Showing posts with label God the Father. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God the Father. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

A father prays for his daughters before brain surgery - Love For His People Ministry


A father prays for his daughters before brain surgery - Love For His People Ministry, Charlotte, NC Oct. 5, 2022 Edgar Persad prays for his daughters Nadira and Shamila, just hours prior to having brain surgery for the removal of a tumor. What a father's heart for his kids! Just as God the Father has for all His children. A generational blessing passed down to his children. Videos filmed and shared by Steve Martin, Founder, Love For His People Ministry in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

Friday, June 24, 2022

Do we really care? Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

 

Do we really care? Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

June 24, 2022 Charlotte, North Carolina USA

Greetings to my family and friends of Love For His People Ministry.

I am so thankful the Lord had given me such a large sibling family (5 sisters and 2 brothers) and now have 4 kids and 8 grandchildren of our own, along with the spouses and more, He once again has shown that He is surely Himself a Family Man! The Everlasting God the Father!

When others don’t experience family, they miss out. So the Lord has called upon us who know Him to show them He loves family. He cares about each one that He has created.

I have had more quiet time to consider His ways, and the more I do, the more my love for our God the Father grows. I hope yours does too as you read my new message I share now.

Also, check out our YouTube playlist here: Jerusalem, Israel. You will particularly love the one with “George Bush” the camel! It was a joy being in the Land this past April and seeing our friends once again, including George. (I know, it is a repeat, but George is the best!)

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

Do We Really Care?

“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” Luke 10:33-35, NASU

Our Father God in heaven has such a big heart that I often wonder how He does it. Have you ever thought about how God, the One Who could do what He wants, when He wants, for whom He wants, and yet shows His love so much to each of us individually? Especially in how He cares for us.

His desire is for all to know Him as He really is. He wants all to understand that He goes out of His way to show His love, just as He demonstrated in the well-known story in the Gospels of the Samaritan, the one who stopped and helped the suffering of another, showing he truly cared.

But in all of God’s caring, and how He has also instructed us to do as well as He teaches in His Word, especially among those who call on His Name as Christians and believers, do we really care?

In a recent time of recovery from surgery, I had much time to think more on the heart of the Father, and how He so much demonstrates His constant attempts to let us know that He really cares for us, that He is concerned about our daily desires, hurts, pains, joys, and expectations.

And oh, how He desires that His Body here on earth would also do the same, such as He does.

When I was younger, it was very common for neighbors to know each other. By name even, imagine that. The kids next door and on the blocks surrounding played well with each other, and our parents shared meals and times of laughter and fun. When one was in need, for the most part, the neighbors joined in and helped as needed. They knew each other. They demonstrated care for one another.

Both you and I know that those times are almost unheard of these days. With the constant moves due to job transfers, job loss, and desires for a “better life”, Americans have little or no time to get to know their neighbors or want to. In many cases, we don’t even know their names. And that is a sad thing. Very sad.

Yes, we associate with people on the secular job, with the 40 hours or more each week if that is the case. (Even that time, though, has drastically been reduced with “remote work” schedules from home many are now doing.) There may be even some relationships ongoing outside of the required meetings and events the company puts on, in order to bond people closer to one another.

But even in our church life, where relationships are meant to flourish, for those who have a life of fellowship with other believers besides the weekly half-hour program they watch on TV or the hour service in person, there is not much time spent with those who know the Lord Jesus and say they want to walk in His ways.

There is just not much fellowship. Thus, there really is not that much care.

Very often we each have our regular times of doing what we need and want to do every day – go to work, take care of the kids, watch 4-5 hours of nightly TV, and then go to bed. Repeat the next day. On weekends it changes up a bit as the normal work time is cut out for eight hours, but again there is little effort to get to know others whom we are supposed to be “connected with” in the church body.

As Tucker Carlson likes to say at times, “Why is that?”

I have an answer. I am sure you do too.

But will it bring any change? Will people ever really care for another again?

I sure hope so. So does our Lord Who cares for us so much.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin, Love For His People founder

Message #88 in this series – in the year of our Lord 06.24.2022 – “Do We Really Care?” Friday, 7:50 am Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

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E-mail: loveforhispeople@gmail.com

Steve Martin

STEVE & LAURIE MARTIN - LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FOUNDERS My good wife Laurie and I (45 years in October 2022!), through the ministry of Love For His People we founded in 2010, give love and support for our friends in Israel and in other nations with friendship, humanitarian aid, and social media support, along with Steve's messages, and our Ahava Adventures trips to Israel. Steve has also authored and published 34 books. We live in the Charlotte, NC area. We have four adult children, spouses, and eight grandkids.

