Showing posts with label Iowa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iowa. Show all posts

Saturday, July 20, 2019

My Dad, Louis Martin. You would have been 88 today! Celebrating the last 20 years in heaven with Jesus!

Louis and Lila Martin

My Dad, Louis Martin. You would have been 88 today!
Celebrating the last 20 years in heaven!

The Louis and Lila Martin family. 1975 (?) in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

July 20, 2019

Happy birthday, Dad! You would have been 88 today! But for the last 20, you have been working with Jesus in heaven, for you were not one to just sit around. You taught your kids well by your example! 

Thanks, Dad. We love you! See you in a bit...

Love you,

Steve
Dad and Mom wedding photo in Plainview, MN. June 28, 1952 (I think)

Louis Martin, young man around 1951

Dad and Mom


Dad (lower right) with older sisters Jean, Esther and brother Bill

 Looking to heaven!

Dad's Mom, Julia Martin


Dad knew the way. And followed Him.

My Mom wrote this, to help me remember!

"We moved here (Charlotte, NC) June 1996. He died 3 years later. He had cancer a total of 4 years. We bought our house here in Pineville, NC in February 1995. Found out he had cancer in August of that year. Mary and Bob(Smith, my 2nd of 5 sisters) rented the house while we were in Iowa getting Chemo. He had Chemo for 6 months. Then we sold our home there and moved here to NC June 1996 thinking he was in remission. He began Chemo again in August 1996. He was in Hospice for 2 months before he passed on.

His business was called LJM Services. He had that for over 25 years. He worked at the Viking Pump Foundary as the maintenance man for 33 and 1/2 years and retired 4 years before he died."


Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach
And my Dad knew, and knows, Him!

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Tornadoes - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Tornadoes
Steve Martin


“And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17, NKJV)


Fifty-one ago, on May 15, 1968, an F5 tornado tore through Charles City, Iowa, injuring 450, killing 13 and causing an estimated $30 million in damage (in 1968 dollars.) Living just 44 miles to the south at the time, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, I remember the devastation and heartbreak. I was in 7th grade, and just glad it wasn’t us, though it very easily could have been.

Charles City, Iowa tornado May 15, 1968 (Visual Journalist)

Tornados are not fun. They quickly come and quickly move on, often leaving behind years of rebuilding and restoring of property lost, and lives that may not be.

Fast forward to today, while sitting on our home front porch swing, at our Charlotte, North Carolina home on a very pleasant Sunday afternoon spring day, I was resting a bit from the busy activity done earlier for our congregation. I dozed off a bit. Not uncommon these days!

Between moments of light sleep and some prayer, I envisioned tornadoes popping up across the United States map. Here, there. In many places, I could see these destructive forces all across the land, in various and numerous places. Even in places where they normally don’t occur.

Was this the Lord causing this supernatural action? Was this the devil? Back to this in a moment.

It is common practice for our local and national weathermen (and women) to state that “Mother Nature” is causing upsetting occurences whenever something out of the norm comes into the weather pattern. Be it tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, or other fierce precipitation – “she” gets the credit or is the reason for the season.

If one believes the Bible as I do, there is no “Mother Nature”. But there is Father God, the Creator. Being He oversees what goes on, whether He brings it on Himself or permits the satanic forces to act for His purposes to be revealed, my eyes are going to stay fixed on Him.

In the Old Testament, we know that the Lord God brought the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 19:24-25 it clearly states, “Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.” (NKJV)

He also will send His wrath again, as it clearly states in Revelation 6:12-17 (NKJV), “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (emphasis mine)

The same God, from the beginning through the end in the Word, both in the Old and New Testaments, rules and reigns, and judges that which is evil in His sight.

On other occasions Jesus, God in the flesh, the Son of Father God, rebuked the destructive forces of the weather, as it so happened in Luke 8:23-25 (NKJV), “But as they sailed He (Jesus, Yeshua) fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"

Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"

Our Father in heaven is in control of all things, always, and in all places. I may not know every time if His judgment or His permissive will is being enacted, but I know He is in control.


So back to the “vision” I saw in my semi-sleep state. Were these tornadoes I saw of the Lord, or the devil? Were they for good, or bad?

Personally, I think both.

