Hello!

I pray you had a great weekend.

I've made it easier to hear my MP3 music by putting all of the songs on one web site.  Now, you can go to this site and click on one of the songs to hear it.  If you need a little encouragement and want to hear some new music, then please go here: http://www.jcsm.org/MP3.htm.

One copy of The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained is being offered on eBay!  The auction has started at only $4.99 and it will end on Saturday.  Happy bidding and here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3602676160.

Do you remember the atheist, author and teacher named Doug Krueger?  I debated Doug a few months ago and we have just agreed on a date for "Round 2".  We'll be discussing the existence of God (and a variety of other subjects) on May 7, at 1pm Pacific Standard Time.  This debate will be aired live and on tape!  Please pray that it goes well and that the atheists who listen will understand the way of salvation and get saved.

JCSM has been blessed with a local radio advertisement.  I'm recording a local pastor's broadcasts and he is giving me 45 second ads on all of his shows.  Please pray that thousands of people listen, get encouraged, purchased the SAB: Corrected and Explained and visit JCSM.

Have you read the CIA's assessment of Iraq's WMD?  I just found this on a reliable web site and thought it was quite interesting and revealing.  Link: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/iraq_wmd/Iraq_Oct_2002.pdf.

An Al Qaeda training manual had been found in Manchester, England.  It is available for all to read, so if you have a minute, check out this terrorist handbook: http://www.wmdtaskforce.com/education.html#trainingmanual.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief that the man who owned Jesus.com is gone!  If you can recall, several months ago I offered him $750 for Jesus.com because he was using that site to meet women and spoof Jesus!  It was heretical and offensive.  I'm thankful to see that a Christian ministry is now using that site.  He must have sold it or lost it.  Praise the Lord.

I hope and pray that God blesses you richly with grace, mercy and peace.  Submit to Him and He will light your way.

Would you prayerfully consider supporting JCSM with $5 per month?  If God leads you to take this step of faith and bless this ministry, PayPal will process a donation subscription for you.  It will only take a minute and you can join us in this dynamic ministry that constantly reaches people all over the world.  Here is the link for $5 donations: Click here!

This is your ministry, so please feel free to link to JCSM and forward these devotions to your friends and family. On the JCSM website, there are over 5000 links (pictures, forums, midis, Bible lessons, humor, proverbial stories, links, devotions, poetry, prayer journals and much more!) and it has registered over 115,000 visits!

JCSM has encouraging sermons and debates online that you can freely stream and download!  Come and hear them on SermonAudio.com!  Here is our site: http://sa.jcsm.org.

Would you like to support God’s work on the web? If this ministry has touched you in a special way, please pray and consider sending a gift to JCSM. You can join us in our vision to reach people on the web with the good news! Either email me for more information or simply go here: http://vision.jcsm.org.

Welcome to the new readers of this message! Here are the Devotions, A Moment of Introspection, JCSM's Challenge, the Bible 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 J. Gastrich

ICQ#: 20731140

The Weekly Devotional Message

Day 1: "Instructions On Being A Good Friend"

Proverbs 12:26  "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray."

Proverbs 13:20  "He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed."

Proverbs 17:17  "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

Proverbs 18:24  "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Proverbs 20:6  "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?"

Proverbs 27:6, 17  "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.  As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10  "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up."

James 4:3-5  "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  Adulterers and adulteresses!  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, 'The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously'?"

Insight: Wouldn't it be nice if everyone knew how to be a great friend and actually was one?  Let's pray that we can be a good friend and find and keep some good friends, too.

Prayer: "Thank you for telling us what it means to be a good friend.  Thank you for the people who have been good examples of friends to us.  We love You, Lord, and we thank you for your friendship.  Forgive us for being poor friends to certain people.  Help us to see where we need to improve and become better friends.  Give everyone grace, so all people can tolerate one another when they are less than friendly.  We love You, Lord, and we want to emulate You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 2: "The Promises of Future Fellowship"

John 14:2, 3  "In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

Romans 6:8  "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."

1 Thessalonians 4:16  "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words."

2 Timothy 2:11-13  "This is a faithful saying:  For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.  If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.  If we deny Him, He also will deny us.  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."

Insight: Don't forget that physical death means the end of this life and the beginning of our life with God and the saints!  We will have fellowship with our Maker and it will be in the absence of sin and evil.

