Monday, September 16, 2013

Ahava Love Letter - "Explosion of Love" (Steve Martin)

“Explosion of Love”

“Next I saw heaven opened, and there before me was a white horse. Sitting on it was the one called Faithful and True, and it is in righteousness that he passes judgment and goes to battle. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many royal crowns. And he had a name written which no one knew but himself. He was wearing a robe that had been soaked in blood, and the name by which he is called is, “THE WORD OF GOD.” The armies of heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down nations — “He will rule them with a staff of iron.” It is he who treads the winepress from which flows the wine of the furious rage of Adonai, God of heaven’s armies. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Rev. 19:11-16 Complete Jewish Bible)

Dear family of friends,

I am sure not many will like reading this, or even thinking about it, but I believe the time will come when several of us will be asked to die for our faith. We will be faced with having to make the choice – choose something or someone other than the Lord Jesus, or choose Him. It is happening already in the Middle East, Africa, and other nations of the world. It has been going on for centuries, since when Jesus came the first time.

We surely are now living in such times when a choice will be necessary. None should be so naive (lacking experience and understanding) as to think it won’t even happen here, in the USA, in our lifetime. Yes, even in America. That is where things are headed. As the dark becomes darker, the enemy of our souls continues to seek, kill and destroy in greater measure.

Fox’s Book of Martyrs (John C. Winston, 1926, Zondervan Publishing House 1967) fascinated me when I was a teenager. I liked reading about the lives of saints, and how they gave all to serve their Lord and Savior. The book is still one of my favorite books in my personal library. When I mentioned this to another staff member during my years at Derek Prince Ministries, she bought me the follow up edition with modern day stories.

At some point in time we may face such a situation. I believe also, as Stephen himself received courage in Acts before being stoned, that Yeshua HaMashiach will be with us. When he was stoned, I believe the Word says that the Lord Yeshua shown Himself strong on his behalf. He will do the same for us, while giving us an explosion of love in our hearts for Him, and for those killing us.

Sounds grim, right? But should it not be better to be prepared for something, than to be overcome with fear and deny our faith? And even if we think we won’t be prepared then, by making up our minds now, that our commitment to the Lord is worth living and giving our life for Him too, then we will be prepared for then.

There are others so committed in another worldwide religion, who hold on to what we know is a lie from hell, but yet they are willing to become martyrs. Will today’s Christians be willing to do the same, and die if faced with the choice, for Who we know is the Way, the Truth and the Life? As for me, I am so committed.

May you too be ready when that time comes. (And I am not talking about some rapture.)

Ahava to my family of friends,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858.

Please consider sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless Israel with our humanitarian ministry. Tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation.

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Contribution checks can be sent to:

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Todah rabah! (Hebrew - Thank you very much.)

Be sure to get my two books The Promise (CreateSpace/Amazon 2013) and Ahava Love Letters (Xulon Press, 2013). Both available through Amazon.com Xulon Press.com , plus other website book stores.

You can also order both books, The Promise (on Amazon.com for $7.19 plus $3.95 S/H) and Ahava Love Letters Xulon Press for $14.90, plus $3.80) or you can get both from our office for $29. Send check to the address above. I will autograph all copies ordered through our office. (Hey, and please include a contribution for Israel too!)

Please share this Ahava Love Letter with your friends.

E-mail: loveforhispeople@gmail.com martinlighthouse@gmail.com

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Date: In the year of our Lord 2013 (09/016/13 Monday at 8:45 pm in Charlotte, NC)

All previous editions of Ahava Love Letter can be found on this Blog:

http://loveforhispeople.blogspot.com

Here are the last few:

What Do You Want (#75)

The Hiding Place (#74)

Why Is A Gentile Like You Celebrating the Feasts of the Jews? (#73)

They Are Loved Too (#72)

Oskars Needed Again? (#71)

Little Orphan Chuckie (#70)

Demons & Fire Trucks (#69)

I Like Mike (#68)

Disappointed with Small Beginnings? (#67)

Rise Again (#66)

The Cities (#65)

How can You Mend A Broken Heart (#64)

Anxious (#63)

Hidden (#62)

AMAZING STORY Nik Wallenda: A Life on the Line

AMAZING STORY

Nik Wallenda: A Life on the Line

By Amy Reid
The 700 Club

Nik Wallenda’s life is always about keeping balance. Nik faces unique challenges as a normal guy with a not-so-normal job.
“My great-grandfather said, "Life is on the wire and everything else is just waiting,”" says Nik.

