Angelic Magazine: October Edition 2013 by AngelicMagazine

Nahum 1:7 "The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him"

INFO@ANGELICMAG.COM JESUS. MUSIC. FASHION. www.ANGELICMAG.com SAN DIEGO - PHOENIX

autonomic nervous system.

tanding up again. It’s been said that if you want to make God laugh, “Make a plan”. Though not necessarily scripturally true, it has a nice comedic explanation in this unpredictable life of ours. My story goes a little something like that; five years ago I had quite a few plans. Although this is where some would say God may have got in a few laughs. I was a strong, healthy twenty-eight year old woman, I had three small children. Izabella 8, Juliana 7 and my son Daniel was 4. I worked full time as a police dispatcher /911 operator and worked on my days off on my own small business. During this time I had also made a career decision to make an attempt to become a police officer for the department I was working for. I was financially comfortable and had an active social life. My relationship with God during this time was probably more of convenience. I was the center of my world and I merely called on God when it suited me. Though I knew better and yearned for more from my relationship with God, I was too busy and comfortable to change my ways. Busy or not God knew I was in for the ride of my life. On September 29, 2008 my world as I knew it would change forever. As my arms became numb and as I fainted for the first time, my consciousness would not be the only thing I would lose that night. As I continued to faint daily for several months, I was diagnosed with a rare condition called Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Better known to me as Pots, which put simply is a breakdown of my

Our autonomic nervous system controls our heart rate, blood pressure, digestive system, vision and body temperature. Blood pools away from the heart and makes it difficult for blood vessels to constrict which causes decreased blood pressure and a high heart rate and in my case passing out. The disruption in my nervous system would make it intolerable for me to sit or stand for more than ten to fifteen minutes at a time. A pots patient’s heart works three times harder when in a standing position than that of a normal healthy person. I was forced to lie in a flat position for the majority of the day my first few years after becoming sick. I became increasingly weak and fatigued. My condition was a mirror of someone who had congestive heart failure. I suddenly had more in common with my eighty year old grandmother then I had with someone my own age. I went from being an independent woman to a person I didn’t recognize. I no longer drove or worked, I was unable to stand to do the laundry or dishes, take my children to school or cook their dinner. Forced to give up my independence, I became reliant on my family for simple daily tasks. Rather than walking I now had a wheelchair. I showered with a shower chair, too weak to wash my own hair I needed assistance with everything that required any amount of strength. Regular trips to the hospital, I would be taken by ambulance every time I would faint and stop breathing. The lessons that I would learn through my illness have been true gifts from the Lord. Though I did not have physical strength he was sure to bless me with inner strength. I was able to preserve and keep pushing each day striving to get better even though the doctors said

(Pictured: Izabella, Viviana, Juliana and Danny)

otherwise. On the rare occasions that I felt hopeless God provided me with a sweet hearted chaplain to pray with and who would encourage me to not lose faith. I was given a family whose dedication would never cease even in the most difficult of circumstances. My life had changed in the worst way though sadly this was not as difficult to handle as it has been having to watch those closest to me be forced to partake in this journey. Solely due to the love they have for me. The endless love in the care that was given to me specifically by my mother was delivered from the Lord himself. Through her I was able to tangibly feel his grace, mercy and most of all his love. My life continues to change and I have had difficult times along with many blessings through this unexpected experience. Through it I have been taught to appreciate the little things, discover that God has truly been with me every day. I have learned that God gives us what we need to handle no matter what we may go through even if we may feel we aren’t able to. God Stood with me even when I could not.

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alent is a progression of continuing to discover our God given ability. Have you discovered yours? There's a beautiful quote that reads, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Tiffany Egbert is leaving her trail as a rare blend of being a professional photographer and wardrobe stylist in the world of fashion. After college, on the heels of returning to Arizona from a summer internship with a Christian creative arts ministry in New York, the continual progression of Egbert finding her God given ability began to fully unwind. "I just really needed a creative outlet when I got back and I started getting more into photography. I would find all of this weird clothing, dress my friends up and take pictures just for fun. I started to gather just a pile of clothes that weren't in my size, all these random, weird things so I decided to start selling vintage. These were all the clothes I began to style photo-shoots with."

