JESUS.
MUSIC.
FASHION.
ANGELIC PHOENIX
MARCH/APRIL 2016
JESUS. MUSIC. FASHION.
ANGELICMARCH/APRIL 2첫16
ORDER THIS ISSUE IN PRINT WWW.ANGELICMAG.COM/PHOENIX ORDER SINGLE ISSUES OR SUBSCRIBE YEARLY
LEX, KY
ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS ANGELICMAG.COM/ADVERTISE
REACH OUR READERS RATES STARTING AT $150
WE BUILD CUSTOM WOOD FURNITURE FROM RECLAIMED AND RECYCLED WOOD. "THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU..." EXODUS 14:14
EXODUS WOOD FURNITURE DESIGNED l CREATED l RESTORED EXODUSWOODFURNITURE.COM SHOP ONLINE
D
DELIVERY IN PHOENIX
EDITOR LETTER
B
Be a light.
e who God has called you to be for Him. Your story might not look like you thought it would, but it's a blessed story. One where God is walking with you and helping you write the pages. Be who He's asked you to be. Be someone recognized as His child. Phoenix, sunshine is your friend and step into His light this spring. You are blessed beyond measure, and be a light to our city.
-- Jesse Anaya
Faith
BY DANIEL PRIMERO MODEL: JESSI YANOVITCH LOCATION: PHOENIX
Compassion (To Suffer With) "SEE WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES WHEN YOU REALLY ALLOW COMPASSION TO FILL YOUR LIFE. "
B P F -@ S uffering with someone. Having compassion and sympathizing with someone is not the same thing. The root Y AIGE ERRARI
RAGAMUFFINWRITER
of compassion is compati. Suffering with people. It's not an "oh I am sorry you're going through this" text when you happen to think of that person. It is getting in the nitty gritty of life with that person and fighting with them and for them. I look at the people in my own life and look who I really suffer with. Who do I lay my life down for? Scripture brings us to the story in the Gospels where Jesus is traveling town to town visiting homes bringing crowds of people in his wake. There in this town there was a man who was paralyzed. His friends picked up his mat and carried him to Jesus. The crowd was as thick as dust. The friends could to get through. The friends carried their crippled buddy to the roof to the home that Jesus was in and TORE THROUGH THE ROOF. Just to get a glimpse of this man. The friends went through a roof to get their friend to just see Jesus. That is faith. That is dedication. And that is joining someone in the trenches of their life to merely assure them that they are loved and that they are not alone. We need two things in life. To know and be known. So when those around us are suffering, they want to be known. They want to know that there is someone willing to go to battle with them. Someone who is willing to get down to their level and not just say some sappy thing that isn't really going to do any good. People need to hurt together. Cry together. Laugh together. Process together. It is good for the soul. Someone to be in the thick and the thin. Someone to suffer with them. That is true compassion. I experienced the embodiment of compassion with the appropriately named, compassion International, as I journeyed to one of their many sites around the world to help release children from poverty in Jesus' name. This trip pretty much turned my understanding of poverty into a whole new dimension. It’s not that I was oblivious to the realities of poverty, however pictures don't give you any scope.
Numbers past a certain a point become mute. So instead of seeing a home that was build of sticks and bricks in a 4x6 photograph. I got to duck through the shrunken doorway. Take two steps to the left and hit the side of the house and if I took a few more steps forward I would be in the "bedroom" which was a hutch that held clothing and a hammock that stretched the long of the room. That was the scope of the house. There was nothing more. Nothing left to the Imagination. There was nothing in my mind where I could make the assumption that behind the photographer was a huge empty space that the kids could play in. There were no assumptions. Just the reality of poverty. These churches that compassion programs run through in these communities, come alongside these families and children through the struggles of life, through the suffering, and makes sure that they are not alone. These families know that their church is there for them. That the staff is there for holistic support and care. THAT is what true compassion is. I have one question for you, how are you displaying compassion in your faith communities? Your friendships? Your families? Because I'm going to be honest with you for a moment here, after getting a slap of harsh reality I am realizing that I grumble and pout when it comes to caring about my communities....about my most dear relationships. Some of them are easy. The relationships that can give back to me are easy to care for. But the ones that are not so good, or the ones that are more difficult or ugly, or hard, or take more effort....those aren't done with a happy heart (at least for me). My prayer and hope is that this challenges you. I pray over these articles because each word has a bit of my soul poured into it. I pray that this convicts your heart to reach out to your neighbors and communities and see what the Holy Spirit does when you really allow compassion to fill your life.
