Sometimes we just need a chance to RAVE. To RAVE of God’s goodness in our lives and others. Here’s where you get your chance. When you’ve got something that you want others to RAVE about with you post it here.
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Yesteday’s service was such a powerful demonstration of God’s people sharing their gifts to build up the Body of Christ. I want to rave about precious people of God coming forth and generously shaing their gifts and giving their hearts to impart strength and encouragement to the Body of Christ. Jason and Anjelica Madinas shared their testimony of God’s goodness in their lives. Their transparency and vulnerabilty touched my heart. Melissa Pack brought a gift God has given her. She told us that God is proud of us that His arm is around us as He is going to present us to the world. The pleasure and affirmation of our Father was evident in the message and in the words and testimonies shared. I sensed that everyone received the truth and received God’s smile upon our lives. There were tears of joy, people kneeling in awe and genuine worship flowing in and through the whole body. We are ready to be presented to the world. My heart was overflowing and continues to gush with joy and excitement as God continues to knit us together to touch others with His love. Feels so great to RAVE!!!!!!!
(Feb 4, 2008)
My heart is to see the body of Christ united in faith and love. Sunday was a great example of that, as we listened to Jason and Myssi I could not help but soak in the presence of God. Great idea, I hope it catches on.
(Feb 4, 2008)
I just want to rave about God’sfaithfulness. He has been showing us more of Himself. He has been teaching me more about loving him, and loving others. I can’t rave enough about his patience with us as a father, and how he gives such good gifts. I want to rave about my God, my husband, my kids, and all the inspiring people I get to walk with doing this Kingdom thang.
(Feb 6, 2008)
God provides all our needs!
Walter has been working at a new job since November 1st. He has been traveling about 90 miles round trip to and from work driving his paid for Ford Expedition. With the price of gas, our gas bill for him alone was over $200.00 per week! After a few weeks of watching the gas prices and gas bill rise, we began praying for a car. We were not looking for a new car, or even a car payment, but we had a certain price we could pay and specifically wanted a low mileage nice car. If you have ever shopped for a used car, you know that the lower the miles on a used car, the higher the price. As we looked in Atlanta the majority of cars have high miles due to the fact that everyone has to drive so far to get anywhere in Atlanta. My (Eileen) specific prayer to the Lord was that we needed to find a car that someone’s Grandma had driven just to the grocery store and had taken great car of the car. Walter had always wanted a Cadillac so I added that to the prayer. I also felt that we needed to look outside of Atlanta to find a car with low mileage. His mom lives in Greenville NC and you can get anywhere in Greenville in about 5 minutes so we asked her to keep an eye out for us. We continued to look and search the web for a car but we really wanted a nice car with low miles in our price range and we just weren’t finding one. They were either out of our price range or had to many miles on them.
About 2 weeks ago Walter’s mom called and said she was looking through the want ads in Greenville and had found Walter a car. The Lord delivered us a 2000 Cadillac Deville with only 19,000 miles on it and the price was the price that we had budgeted for. The people who were selling the car had inherited it due to the passing of an Aunt in Las Vegas and had just driven the car to NC from Las Vegas.
We purchased the car and had confirmation within 2 days that this was the Lord blessing us! When the person took our check to the bank and cashed it, the bank drafted our account twice for the amount of the check. By the time I noticed this Tuesday evening our account was severely overdrawn. Wednesday morning Walter was at the bank and the tellers could not explain to us how this could have happened but they promised to get everything taken care of. We know that the enemy was trying to come in and distract us from what God had done for us so that we would forget to give God the glory for bringing us the car.
So now we feel we have 2 testimonies from this situation – the great car and the testimony that what the enemy meant for harm, God can turn to good. We praise God for his provision of the car and the finances to pay for the car and His protection of our finances this past week, as we had to work with the bank to undo the mistakes. We rejoice in the blessings God has poured out on us!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008 – 08:30 PM
Well, last year in late March, I (Dee) was in a car accident and my car was totaled. Justin and I considered this a blessing, especially since I wasn’t hurt, because I was upside down in the car loan. They paid off the bulk of the loan and we were left with a very small amount to pay back. There was never the thought of going back to a dealership, we had to pay for something cash!