Prayer: "Thank you for the promises of future fellowship with You!  Help us remember that You want to be with us.  Thank you for loving us so much.  Thank you for being a God that is worthy of our time, devotion and praise.  Thank you for promising us fellowship with the resurrected saints, too!  Help us to put this life into proper perspective.  Thank you for our blessings, Lord.  Thank you for loving us more than we understand and deserve.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 3: "You Are Not Able (God is Able, Though)"

Matthew 19:26   "But Jesus looked at them and said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"

2 Corinthians 9:8, 9  "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.  As it is written:  'He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.'"

Hebrews 2:18  "For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

Hebrews 7:25  "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

Philippians 3:20, 21  "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

2 Corinthians 12:8, 9  "Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'"

Insight: We are not all-powerful, but we know the One who is!  Trust in God and ask for His mighty strength.  He will bless you and make you successful.

Prayer: "Thank you for wanting to help us, Lord.  Thank you for having the means to help us.  You are an awesome God.  Bless us, increase our ministry, lay your hand on us and keep us from evil.  Thank you for showing us your power in all of the universe.  Let us understand You and how You operate.  Thank you for doing mighty things that we cannot deny.  Give us your power, so we can complete our tasks and do great things in Jesus' name.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 4: "God is Slow to Anger"

Psalm 103:8  "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy."

Joel 2:13  "So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm."

Nahum 1:3  "The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked."

Insight: Be thankful that God is patient and merciful!  Without His awesome mercy and grace, we would be in much trouble.  Although we deserve judgment for our sins, God loves us enough to delay what we deserve and give us a chance to repent.

Prayer: "Thank you for being slow to anger, Lord.  Thank you for delaying our punishment that we deserve.  Help us to understand how You are full of mercy and grace.  Praise You for being an awesome God.  Let us realize that the things we see in this world are happening because of your desire to let us choose You.  Thank you for letting us find our way with our without You.  I hope and pray that we decide to obey You and reap the benefits instead of disobey You and reap the consequences.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 5: "Inner Beauty"

Proverbs 31:30  "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."

2 Corinthians 4:16  "Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day."

1 Peter 3:3, 4  "Do not let your adornment be merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."

1 Timothy 6:6  "Now, godliness with contentment is great gain."

Insight: You may not be able to change your outer beauty, but you can surely change your inner beauty!  Work on the things that you can and leave the rest to God.

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit and changing us from the inside out.  Help us to be sensitive to your Spirit, Lord.  Thank you for wanting us to be like You.  Bless us and give us more godliness.  Thank you for helping us change ourselves into a Christ-like image.  Forgive us for our sins and purify us.  Remind us how wonderful it is to love You, serve You, worship You and obey You.  Let us be fully and totally dedicated to You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 6: "By Grace"

Ephesians 2:8, 9  "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

2 Thessalonians 2:16  "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work."

Hebrews 13:9  "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them."

Insight: There is an acronym for "grace" that goes like this: GRACE (God's Riches At Christ's Expense).  Grace is clearly getting what you don't deserve.  Be thankful for the great and awesome things that God gives to us, even though we don't deserve them.

Prayer: "Thank you for your grace!  Thank you for giving us things that we don't deserve.  Thank you for being our friend and our Father.  Bless us and give us more grace.  Help us to extend grace to others, too.  Thank you for being the perfect example of all good things.  Thank you for Jesus Christ who extends to us the most awesome grace of all - salvation.  Let us understand what He did on the cross and how His resurrection gives us hope.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 7: "Justified By Faith"

Romans 3:28  "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law."

Romans 5:1, 2  "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

Galatians 2:16  "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified."

James 2:23  "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God."

Insight: It has been said that "justified" means "just as if I'd never sinned."  This isn't a very good definition because we HAVE sinned, yet we can still be justified!  At the point of salvation, we have been justified before God and made clean.  Thank Him for the gift of justification by faith (and not by works).

Prayer: "Thank you for justifying us, Lord!  Thank you for justifying us by your mercy, love and grace and not because of our works or pseudo-righteousness.  Thank you for being an awesome God and wanting to redeem us!  Help people understand that you are "in the business" of dusting people off, putting them on their feet and loving them to success and prosperity.  Remind all people that they are sinners before a holy and perfect God and need salvation and justification through faith in Jesus Christ.  Thank you for making your plan obvious and available.  We love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Why do you want to be closer to your leader?

Many people come to Christ for many different reasons.  Some want success.  Others want happiness.  Are these things wrong?

While I don't think these things are wrong, if embracing and seeking God solely for them is your main goal, then they could be wrong.  God isn't simply a means to an ends.  He is a personal Creator who loves you.

Get to know God and His ways.  He came to Earth in the person of Jesus Christ, so we could know Him and have a personal relationship with Him.  Pray and talk to God.  Listen for His answers.  He will meet you where you are and take you where He wants you to be.

