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Our niece, Pastor Kylie Groves, at Lyman Wesleyan Church - the sacraments, baptism, sin and grace.
July 16, 2017
This Sunday my mom Lila Parker, husband Bill Parker and I journeyed the hour and a half drive down I85 from Charlotte, North Carolina to Lyman, South Carolina (near Greenville). My niece Kylie Groves, now married to Dillon Groves, was giving the message at their new place of ministry, the Lyman Wesleyan Church. Both are now the pastors of the congregation.
Kylie did a great job with her message, as she shared truth found in the Word of God.
Along with her two sisters (Chelsea and Jamie), she was grounded in the Word by her parents - my sister Janet Rovenstine, and her husband, my good brother-in-law, Senior Pastor Nate Rovenstine. (They lead the Connect Church in Lawrence, Kansas. Both are graduates of the Wesleyan college in Bartlesville, OK.)
It is very good and encouraging to see our family walk in the ways of the Lord Jesus, teaching and sharing the love of the Lord with those around them.
Good job Kylie! We are proud of you and Dillon. Keep up the great, eternal work of sharing the faith that is so needed in our day. Your generation and mine need to hear you stand strong for righteousness and truth, with courage and boldness.
Be blessed in your blessing others,
Uncle Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love for His People, Inc.
P.S. And I hope you enjoy the three books I gave you! Sorry I misspelled your name Dillon when I signed them. I also have a grand daughter named Dylan Joy.
Pastor Kylie Groves - teaching the Word of God!
Front: Bill and Lila Parker (my mom)
Pastors Dillon and Kylie Groves
Family gathering (L-R): Bill and Lila Parker, Janet Rovenstine, my sister (one of five), who is a great pastor's wife, plus a full-time teacher in the Lawrence Public School system,
Kylie Groves (my niece) and me (Steve Martin)
Be blessed in your blessing!
Yes! Celebrate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Banner in the Sunday school room.
Also watch another short video from the same message -
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We've kept you updated on the situation in Fallujah, Iraq, the town under ISIS control that was recently reclaimed by Iraqi troops. Thousands of people from Fallujah had fled to a nearby refugee town dubbed the City of Refuge.
Frontiers USA tells us in the last 18 months, through the work of indigenous missionaries, over 140 of those people in the City of Refuge have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
As Iraqi forces now work to secure Fallujah and resume public sanitation, Frontiers' President Bob Blincoe says some of these new Christians want to go back to their homes and share the hope they've found through Christ for the first time in Fallujah!
"They are attracted to go home because that is the place they knew as where they lived their lives. And there's no future for them in the refugee tents in the City of Refuge. But now they have a mission, and they feel jubilant in the Lord. They have been baptized, most of these groups that they're working with have been baptized, which is the real step of faith in the Muslim world."
What is it about the gospel message that strikes such a chord with Muslim refugees?
Blincoe shares, "For the first time, there are enough Muslims who have come to faith to actually do the kind of surveying to understand from their perspective what was the attractive thing about the gospel. More than any other answer, they refer to Jesus' words, 'Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. Learn of me, I will give you rest for your souls, for I am meek and humble.' This way of the Lord, this unexpected hope for miserable people, for desperate people, is the No. 1 reason."
The possibility for a growing and flourishing Church in Fallujah and the City of Refuge is having a domino effect. What started as a handful of local missionaries sharing Christ with their neighbors in the City of Refuge now has those new believers turning and doing the same with their family and friends as well.
"This is driven by Muslims who have come to faith themselves, which is the thing that of course must happen. ... Frontiers works directly with the leaders of this movement. There are five or six essential church-starters, all of them from a Muslim background. So we don't know hardly any of the people that have come to faith. We only know the people that are making disciples, which is really how it should be," says Blincoe.
"We have to set in place the kind of disciple making that does not depend on the missionaries for the extension and the creation of new groups. We have to set in place the idea that once you come to faith, you are born again to make other people come to faith as well."
Testimony From Fallujah Refugees
Blincoe shares one of the testimonies of a new family of believers who escaped Fallujah:
"In Kurdistan, Iraq where many refugees have fled to for safety, I heard one story that tells the whole story, and that's about Layla and her husband and children who fled on foot from ISIS in the city of Fallujah.
