Hello!
I hope you had an excellent weekend.
A sincere and heartfelt thanks goes to all of JCSM's supporters. We deeply appreciate every one-time donator, every continual donator, every volunteer, and every prayer supporter. May God richly bless you all as you continue to serve the Lord with us.
Our Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference will air this Saturday on the internet! You can freely watch the three lectures on and any time after Saturday, October 14. We will send you a special email on Saturday, to remind you, so you don't miss inspiring lectures by me, Dr. Kent Hovind, and Dr. Chuck Missler! Click here if you want to visit the MACSD site. It will be the location of Saturday's conference webcast.
On Saturday, I had lunch with a couple of skeptics. It was my pleasure to meet Stan Kohls (a previous, formal debate opponent from the Ventura Freethinkers) and Stuart Bechman (Co-President of Atheists United) in Westwood. I visited with them consecutively and for unrelated reasons, but Stuart and I tentatively scheduled a debate for January 28, 2007. It will be in the Los Angeles area and more details will be forthcoming.
I'm excited about this opportunity for many reasons, but partly because Atheists United was originally founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair and it is one of the largest skeptical organizations in the world. The debate will be followed by lunch and a Q&A session. Please begin praying for the skeptical attendees now and if you're nearby, please plan to attend.
Last Monday, the athletic director at Kearny High School in San Diego called me and offered me a job. I've accepted it and I'm looking forward to coaching the boys varsity soccer team. Please pray that we have an excellent, injury-free season. We will begin on November 13.
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, Ph.D.
Contact Us: http://jcsm.org/contact.php
JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)
"The Foundational First Step of Faith"
Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
1 Corinthians 1:20, 21 "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
Insight: We must first believe in God. We cannot please God unless we believe in Him. The world says, "Show me and I'll believe," but God says, "Believe and I'll show you."
Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for showing us so much of You and still requiring us to have faith, too. Help us to understand You and your ways. There is no other like You. Thank you for loving us so much. Bless us and make us like You. Forgive our sins. Increase our faith. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753-1813), was an American Revolutionary leader, member of the Continental Congress and delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was the Governor of Virginia, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of State.
On June 28, 1787, at the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, following the historical address
and appeal for prayer by Dr.
Benjamin Franklin, (which ended the heated debates over state
representation), Edmund Jennings Randolph of Virginia proposed a further
motion:
"That a sermon be preached at the request of the convention on the 4th of
July, the anniversary of Independence; & thenceforward prayers be used in ye
Convention every morning." ¹
[Of note is the fact that prayers have opened both houses of Congress ever since.] ²
On July 4th, according to the proposal by Edmund Jennings Randolph of Virginia, the entire Constitutional Convention assembled in the Reformed Calvinistic Church, and heard a sermon by Rev. William Rogers. His prayer was a reflection of the hearts of all the delegates following the convicting admonition of Dr. Franklin:
"We fervently recommend to the fatherly notice ... our federal convention .... Favor them, from day to day, with thy inspiring presence; be their wisdom and strength; enable them to devise such measures as may prove happy instruments in healing all divisions and prove the good of the great whole ... that the United States of America may form one example of a free and virtuous government....
"May we ... continue, under the influence of republican virtue, to partake of all the blessings of cultivated and Christian society." ³
If you'd like to have the citations for the footnotes above, please email us. If you'd like to see more quotes from those who framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.
Have you ever thought about how much more you could accomplish with fewer distractions?
Ask God to increase your faith. If you do, you'll be following the path of Jesus Christ's apostles! Luke 17:5 reads, "And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.'"
God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
pistis (Greek, see Hebrews 11:6): persuasion, credence, moral conviction (of religious truth), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:
Exodus 12:40 - This verse says the Egyptian captivity lasted 430 years, but Gen.15:13 and Acts 7:6 say it lasted for only 400 years.
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:
Their captivity lasted four hundred and thirty years and their affliction lasted four hundred years. If you read these verses closely, you'll see that none of them contradict. Click here for a timeline of these events.
(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Dr. 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.)
Deep down, you don't know if God exists or not and you're hoping He does, that He accepts you, and lets you have an afterlife.
It's not who you were, but who you are.
If you'd like to read more quotes, we have thousands in our archive! Visit http://quotes.jcsm.org.
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.
JCSM's Director
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