Dear Subscribers,
Third Day released their newest album this week. It's called Revelation and it's available at Christian book stores across the country. They also played the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday. They're an awesome band with countless great songs and I hope this album follows the spiritual rock roots of their earliest albums and the catchy worship anthems of their later stuff.
Welcome to the new readers of this message! Here is your Devotion, some Cool Facts, 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!)
Proverb 17:17 "A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity."
Ephesians 6:12-18 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."
1 Peter 5:8-11 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Insight: Christians needs to understand our enemy and how our brothers and sisters need to unite with us against him. We wrestle against the unseen as we try to do what's right and best. Realize who you're waging war against and the battle will become easier.
Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You. Thank you for your love for us and your patience with us. Thank you for giving us the scriptures to learn about You and about evil. Help us to stand strong against adversity. Give us great spiritual strength, discernment, and joy as we face our battles. Help us to unite with fellow brothers and sisters. In Jesus' name, Amen."
On March 6, 1869, the periodic table that is displayed in many science classrooms was first published today. Russian chemist and teacher Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907) realized that the atomic elements differed sequentially in weight. His first table listed 63 elements in order of weight, and he also predicted several unknown elements to fill gaps which appeared in the table. Several of these additional elements were soon found including gallium (1875), scandium (1879), and germanium (1885). In Mendeleev's funeral procession, his appreciative students carried a large banner displaying the periodic table. This table clearly demonstrates the orderliness of creation. It also shows the Lord's ability to construct many different elements using just three basic particles that make up all atoms: electrons, protons, and neutrons.
This excerpt was taken from Donald DeYoung's book called, "365 Fascinating Facts From the World of Discovery."
Do you want to learn more about your unseen spiritual enemies? We have several links to our brief research papers on Satan and his followers. Click here or here to begin!
Recognize somewhere in your life where you're fighting the wrong person. Perhaps it's a friend, a boss, or a family member. There will be an instance where you're entrenched in a battle and the battle is actually against evil and the unseen spirit world that is fighting against you. When you realize this and when you join forces with your brother or sister in Christ, not only will you be fighting the right battle, but you'll have a friend to help you win.
God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
tsawraw (Hebrew, see Proverb 17:17): tightness or trouble, transitively a female rival: adversary, adversity, affliction, anguish, distress
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:
Matthew 1:19 - Has there ever been a just person?
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:
Yes. There have been some just people. The apparent confusion lies only in Ecclesiastes 7:20. However, the writer is stating that there are no perfect people. In his new "circle of friends," there surely weren't any godly people (and definitely nobody perfect).
(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.)
There are no new quotes this week. However, if you like to read wise quotes, you can either visit our Quotations Archive or get 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.
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Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.
Executive Director
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