Since then I’ve been driving my grandma’s Crown Vic. (Yes, a cop car) It was a blessing that she was even able and willing to loan it to us. Anyway, right after Christmas, we got word through a friend of Justins that we could purchase a 95 Infiniti for $1800 from some people in Conyers. We thought it might be a little old, yet a good deal but never called. The price then went down to $1500 after the New Year and then $1000 just last week. We have no idea why the price kept getting lower since we never spoke with them but we could no longer hold back. The thought of having a smaller car didn’t really fit in with the family expansion plans; however at that price we knew it’d be worth it. So….
This Monday we got a nice 95 Infiniti that only needs $100 worth of work to it, excellent interior, good exterior and less than 200K miles! Praise God!!!
Friday, February 8, 2008 – 08:51 PM
For years we have been praying that God would work things together for John to be able to leave the engineering industry in order to be home more and have more time for the family. He was working over 70 hours a week plus spending time answering calls at home and filling out forms. There was not much time left for anything else.We also have prayed for 14 years that God would open up doors for us to have more time and resources to help other people in various ways. Two weeks before Christmas John lost his job. It was difficult because he was offered no severance pay. We had a small amount of money that John had in an investment account. Ever since he has been home his income has been more every week than it was at the company in which he was let go. God has been growing our inverstments. There have been several weeks where his earnings have doubled. Doors continue to open everywhere . These are miracle as we have had so many financial losses in the past 2 years. God is showing himself faithful each day to our family and bringing restoration in what we have lost. I will rave of God’s goodness forever in good times and bad. He is faithful. He is fair. He is NOT forgetful. He keeps His promises and I will trust Him always. Thank you Lord.
Saturday, February 9, 2008 – 08:26 AM
I was in an accident last week when my passenger side wheel went off the edge of the road. I lost control of the car as I swerved to miss a mailbox, careened towards a car in the oncoming lane, swerved to miss it and headed for an embankment on my side of the road. Swerving to miss the embankment, I was then screeching towards a second oncoming vehicle. Praise God I missed hitting it, but then found myself headed back to my side of the road, and over the embankment into a stand of trees. God Himself must have been standing there preventing me from hitting them. I came to a halt within inches of hitting another tree.
Prior to leaving the house that morning, before the accident, I had underlined these words in my Bible Study: “If we put our hope in what His Word says is true, we can pray with absolute expectation that our God is coming. He will do more than save the day. He will save His child.” Amen!
“How great is the love of the father that we should be called children of God!” (1John 3: 1)
Sunday, February 10, 2008 – 08:56 PM
Psalm 37:4
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
The greatest RAVE ever is that we serve an awesome God… and we get to be a part of the Kingdom advancing, and the privilege of seeing lives changed forever. There is so much to delight in about all of that, but as if that’s not enough, he cares about our desires, and in the way only he can, he gives them to us! We have seen this time and time again, with our spouse, with our kids, with salvations, etc. But to think that the God of the universe cares about dreams of all sizes is just so amazing. We have had a dream for 6 or 7 years that we have held in our heart that God has answered.
WE ARE OUT OF DEBT!!! Ah, the feeling! We went to a Dave Ramsey financial seminar about 6 years ago at the church, and really had a conviction to get rid of our credit cards, and work to get out of debt. This conviction was tested as we faced many financial challenges over the years, including loss of income and lots and lots of medical bills. But God has been faithful as we stayed plastic free, and he has provided time and time again even when things looked bleak. We finished paying off our credit cards last year, and in the middle of February we were able to pay off the rest of our medical bills!! This was one of the most freeing feelings ever!
To top it all off, we had always dreamed about going to Hawaii to celebrate when we got out of debt. When we did our taxes this year we thought we might have a little to go towards a special trip for our ten year anniversary this March, but didn’t think Hawaii would be an option. But God is so stinkin’ awesome with his timing. A good friend found us a rate at a 4 star resort in Oahu for $99 dollars a night, over two-thirds less than the regular price! And then we found $12 dollar a day car rental, but we still didn’t have the money to buy the flights. We had been saving sky miles for 5 years and had enough to cover our airfare. Then last spring, God told us to give them to two people who needed them. He said, “You take care of them, and I’ll take care of you.” We gave them away and didn’t think about it again until the rest of the trip details were done. We remembered what God had said… and guess what… he hooked us up with two free airline tickets! So, just to give the summary of our BFR (Big Fat Rave)… after 6 years we are out of debt, going on a trip to Oahu the day after our ten year anniversary for flights, car, and hotel under $600 for the both of us. Who is like our God? No-no-no-no-no-nobody! Here’s to God’s goodness, answered prayers, and the best Dream Deliverer I know!!!!
