Love For His People

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Jerusalem's Succat Hallel 24/7 New Prayer Room Dedication

On Nov. 4, 2013, Rick Ridings, leader of Succat Hallel prayer ministry in Jerusalem, and standing room only dedicated their new location. It is a few miles south of their former place which was next to the Mount Zion Hotel.

We were blessed to be in Jerusalem at the time and join them in praise, worship, prayer and greetings from such as Tom Hess, Wayne Hilsden (King of Kings), Richard and Carolyn Hyde and more. Joshua Aaron led the worship time.

Steve Martin
Love For His People

Pre-dedication music on the piano

Friends from St. Giles in Charlotte, NC

Tom Hess

Joshua Aaron

Rick Ridings greets the gathered.

Joshua Aaron - worship leader

Tom Hess and Wayne Hilsden (middle two)

Carolyn and Richard Hyde

Videos of the dedication that I recorded

can be found on our YouTube Channel:

Love For His People

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Back Home...for Now

Greetings to those who read my Blog. A big ahava shout out to my friends! ("Ahava" is love in Hebrew.)

First of all - Thanks for reading! I appreciate you coming back, daily or when you do, to check things out. You may have noticed that for the past ten days you haven't seen any new posts. I was in Israel during this time, and I couldn't access my blog page to add any new posts. (It was probably due to the new software I downloaded while there, and I couldn't figure out how to delete it until last night at home. I know, you "can't teach an old dog new tricks to fix his computer" stuff.)

We sure did enjoy the Ahava Adventure that we had in Israel, and are already beginning to plan next year's annual trip. Maybe you can join us then. Looks like November is still a great time to go. Our pastor friend from India, who made his first trip this year with us, talked of bringing two more along next year.

Right now I am back at my full time accounting job desk in Charlotte, taking my lunch hour break. I add to the Blog whenever I get some time from my other daily responsibilities.

Hopefully you have seen/read my latest Ahava Love Letter, which I entitled "Love For His People in the Land”. You can see it on this blog, or on the new blog I have set up, which will just be for my Ahava Love Letters.

Of course, I will continue to post them on this Love For His People blog, and my Facebook pages.

If you like photos, I took over 2,400 while in Israel Nov. 3-Nov. 11, 2013. They are all fully on my Facebook page, and I will post some here from time to time. If you like videos, you can see over 30 that I also recorded in Israel at our YouTube Love For His People channel.

(Click here: Love For His People/Steve Martin)

Israel is more amazing each time I go back. We love spending time with friends whom we have established long term relationships with over the years, and then meeting new ones. Our commitment to Israel and His people grows stronger every day.

Be blessed as you yourself bless the Jews and the nation of Israel. They truly appreciate it, as does their Creator, our Lord Jesus, Yeshua Hamashiach.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

P.S. My good wife Laurie sure is glad I am back home! Such a sweet deal.

Obama's Former Bodyguard: 'It's Worse Than People Know'

President Obama's former bodyguard stated last week something many are starting to realize: It's worse than people know. This man has been privy to the most in-depth conversations in the Oval Office and shudders at what he has heard. To this statement, he added, "I'm not trying to scare you either."

Billy Graham just turned 95 and in his final sermon revealed something sobering and sad. "I've wept for America," he said. Recognizing that America is imploding, Graham tried to offer hope by pointing people back to the cross through repentance and faith.

Christians can no longer settle for status-quo religion with neatly packaged, sanitized, inspirational programs and services while living in denial that Western civilization is crumbling. Yet many followers of Jesus Christ repeatedly make statements like, "I just turn off the news and refuse to listen to anything negative. I restrict my spiritual diet to those that bring me happy and inspirational messages that make me feel good."

While I am a firm believer in being an encourager and lifting people to see things through eyes of faith, we defraud people if we don't proclaim the whole counsel of God and prepare them for the difficult times ahead at the end of the age. After all, that's what Jesus did!

Christian researcher George Otis Jr. has traveled to more than 100 countries in the past 20 years documenting more than 800 communities that saw radical transformation by a genuine visitation of the presence of God. His videos displaying the supernatural change that comes when God invades a city are both remarkable and motivational.

His meticulous research identifies three essentials that must be in place before a city can experience supernatural transformation by the power of God:

1. An understanding of the gravity of the situation. People need a real sense of urgency before they will alter their priorities and relationships to seek God in a desperate way.

2. A recognition that time is running out. Individuals must know that time is of the essence and that they must move out of their comfort zone to align with God.

