In the spirit of Valentine’s, at WitnessLA.org we’re featuring the stories and testimonies on what God has shown Christians about singleness, relationships, and love all the days leading up to Feb. 14th. Today, our Editor Dan shares how God is faithful in keeping His promise to make marriage a blessed union.
Marriage isn’t easy. It’s no wonder that when we look around at our peers in our late 20’s and even mid 30’s, it’s rare to find people who are actually married. I wasn’t a young buck by the time I tied the knot - one month from my 30th birthday, and yet, when people find out that I’m married, it’s shocking and almost scandalous to most people that I would do the deed “at such a young age.” Some people are in such disbelief when they’re around Rachel and I that they keep referring to me as her boyfriend, even after being corrected many times.
Now that could just be my youthful charm and good looks (*wink*), but more likely it’s a symptom of how we view marriage nowadays and the fact that to most people, marriage just isn’t worth the work.
Our friend, Micheal, recently learned the joy of giving with a generous heart and witnessed God’s riches that poured in because of his obedience.Micheal’s message is one that many of us, in this economy, can relate to: If you don’t have much material wealth in this world and are struggling to stay afloat, give generously. You will be amazed by God’s ability and willingness to multiply our limited resources into something magnificent!
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” - Malachi 3:10
This is a testimony to this verse. These past 2 months God has been teaching me about money. I remember being in a car with my small group leader and he was rebuking me saying, “It’s not that God doesn’t want to give you money, it’s just that you’re not ready for it yet. If you get money, God knows you will spend it on things you probably shouldn’t.”
Our friend Andy shares an amazing story about God’s incredible provision - when he took a chance and followed the dream God had put on his heart, all of the finances for the project were miraculously covered by someone he had just met.
Sometimes, the big huge game-changing miracle comes in a tiny little gift of love. Our Editor Dan shares his story.
It’s amazing all the little ways God shows how He loves us and how He is there with us. A few weeks ago, the WitnessLA team had its first ever “Dinner Social” for all the different Editors, Voices, team members, volunteers and contributors to meet each other in person for the first time. Rachel and I had decided to host the event at our house in Silver Lake, but really didn’t know what to expect and how it would turn out. We had been praying for God to show up in a big and dramatic way, but the biggest way He ended up showing up was in the smallest of little details.
There is no one more romantic than God. A few months ago, our Editor Dan wanted to propose to his girlfriend Rachel (the founder of WitnessHK). He didn’t know how he would do it, but he prayed that the Creator of all romance would give him ideas. God did even better - He made it perfect.
In March, Rachel visited Dan in LA for the second time. God had just blessed Dan with a new job, so he had a week off before the new job was going to start.
As far as Rachel knew, the plan was just to drive up to San Francisco from LA to meet Dan’s family.
Does your church need a wake up call? Our friend Stephen shares an inspiring story of God bringing the Holy Spirit back to a church that was just going through the motions.
I have been attending a church for the past 5 Sundays and it’s the kind of place where it’s hard to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit at all. They come sing their hymns, listen to the sermon and say their goodbyes and church is over. The members are mostly in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. The reason I’ve been going is because a Korean church rents this place and the Korean church is also pretty much Holy Spirit-less.
One day, the Father told me to keep attending and there will be a chance to pray for people from both services and they will get healed and this will be the sparkplug to invite the Holy Spirit to come…[click “Read More” below to continue]
God remembers those we have forgotten. Will you follow when He calls you to love the unlovable? Our friend Arielle came all the way from Singapore to be a missionary here in downtown LA’s Skid Row and shares an amazing testimony of healing and love in a place we so often ignore.
I was a volunteer with a church group that hits Skid Row regularly. We feed them, befriend them, pray with them & simply make ourselves available for God to touch them.
On a typical morning on 27th May 2011, when we were walking around telling people about free food, my friends spotted a lady (let’s call her T) limping along the streets. T was knocked down by a car a month ago & broke her right knee. Her surgery was in fact due the next day but was still open to us praying for her…[click “Read More” below to continue]
Have you ever felt like God was speaking to you? Our Editor Dan shares a story of how finding the perfect verse at the perfect time increased his intimacy with the Lord.
A few weeks ago God totally bailed me out. The leader of our house church had asked me to prepare a message for a special Good Friday event we were hosting at my house. I was meaning to spend time in prayer and in the Word to find the perfect lesson plan. But as often happens, I got caught up in all the worldly details of our event. I cleaned the house, bought chairs for everyone to sit, coordinated food for the night, emailed people to attend, but by the time 6:30 rolled around, I was panicked. It was only an hour before we were scheduled to start - and I had no message prepared whatsoever. So I went upstairs and started to pray…[click “Read More” below to continue]
I recently moved from Marina Del Rey to Silver Lake, and I really love it out here. I love it so much that I’ve even been bragging to friends recently that there isn’t really much I miss about the West Side. There’s less traffic out here, the neighbors here actually want to meet you and say hello, and everything is so much cheaper. The reservoir is beautiful to walk around, and there’s so many neighborhoods nearby to explore. But if there’s one thing I miss about the West Side, more than the beach, more than the weather, more than anything, it’s Bay Cities Italian Deli.
Now before you laugh, anyone who’s eaten there knows that a sandwich from Bay Cities isn’t just a sandwich, it isn’t just an institution, it’s a dream fulfilled. Which is why when I found myself all the way out in Santa Monica on Saturday afternoon, I just had to - no needed to - get a sandwich from Bay Cities.
