Love For His People

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Steve Martin's latest book release: HOPE - Founded in the Solid Rock

Steve Martin's latest book

HOPE - Founded in the Solid Rock

Just released June 12, 2018

Buy here: Amazon paperback: $8.95

Buy here - Kindle: $1.99

It would be nice if you could run down to the local grocery store and buy a package of hope. After all, don’t we find we need it every day? A few good helpings daily sure would be nice.

It is not quite that simple to get, but hope is certainly possible to obtain, and keep. The way I have found hope is by believing the promises of the Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, as put forth truthfully in the Bible. Through the centuries, the words written in the Word have proven accurate and life-changing in the very ones who have chosen to believe. I include myself among them.

The daily news will get you discouraged. The bank statement and monthly bills which come by mail or smartphone will drain you of your pursuit of happiness. One minute you are “up”. The next minute you hit a wall. What is it that keeps us pressing on to accomplish the good in life? Family and friends can be a good source to rely on, but even then those relationships can falter. We need more.

We need hope in our lives.

My desire and prayer are that as you read these messages you will obtain hope. Not a hope that will get you just through this day, but an eternal hope where you can stand strong, press on, and know deep in your heart that when it is all said and done, what He, Jesus, has said and done will be the very truth that keeps you until the end.

Find hope. Keep it within, and know that the faith, hope, and love of the Almighty God will always be there for you. He is our only hope.

Steve Martin

Charlotte, North Carolina

June 12, 2018

Cover photo by Steve Martin 2016 - Ein Gedi National Park in Israel

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. H.O.P.E. Page 7

2. Hope – Founded On Nothing Less Page 10

3. Hope Again Page 14

4. The Unexpected Page 17

5. Incredible Page 20

6. Multi-All! Page 22

7. Milestones Page 27

8. He Speaks In Many Ways Page 30

9. Change Page 34

10. More Quickly Page 37

11. Aim For The Target Page 39

12. Influences Page 42

13. Dream On Page 44

14. The Unknown & The Known Page 47

15. Open Hands, Open Heart Page 50

16. Christopher Wants A Baby; Catherine

Wants A Cookie Page 53

17. For The Love Of God Page 56

18. Choose Wisely Page 58

19. Hope In God Page 61

20. Labyrinth Page 64

21. God Will Make A Way Page 66

22. Grandeur Page 70

23. Gone, With Little Remains Page 73

Steve Martin's latest book

HOPE - Founded in the Solid Rock

Just released June 12, 2018

Buy here: Amazon paperback: $8.95

Buy here - Kindle: $1.99

This is Steve Martin's 18th book. All are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle e-books.

BASIC LIFE PRINCIPLES - Buy here: Paperback: $11.95, Kindle $2.99

FAITHFUL -Buy here: Paperback: $5.95, Kindle $1.99

JERUSALEM & FRIENDS - Buy here: Paperback: $7.95, Kindle $1.99

SALVATION - Buy here: Paperback: $7.95, Kindle $2.99

Other books by Steve Martin,

also found on Amazon in paperback and Kindle:

Korean Churches Witnessing a 'Miracle' - DIANE WINSTON VIA RNS

For many South Korean Christians, who support reunification, anything is possible with faith. (Photo by Alan Mittelstaedt/Creative Commons)

Korean Churches Witnessing a 'Miracle'

6/12/2018 DIANE WINSTON VIA RNS

A lot has happened on the Korean peninsula in the last few weeks. South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met for the first time; Kim took some serious steps toward denuclearization; and Kim and President Trump agreed to talk, but Trump abruptly canceled the historic meeting. On June 1, however, following a meeting with a high ranking North Korean official, President Trump announced that he plans to meet Kim Jong-un.

I watched these events unfold with interest since two months earlier, I had traveled to South Korea with 12 journalism students to report on ongoing religious, political and cultural developments.

When we landed at Seoul's Incheon Airport, the warm diplomatic tailwinds of the Winter Olympics had thawed relations between the North and South. Kim and Moon would soon meet. And there were rumors of a Trump and Kim parlay to follow.

