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December 5, 2005 - (Best viewed in 800 X 600 resolution) |
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Hello! I hope you had a great week and weekend. Thanks to those who emailed us about Beta testing JCSM's web pages. Thanks for the feedback, too. If anyone else wishes to give us feedback, it's always appreciated. This Friday, C.S. Lewis' novel is hitting the silver screen. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is being released at theaters across the globe. In case you didn't know, C.S. Lewis was a Christian and his novels include all kinds of spiritual and biblical allusions and imagery. The movie should be quite interesting. Thanks to those who support JCSM. We are always getting encouraging emails and phone calls from those we have blessed. We got a phone call just now from a past sex offender who received one of our letters (which contained the gospel and some encouragement). He said he was contemplating suicide, but after reading our letter, he felt much better and gave up the notion to take his life. He called to thank us. So, thank you because your support has helped us in our endeavors like sending out those letters in the regular mail. We pray that God blesses you richly this Christmas season. 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!) Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" 1 Corinthians 9:27 "But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." 2 Corinthians 11:25-27 "Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." James 1:26 "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless." Insight: Keep a bridle on your mind and actions. Give everything over to God and then you'll develop spiritual discipline, so you can avoid sin and choose godliness. Get ready now for the trials and circumstances that are to come. Prayer: "Thank you for loving us, Lord. Thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit, so we can try and live a blameless life. Bless us and let us see sin as You do. Help us to repent and choose godliness. Thank you for giving us the Bible, so we can have an objective source of truth; a litmus test for all philosophies and doctrines. Thank you for Jesus Christ who came, lived a sinless life, performed countless miracles, died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the dead. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Marcus Whitman (1802-1847), was an American pioneer, doctor and missionary to the Indians in the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Marcus Whitman had practiced medicine for eight years in Rushville, N.Y. and in Canada before being appointed, in 1836, as a missionary-physician to Oregon with his wife Narcissa by the American Board of Foreign Missions. They set up missions at Waiilatpu near Walla Walla , Washington, and at Laowai. In 1842-43, responding to a potential threat of closure, Marcus Whitman made a famous 3,000 mile trek east to persuade the Mission Board not to disband the mission. He also endeavored to interest the Government in settling the Oregon country, and in 1843 saw the first large wagon train head west on the Oregon Trail.
In 1923, President
Warren G. Harding praised Dr. Marcus Whitman in a speech celebrating
the Oregon
Trail, at
Meacham Oregon :
"It was that of a
religious enthusiast, tenaciously earnest yet revealing no suggestion
of fanaticism, bronzed from exposure to pitiless elements and seamed
with deep lines of physical suffering, a rare combination of
determination and gentleness - obviously a man of God, but no less a
man among men. Such was Marcus Whitman, the missionary hero of the
vast, unsettled, unexplored Oregon country, who had come out of the
West to plead that the State should acquire for civilization the
Empire that the churches were gaining for Christianity....
"Then turning to
President [Tyler], he added quietly but beseechingly:
"'All I ask is that
you will not barter away Oregon or allow English interference until I
can lead a bank of stalwart American settlers across the plains. For
this I shall try to do!'
"'Dr. Whitman,' he
rejoined sympathetically, 'your long ride and frozen limbs testify to
your courage and your patriotism. Your credentials establish your
character. Your request is granted!'
"Never in the
history of the world has there been a finer example of civilization
following Christianity....
"I rejoice
particularly in the opportunity afforded me of voicing my appreciation
both as President of the United States and as one who honestly tries
to be a Christian soldier, of the signal service of the martyred
Whitman." ¹
¹ 1923, by President
Warren G. Harding in his speech in The Oregon Trail , at
Meacham, Oregon . Catherine Millard, The Rewriting of
America's History
(Camp Hill, PA: Horizon House Publishers, 1991), p. 208-211.
If you'd like to see more quotes from those that framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.
When is the last time you told God you loved Him?
Send five Christmas cards to five different unbelievers. Let them know they are loved and remind them that this holiday is because of Jesus Christ. God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
hoop-o-peeadzo (Greek, see 1 Corinthians 9:27): subdue (one's passions)
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims: Genesis 38:8-10 - After God killed Er, Judah tells Onan to "go in unto they brother's wife." But "Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and ... when he went in unto his brother's wife ... he spilled it on the ground.... And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; wherefore he slew him also." This lovely Bible story is seldom read in Sunday School, but it is the basis of many Christian doctrines, including the condemnation of both masturbation and birth control. "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds: This passage of scripture is rarely (if ever) used to form any doctrine on masturbation or birth control. Incidentally, the passages about lusting in your heart are easily applicable to masturbation. This story about Onan is a historical story and it isn't wise to build doctrines from the flawed people in the historical accounts of the Bible. (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
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