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Men - We need the Lord Jesus leading and guiding us to be that which He has called us to be – good role models for our kids and grandkids. – Love For His People ministry

Happy Father’s Day men. We need the Lord Jesus leading and guiding us to be that which He has called us to be – good role models for our kids and grandkids. – Love For His People ministry


Steve & Laurie Martin Family (L-R) Ben, Christen, Laurie, Steve, Hannah, Josh
Greetings Dads (and families).
Our Father, Who art in heaven, has mad us fathers in order to give Him more family, as He is the Ultimate Father. With His Only Begotten Son Jesus, Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, He has always desired to fill the earth with more children to share in His love, peace, joy, and eternal family.
Over these past decades the family man has been much aligned, as many would seek to undermine, belittle, ridicule, dismiss, and even eliminate the role that men have been called to – to be mighty men of God, as husbands, fathers, and grandfathers.
We must stand for biblical principles. We must walk with godly character. We must be the examples and mentors to the next generation who so desperately need fathers in their lives – to give direction, encouragement, and a hope for their future.
Moms are great. May they continue to live fully for their kids.
Fathers need to be great. We need to exemplify the Father of All. For the God the Father’s heart is the one which can fill ours with His character, gifts, and courage.
Men, we need to be that manly man that our sons and daughters will look up to and to say with confidence and joy in their hearts, “That’s my Dad! He has cared for me, guided me, spoke truth into my life! I love my Dad!”
Happy Father’s Day, Dads. Be the man you and I are called to be, so our families can live in freedom, honesty, guidance, and the assurance of the hope found only in our eternal Father, the One above.
Ahava and shalom,
Steve Martin, Founder/President

P.O. Box 414 Pineville, NC 28134
loveforhispeople.com

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Blessed Father's Day!...from our God the Father to our own...


Blessed Father's Day!...from our God the Father to our own...

Love For His People ministry
Steve Martin

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
June 16, 2019

 Thank You, God our Father, for giving us life in You, and showing us how to love and grow our family in Your love and care. We are blessed because of You!



My dad, Louis James Martin with me
circa 1956
Plainview, MN

 The Louis Martin Family - 8 kids!
Cedar Falls, Iowa
1973

The Louis Martin Family - 1999



Steve & Laurie Martin family
2018
Charlotte, North Carolina







Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Count the Stars - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Count the Stars
Steve Martin


“Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5, NKJV)



Have you ever tried counting the stars? If you live in a city or suburban area, you can hardly see any stars at all due to the bright night lights that light up the sky, which prevent the heavenly lights from shining through to your eyes. You must get out into the country, away from the glow of mankind’s rays, to see the ultimate canopy of the Lord God, Creator of the universe. Then you will experience His awesomeness.

In the summer of 1973, fresh out of the Catholic high school in Waterloo, Iowa, (Columbus High, home of the Sailors!) I went on a mission trip to the hill country of northern Georgia. Blairsville, Georgia to be exact. Northeast of Atlanta, somewhat near the North Carolina state line. A group of older teenagers went on the six-week adventure to lead a summer Bible youth camp for underprovided kids, sponsored by a Catholic mission.

Being 18, I loved it! Quite the adventure driving my two-door, metallic blue 1963 Mercury Cougar all the way from Iowa, through Cincinnati, OH. It was a great time, forever stored in my memory banks. (Read the full story in my book, The Promise – One Man’s Journey to See God Revealed).

One thing I very much remember to this day were the nights, both black and white. At those late times of the finishing day (or the beginning of the new day, as with the Jews, as written in the Torah when God created each day), if the clouds covered all above you, you could raise your hand in front of your face and not even see it. It was that so utterly dark. Midnight blackness!

But if it was a clear night, looking up from these northeastern mountains in Georgia, the Lord God Almighty revealed Himself in glory, for the stars were fantastically brilliant. The heavens were filled with His creation in one of His very vast realms. Because of the sheer numbers, you could not count the stars. Wow!

Imagine the promise the Lord had given Abraham, beginning in Genesis 12, of the immense number of descendants that was coming forth of his lineage, if he obeyed. Once he had heard the Lord’s word to “leave your country and go to the place I will show you”, the promise for Abram (later changed to Abraham) was beginning to unfold. His reward would be great.

“Now Adonai said to Avram, “Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

So Avram (Abram) went, as Adonai (the Lord) had said to him, and Lot went with him. Avram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Avram took his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, as well as the people they had acquired in Haran; then they set out for the land of Kena‘an (Canaan) and entered the land of Kena‘an.” (Genesis 12:1-5, Complete Jewish Bible)

Obedience to the word of the Lord, written in His Word the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms (and all of the Bible), will always bring a reward. Abraham believed, and it was rewarded to him. And not only to him but “…all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

“By trusting, Avraham obeyed, after being called to go out to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going. By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not his, staying in tents with Yitz’chak (Isaac) and Ya‘akov (Jacob), who were to receive what was promised along with him. For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God.