"Styling and photography has always been together for me. That's kind of how I got into it. I pretty much shot solely film until February of this year. Now I'm shooting digital so I'm able to add both styles to my work. My work just keeps evolving" Every photographer develops a certain trademark to their style of photography. For some, it's the way they capture light. For others it's a stylistic point of view and there's there's a visible bohemian style to the images Egbert produces. "Boho was the aesthetic I loved to photograph, I loved to wear. So I've sort of narrowed it down through the years and its become my style." The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Every great artist first began as an amateur. Egbert's advice to aspiring photographers, "You have to definitely create your own opportunities and experiences. You're not just going to start out with your own portfolio. You have to work for it."

"Shadow other photographers, assist them, help them with lighting. It's great to actually ask questions and be around someone in your industry." So what's next in the path of Egbert? "My goal is to try and focus on projects I'm really excited about and get more published. I just want to make art." You can find Tiffany's boho styles at her vintage boutique www.kittenpawsvintage.com (Pictured: Tiffany Egbert)

ith a deadline quickly approaching I feel the anxiety well up inside me as I stare at a blank page. I have no words of encouragement, no wisdom, or catchy one liners that you will remember when you walk away. I'm frustrated. I'm tired. I'm even a little depressed. I see the standards that I don't live up to and it brings me down even more. Christians are supposed to be peaceful. We're to be poised, calm and collected. We're to be happy. Everything is piling up higher and higher. Bills. Laundry. Homework. Wedding planning. Christians are supposed to be on top of things. We're to get things done with excellence. We're to bring glory to God in all that we do while we look at all the blessings we have been given. This week alone I've missed phone calls, misplaced my phone more times than I would like to admit and forgotten to respond to text messages days at a time. I've had to cancel dinner plans and coffee dates. Christians are supposed to be available. We're to show Christ's love and at least call people back. Christians aren't supposed to make excuses. I am failing. I am weak. I have nothing to give. This has been my past week, my inner dialog and self condemnation. Yet when I set all of that aside, and asked the Lord to give me hope, He showed me in the smallest, most beautiful of ways.

I met up with a sweet friend this morning to hear about her past, a testimony of hurt and pain that no person should experience in their lifetime. The Lord had placed her on my heart for many months, and through prayer had me asking for things that I didn't fully understand. Before we meet up for our early morning coffee date I was repeatedly overwhelmed with anxiety and the feeling that I wasn't equipped for this meeting. I had no words to give her, no wisdom. Then the Lord spoke His truth to me through His word. "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV) Why am I trying to be the Christian that people expect me to be and not the woman that I know that I am? I am a daughter of the King. I am a sister, a friend, and a confidant. I am a student, a teacher, and evangelist.

I am a writer. And yes, it is true that I am weak. It is true that I have no words of encouragement and wisdom. The truth is I have the freedom of Christ through His life. death and resurrection, I have the power of the Holy Spirit, and I have the guidance of my Heavenly Father. There is nothing that my flesh can do or say that will change that. I don't need eloquent speech. I don't need words of wisdom. I don't need to pretend. I have Christ. and what I have I freely give. When I met with my friend I didn't need to pretend I was anything more than what I am. We had a beautiful morning sharing our stories and our love for Christ with each other. We laughed, and encouraged each other to keep taking steps of faith to follow after Christ and stop holding back by trying to be who others think we should be. Christians have bad days. We are weak. But God will do the work. Be encouraged dear friends. Stop performing. Stop trying to be the Christian that people are expecting you to be and be the child that you are. In your weakness God's power will shine. Don't give up. What thoughts have you been struggling with lately? What encouragement can be found in your weaknesses? ANGELICMAG.com