The Lord’s word says that in these final days He is going to be shaking the heavens and the earth. He even says it will be all things that are shaken, to reveal that which alone will stand. 

“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven."  Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:25-29, NKJV)

Charles City, Iowa tornado May 15, 1968 (Visual Journalist)

In the natural, and the spiritual, the Lord is the One shaking things up. He is going to shake up His Body, the Church, to tear down that which man has produced over the centuries, setting in place their rules and regulations, not His. And trust me, our congregations and synagogues have a lot of junk in them that needs to be taken down and out.

And He is going to shake up and destroy those who have shaken their fists at God, denouncing His purposes and plans, believing they are the ones who rule as kings and queens of the universe, and rulers of their own destinies. They will in time have to think again.

So, are the tornadoes in the “vision” I experienced natural or spiritual? I tend to believe they are both. 

God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Third Person of the Trinity, Holy Spirit, are on the move. They are performing their acts, both in the natural and the spiritual, out of their eternal love, to draw all mankind unto Them. They are shaking things up, as if through tornadoes and other forces that get our attention.  Hopefully, these will wake many people up - both in the Church to get them out of their slumber and the world out of their pride and haughtiness.

Some will need a natural shaking to happen before they will look up. Others will need a spiritual act of God in their life before they will look up.

Whatever it takes, we want the Lord to save His people, reveal His plans, and bring about His eternal Kingdom in our lives.

Even so, come Lord Jesus, come.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,

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





If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$120 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families in Israel whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.
  
Please donate online safely through our website. Click here: DONATE  

(or use the DONATE  buttons on the blog.)

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc. 
P.O. Box 414   
Pineville, NC 28134

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

Please share Now Think On This with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.  Others will be thankful you did.


Now Think On This #404 - in the year of our Lord 03.31.19 – “Tornadoes” – Sunday, 4:40 pm.


Friday, March 2, 2018

'Heartbeat Bill' Makes Huge Pro-Life Statement in This State - CBN NEWS

The Iowa Senate took a big step for pro-lifers. (Getty Images )
'Heartbeat Bill' Makes Huge Pro-Life Statement in This State
CBN NEWS
A bill that bans abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat has just successfully made it through the Iowa Senate.
The "heartbeat bill" passed 30-20 Wednesday along Republican party lines.
A heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks into pregnancy, and this legislation would only allow abortions after that point to save a pregnant woman's life.
"Senate File 2281 gets at the very heart and soul of what it means to be an American, of what it means to be a person," state Sen. Amy Sinclair told the Des Moines Register.
The bill also states that a doctor who performs an abortion after a fetal heartbeat has been detected and without a medical emergency could be charged with a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen called it "unfathomable" that the bill would not make exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
"There are no other provisions in Iowa code that say an Iowan cannot access medical care unless it is to prevent death," she said. "Under this Republican bill, you would force a child rape victim to have a baby, no matter how young she is. That is unfathomable."
Sinclair, the bill's sponsor, argued it's about protecting life, recalling hearing her son's heartbeat for the first time on an ultrasound and hearing her father's heartbeat fade as he died.
"In each of those cases I knew the heartbeat or the lack of one was the indication of another human being's life," Sinclair said. "Your government should actively support you and all other individuals with a beating heart in that very same endeavor."
The bill moves to the Iowa House next.
If the measure becomes law, it will likely face legal challenges from opponents who argue it violates US Supreme Court rulings that affirm women have a legal right to abortion.
Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, all rights reserved. 
Connect with God in a deeper way as you read His Word. Select Bibles are now 50% OFF plus Free Shipping and a Free Gift. Show me the Bibles!
Encounter the Holy Spirit and develop a relationship that saturates you in His peace, love and joy. Explore the Life in the Spirit Series.
FREE GIFT! Download Pastor Bill Johnson's 40-page mini eBook, The War In Your Head, and unlock your supernatural lifestyle. CLICK HERE

Monday, September 4, 2017

Hope - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Hope

Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you…(Colossians 1:3-6, NASU)


