Hello!
Everyone at JCSM wishes you a Happy Memorial Day weekend and holiday!
On June 2, my wife, friend, and I will be driving to Moreno Valley for a Bible conference and debate at Oasis Community Church. JCSM will have a book table there, so make sure to stop by and say hi! If you'd like more information, you can either email me or call Ed Enochs at 951-867-1494.
Today, the Answers in Genesis museum opens. Check your local and national news because it is sure to make headlines! Plus, Ken Ham (AIG's directo), will be on the Hannity and Colmes show on Fox News on Wednesday, May 30.
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!)
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."
Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Matthew 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
Romans 8:15-17 "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
2 Timothy 1:7-10 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
Insight: Do not fear or worry. These spirits are not from God. God wants us to be strong and confident in His promises. Pray against fear and worry and God will remove them from you.
Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and help us to avoid fear and worry. Thank you for being faithful to us. There is no other like You. Increase our faith in You and help us to trust You more and more. Remove our fears and worries. Praise You for being powerful and able to answer prayer and bless us. Bless us and lift us up. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Lew Wallace (1827-1905) was a Major General in the Civil War, a diplomat and the author of the famous novel, Ben-Hur, 1880. He became the Governor of New Mexico, 1878-81, and served as the U.S. minister to Turkey, 1881-85.
On February 2, 1892, he wrote in the Youth Companion:
At that time (1875), speaking candidly, I was not in the least influenced by religious sentiment. I had no conviction about God and Christ. I neither believed nor disbelieved them....
I had been listening to a discussion, which involved such elemental points as God, Heaven, life hereafter, Jesus Christ, and His Divinity. Trudging on in the dark, alone, except, as one’s thoughts may be company, good or bad, a sense of the importance of the theme struck me for the first time with a force of both singular and persistent. I was ashamed of myself, and make haste now to declare that mortification of pride I then endured, or, if it be preferred, the punishment of spirit, ended in a resolution to study the whole matter, if only for the gratification there might be in having convictions of one kind or another.
Forthwith a number of practical suggestions assailed me. How could I conduct the study? Delve into theology? I shuddered.... There were the sermons and commentaries. The very thought of them overwhelmed me with an idea of the shortness of life. No, I would read the Bible and the four Gospels. A Lawyer of fifteen or twenty years of practice attains confidence peculiar in his mental muscularity, so to speak...
The manuscript in my desk ended with the birth of Christ; why not make it the first book of a volume, and go on to His death? I halted-there was light!...I had my opening; it was the birth of Christ. Could anything be more beautiful? As a mere story, the imagination of man has conceived nothing more crowded with poetry, mystery, and incidents, pathetic and sublime, nothing sweeter with human interest, nothing so nearly a revelation of God in person.
So, too, I saw a fitting conclusion. Viewed purely and professionally as a climax or catastrophe to be written up to, the final scene of the last act of the tragedy, what could be more stupendous than the Crucifixion?...Wanting a connection thread for the whole story-that given to Christ the Child and that given to Christ the Savior, I kept Belthasar alive to the end...
I determined to withhold the reappearance of the Savior until the very last hours. Meanwhile, He should always be coming- today I would have Him, as it were, just over the hill yonder-tomorrow He will be here, and then tomorrow.... Finally when He was come, I would be religiously careful that every word He uttered should be a literal quotation from one of His sainted biographers....
The name “ Ben-Hur” was chosen because it was biblical, and easily spelled, printed and pronounced.
As this article is in the nature of confessions, here is one which the readers of the Youth’s Companion may excuse, and accept at the same time as a fitting conclusion: Long before I was through with my book I became a believer in God and Christ.
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/.
A lack of fear shows an influence of Christ in the believer.
Pray against your worries and fears. Identify them and give them to God. He will help you overcome them!
May God richly bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
merimnaho (Greek, see Matthew 6:34): to be anxious about, careful, take thought
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:
Exodus 22:3 - Selling a thief to pay for his theft.
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:
If a thief cannot repay his debt, then he will essentially work it off.
(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.)
These quotes are from my upcoming book called, "10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings" (ISBN 978-0-9732797-8-8), which will be released in September. The following are quotes on fear and worry.
Face your fears and do what you haven't done because of your fear.
What haven't you done because of your fear?
God doesn't know any fear.
If there's any fear in your life, let God remove it.
You know you've been set free when your fears are gone.
Don't worry about the seemingly irreparable problems in your life.
Look to the people who are receptive to God's Word. Don't worry about the people who aren't.
We can't worry about how many people we are impacting for Christ when we are trying to impact everyone. Let Him be the God of the numbers and us be the diligent servants.
Don't worry about losing a friend by telling them about Christ. They need Him and will go to Hell without Him.
Two main causes of stress are guilt and worry.
If you'd like to read more quotes, we have thousands in our archive! Visit http://quotes.jcsm.org.
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San Diego, CA 92111
Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.
Executive Director
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