uman-trafficking is an issue we can't ignore or hope that it'll just go away on its own. You might read through this article, think to yourself, "Wow, human-trafficking is awful" but what can I do to make a difference? Proverbs 31:8 says to "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves" and one San Diego based organization in particular, Speak Up Revolution, is taking their stance to fight back against the evil of humantrafficking while encouraging others to rise up and make their stand as well. SUR is made up of a family of four, siblings Justin, Brittany and Shannon along with Shannon's husband Jeremiah. "We've all done mission trips overseas and we all wanted to do something for our community. One of the issues that we specifically felt the need to speak up for were those involved in human-trafficking. We've always been really close, the three of us and I got married and Jeremiah joined our little group. We're friends and it's just natural for us to do things together. We wanted to take a stand for those who couldn't speak up for themselves so we created Speak Up Revolution," said Shannon Whitten. Utilizing music, film and social media, SUR has embarked on creating change and they aren't afraid of declaring Jesus as their guide as they've set out fulfill their mission.

like film. We took one persons story for how this happens and we got our friends to participate to create a film. We released the film online and had all of our friends share it online. Through the film we wanted to show that yes, this situation is awful but we can make a difference," Justin Taylor says. When asked if someone really can make a difference towards the cause of human-trafficking, Shannon Whitten responded, "People said that civil rights slavery in "Since we do feel that proverbs 31:8 is what we were called to do, we definitely America wouldn't change." Brittany Taylor added, "Making the difference for even one do declare ourselves as a faith based person is worth fighting for." group," said Jeremiah Whitten. So what's the long term vision for Speak "Christ is our inspiration for Up Revolution? "We want to do feature films everything we do," Justin Taylor says. in theaters across the world. To show real When asked how they are bringing stories about real people," said Jeremiah change, Brittany Taylor replies, "We're Whitten. really about action. We want to couple "This is our passion and we believe the sky awareness with action and we don't want is the limit," Shannon Whitten says. to just leave the cause there but inspire others to take action. We had a six day Get involved with SUR social media campaign where we had six and watch their film "Oblivion" at days of people sharing how we can end www.speakuprevolution.com human-trafficking and that had a really great response." Creating their short film (Pictured: Shannon, Jeremiah, Brittany and Justin) "Oblivion" SUR aimed to bridge the gap between film and social media to spread awareness to humantrafficking and advocating others to get involved in the cause. "We had seen documentaries but there wasn't an actual short film that actually talked about sex-trafficking, we wanted to make a difference somehow. People like music, people

he very first relationship a woman will ever have is her relationship with God. Before she knew her parents, had her first boyfriend, got married or had children, it was God who breathed life into her and crafted her with the individual beauty and spirit that reflects His perfection. It was a woman who gave birth to God in the flesh and it was a woman who was the first to receive salvation in the Garden of Eden. The legacy of women who represent the direct lineage of God has been marked since the beginning of His word and will last until eternity. Kristi Brooks, 26, has been giving the responsiblity of being a leader of women at North Coast Calvary Chapel in Carlsbad, California, while also being given the responsibility for being a voice of women in this generation that we live in today. Q. Why Jesus? A. To realize that you're chosen by somebody and to realize that someone has made the ultimate sacrifice for you, and then on top of that the miraculous rising from the dead, I don't know it just captured my heart from a really young age.

Q. You're in a leadership position today for ministry, but where does your personal story really start? A. When I was high school I was super involved in my church. Some stuff went on and I ended up needing to step out of the

church. I kind of walked away from the church at that point but I remember telling the Lord, "I'm not leaving you, I just have to leave the church." Q. What advice would you give to a woman in particular who's been hurt by the church and is skeptical about coming back? A. We have this idea that the church is not sinners, but in reality that's not the case. I think once you have been burned by the church, if immediately you can't find redemption, the Lord will always redeem it. I think first and foremost you need to seek

the Lord, whether that's reading the Bible or putting yourself around others who are seeking Him. Q. So what made you come back to the church? A. Around the time I left church I began salsa dancing competitively. But eventually I felt this tug from God to come back and He told me to stop dancing. So immediately I stopped dancing and haven't since. I got involved at North Coast Calvary Chapel and one night the young adult pastor came up and asked me if I'd like to lead the young adult's women's ministry. Q. What are your goals with ministry? A. I think that there's things in my story that I'd love to share more as I go forward. The goal is for the Lord to use me to be able to share my story, which is a hard place and it's taken me a long time to get there because I don't want to share the story, but I think allowing the Lord to use it and allowing that to heal myself is the goal. Q. If you could ask Jesus one question, what would it be? A. When am I coming home. The idea of being with the Lord excites and amazes me. ANGELICMAG.com

"I STRIVE TO CREATE HIP-HOP THAT IS EXCELLENT LYRICALLY AND MUSICALLY, WHILE BEING AUTHENTIC, VULNERABLE, RESPONSIBLE AND HONEST."

