Time to press on. - Love For His People newsletter, Steve Martin

May 3, 2020 Greetings Love For His People family and friends. The nations are beginning to open back up. Finally. But I hope it isn't to just go back to doing the same as before. If that happens, these past months will have been truly a waste for millions. It can't be - back to "normal".. It must not be. What the Lord allowed to happen, to wake His Body of believers up, to save those who came to Him at this time, and to give us a "test" if we would press on or not...I really, really hope people woke up. It is time to press on. It is time to be aware of what the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach, is doing in the nations, and for believers to get on the same page as He is. He so desires to bring unity in His Body. How are you involved with that? He is returning the Jews to Israel from all the nations. Are you informed? What role would you have in this? It must not be "back to the norm" as we knew it. Home church groups must expand, or even get started for many. Sharing the love of the Lord to the searching and lost must be ongoing and bring in the harvest. For my good wife Laurie and I we re-booked our canceled flight to Israel. Now it is June 1-22, 2020. Time to press on, for time is speeding up, not letting up. One of my latest messages follows. Please read it. Be encouraged. And...my 29th book was published this week. See below. Bless the ministry of Love For His People by buying a hard copy. And heh, the e-book is free through May 5. How about you? Pressing on? Pressing in? I truly hope so. It is time, more than ever. Ahava and shalom, Steve Martin Founder/President Love For His People ministry in Charlotte, NC USA P.S. Thank you to those who give to help support families in Israel, India, and Pakistan. The Lord's work continues daily.You too can use the online giving tools below, or send a check today. I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 1);38-39, NASU Remember these lyrics back in the day? “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine there’s gotta be a little rain some time.” So sang Lynn Anderson in 1970 on the country-western radio stations as they were known way back then. The songwriter must have used a very loose interpretation of Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) own words to His disciples, “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.” Matthew 10:38-39, THE MESSAGE The modern, syrupy gospel some would dish out to the gathered on Sundays and on social media platforms would make it seem that the sole purpose of Jesus saving us would be to give us happiness, to make this life rosy before we die and go to the next one. We constantly hear with misguided words that if we are not happy then something is terribly wrong. If life is not going the way we were told it would be when we came to Christ, then all of our self-love, self-indulgence actions can’t be worth the effort to be a Christian. If the songs we sing, even the “Christian praise and worship songs” that populate the radio, YouTube, and love stations aren’t focused on “me, me, me” then something must be totally out of order. It is to be all about “me”, right? Jesus came to make “me” happy, yes? A generation which is brought up hearing that the love of God is all about me and my happiness, then we, as the ones who were/are to be teaching them, have really, really missed the mark in showing them the right way. Yeshua did not call the 12 main followers, and the seeking crowds, to get on the road of “It’s All About Me Way”. What did He really say when He called the disciples? Take up His cross and follow Him. “And He was saying to them all, ” If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” Luke 9:23-26, NASU Living a self-love life is far from the one Yeshua called us to live. Going after that which we are told is necessary to make us happy is not the Gospel that Jesus preached. It is not the life we are to be living as disciples of the Life-Giver. Followers of Yeshua lay down their lives for others as He did. Those who have been called to be His disciples are not to be seeking what we think is “best for us, what makes us happy.” We are to be seeking and doing what makes HIM pleased with our lives. That is a life of self-giving, sacrificing, living for others, caring for the ones who have not, preaching the real Gospel, the one that Jesus and the early apostles took to the nations, as they laid their lives down. And yes, even got martyred in the end for doing just that. One concern I have for the generations living now is that many have bought into the false gospel that it is all about us. Jesus never taught that. His true disciples never heard that. The true followers of Jesus who have lived and died through the centuries that have followed never prescribed to anything of a self-love gospel, but to the one that they too were saved to give themselves to the plans and purposes of the Father, in His love to save others. Never were we promised a rose garden. We were promised the opportunity to follow Jesus, to take up His cross and follow Him. “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'”  And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.” Mark 10:17-22, NASU Paul preached the correct Gospel. So must we be doing the same. “…strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22-23, NKJV Trials and tribulations are what we are promised. Accepting that, let us thus get on with doing what He wants us to do. By His grace others will come to know the saving knowledge of accepting His salvation and live. As the shaking continues in the nations, which is the Lord’s doing as He had prophesied through His prophets prior to these end times, our purpose in living is to have His purpose in living. When you know that, and do it, then whatever He brings your way will be the best. We have been called to live, and die, for others, even as Jesus Himself laid down His life for us. “By Faith. No Fear. Prepared For His Purposes.” Steve Martin by Steve Martin “By Faith. No Fear. Prepared For His Purposes.” Steve Martin, Paperback now available. FREE E-BOOK May 1-5, 2020. Paperback $8.95 Paperback ($7.95) and Kindle ($1.95): By Faith. No Fear. Love For His People, Inc. P.O. Box 414 Pineville, NC 28134 USA loveforhispeople@gmail.com Love For His People  ‌  ‌  ‌  ‌  ‌ Visit our website Donate using PayPal Givelify - Safe, Online Giving Now

