I could this to this over and over again. In 2003 Phil Keaggy came to the Derek Prince Memorial service here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Afterwards I took him to the airport for his flight home.
Lord bless you, Phil.
Ahava and shalom,
Steve Martin
Shalom my friends.
If you have been a reader of my blog, “Morning Place To Be” you were aware (or not) of how this site began.
Back in August 2025 my great brother-in-law, Nate Rovenstine (extraordinary pastor, Wesleyan District Suoervisor, husband, father, grandpa…) in Lawrence, Kansas, told me about the Panera Bread “Get Sipping” Club.
For only $4.95 a month, you could go and get a coffee, tea, fountain drink (soda) every two hours. Wow!!!
And so when I got back to Charlotte, North Carolina, a few days later, I joined. Faithfully goi g almost every morning around 6 am for a dark roast and a blueberry bagel.
Well…Panera Bread accountants got wise, informed the main man (or woman) and said the monthly program had to change.
Now…once a day (30/month) for the monthly subscription of $15.95.
With my upcoming six week volunteer trip to Israel again in September with Christian Friends of Israel, today, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, is my final cup.
To Nate! Yeah Lord!
Ahava and Shalom,
Steve Martin
Janet Douglas, Facebook
Last Sunday night during worship, I got a picture of a hand massaging a heart.
While at the same time I kept hearing one word:
“CLEAR.”
Not once—but three times.
At first, I wasn’t sure what the Lord was saying. Then I heard Him say:
“You live in the heartland.”
I began to see a picture of defibrillator paddles being placed over the Midwest—especially over the Ohio River Valley region. Of course, living in Indiana, my focus was drawn strongly to our state.
As I shared what I was hearing and seeing with the intercessors, I was thankful we had 2 nurses in the room. They began explaining that in heart surgery when the patient is taken off of bypass- they massage the heart. (I had no idea)
They also explained what happens when someone’s heart goes into a life-threatening rhythm and the medical team prepares to use defibrillator paddles.
They were sharing before the shock is delivered, everyone must move away from the patient, and the warning is given:
“CLEAR!” 3 times! (I had no idea)
The shock is released to interrupt the abnormal electrical rhythm so the heart has an opportunity to return to a life-sustaining rhythm. If the heart does not respond as needed, the process can be repeated while the medical team continues working to restore an effective heartbeat.
Then I heard the Lord say:
“I AM shocking the rhythm of the heartland with My heart again.”
As they were explaining this, something began to come alive in the room.
We began to declare:
CLEAR over Indiana.
CLEAR over the Ohio River Valley.
CLEAR over the Great Lakes region.
CLEAR over the heartland.
CLEAR over the Midwest.
CLEAR over the United States of America.
We sensed that something was happening in the Spirit, although at that moment we did not fully understand the weight of what God was showing us.
As I spent time with the Lord this week, praying over the picture I saw, I began to ponder;
Could it be that God is resuscitating Indiana again?
Could it be that God is resuscitating the Heartland ?
Could it be that God is awakening the heart of America again?
Could it be that He is reopening the heart of this nation to His presence, His purposes, and His remnant?
Indiana is the “Crossroads of America,” but we also live in the heartland of this nation.
I believe God is speaking to the Heart of His people in this hour.
The issue is not merely geography.
It is rhythm.
It is alignment.
It is the heartbeat of His Church coming back into agreement with the heartbeat of the Father, for His original intent.
There are things that have caused the Church to beat out of rhythm—such as division, offense, greed, compromise, fear, apathy, prayerlessness, competition, political division, denominational walls, disappointment, weariness, blatant sin and the distractions of this age.
I believe there is a sound going forth in the atmosphere:
CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR!
Clear away everything that has hindered us Father, everything that hinders the Body of Christ.
CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR!
Clear away everything that has silenced prayer.
CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR!
Clear away everything that has contaminated the land and caused the Church to lose the rhythm of Your heartbeat, the heartbeat of Heaven.
This is not about condemning the Church.
It is about resuscitating the Church.
It is the mercy of God calling His people back into alignment with His heart.
God is restoring the heartbeat of America, and He is beginning with the heart of His Church.
The Church MUST beat with His heart again.
A heart for His presence.
A heart for holiness.
A heart for truth.
A heart for prayer.
A heart for repentance.
A heart for one another.
A heart for the lost.
A heart for the harvest.
A heart that cries, “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
So today we decree:
We decree the heart of the Church is being restored.
We decree that every rhythm contrary to the heart of God is being interrupted.
We decree that prayer is rising in the houses of God again.
We decree that repentance is returning to the house of God.
We decree that unity is being restored in the Body of Christ.
We declare that the wells of revival and awakening is open again.
We decree, from this place, that the heartland will beat with the heart of God again.
We say, from Indiana, through the Ohio River Valley, throughout the Great Lakes region, across the heartland and into the United States of America, and beyond…. we release the sound:
CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR!
We say CLEAR to division.
We say CLEAR to compromise.
We say CLEAR to prayerlessness.
We say CLEAR to everything that has caused the Body of Christ to beat out of rhythm with the Father.
And we declare:
God is restoring the heartbeat of America.
We decree the heart of the Church is being restored.
We say, “CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR!” to the Church.
Come back into rhythm with Heaven.
Come back into rhythm with the Father.
Come back into rhythm with His heart.
America, let your heart beat with His heart again.
In Jesus’ name.
(graphic is AI)
When His Grace Comes On You
Remember those times when you get “in the groove” - you feel like baking a whole lot (some people do, like Laurie in the winter); you have extra energy to finish three loads of laundry (ugh!); you mow the yard for an hour and you can do it again, as the sweat pours through your soaked t-shirt…
Well friend, that is how it is with me in writing or designing new book covers. The Holy Spirit gives you that grace to push on and do more.
Particularly after I have spent some time praying in tongues.
When The Grace Comes On You is a special time.
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.” Psalm 84:11
There are certainly “seasons of the soul” – those times in the spiritual which seem like a spring time of refreshing; summer months of growth and sun; a fall of coolness and colorful beauty; and a winter of dry days and maybe even darkness within and without.
Each of us have had them, and continue to. They help us keep our spiritual balance and seeking our Lord.
Not every day can be a mountain top experience, nor will we have ongoing desert periods, similar to what Yeshua (Jesus) walked through before His major anointing came down.
When His grace comes on you, it is do accomplish His will, His purpose, for your good and those He has sent you to share it with. His abundant and available grace comes because of His Love, His provision, His ongoing care for people.
He wants to, and does, use us, enables us, challenges us even to do so.
When His grace comes to you, do what He blesses you to do. Share His Grace with others, and experience part of His manifest love He has for His world.
“For God so loved…” Yes He did, and daily continues to pour out His grace upon you and me.
For the sake of others.
Ahava and Shalom,
Steve Marin
A grateful man for His grace.
What in the World
From time to time I will write on what is happening in the world, for as believers we must be aware. We can’t stick our head in the sand and let the rest go to hell.
Scripture commands that we be the salt of the earth.
Yeshua (Jesus) Himself told us that in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.”
Who wants to be thrown out and trampled on? We will if we don’t act as we have been commanded to.
And it is not just the pastors’ or the rabbis’ job.
When a U.S. state like Massachusetts passes a law stating babies in the womb can be murdered (what it actually is) at nine months, what Christian or Jew would agree with that and just say, “Well, not my business.”
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
watching the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3. NASB
Do what you can. Write about it. Talk about it. Get on social media and say something to counteract what so many say and do.
Don’t be quiet and shut up. We will be held accountable as to what we did or didn’t do.
Ahava and Shalom,
Steve Martin
(I can’t be quiet.)