"They fled on foot, losing ground to the upcoming cloud of the enemy cars and trucks heading their way when, to their great surprise, a pickup truck slowed down and stopped and [the driver] said, 'Get in the back.' They scrambled into the pickup truck and off they zoomed to the nearby city, which we call the City of Refuge where we are working.
"Once they were safe and in a blue tarp tent on the edge of town like thousands of other refugees, they closed the chapter on their lives [and] couldn't go back for now. [They] lost everything but the shoes on their feet and the clothes on their back.
"Then God gave this woman, Layla, this vision of a man who would tell her about Jesus. That happens, I'm not going to say 'often,' but it's often the entry into people hearing from the Lord. That fellow ... was distributing goods and he came to her house the next day and offered to open up the Bible with them.
"This was not a single occurrence, but over several weeks of reading the Bible, the death and resurrection of Christ is finally what caused them to accept the message of the Lord and soften their hearts.
"So over a year ago, they came to faith and since that time they have started a whole network of about 20 groups of Muslim-background believers, mainly families, who are now studying the Word of the Lord through them, through these Muslims who have come to faith. And what she says is, 'God has now given us the pickup truck.' That is, we were saved by others, now He's given us the chance to save others.
"In fact, she is planning to go back to their city of Fallujah, a city that no westerners could possibly show up in, and bring the hope of Jesus Christ to that war-torn city."
The Soul of Iraq
Looking ahead, the church in Iraq is poised for something big. The harvest is so ready, and individuals and families are hungry for a deep and satisfying spiritual hope that can be found only through God's Holy Spirit and His Word.
"Now the real contest for the soul of Iraq begins," says Blincoe.
"We have a sense that we are on the frontlines of the free world. That everything depends on winning the people that have been displaced by ISIS, them going back to their homes, and winning those parts of Iraq where no missionaries can set foot.
"So pray for the extension of the gospel into these places, to the Fallujahs of Iraq, and that would be the beginning of what our children may very well say was, 'When did this all begin? The conversion of the Muslim peoples of Iraq?' We may be seeing it in our time."
It's time for believers and churches all over the world to answer God's call to make disciples of all nations, and to respond to the deep needs for the gospel within the 10/40 window.
One of the best ways you can help is by equipping and supporting the local missionaries in Middle Eastern countries like Iraq to spread God's message to their own hometowns and communities. Frontiers USA is doing just that.
"We can help churches get to the frontlines where there are no campfires, no pushpins, to use that analogy, and start original work among Muslims who are prepared by God through what the Bible calls the man of peace, the person of peace, who God has prepared—as it seems that God has prepared Layla and her husband," challenges Blincoe.
"There are more like that out there still beyond the reach of any missionary. Let's go to those places."
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
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Shahid is proof that God is moving powerfully across parts of Muslim-majority Middle East and North Africa.
Shahid (not his real name for security purposes), is from Libya and grew up a devout Muslim.
"As every Libyan, when I was a little boy, I used to go to the Koranic school," Shahid told Leading The Way with Dr. Joseph Youssef, a Christian television and radio ministry that broadcasts in more than 190 countries around the world.
Shahid spent 14 years of his life attending Muslim schools, where a strict interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence was taught. He became an expert in the Koran, even memorizing the entire Muslim holy book.
But the closer he examined the Muslim laws, the more he become disillusioned with what he read.
"Islam was completely exposed with its hidden reality," Shahid said of studying Islam. "Little by little, I had serious concerns about Islam."
To get some answers to his questions, he sought the advice of friends and family. But they told him not to question his faith. They even became hostile.
"They told me there is a verse in the Koran that urges Muslims not to seek answers to questions about some things, as it may hurt them if they know the answers."
The doubt. The questions. The inaccuracies of his faith tormented Shahid.
"I lived in a struggle for more than four years," Shahid told LTW in a video produced by the organization.
Desperate and despondent, Shahid said he decided to abandon the faith of his childhood and become an atheist.
"I got to a point when Islam had no part of my life, and religion ceased to exist and Muhammad meant nothing to me."
It was around this time that Shahid came across Kingdom SAT, Leading The Way's 24-hour satellite channel, which broadcasts across the Muslim world.
With the help of Leading The Way partners in the Middle East, Shahid secretly connected with Christians in Lebanon and Jordon and eventually was introduced to Jesus Christ.
"I learned about who Jesus is and how to be a Christian. We studied how to live with Christ, fellowship with Him, and be part of the church."
After several months of intensive Bible studies, Shahid said he "accepted Jesus' salvation and got baptized."
Inspired with revelation of God's profound love for him, Shahid said he felt compelled to share his new found faith with his countrymen in Libya and others across the region.
"I couldn't keep my mouth shut," Shahid said. "I had to share Jesus with others."
According to LTW, Shahid has been sharing the love of Christ with Muslim followers and many have turned to faith in Christianity.
Two years after leaving Islam, Leading The Way says Shahid has planted 11 churches across North Africa and Europe and is baptizing Muslim converts.
Shahid recently shared a picture with Leading The Way showing him baptizing new converts to Christianity on the same shores of North Africa where the Islamic terror group ISIS beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in February 2015.
Leading The Way's founder and president Dr. Michael Youssef says testimonies like Shahid's and countless others should bring hope and inspiration to the Body of Christ.
"He is a free man," Youssef said of Shahid's testimony. "Most importantly, he is free in Christ!"
Despite the sufferings of Christians, Leading The Way says Shahid's life is one more powerful example of how God is transforming lives across the Middle East and North Africa.
JERUSALEM, Israel -- The Knesset Finance Committee voted Wednesday to cut tax benefits to a Messianic Jewish congregation, saying it breaks the law by baptizing Jews.
While the committee, chaired by United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, extended tax benefits to 54 other organizations for contributions to their work, Yachad Ramat Hasharon will no longer be eligible.
"The state does not need to fund groups that break the law," Israeli media quoted Gafni. "An organization that baptizes Jews is breaking the law and we certainly do not need to strengthen its activities. Any organization that we find breaking the law will not get the benefit."
"It's against the law to baptize Jews as Christians and if we would have authorized the benefit for this organization, it would mean that the government is allowing and even encouraging fund-raising for missionary activities that undermine the Jewishness of the state," Gafni concluded.
Despite the Finance Committee chairman's accusations, the decision is illegal under Israeli law so the congregation has firm footing to appeal and win a reversal.
Israeli law stipulates two illegalities in its penal code for missionary work. The first prohibits enticing conversion to another faith with material remuneration of any kind and the second prohibits proselytizing minors under the age of 18.
On its Facebook page, Yachad Ramat Hasharon describes itself as Watchmen on the Wall, providing a format to discuss revelation, prophecy and salvation.
Justin Bieber Seeks Spiritual Cleansing, Baptism in New York
Justin Bieber was on the hunt for a private pool in Manhattan so he could get baptized with Hillsong NYC. (Facebook)
Justin Bieber, who has found himself in legal troubles multiple times in the last few weeks, sought spiritual help Saturday night.
According to the New York Post’s Page Six, the pop star was on the hunt for a private pool in Manhattan so he could get baptized with Hillsong NYC. Bieber was reportedly in New York Saturday for Maxim magazine’s Super Bowl party.
“Justin and his team spent time on Saturday searching for a place with a pool where they could conduct a baptism for him, a cleansing ritual, with the Hillsong Church. But they couldn’t find a place in time,” a source told Page Six.
Another source said, “Justin is serious about his Christian faith, and after recent events, he needed to take a pause.”
The megachurch’s pastor, Carl Lentz, is a friend of Bieber, to whom Bieber tweeted, “Amazing sermon at church this morning. Love you man. I broke down today,” after attending a service in September.
The 19-year-old entertainer was arrested Jan. 23 in Miami Beach on charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license. He could face six months in jail if convicted.
The Canadian was also charged last week with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto in December. An assault conviction in Canada carries a maximum sentence of five years.