“It's hard for people to relate to somebody who walks on a cable the size of a nickel, you know, a thousand feet in the air,” Nik says, “And I understand that.”

Nik’s family has been performing professionally for more than 200 years. His great-grandfather, Karl, brought high-wire performing into the family in the early 1900’s and worked with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus for decades.

“He created the seven-person pyramid on the wire and walked over almost every stadium in the United States at that time,” Nik explains. ““He really created the legacy and I really kind of live in the shadows of him. Everything I do is kinda to pay tribute to him because I wouldn’t be where I am if he didn't pave that road and pass on that mantra that I live by which is "Never give up."”
Nik was brought up performing, but he didn’t always plan to follow in his family’s footsteps.

“As I was growing up my parents were really struggling to make ends meet, and I saw that,” Nik recalls. ““And my parents really said, "You know, this isn't a career path you should take. Go to school, study, go to college and go a different direction." And I really focused on that and I got accepted to go to Southeastern Bible College in Lakeland, Florida, I planned on going there and then eventually going off to become a pediatrician. But I struggled because I had so much passion for performing.””

Then Nik’s family was invited to perform a seven-person pyramid for the first time since it fell in 1962, and two family members were killed.

“And I thought it was going to be my final good-bye,” says Nik. “Thought I was going to perform in Detroit and we can at least kinda regain this legacy and show that our family can still do this stuff.”

The performance was successful, and the extensive media coverage got Nik’s attention.

““And I set out from that day, I decided, "You know what? I am going to carry this on, but I'm going to carry it on in a big way and I'm going to make sure to do big events that the whole world knows about,"” says Nik. “And that was really my mindset from that point on.”

Nik went on to set seven world records, but it wasn’t always easy.

“There were still always struggles and I've been extremely blessed since then and had some amazing opportunities. Of course, Niagra Falls was one of those huge ones,” Nik says. “One of the most memorable walks of my career was going back to San Juan, Puerto Rico where my great grandfather did lose his life in 1978, and recreate that walk.”

Nik was raised in a Christian home and his faith has always been a part of his life.

“There's no question in my mind that God has laid these desires on my heart to carry on this family industry,” Nik declares, ““I think that God has given me a very unique talent and that I can use that to bring glory to his name. There was actually a headline in the paper not too long ago, "The Tim Tebow of the Tightrope" which is really cool. But you know, he used that platform of playing football and was really able to touch a lot of people's lives. And I consider that I have that, you know, I have an amazing platform as well.””

Nik trains hard for each performance and says that he doesn’t consider his feats death-defying.

“I don't see what I do as being more dangerous than a police officer,” says Nik. “What I do is extremely calculated. I don't think God keeps me, holds me on the wire as I'm walking across, but God's given me a unique talent and it's up to me whether I train properly for that. But I've also trained my entire life to catch that wire. If I were to fall, gravity pulls you down. I train for the high winds; I train on a cable the same length--and over-train. I've walked a wire in training in 90-mile-an-hour winds before and that didn't blow me off. And we have rescue crews standing by that can be at me anywhere on that wire within 60 seconds to grab me off and pull me to safety. It's important I always maintain that high level of respect for what I do and the dangers involved with it.”

In fact, Nik says that his biggest concern during his walk across Niagra Falls was the tether he was made to wear.

“It was something that I was very unaccustomed with, unfamiliar with and am very uncomfortable with,” he explains. ““So I'm excited that I'm able to do this next walk, you know, in the way that my family's done it for generations. The tether can actually cause you to trip up. It could tangle around your neck, it could tangle around – you never know what's going to happen. My great grandfather had an older brother that fell into a net and was bounced out and killed, and his mindset that he's passed it on to next the generations was, "If you have a net or a tether your mindset is you can use that. So you become complacent, you become relaxed."”

Nik’s immediate family is a big part of his life. He and his wife, Erendira, both come from a long line of performers and have three children together.

““It's so important to me that every time before I do any of these big events I get in a circle and pray with my family and I always say,“Give God the glory. Let God get the glory out of what I'm doing,”” says Nik. “It is very, very important to me that people – that they don't praise Nik Wallenda, but they praise God for these amazing abilities. And I think that that's part of showcasing like the Grand Canyon. To me, myself, it's hard to deny that there is a God when you see the Grand Canyon. But that's my heart and that's why I like to show these amazing places off around the world. I would walk across Niagra Falls, the Grand Canyon if no one was there. It's about fulfilling a dream. It's important to me that people are inspired by what I do that they see it as an inspiration that their dreams are possible too.”