Monday, February 25, 2008 – 09:19 PM
Hello Church Family! We certainly miss you guys! It’s been a quick turn of events, but God has definitely given us something to rave about! We are all settled into Athens, and God provided us with our own home! As unexpected as the move was, buying a home wasn’t even on the radar, but through prayer and circumstance, God made it very apparent that this was his will for us. While the details surrounding the purchase may have been typical, we know undoubtedly God arranged it in such a way that we could only look to Him and say, “Thank you.” He is a good God!
Lately, we’ve been admiring the providence of God – what an incredible and comforting characteristic of Him. Every day, every month, every year, we all must make decisions, sometimes just kind of hoping that everything “works out,” and often forgetting about the providence of our Lord. As we’ve looked over the almost first year of our marriage, we can’t help but witness the incredible hand of God guiding, directing, and reigning in our lives. And it is encouraging indeed.
We miss you! We pray God’s blessing with you guys at CityLife. Change the city by the power of God!
Sunday, March 16, 2008 – 09:26 AM
Praise God! Jay and I have been doing the Dave Ramey money management course for 3 months now and as of today we have paid off 4 credit cards AND God fulfilled a lifedream of owning a horse with no debt incurred. I offered him cash and he threw in FREE boarding. He is cheaper than gas! Can I ride King to church? God is the most awesome partner for your finances!
Sunday, March 23, 2008 – 05:59 PM
About a month ago we received approval for our first matching grant for a ministry we want to start up for single parent families. God is so tenderhearted and knows when we start to get discouraged. The grant is a matching grant so we have to receive donations in 500 dollar increments before we get the grant. Today we had 800 dollars worth of furniture donated such as shelving. cabinets, desks, and a file cabinet in order that we may “set up” for strorage for food, clothes, and other needed items for single moms. Not only did God provide start up items but the foundation who is giving us the grant will match the value for every 500 dollars in donations we receive. So, to make a long story short, we will be receiving our first 500 in grant money due to the kiind family that donated the furniture!! Go to the Leaping Hearts blog for more of the story about the family who gave. http://www.leapinghearts.com .It will touch your hearts. Glory to the God most High!!!!!
Monday, April 14, 2008 – 02:33 PM
Last week we were in danger of our Gas and Electric being cut off. We hit a rough patch and simply could not pay all of our bills for the previous month. We did not panic but trusted God and His sovereignty in our finances. Literally, the day before we were to be cut off I got an email from an old friend who said she sent a gift to us just a few days earlier and to expect it in the mail!!
He is in control of everything! He will not forget His promises to you.
Thursday, April 17, 2008 – 10:37 AM
I am seeing more of Jesus than ever before. For his heart… his plans… his desire to see people come to know him. I just want to say that loving and living for god is the greatest adventure ever
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 – 10:55 AM
I just want to RAVE about what God might be up to in little ole’ Atlanta, GA.
I recently met one of your staff, Daniel Gilland, at an interest meeting he was hosting at Georgia State University where I currently attend. He was making an honest attempt to network with students on campus to support “Every Nation”. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I officially met him in person, and I soon became inspired by his vision for change and his desire to impact college campuses for Jesus Christ in the downtown Atlanta area. His vision was quite similar to mine. We immediately became good friends and I introduced him to another close friend of mine, Anthony Fisher. We all sort of had the same vibe as far as engaging downtown students, and we began dreaming of the possibilities.
That’s sort of where we left off… lol. I am excited about Daniel’s vision and I am glad to have the opportunity to partner with him and others to lose our natural-born minds for Christ in the Atlanta area. I look forward to what’s ahead.
So that’s pretty much my RAVE… for now.