My students had many questions about the role of religion in the land of K-pop, including Christianity's involvement in either promoting or preventing improved relations between the North and South. Even though half of all South Koreans are religiously unaffiliated, Christianity has had an outsized influence in the country. Many of the world's largest churches are located there, and many South Korean political and business leaders are staunch Christians.

Korean Christianity

For the first half of the 20th century, Christianity gained little ground in Korea. Confucianism, Buddhism and shamanism persisted despite efforts of Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries. But after the Korean War, the country's religious landscape changed dramatically.

Communists in the North banned most Christian practice, replacing traditional beliefs and rituals with Juche, an official state ideology that mixes Marxism and self-reliance with veneration for Kim Il-Sung, the nation's first leader.

The South's experience could not have been more different.

American support for the fight against Communism and its aid in postwar reconstruction boosted Christianity's popularity. That's because Christianity was the Americans' religion, and many South Koreans wanted what America had — wealth, freedom and "divine blessings."

Conversions soared and among the most successful churches were those espousing values similar to Confucianism, the Chinese philosophy that migrated to Korea some 1800 years ago, and is deeply embedded in its culture. Both Confucianism and conservative Christianity emphasize traditional gender roles, strong families, and respect for authority.

Today, almost 30 percent of the country is either Protestant or Roman Catholic, with conservative evangelicals playing a significant role in the nation's politics and culture.

Large Korean megachurches, like their American counterparts, tend to be pro-democracy, pro-free market and anti-communist. They support U.S policy and, like many evangelical and "prosperity" churches in the U.S., believe that Donald Trump is God's man.

During our visit, we found that many Korean Christians are wary of Kim's overtures to Moon, including talk of reconciliation. Their preference is reunification: one democratic country where Christianity is openly practiced.

Reunification not reconciliation

Indeed after the Korean War, many South Koreans yearned for a reunited nation. Many had relatives in the North and could not imagine a permanent separation. While many of these older Koreans still want to see the two countries reunited, young people do not share the sentiment.

In 2017, the government's Institute for National Unification found that 71.2 percent of 20-something South Koreans oppose reunification. For the time being, however, young folks are a minority. So today, about 58 percent of the population does favor a reunited peninsula, but their numbers are falling.

Younger Koreans have pragmatic as well as ideological reasons for opposing reunification. North Korea is a poor, totalitarian state. South Korea is a wealthy, democratic one. The political difficulties of bridging the difference seem insurmountable, especially with Kim in power. The economic challenge is equally daunting. South Koreans have worked hard for success and many do not want to jeopardize their high standard of living to help their "poor cousins" in the North.

But President Moon Jae-in, the son of North Korean refugees, has his own ideas about reconciliation and reunification. Unlike his conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who was impeached and sentenced to prison for abuse of power and corruption, Moon is a former human rights attorney. He is willing to start with reconciliation, but his long-term goal is a united peninsula.

Action on the ground

While Moon Jae-in, Kim Jong-Un and Trump conduct a complicated diplomatic dance, religiously based, grassroots initiatives take small steps forward. For some, this means sending messages over the border, for others it's helping defectors adjust to the South, and for still others, it involves paving the way for reunification.

Staff at Far East Broadcasting System's Seoul office focus on evangelizing North Korea. They smuggle radios into the Communist-controlled country so citizens can listen to sermons, services and shows about Christianity. The station also broadcasts in South Korea, where its content includes information on reunification.

"We just want to share the Christian gospel," Chung Soo Kim, a staff member, told one of my students. Kim added that North Korean attempts to stop the programming have failed: "They cannot afford to jam our broadcasts. They do not even have enough food to feed their people."

Other Korean Christians assist North Koreans who have defected. There are about 31,000 defectors in South Korea, and many have trouble adjusting to their changed circumstances. The South Korean government provides some help, but clergy and churches try to fill in the gaps. According to some defectors, religion helps with acculturation.