Photo by Kristine Morgan

An open letter to whomever, If you’re flipping through this magazine, there’s a great chance you have a healthy appreciation for Fashion and Music. If you’re anything like me, your interest in fashion is completely overshadowed by your passion for music. You understand its power. You don’t know how your favorite song can rescue you from a horrible day, but you “get” it, and you LOVE it. You recognize it’s one of the greatest forms of selfexpression and an incredibly dynamic way to relate withand even “know”complete strangers. For me, music became even more real when I discovered I could create it. When people find out you “do music” they

I strive to create HipHop that is excellent lyrically and musically, while being authentic, vulnerable, responsible, and honest. I strive to make HipHop that you could play for your mother, and that you wouldn’t have to turn off if your kids walked into the room. Most importantly, I strive to achieve this without sacrificing depth or shying away from the real issues common to the human condition. This striving, and resulting creativity, comes from a very personal place; the realization of my complete and total imperfection. This realization is not just how I create music, but is the posture from which I live life. From this unique

igniting a yearning to discover it. I came upon that discovery of that “Perfect One” to be the God of The Bible experienced in a lifegiving relationship with His Son Jesus Christ and the “Perfect Thing” to be the love that is the defining characteristic of who He is. In this relationship that I find the cure to the numbness of life, and it’s how I interact with and love the world. It is in this relationship that I can celebrate my imperfection because the One who is perfect is perfecting me. This is the direction I’m coming from when creating/displaying my art. In

usually ask, “What type of music do you ‘do’?” When I tell people I am a progressive HipHop artist, most people’s preconceived notions rush in reducing their mild curiosity to a less interested “oh.” However, enough people have wondered past my initial response wanting to know exactly the style of HipHop I align with that it’s forced me to develop something more specific than “…well, it’s different than what you hear on the radio.” I wrestled with this classification war internally until I woke up one day and it was staring back at me in the mirror. I make Quality HipHop Your Mom Would Be Proud Of.

vantage point allows me to see that imperfection is so closely attached to our existence. The wealth and material possessions that define so many of us only end up being hollow distractions leaving us unfulfilled. The experiences we live for fade away to distant memories all too soon, and the relationships we cling to ultimately buckle under the weight of time. This underlying imperfection in the world and in my own life brings me to the conclusion that there must be Someone/Something who is “Perfect” (otherwise how would we know these things to be “imperfect?”) while

those moments you could say, “everything feels right.” Some call this “Purpose.” We are all engineered with such a purpose and the path to discovering it is a lifelong journey that begins with discovering the Designer and learning how you are designed. It was nice to meet you. If you do end up checking out my music I hope this letter serves as a helpful backdrop as to why I make the music I do.

Age: 29 gospellee.com Twitter: @gospellee

t was mid-afternoon in early August and I found myself wandering inside a local coffee shop in Leucadia, California, a small beach town that rests on the coast of north county San Diego. I was a stranger to this coffee shop but the allure of finding someplace quiet to work on my laptop enticed me to walk through the doors. Angelic was set to be released in September and the deadline to send the magazine off to print was glaring at me with each day that passed. I had seventy two hours left to complete my work; writing, editing and designing the layout of the magazine before the final deadline arrived. As my internal alarm was jabbing me at me for my procrastination, the fresh air and blue sky on this day helped ease my anxiety. Upon walking inside the coffee shop I ordered a cold green tea and sat outside in their patio seating to take in the air. On my way to my table I passed a girl tuning an acoustic guitar. In her hand she held a cigarette while bracing the neck of the guitar. My shyness made me apprehensive to ask but I mustered up the courage to say, "What kind of music do you play?" She responded. There was a friendliness about her and our common love of music struck up a conversation. She began to tell me in a few hours she'd be recording her demo in a studio for the first time. In a peculiar emotion, I felt this sudden pull to ask if she believed in God? But I tucked that quesion away and asked if she would play me one of the songs she'd be recording that evening. She obliged.

