|
November 28, 2005 - (Best viewed in 800 X 600 resolution) |
 |
Hello! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I've updated and improved all of JCSM's web pages. Right now, I'm uploading them to the web. Feel free to give me some input on how you like them and how they can be even better. Staying current with technology is a fun challenge! Thanks to those who voiced their opinion about my Wikipedia entry. In the coming days, JCSM will be launching a new ministry called Wiki 4 Christ. It'll be a network of Christian developers and contributors to the Wikipedia encyclopedia. We hope you join us in this exciting endeavor to contribute Christian-oriented articles online! This Saturday, Jars of Clay tickets go on sale! If you're in the Southern California area, you won't want to miss one of the most exciting Christian bands. 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!) Joshua 1:8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me." 1 Samuel 16:7b "For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Acts 3:19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Insight: Christians need to be introspective and analyze their behavior to see whether or not it is Christ-like. We need to read the Bible, so we can know what God expects and then we should repent from our sins and obey God. This formula makes for successful, godly living. Prayer: "Dear Lord, help us to be introspective. Let us have courage to look inside and weed out the bad things. Help us to fully submit to You. Thank you for loving us more than anyone else does. Thank you for having the highest hopes for us. We love You, Lord. There is no other like You. Thank you for your awesome Word. Help us to read it, memorize it, and apply it to our life. Help us also to meditate on You and your Word all the time. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), was a master German musical composer and pianist. Only living till the age of thirty-five, Mozart has forever earned a place as one the most renowned geniuses in the history of music. He composed symphonies, operas, concertos, sonatas, and choral and chamber pieces, together, totaling over six hundred works. He composed for royalty all across Europe, as well as having met the famous composer, Franz Josef Haydn. On July 3, 1778, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote from Paris to a friend: "Mourn with me! This has been the most melancholy day of my life; I am now writing at two o'clock in the morning. I must tell you that my mother, my darling mother, is no more. God has called her to Himself; I clearly see that it was His will to take her from us, and I must learn to submit to the will of God. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.... I am fully convinced that God has so ordained it. "All I would ask of you at present is, to act the part of a true friend, by preparing father by degrees for this sad intelligence.... May God give him strength and courage! My dear friend, I am consoled not only now, but I have been for some time past. By the mercy of God, I have borne it with all firmness and composure. When the danger became imminent, I prayed my heavenly Father for only two things - a happy death for my mother, and strength and courage for myself, and our gracious God heard my prayer, and conferred those two boons fully upon me." ¹ In a letter, Mozart wrote: "It is a great consolation for me to remember that the Lord, to whom I had drawn near in humble and child-like faith, has suffered and died for me, and that He will look on me in love and compassion." ² Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart insisted: "Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." ³ ¹ July 3, 1778, in a letter from Paris to a friend. Lady Wallace, The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Vol. II, pp. 275-276. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 332-333. ² Lady Wallace, The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Vol. I, pp. 210-211. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 332-333.³ Attributed. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 402.If you'd like to see more quotes from those that framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.
The unexamined life is not worth living. - Socrates
During this holiday season, choose to frequently exercise. It's easy to stay indoors and become inactive, but we need to take care of our bodies. I recommend working out 4 days a week for an hour (30 minutes of weightlifting and 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise). I've made a promise to God that I will do this for six weeks and I'm excited to already see it paying off. God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
hawgaw (Hebrew, see Joshua 1:8): to murmur (in pleasure or anger), by implication to ponder: imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar, speak, study, talk, utter
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims: Genesis 37:28 - The verse says the Ishmaelites sold Joseph into Egypt, but 37:36 says that the Midianites sold him. "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds: According to Genesis 37:27, 28, and 36 (and 39:1), there were Ishmaelites and Midianites with the band of traders that bought and sold Joseph. They both bought and sold him. Incidentally, these two tribes of Arabian traders are used interchangeably in places like Judges 8. They were difficult to distinguish and worked together. Midian and Ishmael were brothers and sons of Abraham. (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.)
There are no new quotes this week, but we have thousands in our archive! Visit http://quotes.jcsm.org. Plus, if you'd like to read a new quote every day, please go to http://jcsm.org/Wisdom.htm and bookmark it!
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
|