By trusting, he received potency to father a child, even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy. Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:8-12, Complete Jewish Bible)

In Genesis 215:1, the Lord even says to him that it would be an “exceedingly great reward.”

When we hear and obey the Lord, He honors our faith we have thus demonstrated. He will then allow His favor to come upon us, and He will provide covering and protection for not only us, but also for those whom He has given under our care and watch – our families, our churches, our cities, our nation.


Next time there is a clear night, drive out from the city lights, and look up. Try counting the multitude of stars if you can. When Abraham saw those very same heavenly creations centuries ago, he believed that the Creator would keep His promise. And He certainly did. Not even the hatred and anti-Semitism of all these past centuries could keep the Lord from fulfilling His promise to the chosen people the Jews, and all believers who call upon His name and were martyred for their faith.

Just look at the state of Israel today, and you know that the Living God, the Lord God of Israel, has indeed kept His promises. As Luke wrote in Acts 3:21, it is now the “times of restoration of everything which God spoke through the mouths of His holy prophets from eternity.”

Have you ever received a word from the Lord? You most certainly have! The Bible itself is His guaranteed Word to you. Believe it! Walk in His promises! See Him move in your life, your family, and even in this nation, the very one you live in.

Go out and try counting the stars some night. Sense the ever-living Holy Spirit’s presence lift your spirit to the eternal heavens. Have even more faith and believe our God the Father for even more of Himself!

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. Listen to this encouraging word the Lord gave me on March 3, 2019, during our church meeting: "Resurrection After Decades"



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


Also, my latest book (#20) was just released last week. You can get it on Amazon here, in paperback or Kindle version: All Together Now - For His Plans & Purposes 

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Now Think On This #396 - in the year of our Lord 03.05.19 – “Count the Stars” – Tuesday 3:55 am

Friday, December 21, 2018

You May Believe in the Baby Jesus, but how about God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? - CBN News Paul Strand


You May Believe in the Baby Jesus, but how about God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
12-20-2018
CBN News Paul Strand
GREENSBORO, NC – Although believers and evidence exist, there remains the question: is there a God? Cold case detective J. Warner Wallace has pursued the question, applying the same procedures he used to solve cold cases. 
He started this investigation into God's existence many years ago as an atheist. But even then, he had to accept something beyond the natural because he already believed the universe had a beginning before space and time.
The Beginning needs a Beginner
"It began from nothing. It didn't exist prior to the Big Bang," the author of Cold Case Christianity said of the universe. "That means you're looking for a cause that is non-spatial, non-temporal and non-material because those things are not available until the Big Bang. So you're already looking for something that's extra-natural –  if by nature you mean what we always mean, which is space, time, matter, physics, chemistry."
Astronomer Hugh Ross, who heads up Reasons to Believe sees God in the universe's birth.
"It has a beginning, which implies there must be a Beginner who was responsible for bringing the universe into existence," the astrophysicist said.

And there's such precise design.

Wallace stated, "We have fine-tuning in the universe that's so finely-tuned that the smallest variation in the universal constants, you wouldn't even have a universe in which we have life at all. Now, what are the odds of that happening on its own?"

All Life Could Stop on a Dime
And just how finely-tuned is it for life?

"If you were to add the weight of one dime to the universe or subtract the weight of one dime from the observable universe, that would be enough to upset the balance to make life not possible," Ross said, adding, "How can we escape the conclusion there must be a mind with supernatural power that designed it just right so we could be here?"
Ross contends Earth needs to be just where it is on the arm of a spiral galaxy just like the Milky Way for life to exist here. Also that the unique feature of Earth's moon being as large as it is compared to its planet's size makes it able to control the tilt of the Earth's axis and the length of its daily spin in just such a way to make the planet optimal for life. 
Finally, Ross said the entire solar system is just perfectly balanced to achieve that end.
As he put it, "We're not looking at just a highly fine-tuned Planet Earth. The entire solar system has been highly fine-tuned to make possible the existence of advanced life. Every one of the eight planets in our solar system plays a critical role."
Jesus Christ Wasn't Just in the Bible
But what about Jesus Christ, His resurrection and deity?

Wallace said with a wry grin, "If there's a Being out there that can create all space, time and matter from nothing, I'm guessing He could probably rise from the dead. I'm guessing He could probably walk on water. I'm guessing those are probably small potato miracles compared to Genesis 1."
Some people say they'll never believe Jesus Christ is God because all the proof for it is in the Bible, and they just don't believe the Bible.