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER CHARBONNEAU

The guitar began to strum and her voice peered out. An acoustic authenticity of a singer songwriter was on display for my senses to grasp. She was talented, talented enough that she really could record albums and go on tour, do all of the stuff people dream about. Sitting just a few feet in front me, outside in the patio of a coffee shop by the beach, I knew God had a greater purpose for why I wandered inside of a coffee shop on this day. I finally did ask if she believed in God and asked if she would be interested in being featured in Angelic Magazine. She said yes. This is her story: "I took two guitar lessons when I was 10 and I didn't like how the teacher told me what to do so I stopped. I grew up in San Diego and moved to the Tampa area when I was thirteen and that's where I live today. I picked up playing guitar again last year for the first time and I would sing and my friends actually told me not to sing. They told me, you're tone deaf, you're pitch deaf and it kinda hurt my feelings and I thought, if I'm that bad, I could only get better. I started singing for a different crowd of people and they were really encouraging, so I don't know what happend but I guess my voice just got better. I never sang growing up, I never sang in the choir, I never sang in the shower, I never really liked to sing, just in church.

I believe in Jesus and I was born and raised Roman Catholic. Faith to me has kept my family together but I like meeting others and hearing their views. I love being a Catholic and being raised in the Catholic church. Going to church has grounded me and it's giving me an excuse to pray. In some of my songs I talk about boys, or myself or how I feel, but the person that's always there for me through what I create is God. My belief of Him has changed through the years but it's always there. I went to church with my grandma while visiting her in San Diego and I prayed to God and asked Him to help me live to my highest potential because I'm really confused and I don't know what to do in life. While visiting her I played an open mic and a guy who owns a recording studio heard me play and asked if I wanted to record. Regardless if I'm a Catholic or a nondenominational Christian, I believe God is answering my prayers. My view of God is if you put your faith out there, your faith will be answered. If you have faith, you have everything you need." Elizabeth Moyer Age: 21 Hometown: San Marcos, CA City Living: Tampa Bay, FL You can listen to Elizabeth's music at soundcloud.com/elizabeth-moyer

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BY ANGELIC EDITOR

I met Michael at a church in Tempe,

the love of developing a relationship with the kids is equally or more important than just teaching them. Developing friendships with the them, just showing them love. In a lot of ways that's been more transformative than actually teaching has been. Obviously, they need to understand and learn theology and doctrine, but I think that the real personal connection of, "Hey, we can live for Jesus, has been the coolest thing." Q. What are your personal goals with ministry? A. I want to plant a church. Be the teaching pastor. I love to teach, it's my passion. I teach youth twice a week and it's the best thing. I would love to start a church whenever God plans it. I just follow God and I think that's what He's called me to do, to faithfully minister the word of God. God's really been laying that on my heart.

Arizona called The Anthem in May of 2012. This church had a young feel to it with a hipster sort of vibe in their fashion. They were a crowd of 20 somethings in age who were radical for Jesus, who wanted to share Jesus and their tagline embodied exactly what they stood for, "Jesus for as many." My exposure to this church was brief but it left an imprint that still dwells inside of me today. Hillsong United wrote the lyrics "I see a generation rising up to take their place, with selfless faith" and I believe we are that generation. The Anthem Church, this crowd of 20 somethings with the hipster fashion who were radical for Jesus embodied the Christian subculture of who we are today. Being involved in the ministry of The Anthem Church as well as becoming the youth pastor at Calvary Chapel Maricopa, in Maricopa, Arizona. Michael Grigsby, 25, has a voice that is representing our Q. Statistics show that many pastors are generation to the world. walking away from ministry. Why do you think that is? Q. Why Jesus? A. I think there's just a lot of A. Personally, he just changed my life. discouragement. Most people have heard God just really showed me he loved the gospel and they've rejected it. I think me and he just changed my heart to a lot of times from what I've seen is, where I love people. pastors preach the gospel faithfully and a lot of people don't respond because Q. What's God revealed to you the most they've heard it before. I think it's by being a youth pastor? discouraging to pastors. A. There's a lot. The biggest thing is that