The Rev. Chun Ki Won, for example, started Durihana International School in Seoul as an alternative for young North Koreans, whose foreign accents and hand-me-down clothes make them targets of ridicule in South Korean schools.

"I realized after rescuing North Korean defectors from China and leading them to South Korea that they don't settle down properly," Chun told a student through a translator. "We teach them the purpose of their lives and their identity. We teach them why God made them to suffer, and that there is purpose in that."

One of the more ambitious programs aimed at reunification is River of Life, a school run by Ben Torrey, grandson of a famous 19th century American evangelist, Reuben A. Torrey. Ben Torrey integrates reunification into the curriculum for Korean Christian children.

Torrey's students meet with defectors and, building on personal relationships, slowly embrace the idea of one Korea. Jin-soo (his first name), one of Torrey's students told my student through a translator: "I went to a public elementary and middle school. In that school, at least once a year, we talked about reunification, but it was just something in the textbook, nothing that comes alive." He explained how things changed once he had a chance to meet North Korean students. "I began thinking from their perspective," he said. "They are the same as I am."

Like Torrey, Korean Christians who support reunification see it as a political and religious goal. And although it's an uphill struggle, they believe with faith anything is possible.

In fact, that's the takeaway that struck several in my class: The faith of many Korean Christians supersedes political calculation. Or, as Ben Torrey told one of the students about a united peninsula, "God has to do it. It has to be a miracle."

This piece, first published on June 1, was slightly updated to reflect the latest developments on North Korea.

Diane Winston, is an associate professor and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom - ONE FOR ISRAEL

SHALOM!

"...Continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house... praising God and having favor with all the people.

And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:46-47)

Persecution can serve to stoke the fire of God's people and spread the gospel, but there are also times when believers enjoy respect and favor in society, as they did for a time in the early church. This can also help the message of Jesus to be heard and bring more people into the Kingdom of God. Believing in Jesus has often been considered foolish and socially unacceptable, but here is a story where the opposite is true!

Dr. Erez Soref, President

of ONE FOR ISRAEL

MESSIANIC JEWS AND RESPECTABLE SOCIETY

Click on the picture below to watch Dr James Tour's amazing testimony as one of the top 50 most influential scientists in the world!

JEWISH APOLOGETICS

The majority of Jewish Israelis are pretty secular. Like many in Western developed nations, they often have issues with the Old Testament and struggle to see how it can apply today. The Bible can seem primitive, barbaric, and even cruel to the 21st century mind. It is vitally important that we are able to give good answers for the hope we have in Jesus and the confidence we place in the Bible. It is as true today as it ever was, but we need to give good explanations as to how to understand, appreciate and apply the Word of God to our lives today.

Some years ago, during a debate in an Israeli court, a man threw one of his shoes over the judge’s head. The severity of the punishment that he received surprised the whole nation.

“Three years in prison for the one throwing his shoe beyond Dorit Beinisch. ‘Such an incident must not occur ever again. Thus, to make an example (that they would see and fear) the severest possible punishment is applicable…’"

– Judge Feinberg about his decision.

Modern legislation took this principle, "that they may see and fear," from the Old Testament: “That they may see and know, may consider and understand …” (Isaiah 41:20)

Thus, the highest penalties in the Bible are strict so that those barbarians without culture would “see and fear.” Israel’s lifestyle was very much influenced by the cultures and nations around them. And therefore, the laws of the Bible were given in a historical, cultural and social context. God did not create a people for himself out of nothing, on a tabula rasa (blank slate). Rather, he took a group of people whose style of relationships, behavior, and ways of relating to each other were all influenced by foreign, perverse and barbaric cultures that as we will see later on were especially evil and cruel. Continue reading...

The Historical Jesus of the New Testament

Online Course

Recent scholarship has focused on both the Jewish background of the life of Jesus as well as ancient methods of documenting history.

In this course we will focus on the historical Jesus of the New Testament and on the historical and cultural context in which Jesus lived. Our discussion with Dr. Craig Evans will reveal that the four canonical Gospels are not only reliable sources, but are the best place to discover the historical Jesus.