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What First-Century Christians Could Teach Us Today – Michael Brown

 

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What First-Century Christians Could Teach Us Today

11:00AM EDT 4/27/2020 MICHAEL BROWN

(Photo by sergio souza from Pexels)

Growing up in a country like America where we get to vote and influence the government, it’s difficult to imagine what it would feel like to live under an absolute monarchy. Or a tyrannical dictatorship. Or an oppressive, all-controlling regime. Yet the early followers of Jesus not only lived in such environments, but they flourished and grew. What can we learn from these early believers? What would they each us today?

First, they would teach us that no matter who leads the nation, no one can stop the gospel. And no matter what form of government we have, the church can grow and thrive.

I do imagine that these Christians would be amazed at the liberties we enjoy. (Obviously, they would be amazed by a lot of other things too.) They would likely tell us to do our best to guard these liberties.

But they would remind us to put our trust in God not in government and not to confuse patriotism with the kingdom of God.

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Second, they would encourage us not to get caught up in partisan politics, a concept that would have been largely unknown to them.

You see, in the Roman Empire, there were not rival political parties, with your vote making a difference between which candidate would come into power. You did not have Democrat vs. Republican (or the equivalent). And while there were different social and philosophical factions, there was not a political divide. For the most part, the emperor was supreme.

For the early Christian, then, the divisions were more basic. There was light and darkness. There was the church and the world. There was the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. There was heaven and hell. And there were saved people and lost people.

That is how these early believers saw their world, and that is how they saw their mission. Put another way, although they brought about powerful cultural change through the gospel, their focus was not on reforming the Roman Empire. Their focus was the Great Commission.

They still had to deal with the distractions of the flesh and the world, just as we do today. But partisan politics did not vie for their attention. Or consume their emotions. Or divide them as believers.

That’s why I say that they would encourage us not to get caught up in partisan politics.

Again, they might well encourage us to exploit our democratic liberties to the full and even to run for office, if some of us were called to do so. But I believe they would help us to step above the political frenzy that so dominates and divides our nation.

Third, they would remind us that the church is not a building, especially at a time like this when our church buildings are shut during the COVID-19 crisis.

In my just-released book When the World Stops, I have an entire chapter devoted to this subject, titled, “What Is Church and How Do We Do It?” And I am convinced that this is one of the major lessons we must learn during this forced lockdown: The church is not a building, and Christianity is not a spectator sport.

I would think that these first believers would be stunned to see our large church buildings and cathedrals. But it would not be because they had never seen magnificent buildings. To the contrary, those who were alive to see the second temple (which was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70) would have seen something far more spectacular than our largest megachurch facility. And the Romans themselves knew how to build.

It’s just that the believers met in homes back then. There was no such thing as a church building. Consequently, a greater emphasis was put on being the church more than on going to church (although they certainly emphasized the importance of meeting together).

In this context, they would remind us that the preacher is not a performer. And the body is not an audience. And, to say it again, Christianity is not a spectator sport.

This doesn’t mean they wouldn’t welcome church meetings of all sizes and buildings of all sizes. It’s just that their emphasis would be put on every member of the body being connected and activated. It would be on the priesthood of every believer.

Fourth, these early Christians would remind us of the need to rely on the power of the Spirit. While they would rejoice in the many ways the gospel can spread today, ways that would have been unimaginable to them, they would encourage us not to lean on technology. Or human personality. Or worldly techniques.

Instead they would urge us to remember the words of Jesus, who said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8)

It is by the power of the Spirit that they rocked their world. It is by the power of the Spirit that we can rock ours.

What other lessons do you think these first believers could teach us today?

Dr. Michael Brown (www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is His latest book is Jezebel ‘s War With America: The Plot to Destroy Our Country and What We Can Do to Turn the Tide. Connect with him on Facebook or Twitter, or YouTube.

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“By Faith. No Fear. Prepared For His Purposes.” Steve Martin, Paperback now available – April 30, 2020

 April 30, 2020  Steve Martin  Love For His People ministry in Charlotte, NC USA

Paperback: $8.95

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