Q. A perception is that the church is sinless but you hear countless stories about pastors having affairs and falling from ministry. Why do you think sin is alive in our churches today? A. One, there is just sin in general. We're very hypocritical, we'll stand on the pulpit and talk about sin but not always acknowledge we're sinners. There isn't an emphasize on holyness and we're supposed to be different. Not isolate ourselves from the world, but isolate ourselves from sin. Especially among leadership, there's the feeling of that "I don't want people to know I'm living in sin, because then they won't folllow me. I don't want people to know who I really am because then they'll think less of me." Q. To someone on the fence with Jesus who hears about sin in the church, what would you say to them? A. I always say I don't care about a persons sin, because that's not the issue. Sin separates us from God but the best thing in the world is to be close to God. Q. So why do you continue to seek and live for Jesus? A. In college I started going to church and I just learned more about who Jesus was. I saw His loved expressed in other people. I saw an actual love of God and that just drew me to Him and I just gave up my life for Him.

BY ANGELIC EDITOR

remember sitting there not knowing what to expect. The atmosphere was alive and there was an excitement buzzing. You could feel the vibrant touch of fashion week shadowing over you. The color tones of the outdoor night had already been exposed but we had not yet seen what was to come. His name was on the program as I skimmed through the list of designers but he was a mere stranger in my sight. A still unknown to my path. Fashion began to appear on the runway. Models clothed, colored and styled for a moment in their life they'll most likely always remember. One by one every designer showed their collection with their best work on display for all to see. But in a flicker, something unexpected jolted our eyes. The entire crowd gasped. Everyone went silent. The excitment of the crowd was stung by awe. Were our eyes playing tricks on us? Was it a hocus pocus of imagination or was this designers gowns really that remarkable? Kenneth Barlis displayed his collection at Fashion Week San Diego 2012 and I will always remember sitting in the front row at fashion week, witnessing the beauty of couture gowns at its finest. Having won Fashion Week San Diego 2012, showing his collection internationally this past year and featuring the first Kenneth

Barlis Fashion Show on August 30th, 2013, Angelic sat down with Barlis to discover the backstory of the designer with the God given talent the entire fashion world will know for decades to come. Q. How did you get into fashion? A. I was raised by my family on a military base in the Phillipines. People there just dressed in camouflage, no colors, anything. Living in a third world country we didn't have any money for magazines, I didn't know any designers, didn't know anything about fashion at all. I moved to the US from the Phillipines when I was sixteen. I was actually going to medical school at UC San Diego but I didn't feel like that's what I should be doing. I felt really disconnected from it. Fashion became important to me so I thought I'd give it a try to design. Q. So when did you start designing? A. I'm 24 now and I entered my first competition three years ago. Prior to that I had never designed anything in my life. It was for Project Ethos and I won. After that my family saw that I had potential to do something with it so I stopped going to medical school and enrolled at FIDM. Q. Where does your creative inspiration come from?

A. I came from a society where there's nothing. No colors, no creativity, nothing. I just love details so when I start putting things together, it's just an art for me and I feel like I'm just playing. I really get inspired from how intricate a design is and it's really just my expression of certain things and how I want to show it. Everything comes from within and my imagination. Q. Where do you see your brand in the next five years? A. Within in five years I want establish my reputation more internationally. Just keep growing. Hopefully by then we can have a showroom in New York and LA. Q. The Jesus aspect of Angelic can scare people. Why didn't it scare you? A. I've been taking risks my whole entire career. I don't know how my other clients will take seeing me be a part of Angelic Magazine but if I don't get out of my comfort zone, I'll never know. I believe in the publication so I wanted to be a part of it.

www.KENNETHBARLIS.com Instagram: @kennethbarlisfashion San Diego, CA