A n t w o n D a v i s
Thought Catalyst | Conceptual Designer
Website: http://antwondavis.com
Monday, June 9, 2008 – 09:04 PM
A HOLY INTRUDER
Last night a holy intruder invaded private property and landed 200 hundred bucks on the wind sheild of our car. The trespasser was not heard or seen. However, we are more convinced there are angels amongst us and that God is taking care of His own. Signs of His presence are all around. Keep all doors to your heart unlocked and be on the look out for those holy invaders. Report any sightings to Rave of City Life Church
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 – 08:28 AM
Last week I had a conversation with a single mom who shared her testimony of how God provided for her and her children while her husband was unfaithful to her. She lived in a very nice home and had plenty of money. Then she found herself along with her 2 children in government housing with no money, no food and no furniture. She shared with me that God kept telling her not to box HIM up in how HE chose to provide for her. Now she works and is about to finish a college degree. Her testimony ispired me greatly. For some reason the comment she made about not boxing God up stuck with me. God will not be boxed up unless we cram Him in there…then we limit what He can do through our own mindsets and perspectives. Yikes how I have gone there too many times.
I also felt that in this season we must not box God up in how we will connect with people He wants us to touch with His love. Here is a small example that I want to RAVE ABOUT.
My childhood friend and neighbor emailed me a couple of weeks ago. I have not spoken with her in 10 years. We saw her 10 years ago when we attended her 18 month old daughter’s funeral. The little girl had drowned in a pond. This friend contacted me two weeks ago to tell me about a blog ring that someone we went to High School with had started, So, I ventured out and signed up. For the past two weeks I have regained connections with several of my dearest school friends. And even better than that, my brother and I are back in touch because of this ring. He and I have not had much of a relationship in years…..I will actually get to see him this weekend for the first time in about 4 years. I am going to hug him and tell him I am sorry that I have not done a good job keeping in touch. This is my one and only brother and we used to be very close .
Also, through this ring, I have been communicating constantly with a friend who openly shared with me that she has been in a homosexual relationship with someone for 19 years. I just told her that I still loved her and that I still consider her my friend even though I do not support her choice in life. She continues to email me and we are actually trying to work out getting together soon. I want to RAVE about the avenues God can move and work…..I never imagined I would be back in contact with my brother and some of my dearest girlfriends. I knew God made me an email queen for some redemptive reason. HAHA. My friends are seeing the way I am now….I am sharing my faith just through stories about my family……even just having a large family must be a message in itself as my old class mates have seen our pictures and keep asking , “HOW DO YOU DO IT?” I am excited about what God is doing and know there will be more on this to RAVE about….come on Ya’ll….someone else RAVE.
Monday, June 23, 2008 – 10:32 AM
RYM is one of many ministries that were birthed out of CLIC. We are focused to reach the public high school youth. This year we are pioneering innovative ways to reach each subgroup at Campbell High just right up the road.
This week we had a strategic meeting with the Assistant Principle in charge of campus ministries. She essentially gave us a wide open door to the students and has given us her endorsement to he teachers that can help us.
She said that if I had any volunteers who wanted to serve that they could come and serve in specific areas. This is an awesome work of God and an opportunity for men and women of God to step up and turn their hearts to the next generation!!
For details on how you can get involved at Campbell High please contact me.
770-286-0580
jeremy@relevantyouthministries.com
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 – 02:03 PM
Earlier this year I was praying with a few men at the church when God laid it on my heart to pray for laborers. RYM is a young ministry. Adding staff was not even on my radar. I was generally praying for laborers. But God sent for a young man in Niceville, FLA. Brian Gilland spent his first day at Campbell High yesterday. God even set him up with a young man whose life is frighteningly similar to Brian’s old life.
God’s heart is for the hearts of the fathers to turn to the hearts of the sons. So much so that he is calling people from far off to deliver his message. We at RYM are all in. His wind is at our backs, who’s with us?
Thursday, October 2, 2008 – 11:34 AM
When the school year started out I chose a curriculum for Stone’s first grade. After considering the cost, Jeremy and I agreed that it was high priority, but would need to wait for financial reasons. I was pretty bummed but made a big personal effort to trust God, and use the resources I had for Stone’s current schooling.
