Drawing Heaven
Would you be able to draw a portrait of someone you have never seen or heard of? Akiane Kramarik, a 15 year old untaught art prodigy and daughter of former atheists, shares her dreams of Jesus and heaven through art.
The Miracle on HWY 6
The incredible true story from the people who saw two miraculous recues after a fiery head-on collision on a rainy Texas highway.
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Psalm 9:9-12 (NKJV)
You Shall Not Be Broken
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.
[click “Read More” below to continue]
You Will Not Have Enough Room For It
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.”
[Click “Read More” to Continue]
That night we went to a workshop on money. There, I learned about generosity. We should give in 3 ways: One, tithe. Two, give until you ‘see the whites of their eyes’, which means give so generously until you can see their eyes open wide in surprise. Three, royalty giving. In the same way there was this queen in the Old Testament who brought gifts to King Solomon, we should bring gifts to those we visit, even if they are rich. It’s not so much the gift, but more about knowing that you thought about them and went out and took the time to bring them something. We are royalty. We are sons of the King, princes and princesses. Giving should be a part of who we are.
That night, I went home and immediately tithed for all my projects. I later also attended a GBS prayer meeting, where they prayed for those who needed financial help. A week later, I received 8 projects within about 3 days. (I’m a motion graphics freelancer and normally I only get like 2 projects in one month). A week later, I tithed again, donated some money to the organization “Food for the Poor,” and also gave my roommate, who found out that the new job he got was for a scam artist and ran away with his money, $100. That same day, I received a call and got asked to do a video for KOLLABORATION. Simultaneously, my church amazingly also started a 2 week series on money and giving. At our small groups, our leader challenged us to give to whoever asked of us this month. That week, I received mail from 2 organizations, Food for the Poor and Holtz International, asking for donations. I gave to them and tithed again. A couple days later, I received 3 more projects: One for the KPOP MASTERS concert at MGM in Vegas, and another to make background graphics for the new KIA cars when they are showcased at the national auto shows around the US. These are some of the biggest projects I’ve ever received.
This is NOT a prosperity gospel testimony. It is not about seeking after money. What it is about is the following: If you seek after God, He will take care of you. If you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your hearts. (Psalm 37:4). I’ve received a lot of projects. But these projects don’t give me the same kind of joy as when I’m praying or when I’m in the presence of God. That is TRUE JOY and no amount of amazing projects, fame, or money can compare! Aren’t you thankful that there is someone out there who doesn’t care about how much money you make, or what you look like, or how many relationships you’ve been in, but cares for what matters most: our character? He cares for our soul. It is not that He doesn’t want to fix your financial life, but rather that He wants to first fix your heart. My pastor from my home church in Illinois would always say: God is always looking for ANY excuse to bless you! It’s not that He doesn’t have enough blessings for us, it’s that we don’t have enough room in our hearts to receive the blessings. Father, increase the bowls of our hearts so that we may take more of you in!
Lastly, for those who are in need of financial help, I wrote this for myself. Maybe it can help you. Open up your bank account and look at how much money you have. This number could be $50 or it could be $50 million. But let me tell you some truth. That number you are staring at is NOT a measure of how much God loves you and it is NOT a measure of how much God will take care of you. You already KNOW how much God loves you. You know how much God will provide for you and how many resources He has. That number, whether it be $50 or $50 million, is problematic. It’s far too small compared to how much God loves you and how much you ALREADY have in Jesus.
Seek the Lord first and He will give you what you need. And for those who are rich, which I argue is anyone living in America, let’s learn to be generous. God doesn’t give you more money to increase your standard of living, but to increase your standard of giving. And how could we not give!? The more we give, the more God has promised to give back to us!
Please Don’t Stop the Music
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.
[click “Read More” below to continue]
Moving Heavens and Earth
Are you bold in what you pray for? Recently, I’ve become absolutely convinced that God will move Heavens and Earth out of love for us if we just ask. That He can - and will - do anything to show you His love, even change the weather.