3. An opportunity presented by the living God. In other words, God extends a lifeline so the people can see a turnaround.

Can we honestly say we are seeing these things here in our nation? Are we being brutally honest about our true condition? Are we admitting that God's only answer to a crumbling culture is a spiritual awakening—something Billy Graham says he prays for fervently every day?

From my interaction with individuals nationwide, I know God is starting to stir hearts to recognize we are at a crossroads and that it's time to return to Him in humble desperation. Like the Old Testament prophet prayed, "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy" (Hab. 3:2, NIV).

Let's grasp the gravity of the situation so we can move toward true revival, transformation and awakening in America. It happened from 1720 to 1760 and then again from 1800 to 1840. Let's start by surveying the scene to see how serious things have really gotten.

10 Major Areas of Cultural Decline in Our Day

1. Divorce. The statistics of divorce have increased from 4 percent to 51 percent since my childhood, with 46,523 happening each week.

2. Cohabitation. An incredible 65 percent of altar-bound singles live together before getting married—a euphemism for a lifestyle of brazen fornication.

3. Abortion. In 40 years, we have killed 55 million unborn babies—almost 10 times the amount of those slaughtered in Hitler's Holocaust.

4. Out-of-wedlock births. For the first time in U.S. history, there are more than 50 percent of out-of-wedlock births, resulting in fatherless households and an orphaned generation.

5. Homosexuality. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles are endorsed and celebrated, even by our president, along with same-sex marriage, school indoctrination and new laws promoting this unnatural lifestyle—even though the gay population is only 1.7 percent of the population, according to a UCLA study.

6. Pornography. Graphic sexual activity and nudity are now just a click away on computers and smartphones, which destroys children's innocence while promoting deviance and immorality.

7. STDs. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are now more than 110 million cases of venereal diseases in our population.

8. Drugs and crime. Both are escalating at alarming rates while propaganda to legalize marijuana gains momentum—the latest polls reveal support for legalization has gone from 12 percent in 1969 to 58 percent today.

9. Economic insanity. America's debt and deficits are leading to an inevitable fiscal reckoning—a real economic collapse. The national debt is more than $17 trillion, with $71 trillion in unfunded liabilities. The debt has increased 55 percent under the current administration.

10. Erosion of religious liberties. Secular humanism, progressive socialism and radical Islam have ripped us from the moorings of our Judeo-Christian heritage as we witness the loss of freedoms in our society.

While it is not a pleasant exercise to go through such a list, it is necessary to awaken us. Until we realize how far we have fallen in just one generation, we will not make necessary adjustments to turn ourselves in humility to God.

Here's the deal: A generation ago, the late A.W. Tozer gave this warning: "Historians will conclude that we of the 20th century had the genius to create a great civilization, but we lacked the moral wisdom to preserve it." May we prove him inaccurate, agreeing together that "it's worse than people know," then turning to God in the humility that can bring about the transformation of America for which God and so many of us long.

Larry Tomczak is a best-selling author and cultural commentator with over 40 years of trusted ministry experience. His passion is to bring perspective, analysis and insight from a biblical worldview. He loves people and loves awakening them to today's cultural realities and the responses needed for the bride of Christ—His church—to become influential in all spheres of life once again.

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Indian Christians Dedicate Jerusalem Prayer Tower

By Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief
Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Millions of Christians around the world are praying for the peace of Jerusalem. But there's also a prayer movement going on within the city.

CBN Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell took a look at how Christians from India recently dedicated a prayer center in the heart of Jerusalem.

Click here to watch.
CBN News - Indian Christians

Should Messianic Jews Be Worried About Assimilation?

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 | David Lazarus, Israel Today

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Topics:

Messianic Jews

Yaron knew that he had discovered something special and couldn’t wait to tell his family and friends. “I have found the Messiah,” he exclaimed to mom and dad. “It’s Jesus!” Unprepared for their extreme and irritated response, Yaron retreated to his room in despair as his parents discussed where they had gone wrong raising their first-born son.

Like Yaron, many Messianic Jews found themselves separated from families, friends and synagogue. Keeping these ties proved all but impossible. “Sometimes we reacted just like a bunch of teenagers,” suggested one congregational leader. “Our parents didn’t understand us, so we cut our losses and went our own way.”

A generation later some Messianics now wonder what went wrong. Integrating Messianic beliefs and a New Testament culture into the Jewish fold has proven to be a very difficult task.

