Hello!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
As promised, our new web site for our upcoming book was launched on Friday! Click here to visit it and learn about my book of over 10,000 wise quotations. You can even pre-order it for a 10% discount. Please pray for this project because we want it to bless the entire world.
On Friday, June 22, Evan Almighty will be released in theaters across America. Numerous Christian organizations have championed the PG movie because it mimics the story of Noah's Ark. In fact, when I did some research on it, I found an interactive flood story on their web site, where they teach the biblical account of Noah's Ark and the worldwide flood! If you like comedy movies, you may want to consider seeing this one as it will likely be a good one with a biblical theme.
My wife's lasik surgery went very well. Thanks to everyone who prayed. Her vision is now 20/40 and improving; hopefully to 20/20 by next month.
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!)
"Our Pre-Suppositional Approach to Knowledge and Wisdom"
Proverb 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
Luke 6:47, 48 "Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock."
1 Corinthians 2:10-14 "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
Ephesians 4:23, 24 "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."
2 Peter 1:5 "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge."
Insight: After we get saved, God gives us great wisdom and knowledge. He teaches us hidden, secret, and deep spiritual truths. When we talk to unbelievers, we need to remember that they cannot understand these things. They are working from a different pre-supposition and will want you to use theirs, but we must use the pre-supposition of the scriptures and God's inerrant truth.
Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You. Remind us that You have given us a firm foundation and we should never forget it or avoid it. Praise You for giving us the truth of the Bible. There is no other book like the Bible because there is no other God like You! Conform us to your image, Lord. Help us to see as You see and give us great spiritual strength and courage. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Fisher Ames (1758-1808), was a Congressman from Massachusetts in the First Session of the Congress of the United States, during the time the Bill of Rights were being formulated. It was Fisher Ames who had suggested the wording of the First Amendment, which was adopted by the House:
Congress shall make no law establishing religion, or to prevent the free exercise thereof, or to infringe the rights of conscience.
Fisher Ames shares his beliefs concerning education:
Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a schoolbook? Its morals are pure, its examples are captivating and noble.... In no Book is there so good English, so pure and so elegant, and by teaching all the same they will speak alike, and the Bible will justly remain the standard of language as well as of faith.
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/.
Anger can stem from not getting your way.
Seek God's wisdom and knowledge. Build your foundation on Christ. Use the Bible as a litmus test for truth. When you share the gospel, don't pretend like you're just trying to discover the truth and have no basis for it. God's Word is your truth and you know it, so let it convict and lead people to Him.
God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
dahath (Hebrew, see Proverb 9:10): knowledge, cunning, awares (wittingly)
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:
Exodus 22:18 - "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Thousands of innocent women have suffered excruciating deaths because of this verse.
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:
This was an important command for the Israelites. If other people have assumed this commandment was for them, then they are mistaken. The context of this passage shows this commandment was given to the Israelites and for the Israelites.
Witchcraft was strictly forbidden because the Israelites were to be set apart for God and weren't suppose to embrace other religions or philosophies. They were to remain as pure as possible because the Messiah was to come from their lineage.
(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.)
If people trust you, you can influence them.
Listening demonstrates your respect to others.
If you'd like to read more quotes, you'll want a copy of Dr. Gastrich's book called, "10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings"! It's the largest collection of Bible-based quotations in the world.
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.
Executive Director
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