Now before you strike me as some kind of radical or crazy person, Jesus himself said “With man this impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
I just got married on September 18th. It was a Sunday. For three or four days before the wedding, I woke up each day to dark grey overcast skies. I checked the weather each day, hopeful there would somehow be sun for the biggest day of our lives…[click “Read More” below to continue]
My $150 Investment
Our brother SMC recently discovered how deep a relationship with God can be. It is more than just going to church regularly and being a “good citizen”. Read about how God has revealed Himself to him, and how his personal relationship with Christ has flourished.
A few weeks ago, our pastor asked for an offering to help out with buying sound equipment for our praise and worship team. I felt led to contribute a certain amount even before I attended the prayer meeting. It was an amount that hurt my wallet, as I often have more money going out than in to pay for debts and living costs. The next day, I made the biggest sale in our company. The profits doubled what I gave in 20 minutes. This incident reminded me of my first meaningful offering, when I learned that our God is a God of miracles and He is always faithful to us.
[Click “Read More” below to continue]
He Knows Best
He Knows Best- this is a story about how God revealed the true meaning of His Mission on a mission trip to a place where no one speaks of Him.
Have you ever heard of that saying,
“If you want to make God laugh, you tell him your plans”?
Well, this summer I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Asia to share God’s love with some amazing people. For security reasons, I cannot disclose the name of the country, but basically, our ministry worked in a restaurant with a bunch of people who were either new believers or had absolutely no idea who Christ was. This restaurant partnered up with a non-profit organization and their entire ministry is about reaching out to all their workers. I know what you’re thinking, how is that intentional right? I was thinking the exact same thing and the exact words going through mind was: What did I sign up for?
It was definitely tense the first few weeks being there. I had no idea how I was going to execute sharing the gospel, especially because evangelizing was illegal and communication was a problem because I hardly spoke the language. There I was, working in a restaurant with strangers and I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but God knew exactly why He brought me there and what He wanted to reveal to me.
Click “Read More” for the full story
Broken Knee Healed on Skid Row
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]
Metallic Miracle
My name is Lewis, and in 1996, my dad and I were involved in a very bad car accident in Monaco that left my left ankle totally shattered. I had to undergo 6 hours of reconstructive surgery with a metal plate and 6 screws. When I returned to the U.S., I began to suffer from ankle pains and I went to see a specialist.
[Click “Read More” below to continue]
The doctor explained to me that the metal used in surgical procedures is “non-ferrous”, which prevents rusting and is not magnetic. At that time, I was unaware that the hospital in Monaco used a metal that was, for lack of a better term, “way old school.” It was slowly starting to rust inside my body. When it became apparent to me what had happened, much time had gone by and I was left with an expired medical insurance policy. Many doctors have told me that I needed to have the metal surgically removed. Failure to do so would be dangerous to my health and it may also cause some abnormal growth to my left leg, resulting in the left leg being shorter or longer than the right leg.
To make a long story short, one day I was swimming with my friend Andy, and I told him about how I often get a pain in my left leg. I then began telling him the whole story of how it all happened. He said “let me just pray for it, so that God may dissolve the metal, and you won’t need surgery.” I was stunned by his response, but I let him do it anyway. After the prayer, I felt this weird heat sensation on my ankle, and I even saw my left leg grow out about a whole inch!! I was convinced that I was healed.
This experience was put to the test when I walked through a metal detector because my “old school terminator foot” used to always set them off. I was coming back from San Francisco with Andy that weekend. When I got to the metal dectector at the terminal, I walked through it. For the first time since I had the procedure done (and I have flown over 150 times since then), my ankle did not set off the alarm, which only means one thing - God has restored my body to its natural state, metal free!!!
I share this story not because it is just another crazy story. I share it because I have always been skeptical about the power of God. Sure, He could do everything, but probably not things like these. Well, I guess He showed me the extent that one can do in His name! So hold on to your faith in the healing power of God, and know that He is always mighty to save!