While growing up in the Midwest state of Iowa, and being raised a Roman Catholic, I enjoyed reading biographies of several martyrs. Given the name of Steve, and the surname of Martin, I would read of St. Stephen, the first martyr in Acts, and Saint Martin de Pores of Lima, Peru. There was also Saint Martin of Tours, a bishop in France, who is said to have become “one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints, sometimes venerated as a military saint. He was born in what is now SzombathelyHungary, spent much of his childhood in PaviaItaly, and lived most of his adult life in France. He is considered a spiritual bridge across Europe.” (Wikipedia)

Desiring to then become a missionary doctor (for if I would have chosen to be a missionary priest I couldn’t have gotten married!), I read many books on David Livingstone and his adventures and trials in Africa, “the Scottish Christian Congregationalist, pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of the late-19th-century in the Victorian era.” (Wikipedia)

Inspiration came from men like Eric Liddell, the Scottish Christian whose story is depicted in the movie Chariots of Fire - the famous Olympian who observed the Lord’s Sabbath Day and would not run on that day, but went on and won the gold medal in a later event - who then took his solid rock convictions of trust and hope to the people of China, to share the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the 1972 beautiful motion picture of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, implanted the purpose of leaving the riches of this life behind, in order to pursue the One who has eternal treasures and homes stored up in heaven for us who believe.

These men of God inspired me, along with my teachers at St. Patrick Elementary School in Cedar Falls, Iowa, several of whom were nuns, wonderful women of God.

Given the hope they had in eternal life, and wanting to share that committed belief in the Savior Jesus Christ, they endured, whatever came their way, with the grace and encouragement of the Living God. They held strong when it was hope against hope, darkness against light, attacks of the enemies coming at them in their spirit, soul and body. They held on until the end.

Our hope can be founded on nothing less. The Solid Rock on which we stand, Who alone can and will enable us to stand, when all that surrounds us falls apart, has proven Himself over and over again as the Faithful One, the Guardian of Israel, the Eternal Son whose death, burial and resurrection gives us the historical foundation which cannot be shaken, when all else is being shaken.

“So don't turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn't get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time - he's told us this quite plainly - he'll also rock the heavens: "One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern." The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.

Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!” (Hebrews 12:25-29, THE MESSAGE)
  
Hope in the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach, will bring you through the shakings that have come, and those that have been prophesied in the Bible, which are yet to come. Put your trust in Him. Keep it there. And keep looking up when it seems that all else is going down.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,



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






If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families in Israel whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.



Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website using the DONATE buttons on either side column of our blog.

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc. 
P.O. Box 414   
Pineville, NC 28134

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

Please share Now Think On This with your friends on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. (And all other social media platforms!)


Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 09.04.17 - #312 – “Hope” – Monday, 8:30 am

Saturday, June 3, 2017

The Snake That Bites – Part 2 Healing the Hurt - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

The Snake That Bites – Part 2
Healing the Hurt

Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you're named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:23-25, THE MESSAGE) 


While growing up in the Midwest, Cedar Falls, Iowa to be exact, one of my heart’s desire, even at an early age, was to be a missionary priest/doctor to Africa. Now I realized that being a “missionary”, and a “priest”, and a “doctor”, and then going to the faraway, dark continent of “Africa” wasn’t the most probable, nor desirable, career path for most 8th graders in the late 60’s. Even my grade school Roman Catholic priest, Father Purcell, who taught the eleven of us in our religion class, said I should give up that prayer and be content at becoming a diocesan priest. You know, stay here in the comforts of America.

So what does that have to do with my first Now Think On This message on The Snake That Bites? Well, let me tell you.

The Lord Jesus puts it in the heart of His people to carry His love to the nations.  It used to be that the only way you could actually fulfill that command was to go. Literally become a missionary, leave all behind, and go to a foreign land having absolutely nothing in common with the civilization you grew up in your first 18 years of life. Some still do that. I bless them in Jesus’ Name for their courage and longing to fulfill His commandment to take His Gospel, Good News, to the nations.


Taking His healing word to the nations. 
The globe serves as a reminder in our home.

But now, through the great advancements that God Himself has given to men and women, with ever increasing revealed knowledge to excel in all kinds of new discoveries, we can take His Words to the nations through social media. Just as He had the Romans build the extensive road system, extending their kingdom throughout the known land in their time, they unknowingly made the way to enable the apostles and other believers to travel easily.

Today He has also given inventions, technical savvy, and vast understanding to mankind, to “build the roads” in our time – such as primarily the Internet, to get His Gospel out. (Sorry Al Gore. Not you.)