It all may seem a bit nerve-wracking, but Nik says his most peaceful moments have been on the wire.

““While I'm on that wire people can't understand, “How can you be peaceful?”” says Nik. “Well, when I'm praising God there's no one else to talk to and it's my own quiet time. You know, there's that prayer closet. Well, the wire often, is and has been, my prayer closet.”

Nik has written a book about his experiences, entitled “Balance.” He says that it’s often difficult in life to keep that balance, but it helps to focus on what’s most important.

“I was walking across Niagra Falls and there were raging waters on my left and below me waters were boiling underneath and mist flying in front of me,” Nik recalls. “But instead of focusing on all those problems that I had around me, I focused on the other end, just very, very similar to our walk with Christ. It's not always rosy. It's not always easy. Life isn't always, you know, a dream. But with God all things are possible and there is that light at the end of the tunnel.”

One New Man - Jew & Gentile - will come together. For His eternal purposes.

Maybe these church builders got it right back then - Jew and Gentile (Greek) together? (See the Star of David on each side of the red doors.)

Above photos by Steve Martin

Charlotte NC 09.16.13

Christians will be wise who receive and learn of their Jewish roots. ONCE AGAIN.

After all, the Messiah is Jewish (Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ). All the apostles were Jewish. And almost 100% of the Bible/Torah/Tanach/Old & New Testaments were written by Jews. (Luke was not Jewish, but a Greek who became a believer. Ruth was not a Jew, but a Moabite. Not sure who wrote the Book of Ruth.)

When Yeshua returns,

His Church, built in Jerusalem,

will be His earthly throne!

Words to live by...

Ahava Love Letters - Book Published!

Bookstore Home Page

Steve Martin: Ahava Love Letters - Sharing Life's Journeys With Encouragement

Click for larger image

AHAVA LOVE LETTERS

Sharing Life's Journeys With Encouragement

Steve Martin

Pages:: 164
Dimensions:: 6 x 9
Category:

Type:: Paperback
ISBN:: 9781628394153
Price:: 13.99

Book Summary

After sending out e-journal reports from a trip to Israel in 2010, I asked the Lord one early morning during prayer, “Now what?” He spoke, saying to use one of the gifts I had been given. “Write love letters.” Thus was born the “Ahava Love Letters.” “Ahava” is the Hebrew word for love. It is a joy to share with you from my life’s journeys. I will take you from “Main Street” to the rocky roads in Israel, with words of encouragement for the daily walk. Read one letter a week over a course of a year, or finish sooner. If the latter, then you must be getting some real inspiration and can’t put the book down! We all have stories to tell. Please let me know if you enjoy these!
Ahava,
Steve Martin

Author Profile

Steve Martin served with seven Christian ministries from 1987-2012, all having a national and international outreach focus. During that time he made several trips to Israel, China, India, Trinidad and Tobago, and the UK. Also Cedar Falls, Chicago and Nashville! During those trips he enjoyed sharing journal entries with family and friends back home through e-mail. His light-hearted stories have an up close and personal touch in them. In 2010, Steve and his good wife Laurie began “Love For His People, Inc,” a non-profit humanitarian aid ministry. This work touches local and international lives with needed encouragement and strength. His regular “Ahava Love Letter” is posted on the Love For His People Blog. Steve and Laurie live in the Charlotte, NC area. Married for more than 36 years, they enjoy having their four adult children and spouses close by, along with six additional grandchildren. He enjoys writing and growing the ministry of Love For His People, Inc.

ALSO AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM, BARNESANDNOBLE.COM, AND DIRECT FROM LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE OFFICE.

OR...

Order both of Steve's books

(AHAVA LOVE LETTERS and The PROMISE)

direct from Love For His People, Inc.

Both for ONLY $29

(WHICH INCLUDES S/H - USA orders only)

...and they will be autographed!

Sent a good check to:

Love For His People, Inc.

P.O. Box 414

Pineville, NC 28134

The Promise - Steve's first book

Contents List

Monday, September 16, 2013

Ahava Love Letter - "Explosion of Love" (Steve Martin)

AMAZING STORY Nik Wallenda: A Life on the Line