For many Messianic Jews in Israel cutting off all ties with Judaism seemed like the right thing to do. Synagogue life was already an unpleasant burden for the secular majority. Messianic faith allowed new freedoms from the strict legal requirements of Judaism. Messianics developed expressions of faith and discovered new forms of worship and prayer, though these remain foreign to the average Jewish Israeli.

Other factors also contributed to the assimilation of Messianic Jews from Judaism and Jewish culture. But is this something the Messianic community should be concerned with?

Missionaries

Foreign missionaries working alongside the Messianics in those early years had very little understanding or even appreciation of Jewish culture. Most could not speak Hebrew and few had any experience in Israeli family or synagogue life. Messianics were not always encouraged to integrate their faith with proper respect for family and Jewish culture and sometimes young believers were encouraged to make a clean break from culture and society. Some of the families are still hurting from the radical and insensitive ways Messianics tended to separate themselves from family and friends and joined what appeared to be a foreign, Christian religion.

Anti-Judaism

For most of its history Christianity has had very little appreciation for her own Jewish roots. Many Christians in living in Israel were overly concerned with “Judiazing” and tended to oppose any involvement with the synagogue, the Jewish prayer book or Jewish learning. Young Messianics were often taught and believed that it was necessary to make a clean break with anything Jewish in order to follow Christ.

Intermarriage

According to very conservative estimates as many as 80% of the Messianic Jewish men in Israel have intermarried with non-Jews. While most Jewish believers in Israel have not intermarried to avoid the burdens of a Jewish existence, nor have they intended to assimilate, mixed marriages present a unique challenge to the Messianic community, especially when the children of the Gentile wife are not considered Jewish.

Intermarriage amongst the Messianic believers is often an expression of the unique unity and reconciliation with Gentiles they find in Yeshua. However, little thought has been given to the effect this might have on the Jewish identity of the next generation. Can the Messianics survive the extraordinary high rate of intermarriage without losing their unique Jewish heritage, especially if their children are not Jewish? (Find more on this important subject in the upcoming edition of Israel Today)

Reconnecting with the Roots

One attempt to avoid assimilation among a small minority of Messianic Jews in Israel is to move out of the Messianic congregations and go back to the synagogue and traditional Judaism in order to integrate Messianic beliefs with Jewish life.

However, most Messianics would not consider going back to the synagogue. Significant numbers though are now incorporating traditional Jewish worship, prayers and teachings into their congregational life. More and more Messianic leaders are integrating traditional Jewish prayers and liturgy into their services. Many have begun reading from the “Parashat Hashavua” or weekly traditional Torah portions.

As Messianic leaders discover the beauty and spiritual richness of their Jewish heritage some of broken ties with family, synagogue and the Jewish people might be repaired. One highly respected Messianic leader sees this as a sign of maturity. “When we were young we tended to only look at the fruits or the flowers. As we mature we become more interested in the roots,” he said.

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Reality Check

I thought I'd do a little "reality check" myself when I was in Israel Nov. 3-11, 2013. Here is what I found. What do you think?

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People, Inc.

(P.S. I took these photos myself with my little Fuji camera. Just the way it is.)

"West Bank"

- my guess is about 10 feet.

(Photo of the Jordan River, near Jericho, Israel.

Nov. 10, 2013)

"Settlements"

- must be the Bedouins who live outside Jerusalem.

Arab nomads I believe who won't move.

"Two States Solution"

- Jews and Moslems living together

as Israelis. Peacefully.

There is reality.

There is the truth.

If people would

open their eyes

and see it.

For instance, what world-wide politicians and "peace makers" have continually called "settlements" are actually beautiful homes of people. So just move them out???!!!

(And guess what? They have bought them rightfully.)

That is like telling the people of Charlotte, North Carolina, where I live, that you "must leave and give up everything YOU have worked for and built", to someone who doesn't own it, and will destroy it once you are gone.

Want a good example? The Gaza Strip was given as a peace gesture, demanded by the PLO, in order to move the "Peace Process" forward. And now what? Rockets continually fired at innocent Jewish civilians a few miles away, after the new "residents" in the Gaza Strip destroyed the homes and businesses of the previous rightful owners.

Let's get real here. Divide the Land of Israel, and as per the Living God of Israel, you will face His reality. Check out the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the Nazi Regime, the Soviet Union...all who opposed the people the Lord has chosen to live in His land are the ones who no longer live.

Other nations will be wise if they take heed to the historical facts.

Sincerely,

Steve Martin

P.S. Share if you too stand for Israel.