Thus, finally, I am getting to the point I want to make. The Lord has made a great way to get His word out, to bring His healing to the people of the world. Going as a missionary has now become possible for each of us who call on the Name of the Lord Yeshua (Jesus). Through social media.

Bringing you His healing word has been His desire from the start. He wants people freed from the snake bite where it all began in the Garden of Eden. His plan of redemption and salvation has been eternal, and now you and I can experience this, wherever you are at this moment in time and space.

Much of the mental and body sickness we experience is the result of the spiritual diseases we carry. Proven medical facts.


There is healing from the snake bites you have received over the years. There is a way to be free from the resulting bitterness, resentment, and even hatred that first brought infection into your spirit, which moved down into your soul (mind, will and emotions), and then eventually manifested itself in your body. Yes, spiritual sickness shows itself in soulish and physical outlays. Many mental and body sickness is the result of the spiritual diseases we carry.

Needing forgiveness, receiving it first from the One who alone can begin the process, and then acting on His work yourself, will bring the healing that the snake venom poisoned you with after each bite.

“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:21-25, NASU) 




Jesus’ death on the brutal Roman cross was the plan from the beginning with His Father. He knew ahead of time, before He came as the sinless Lamb, that He was going to suffer, receive 39 gouging whip lasses from the laughing soldiers, and hang on the mocking, cursed tree, in order to complete the required payment for mankind’s sin – the shedding of Innocent Blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Then and only then could the healing process begin, to free us from the sickness and death caused by our sin, including unforgiveness which we carry far too long in our daily life.




“For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach —  if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”
(Col 1:19-23, NASU)


And being there are always two sides to the coin…who have you hurt with your biting words, quick temper, or rude remarks? Repentance is both for you, me and the others. It goes both ways. Consider asking forgiveness from those whom you have bitten with your own venom.

Are you willing to be forgiven for your sins? You can ask Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, for the first time in your life, or for the ongoing confession of sin, to be free from the lasting effects of the venom we carry. Crying out to the Lord and Savior is simple. You just have to do it.

Do you hold unforgiveness towards your Mom, Dad, sister, brother, boss, close friend? How about your pastor (or your church member - yes I know!) or your co-worker. The list can be inexhaustible. Anyone who has said, did or acted against you, and that one you so want to get back at for hurting you? If so, you need to accept the forgiveness you have already first received, as a sinner, acknowledge the wrong was wrong, but now know that it is time to let it go, to let the Blood of Jesus wash over you, and bring healing to your spirit, soul and body.

Repentance and forgiveness. Again, it is simple. 

You don’t have to work yourself up in an emotional frenzy, or bring up every occasion when you received the stinging wound.

Just quietly and with resolve say, “Jesus, I forgive them, as you have first forgiven me.” Say each name or memory that the Holy Spirit brings to mind right now, forgive them, and receive the healing touch from your loving Father and His Only Son Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Let the Father forgive your sins. You then in turn forgive those who sinned against you. That also is in the Lord’s prayer you learned as a child (I hope.)



As I said, I didn’t make it as the missionary priest doctor that I wanted to be, but now the Lord has allowed me to bring His truth and healing word to you, in your very nation. It is just in a much wider realm.

Be free again to enjoy life. Rejoice in Jesus and give thanks!

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People, Inc.


P.S. If you didn't read yet Part 1, you can find it here: 
The Snake That Bites - Part 1



We are blessed when the ministry receives gifts to support the families that we do, primarily in Israel, Hungary, India, Pakistan and the hurting ones here in the USA. You also can share out of the abundance you have been given.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.

If these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Click here for safe ONLINE GIFT GIVING THROUGH OUR WEBSITE using major credit cards: Love For His People. If you don't have a PayPal account you can also use your credit card or bank account (where available). 

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box414   Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Please share Now Think On This with your friends.

Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com  
martinlighthouse@gmail.com

Facebook pages: Steve Martin and  Love For His People  
Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople 

Full website: Love For His People

Now Think On This - In the Year of our Lord 06.03.17 - #289 – “The Snake That Bites – Part 2 Healing the Hurt” – Saturday, 7:00 am

All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This

Again, I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve