Born
in 1942 and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York,
of Jewish parents, Marty underwent conservative Jewish religious
training and was bar mitzvahed at age 13. He came down with bulbar
polio during the polio epidemic of 1950-51 and was not expected
to live. During his hospitalization he came to some understandings.
He believed that God was (he spoke/prayed to God while paralyzed),
and that if God spared him, it was so that he could serve his fellow
man in some way (although the way was not yet clear). Failing to
be able to relate to God in the synagogue, after his bar mitzvah
he began searching for something to fill the spiritual void in his
life. In 1964 he met Lois (a nice Jewish girl from Philadelphia)
while finishing up his undergraduate music degree at Adelphi University
in Garden City, NY. They mutually agreed that "organized religion" was
not where God was. They were married in 1965 and have three sons,
Matthew, Peter and John. Marty began a career in music education
from which he retired in 1997. He holds a masters' degree and has
completed additional postgraduate work.
Unknown to Marty, Lois had fallen in love with Jesus as a young
child. For fear of disrupting their relationship, Lois hid her
faith from Marty until a life-threatening illness almost took
her, shortly after the birth of their second child. Marty's reaction
was typical of someone brought up to be suspicious and even wary
of anything Christian. Being completely unread, he fought with
the idea of betraying his people, his family and embracing a "plural
concept" of God. However, he could not deny Lois' peacefulness
as she lay dying in the hospital for forty days, nor his feelings
of awe whenever he sang music with a biblical text relating to
Jesus, or watched a movie having to do with His life.
The Lord in His graciousness spared Lois, and Marty agreed to
investigate her faith (albeit grudgingly). God used this time
to complete the humbling process that had begun with Lois' illness
and which Marty had to undergo in order to prepare his heart to
receive Jesus. In 1973, amidst tears of surrender, Marty came
to Jesus as His Lord. Since then he has learned how natural it
is for a Jew to believe in Jesus, and, further, how important
it is for the church to understand its Jewish roots.
The Lord, in His loving kindness, has seen fit to use Marty and
Lois in many ways. Marty continues to teach music privately, and
he owns and operates a printing and graphics business. Marty and
Lois have been youth leaders, teachers at Christian service camp,
speakers at the North American Christian Convention, and music
ministry leaders. Marty was a deacon and church treasurer while
serving in New York. Lois is now administrative assistant to the
Senior Pastor at RWCC and a member of the worship team and Marty
is a pastor/elder.
Born
in 1942 and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York,
of Jewish parents, Marty underwent conservative Jewish religious
training and was bar mitzvahed at age 13. He came down with bulbar
polio during the polio epidemic of 1950-51 and was not expected
to live. During his hospitalization he came to some understandings.
He believed that God was (he spoke/prayed to God while paralyzed),
and that if God spared him, it was so that he could serve his fellow
man in some way (although the way was not yet clear). Failing to
be able to relate to God in the synagogue, after his bar mitzvah
he began searching for something to fill the spiritual void in his
life. In 1964 he met Lois (a nice Jewish girl from Philadelphia)
while finishing up his undergraduate music degree at Adelphi University
in Garden City, NY. They mutually agreed that "organized religion" was
not where God was. They were married in 1965 and have three sons,
Matthew, Peter and John. Marty began a career in music education
from which he retired in 1997. He holds a masters' degree and has
completed additional postgraduate work.
