Hello!

I pray you had a great weekend.

Recently, I debated an atheist named Doug Krueger.  He is a professor in Arkansas and he has written a book on atheism.  This debate lasted about 90 minutes and we discussed Doug's "top four" reasons for unbelief.  I rebutted each of his points and explained why they were untenable and inappropriate.

If you'd like to hear this debate and discover how I defended belief in God and the scriptures, please go to http://sa.jcsm.org.  I've also recorded and uploaded a 20 minute "Closing Statement" which is a continued rebuttal of Doug's points.  You can find both of these on the web site I just mentioned.

This week, I'm finishing a two week lesson on my book, The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained, to my Bible study group.  Please pray it goes well.  They seemed to genuinely enjoy the first lesson.  You can see this book here: http://skepticsannotatedbible.org.

I hope that you trust Christ and get to know Him better.  He will give you success and blessings as you do His perfect and holy will.

Come and see "The Scripture Alphabet of Animals"!  This web page has a list of biblical animals and tells about them and where they are found in the scriptures.  Link: http://www.jcsm.org/kjv/animals/index.htm.

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 124,000 visits!

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Welcome to the new readers of this message! Here are the Devotions, A Moment of Introspection, JCSM's Challenge, the Hebrew 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: "Rejoice In the Lord"

Nahum 1:7  "The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him."

Hebrews 6:17, 18  "Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us."

Insight: Even though he went through many hardships and trials, David still praised God with hymns and poetry.  Can you do the same?  Find reasons to remain joyful, even in difficult times.

Prayer: "Thank you for the examples of people who were able to be joyful about You and their lives.  Help us to share people's joy and not bring them down.  Thank you for the ones that have a smile on their face because You have made them glad.  Let use have the joy that comes only from You, Lord.  Thank you for wanting us to have joy that comes from your deep well of life.  Fill us up, Lord.  Give us more of You.  We want less of us and more of You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

A Moment of Introspection

What have you started and not finished?

Some people have no problem saying, "I'll do that!"  However, many people also have no problem forgetting their promise or pledge.

I like the following saying: "Mean what you say and say what you mean."  Before you say you'll do something, make sure you should do it and make sure you will do it.  If you pause and consider these things, then you should have a much easier time starting what you finish.

Finishing what you begin brings a great feeling of accomplishment; whether it is a small task or a large one.  Recall the times when you set out to do something and did it well and aim for this level of diligence in all of the areas of your life.

Before you leave church, write one thing that you'll apply to your life.

It's easy to attend church, then leave and forget what the pastor said.  Right?  Well, if you consider what he said and write something that you will apply to your life, then you'll get more from the sermons.

Becoming like Christ is a process.  It doesn't happen by choice.  It happens when you decide to make changes and do things differently.

Taking notes in church is a wise thing to do.  If you attend a good church, then there should be numerous, noteworthy things being said.  Simply get a pen and paper and write them down (and at least write one thing that you will apply to your life).

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

transgression: pesha - revolt (national, moral or religious), rebellion, sin

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

2:7, 18-22 - In the first creation story, God makes humans (male and female) after the other animals; in the second, God makes a man first, then the other animals, and then a woman.  

But humans were not created instantaneously from dust and breath as in the Gen.2:7, but evolved over millions of years from simpler life forms.

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

* The Hebrew word for "formed" could also be translated "had formed".  "God had formed man from the dust of the ground."  The second chapter of Genesis isn't a chronology of events.  It is a highlighting of certain events from the creation week.

* The evolution of species has not been proven.  Even Charles Darwin said, "Millions of intermediary fossils need to be found in order for my theory of the evolution of species to have legitimacy" (paraphrase).  This was spoken in the 1800's and in 2002, we still haven't found anywhere close to this number of fossils that could be even remotely considered "intermediary fossils".  Once again, even from the few, potential, intermediary fossils, the only thing scientists can tell is that the animal died - not that it had kids and surely not that it's descendants were of a different species.

(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.)

A lot of people don't know how to work.

Some people have good work ethics, but some don't.

Some work is better than other work.

It's better to earn eternal riches than temporary riches.

Some people are so lazy they don't even realize it.

God is the best worker, so imitate Him.

God said it, He did it, then He said it was good (as He reviewed His work).  This is a great example for us.

God can do your job better than you can.

Ask God how to do your job better.

God made the functions that keep us alive and put them in a place in our brain where we could not access them (like digestion, heartbeat, etc.).

Get God's thoughts.

Get godly counsel.

What have you started and not finished?

Before you leave church, write one thing that you'll apply to your life.

Work diligently.

Diligent, godly people can handle riches.

Failure is being disobedient to God.

Go to work looking for something to do.

Once you start something, keep doing it until God tells you to stop.

Many dreams require a step of faith.

These quotes came from God, me 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!

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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.

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Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

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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!

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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.

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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."