Have your way, Yahweh. "IT IS NO SECRET THAT GOD WILL HAVE HIS WAY, WHETHER WE DECLARE IT OR NOT. HE WILL CARRY OUT HIS WILL . NO MATTER WHAT I MUST GIVE UP, WHAT HE TAKES AWAY OR WHAT I MAY BE CALLED TO DO, I FEAR NOTHING BUT BEING SEPARATED FROM MY MAKER. "
W
B Y RHEA S TARNS ould you agree that the punchline of a good story is only funny in hindsight? Surely you, like me, have gotten yourself into some crazy situations and laughed about them when they were safely in the past. However, sometimes the craziness doesn’t stay behind us, it continues to resurface and all we can do is try not to drown. (Hopefully, I’m not alone in this.) Is it true that we could be our own worst enemies? I think so. This bothers me because Satan gets to rest easy when it’s me against myself, and you against yourself. Surely, surely there are greater battles to fight than those against mediocre distractions and self-destruction. ‘But me, I’m not giving up. I’m sticking around to see what God will do. I’m waiting for God to make things right. I’m counting on God to listen to me.’ From the deepest parts of my heart I scream, “FATHER! Can you hear me?!” A moment later my soul more quietly pleas for answers to life’s biggest questions, and for forgiveness and direction. I know you’ve been here too. Some of us dare to come often. More than anything I find myself begging the Lord to search my heart, desperately hoping that if He were to find anything good inside of me that He would not give up yet, “Lord, don’t let me go.” ‘I’m down, but I’m not out. I’m sitting in the dark right now, but God is my light… He’ll turn on the lights and show me his ways. I’ll see the whole picture and how right he is.’ It is no secret that God will have His way, whether we declare it or not. He will carry out His will. No matter what I must give up, what He takes away or what I may be called to do, I fear nothing but being separated from my Maker. In the absence of light, we blanket ourselves with fear, self-doubt, confusion, guilt, and much worse. But this isn’t us, we weren’t made for this! We were designed for an abundant and purposeful life. Can you feel that? Something has shifted. Winter is gone and Spring has come. My heart is overjoyed! That sting of what is gone, and the relief of a weight that has been lifted is so freeing. “Oh, that will be a day! A day for rebuilding your city, a day for stretching your arms, spreading your wings!” Micah 7 Although we will innately continue to rise and fall until His Kingdom comes, I will continually say, “Have your way, Yahweh.”
MARISSA RHAM MODEL TESTIMONY. PHOENIX.
IGod.wasMyimmensely blessed to grow up in a home where I was taught about the love and grace of parents encouraged me to go to church, sent me to a christian school, and paid my way through many mission trips and christian camps. They displayed God's love to me by their support and through their discipline when needed to help steer me down the right path. Despite all of these things, it wasn't until I was 16 that I fully understood what it meant to have a relationship with God and I accepted him into my heart and life. A verse that I have carried with me since I first accepted Jesus into my heart is 1 John 4:8, "Those who do not love, do not know God for God is love." I try to live my life by this verse, loving others as God loves me.
P H O T O G R A P H E R H A I R M O D E L
/ :
M A K E U P
: :
M A R I S S A
L O C A T I O N
:
B R E E
W R I G H T
V I C T O R I A R A H M
P H O E N I X
M C R O Y