incestuous marriages are condemned in Lev.18:9, 20:17, Dt.27:22.

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

This is correct.  At this point, intermarriages were all right and later they became forbidden.

(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.)

Don't think that God is not a shrewd investor.

The phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" is used 32 times in the book of Matthew and zero times throughout the rest of the New Testament.

Hording earthly wealth is not a kingdom concept.

Everything belongs to the King.

One day, God will return and hold us accountable regarding the things He gave us.

If you pray for five minutes, God blesses you with more what five minutes of your time is worth.  That's His grace.

Bless God and others with His blessings.

The decisions you make today can help 5, 50, or even 500 people hear the gospel.

A kingdom investor places a high value on the owner's expectation for high profit.

The higher the faith, the higher the profits.

A kingdom investor participates in profit sharing.

God invests and receives the increase from the investor.

A kingdom investor protects all of his talents from the "death dirt."

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.

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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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