As an atheist, Josh McDowell set out to disprove Christianity and the Bible, but found so much evidence, it changed his life to one of faith. The result was his book Evidence That Demands a Verdict. And he found much proof for Christ outside the Bible.

He stated, "In this book Evidence, I give 20-some totally extra-biblical sources that you could recapture almost everything about Christ – that He was raised from the dead, He fulfilled the prophecies, etc. etc. etc. – from non-biblical sources."
Some Christian reviewers rate Evidence That Demands a Verdict as the most thorough and comprehensive book when it comes to evidence for Christ's existence. And there's more at McDowell's online resources page.
Alex McFarland's Truth for a New Generation puts on conferences nationwide to arm Christians with proof their God and faith is real – like the one in Greensboro, North Carolina where CBN News interviewed Wallace, McDowell and him. He pointed out what one of America's top twentieth-century historians – Will Durant, a non-believer – had to say.
"Durant, when he was not a Christian, said the four biographies, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: their historicity was (quote) 'indisputable,'" McFarland remarked.
To find out more on McFarland's defenses of the faith, you can search his website or his blog.
The Passed-Down Facts Go All the Way Back to the First Disciples
Some claim the New Testament was written hundreds of years after Jesus' time. So they suggest all the supernatural details about Christ could have been added in long after His death. But as witnesses, the earliest disciples memorized, sang and wrote down statements of Christ's miraculous life starting right after His death and rising from the dead.

"Deity, death, resurrection, Son of God, paid for our sins, rose from the dead – these doctrinal formulae, if you will, these statements of belief, come to us within – not years, not months – but weeks after the crucifixion," McFarland stated. "These verbalized, memorized creedal statements come within perhaps four to eight weeks after the Cross."
Wallace talks of how cold case detectives look for a solid chain of custody for all the evidence in an old case. And when it comes to Christ, "Every supernatural element related to Jesus from the virgin birth to the resurrection to the ascension to 'seated at the right hand of the Father,' all of that stuff is in the very earliest accounts and in the very first links in the chain. It never changes. It's never altered."
You Want 'Early, Eyewitness, Multiple & Even Hostile'
And Jesus' earliest disciples said not only were they eyewitnesses to Christ's miracles but so were their opponents there in Jerusalem.
McDowell hearkened back to his first months beginning to investigate Christ's existence. He recalled, "I had to define 'what is truth, and what do I accept as true statements, true acts historically?' And one was this: was it presented in the presence of hostile witnesses? Where if what they [the apostles] were saying was false, it would be exposed as false. And the apostles did this."
McDowell continued, "They would constantly appeal to the knowledge of hostile witnesses of the truth that they were saying. They'd say 'you know what I'm talking about; you were there; you saw Him do this; you heard Him do this.'"

McFarland added, "Historians look for eyewitness accounts, multiple accounts, early accounts and even what they call hostile accounts.
"The teachings of Christ, even His crucifixion and resurrection – we have testimony that is early, eyewitness, multiple sources and even hostile sources."

He concluded, "The idea that there was a conflation, and they made Jesus into something that He never claimed to be, over hundreds of years, that's just not what the record of history shows."

If It was all a Conspiracy, It's the Most Flawless One in History
Wallace insists Christianity couldn't have just been a conspiracy of liars who never cracked. There were way too many witnesses to Christ's life and resurrection – hundreds of them – later facing too much persecution and torture for at least a few to not 'fess up if they were all simply lying.

"They were under incredible pressure where many of them lost their lives in defense of what they said was true," he stated. "And we don't have a single ancient record of any of the disciples ever recanting when that was often the goal of the people who were persecuting Christians."

The investigator added, "This is why I think the deaths and the martyrdoms of the disciples is a key piece."
You can find out many other ways Wallace has for investigating and finding proof for God's existence and the truth of Christianity at his website, Cold Case Christianity.

If God Exists, You Win…Unless You Gamble He Doesn't
But you may feel none of this has anything to do with you and you shouldn't have to think about it. Well, what if there is an eternity, and what you believe about Jesus Christ will determine where you spend it?

Wallace implored that if you're a total non-believer, for your own sake, consider the idea there's a miracle-working Savior – with one caveat.

"You can't begin by saying 'I don't believe in the supernatural.' That's the thing you're trying to investigate," the cold case detective said. "If you start out by denying the supernatural, you'll never get to whether or not there's anything supernatural. You've already decided there isn't."

McFarland mentioned what's known as Pascal's Wager, saying, "If we live as if there is God and it turns out there wasn't, we've lost nothing, plus lived a good life and been happy. But if you the atheist live this as if there's not a God and it turns out there is, you've lost everything. So the wise man would wager that there might be a God."
Did you know?
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