Be friendly.  Say thank you.  Say you're sorry and say please.  Smile.

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

Jezreel: God will sow (the name of two places in Israel and in Palestine)

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 1:26 - The use of the plural (us, our) implies that there is more than one god, contrary to many monotheistic biblical statements.

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

* God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit constitute the trinity (also called the triune God).  There is one God in three persons.  This is the earliest reference to the trinity.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and explains over 3,000 difficulties regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.)

Do you support your pastor in all of your relationships?

Most of our weaknesses are our strengths pushed to excess.

Let loyalty to God triumph over all other loyalties.

Why do you want to be closer to your leader?

It's easier to build a boy or girl than it is to fix a man or a woman.

There are over 2,000 verses about money.

Money was an extremely important topic to Jesus and He mentioned it many times.

God doesn't have your whole heart until He has your wallet.

When you're in the right place, everything else fits around you.

God isn't looking for people who never fail.  He is looking for people who never give up.

God will bring people into your life that you should minister to and they will require extra patience and grace.

We need friends to help us through hard times.

If you don't have any friends, you may begin listening to the Devil.

Choose your friends carefully.

Bad friends will corrupt you.

If you have fools giving you advice, you will suffer.

It's amazing how one side of the story will sound so good until you hear the other side from someone wiser.

Good friends are challenging.

True friends will help sharpen your skills, your faith, your spiritual and natural gifts, etc.

After you learn how to learn, learning comes easier.

Friends have to tell their friends the truth - even when it may hurt them.

Avoid having friends that say "yes" to every idea you have and ever thing you consider.

If you are nice, you can establish friendships with people.

Once you choose your friends, you can identify your enemies.

These quotes came from God, me, Promise Keepers and Miles McPhearson.

Do you need more quotes?  We have thousands in our archives!  They are located here: http://quotes.jcsm.org.

These quotes can be used for sanctification and fun. Most of them are directly based on scripture and scriptural principles. Some of my quotes are humorous or rhetorical. Some are written from sermons and Bible studies. Others are lyrics from songs. If you’d like me to go into more detail on any of them, please email me.

Like most verses in the Bible, they can be debated. To use what I’ve written in the most beneficial way, try and trace them back to the scriptures and apply the true principles to your life in a meaningful way! Please don’t sell my quotes or publish them for profit. If English is not your first language, you may not understand some of the quotes. I'm sorry, but some of them are English metaphors and deal with multiple word meanings. God bless you all!

Please make a commitment to pray for this ministry. As every believer is tempted and tried, this ministry faces trials also. God has blessed me, JCSM and the people who have been reached! Unfortunately, the enemy knows this and spiritual warfare is the result. Please at least pray that the devotions continue to be written religiously, the web pages stay on the www and the readers are blessed, sanctified and protected from evil. Thank you very much in advance!

Do you want to help people receive the good news? We share the gospel over 2.5 million times each year! Please join us in the great commission. We’re reaching new people every day with God’s awesome Word! If God has blessed you and you wish to send a love offering to JCSM, please send your gift to the address below.

You can join our vision and help this ministry! Your donations will keep these ministries running and further our visions for evangelism. Hundreds of web pages have been created to lead people to the Lord. Frequently, we make new ones and they are used to bring more and more people into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. We’re certain there will be more ways to reach people in the future.

If you wish to contact us in the mail or send support, please make checks payable to Jesus Christ Saves Ministries.  Here is our mailing address:

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

3219 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. #212

San Diego, CA 92117

Along with getting support, we also give support! JCSM regularly gives to churches, Christian ministries and needy people. Another function of this ministry is to do counseling. We are always answering questions about life, the Lord and everything in between. Lastly, we do a lot of research on religious topics on the internet and library. You will definitely see the results of our hard work and your loving support, in the web pages, and in the weekly devotions!

Do you need to find a solid, Christian church?  I've attended numerous Calvary Chapel churches and I've been very blessed by their Bible-based sermons, inspiring worship and kind members.  If you don't have a home church or need to find a new one, I recommend visiting the following site and locating a Calvary Chapel near you: http://www.calvarychapel.org.

OCCM (Online Christ-Centered Ministries) has certified JCSM as a ministry that preaches the true, biblical gospel of Jesus Christ.  OCCM is a professional membership association for Christian ministries and people that reside on and off the internet.  Are you OCCM certified?  For more information, go here: http://www.occm.org.

JCSM has it's own, site search engine!  If you'd like to search over 1000 web sites, please go here: http://search.jcsm.org.

Over 5000 links!

Jesus loves you!

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should have everlasting life."