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Hello! I hope you had a great week and weekend. If you're in Southern California, you won't want to miss this weekend's Bible conference. Steeling the Mind is coming to San Juan Capistrano! Once again, they'll offer fantastic speakers like Chuck Missler, Kent Hovind, Mike Gendron, Mike Riddle, and Skip Heitzig. If you'd like to see a moving portrayal of what Christ has done for us, please click here. Be forewarned though, there are gruesome clips from The Passion of the Christ movie, with contemporary movie clips, set to a great song about love and change. It is powerful and could be used as a ministry tool. Have you found an internet radio station that you like? There are two that I like to listen to. They include smooth jazz and Christian rock. You may need the Winamp player to hear them, but they are certainly worth hearing! As some of you may remember, I'm excited about my upcoming graduation from Louisiana Baptist University. Please click here to see a flyer about our fantastic, graduation week that will be filled with workshops, a preach-off, and much more. Please prayerfully consider giving a donation to cover our expenses as my wife and I travel across the country to LBU. If we raise enough money, I'll even stop at the University of Arkansas (in Fayetteville) and debate a well-known author and professor named Doug Krueger. He has agreed to a debate either on campus or at a large, local library or church. Please reply to this email if you'd like more details. Right now, in addition to my current workload, I'm looking for a soccer club to coach. There are a number of great ones in my area. Please pray that I hear God's will and follow His lead to the club that is best for me. I've given my resume to two clubs and I have an interview pending with another. My guitar students are learning and doing well. I start with a new one this week. Please pray that they continue to go well and that the Christian students become great, Christian worship leaders, evangelists, and musicians. 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!) "Don't Worry About Their Attacks" Matthew 5:39-41 "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." Romans 12:19-21 "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather
give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will
repay,' says the Lord. Therefore 'If your enemy is hungry, feed
him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; James 4:7-8a "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Insight: Christians will be attacked by unbelievers and even those that call themselves believers. Don't worry. Christ has warned us that we will be persecuted because of our faith. Stand firm and trust in Him. He will see us through and bless us now and reward us in Heaven. Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for your love for us. Thank you for warning us, in the Bible, that we would face attacks from others. Help us not to worry, but to pursue You with all of our heart, soul, and mind. There is no other like You! Praise You for being good and powerful. Increase our faith in You. Increase our love for You and others. In Jesus' name, Amen."
William Henry Seward (1801-1872), was Governor of the State of New York, 1839-43, a U.S. Senator 1849-61, and Secretary of State under President Lincoln during the War between the States, 1861-65. Lincoln's assassins also attempted to kill him, as one of John Wilkes Booth's accomplices broke into Seward's home and wounded him. He later served as Secretary of State under President Andrew Johnson, 1865-69, where he worked to implement the "reconstruction" in the South. Among his accomplishments was the negotiation of the purchase of Alaska from Russia, 1867, which was at the time mockingly called "Seward's Folly", as the land was thought to be of no use, though later it proved to be of tremendous benefit. William Henry Seward stated: William Henry Seward gave an oration entitled The Destiny of America, in which he stated: "Shall we look to the sacred desk? Yes, indeed; for it is of Divine institution, and is approved by human experience. The ministers of Christ, inculcating Divine morals, under Divine authority, with Divine sanction, and sustained and aided by special cooperating influences of the Divine Spirit, are now carrying further and broadly onward the great work of the renewal of the civilization of the world, and its emancipation from superstition and despotism." ² In 1836, as vice-president of the American Bible Society, William Henry Seward expressed: "I know not how long a republican government can flourish among a great people who have not the Bible; the experiment has never been tried; but this I do know: that the existing government of this country never could have had existence but for the Bible. "And, further, I do, in my conscience, believe that if at every decade of years a copy of the Bible could be found in every family in the land its republican institutions would be perpetuated." ³ ¹ Tryon Edwards, D.D., The New Dictionary of Thoughts - A Cyclopedia of Quotations (Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1852, The Standard Book Company, 1963), p. 49. Henry H. Halley, Halley's Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House 1927, 1965), p. 18. George E. Baker, Life of William Henry Seward. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, OR: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 404. ² In his oration entitled The Destiny of America. George E. Baker, Life of William Henry Seward. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, OR: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 404. ³ 1836, address as Vice-President of the American Bible Society. George E. Baker, Life of William Henry Seward. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, OR: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 404. If you'd like to see more quotes from those that framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.
Separate we are one.
Pick five people who have attacked you in the last month and forgive them. Decide to turn the other cheek and let God deal with them. Pray for them and either their sanctification or salvation. God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
deeoko (Greek, see Matthew 5:12): to flee, to pursue, by implication to persecute: ensue, follow
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims: Genesis 47:31 - Jacob swears, apparently with god's approval. But, later, in the New Testament swearing is forbidden (Mt.5:34-37, Jas.5:12). Jacob then dies in Egypt, contrary to God's promise in 46:3-4. "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds: This Hebrew word for "swear" means "to take an oath." In other words, Jacob made a promise. Don't confuse this with swearing (like using profanity), cursing, or taking God's name in vain. In Matthew 5:34-37 and James 5:12, we are told to be trustworthy. "Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No'" is Jesus' way of saying that we shouldn't need to swear for someone to take us seriously. Be an honorable person of your word, then you simply have to say "Yes" or "No" and you will be believed and trusted. (This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Jason Gastrich. This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org. There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)
Let me walk the valley and find the place I call home. God wouldn't be just and He wouldn't be an honest judge if He were to let sinners get away with their sins without being punished. You can't fight with someone who refuses to fight against you. We're just used to bad music. We'll fight back with love. If you'd like to read more quotes, 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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