Don't Hold Your Money So Tightly - #451

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I hope you had a great weekend.

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On Saturday, February 25, Dr. Henry Morris passed away. He was known by many as the "father of the creation science movement", as he founded the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research, and authored a number of awesome, groundbreaking books. Please pray for his family and that his vision to combat the lies of evolutionism is continued by his organization and his supporters. Everyone at JCSM salutes Dr. Morris for his many years of hard work.

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On Wednesday at 11am PST, the men's, U.S. soccer team plays a friendly game against Poland. Germany is the host country and ESPN2 is carrying the game on TV. It should be another, exciting game, as the U.S. is on a nice winning streak and many players are trying their very best, so they can make the squad that will participate in this summer's World Cup.

A shout out goes to Kevin Max and Nathan Barlowe. On Thursday night, I had the pleasure of chatting and hanging out with them a bit. My prayers are with them and their endeavors.

FishFest is on March 26. If you're in Southern California and you like all-day music festivals, then you'll want to check this one out. Lots of great artists will be performing.

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

JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"Don't Hold Your Money So Tightly"

Ecclesiastes 5:10 "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity."

Matthew 25:40 "And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’"

John 13:34, 35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Colossians 3:1, 2 "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

Insight: Don't let your biggest treasure on Earth be asphalt in Heaven (Hint: Heaven will have streets of gold!). Put money into proper perspective. All we have is from God and we are stewards of His things. Use them wisely and for His glory.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for loving us so much. Thank you for giving us so much, too. There is no other like You. Bless us and lift us up. Forgive us for misusing your blessings. Help us to use our money wisely and for your glory. Let us use the money and time we have to bless You and others. Help us to avoid waste. In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Roger Sherman (1721-1793), was an American Revolutionary patriot, politician and jurist, who was the only one of the Founding Fathers to sign all four of the major founding documents: The Articles of Association 1774, The Declaration of Independence 1776, The Articles of Confederation 1777, and The Constitution of the United States 1787.

During the almost fatal crisis at the Constitutional Convention, Thursday, June 28, 1787, Roger Sherman seconded the motion to have Dr. Benjamin Franklin's famous request, that Congress be opened with prayer every day, enacted. ¹ (A practice which continues to this day.)

In February 1776, Roger Sherman, along with Adams and George Wythe of Virginia, were on the committee responsible to create instructions for the embassy headed for Canada. The instructions directed:

"You are further to declare that we hold sacred the rights of conscience, and may promise to the whole people, solemnly in our name, the free and undisturbed exercise of their religion. And ... that all civil rights and the right to hold office were to be extended to persons of any Christian denomination." ²

Roger Sherman also successfully worked to have President Washington officially declare a national Thanksgiving Day holiday. His remarks were recorded in the Journals of Congress:

"Mr. Sherman justified the practice of thanksgiving, on any signal event, not only as a laudale one in itself, but as warranted by a number of precedents in Holy Writ: for instance, the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon, after the building of the temple, was a case in point. This example, he thought, worthy of Christian imitation on the present occasion." ³

In 1788, as a member of the White Haven Congregational Church, Roger Sherman was asked to use his expertise in revising the wording of their creed. In his own handwriting, he wrote the following:

"I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance equal in power and glory.

"That the scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

"That God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, so as thereby he is not the author or approver of sin.

"That he creates all things, and preserves and govern all creatures and all their actions, in a manner perfectly consistent with the freedom of will in moral agents, and the usefulness of means.

"That he made man at first perfectly holy, that the first man sinned, and as he was the public head of his posterity, they all became sinners in consequence of his first transgression, are wholly indisposed to that which is good and inclined to evil, and on account of sin are liable to all the miseries of this life, to death, and to the pains of hell forever.

"I believe that God having elected some of mankind to eternal life, did send his own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind, so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the gospel offer: also by his special grace and spirit, to regenerate, sanctify and enable to persevere in holiness, all who shall be saved; and to procure in consequence of their repentance and faith in himself their justification by virtue of his atonement as the only meritorious cause.

"I believe a visible church to be a congregation of those who make a credible profession of their faith in Christ, and obedience to him, joined by the bond of the covenant....

"I believe that the souls of believers are at their death made perfectly holy, and immediately taken to glory: that at the end of this world there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a final judgement of all mankind, when the righteous shall be publicly acquitted by Christ the Judge and admitted to everlasting life and glory, and the wicked be sentenced to everlasting punishment." 4

¹ June 28, 1787. James Madison, Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of l787 (1787; reprinted NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 1987), p. 210. David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1991), p. 109.

² Christopher Collier, Roger Sherman's Connecticut (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1979), p. 129. David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1991), p. 35, 122.

³ Annals of Congress, 1789-1791 (Washington, D.C: Gales & Seaton, 1834), Vol. I, p. 914. David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1991), p. 114.

4 Lewis Henry Boutell, The Life of Roger Sherman (Chicago: A.C McClure & Co., 1896), pp. 272-273. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), pp. 136-137.

If you'd like to see more quotes from those that framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.

A Moment of Introspection

Three cats were standing on a fence. Two of them decided to jump off the fence. How many cats were left? One? Incorrect. The answer is three.

Deciding to jump off the fence doesn't mean they actually jumped off the fence. There is a big difference between deciding to do something and actually doing it.

JCSM's Challenge

What is in your CD or tape player right now? If there were a spirit involved with the facilitation of that music to your ears, what kind of spirit would it be?

Be sensitive to the Spirit's lead and put good things into your ears. Do your best to eliminate the messages you know you don't need to hear.

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

Word of the Week

filargooreeah (Greek, see 1 Timothy 6:10): avarice, love of money

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 49:3-27 - Genesis 49 lists the twelve tribes of Israel with the verse number in parenthesis. Reuben (3) Simeon and Levi (5) Judah (8) Zebulun (13) Issachar (14) Dan (16) Gad (19) Asher (20) Naphtali (21) Joseph (22) Benjamin( 27). Revelation (7:4-8) adds Manasses and omits Dan.

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

The tribe of Dan is likely omitted because they were severely addicted to idolatry. Dan was the Judas Iscariot to the tribes of Israel.

(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.)

Quotes of the Week

Are you ready for God to improve your life?

If you knew that you would die in one week, how would you live your last days? Why? Does your answer mean you should change something about your current life?

In the Old Testament, people raised their hands and fell prostrate on the ground, so they could show reverence to the Lord and worship Him. How closely have you followed this biblical model?

Are your actions hurting others? If so, what can you do to change?

Any way you end, you end anyway.

Everything is nothing without 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!

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