"Our Lord's Mother" - #409

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Hello!

I hope you had a great weekend.

I have great news!  Our MP3 ministry has taken off!  In April, we received over 16,000 downloads of the Bible on MP3 (http://sa.jcsm.org) and our debates!  This phenomenal increase doesn't even include the hundreds of daily music downloads.  Praise the Lord for this growth!  Please pray that our ministry continues to grow and reach hungry people.

We are in the process of starting a weekly internet broadcast.  If you have an interesting name for it, please reply to this email and let us know.  We will pick a winner and have him or her on our show as a guest.

We are planning on having this broadcast on Wednesdays at 3pm PST/6pm EST.  It will last one hour (and possibly longer in the future) and will cover apologetics and defending the Word of God.  We will also allow people to call in, ask questions, and even try and stump me with alleged Bible errors.  This means that our show will attract a number of unbelievers, so please pray that they receive and understand the truth.  I'll provide more information about this show in the coming days.  Please pray that we don't hit any roadblocks.

I've posted my second round post in my debate against Doug Krueger.  You can read it at http://iidebate5.jcsm.org.  Please pray for the atheists at that discussion board who hear the good news.

The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference is coming along.  We're getting excited because hundreds and possibly thousands of people will be hearing great lectures from God-fearing men.  If you're in or near the San Diego area, you won't want to miss it!  See http://macsd.org for details.

Recently, I was interviewed by San Diego's KPRZ/KCBQ radio station.  If you'd like to hear the interview, please click here: http://macsd.org/KPRZ_Interview_MP3.mp3 .  It is 2.5mb in size and about 6 minutes long.

JCSM has exceeded 100,000 web pages!  Praise the Lord for this growth.  One new, very large resource that we just added is a Catholic Encyclopedia.  Although we are not a Catholic ministry, the Catholic Encyclopedia is very interesting and complete for those that wish to learn about the Catholic Church.  Link: http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Catholic_Encyclopedia/

If you've read this far, then you're in luck!  I'm giving away three free CDs to the first three people who reply to this email!  These CDs contain five songs from some of today's top Christian musicians, plus The NKJV New Testament on MP3 (English and Spanish).  They also include the entire Bible with a search engine, a couple of sermons by Pastor Steve Mays, and some worship music by the South Bay Worship Team.  Good luck!

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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!)

"Our Lord's Mother"

Luke 1:35-38  "And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.  Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.  For with God nothing will be impossible.'  Then Mary said, 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord!  Let it be to me according to your word.'  And the angel departed from her."

Luke 2:33-35  "And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.  Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, 'Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'"

John 19:25-27  "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold your son!'  Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold your mother!'  And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home."

Acts 1:12-14  "Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.  And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying . . . (and) continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers."

Insight: Mary was a godly and humble woman, so she was chosen by God to give birth to Jesus Christ.  She was a woman of prayer and she loved and supported Jesus.  Mary is a good example for mothers because of her character qualities and her actions.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for Mary's example.  Thank you for the way that she loved You.  Thank you for giving mothers a positive role model.  Bless us.  Let us learn from You.  Thank you for the Bible and the way your Holy Spirit teaches us through it!  You are an awesome God.  Let mothers be humble and godly as Mary was.  Help them to love You more than anything and give them strength and endurance as they perform the duties of motherhood.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816), writer of the final draft of the Constitution of the United States, being the head of the Committee on Style, was the originator of the phrase “We the people of the United States.” He was 35 years old when he served as one of the members of the Continental Congress and spoke 173 times during the Constitutional debates, (more than any other delegate).

He was the first U.S. Minister to France, a U.S. Senator and helped to write the New York Constitution. He was a graduate of King’s College (Columbia University), and was a merchant, lawyer, planter, financier and pioneer promoter of the Erie Canal.

When France was in the process of establishing a new form of government, Gouverneur Morris offered to them his expertise in government formation by writing Observation of Government, Applicable to the Political State of France and Notes on the Form of a Constitution for France:

“Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man toward God.” - Jared Sparks, The Life of Gouverneur Morris (Boston: Gary and Bowen, 1832), Vol. III, p. 483. David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1991), pp. 121, 139.

Gouverneur Morris wrote to his Tory mother:

“There is one Comforter who weighs our Minutes and Numbers out our Days” - Max M. Mintx, Gouverneur Morris and the American Revolution (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970), p. 127. M. E. Bradford, Religion & The Framers: The Biographical Evidence (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation, 1991), p. 8.

Near the end of his life, Gouverneur Morris stated that he would soon:

“Descend towards the grave full of gratitude to the Giver of all good.” - M. E. Bradford, A Worthy Company (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation, 1982), p. 91. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 133.

A Moment of Introspection

Jesus wasn't just Mary's son.  He was also her Savior.  See Luke 1:46-47.

Thank God for the mom He chose for you.  Plus, if you haven't told her lately, tell your mother that you love her.

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

may-tare (Greek, see Matthew 27:56): mother (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote)

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 25:1 - "Then again Abraham took a wife [1 Chr.1:32 says she was his concubine], and her name was Keturah."

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

Most of the people who took more than one wife suffered major problems afterwards.  Even though, at this time, we do not read God specifically and personally telling each person to take one wife, this was the best plan, evidenced by Adam and Eve and other passages of the Old and New Testament scriptures.

(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.)

Choose to be amazed at something Jesus does this week.

Ask God to use the difficulties in your life to help others see Jesus.

Mary knew more pain in her life than most of us know in our lives.

Mary is the mother of our Messiah and she was a godly woman.  She isn't our co-redemptrix and she isn't part of the doctrine of salvation.

The New Testament refers to Mary 51 times.

Mary teaches us the submission, the surprise, and the suffering of motherhood.

Children can be the source of the greatest heartache and the source of the greatest joy.

Jesus' mother stood with Him until the end.

These quotes came from God, me, and David Jeremiah.

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!

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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.

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