For an awesome month we trusted God, continually asking and praying for provision, and joyfully schooling with the simple materials we had.Then one day, I recieved a phone call from a friend. She was brimming with excitment that comes only from the Spirit, and shared with me that after a mistake by the curriculum ’s company, they provided her with a second, free, copy of the teachers manual which is the largest portion of the cost of the curriculum. She knew it was for me! And just like that God provided a way for us to recieve what we asked for.
Thursday, October 2, 2008 – 03:50 PM
Last weekend was amazing! It was so great to be together with people from different walks of life (students, athletes, families, youth) experiencing God’s presence and power. From Fusion to Sunday morning communion to Marked on Sunday night, God was speaking life to people, igniting hearts, changing lives and in general, being his wonderful, loving and powerful self among us. God is alive!!!
Friday, October 3, 2008 – 10:22 AM
Had a great time at MARKED this past Sunday night.
Check out the story and see pictures here:
http://www.danielgilland.com/danielgilland.com/Blog_2/Entries/2008/9/29_MARKED.html
Saturday, October 4, 2008 – 09:44 AM
Thank you for making it, at our first Straight Talk Life group
fellowship, October 18th.
We had a great time knowing each other and acknowledging the
importance of investing in friendship to make friends. It is important
that we sow the seed of friendship, water it and invest time in it so
the roots will grow strong and we will be able to reap the fruits of
our love and attention.
We also talked about how important it was to be ourselves and remind
those around us that we are not perfect but that God is perfecting us
and that we are open to talk with parents and friends without judging
them.
A great moment of this sharing time was to realize that we are put in
the world to be representatives of God’s Kingdom and for so we have an
impact on people’s lives. Our actions and the words we speak have a
broader impact than we can realize and that impact is not always
immediate.
Sunday, October 26, 2008 – 08:30 PM
We have been away from our City Life family for almost 7 weeks now. We miss you all very much. As I was reading Allana and Manuel’s post above, the point about letting go to gain is such a profound truth in our lives during this time. Most of our friendships were there with you all in the church. It was a rich 5 years for us of building relationally with people at City Life. We had great training seasons to learn and lead and to share in the life of others. Some of our most painful and most joyful moments were during our time in Atlanta. We miss and love everyone.
We have not found a new church home yet. However God is doing something very unique with us here. For years we ministered in the church…now we are on a different field. There are people coming to our door from different religions…..there are people we are spending time with who used to be in church but have been hurt by the church.
There is a sweet lady, for example, who helped me save 60% on my grocery bill last week by using coupons. She picks me up and takes me shopping with her!!! I hugged her and told her she was a God -send. Then she said, “It works both ways because for some reason I feel at peace around you,” Now this is all glory to God…nothing of my own. But I must rave and thank the Lord for beginning to show us part of our mission here. The Lord did not move us here for just a “job” per say….but for a mission to love the lost and to love ALL kinds of people. Some of the kindest people I have met in the past few weeks do not know God. But you know what? They will know Him….And they are so kind because they are made in His image with gifts and talents given by Him. Sorry this is so long..but you know I gotta Rave about my favorite subject!! Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Thank you church for praying for us and for keeping us close in your hearts. We pray for you continually and know that God is doing wonderous things among you.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 – 05:44 PM
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that this finds everyone at the church in good health and high spirit. I would like to thank the church community for being so welcoming. I truly believe that it was God that brought me to the church at a time of change in my life. The time I spent with at City Life re-energized my spirit and brought me closer to God. City Life is one of the primary reasons i miss Atlanta so much and cannot wait for the opportunity to fellowship with you.
I still remember words spoken to me even in casual conversations. Three that i recall often are:
“All that answers to the mystery of world lie in this book (the Bible)” – Pastor Sterling
“People know Jesus as their Savior but they do not know him as their Lord” – Torsha Walker
“God is awesome” – Daniel Gilland
I just want to thank God for His goodness and mercy, for His love and patience which endures forever. I thank God for He is in control and has showered goodness upon me in spite of me. He has shown me favor at my place of employment through Technical excellence awards recognitions as well as recognition for post hurricane Gustav recovery in the Chem Plant. Most importantly though, He has provided me with a church where I am able to achieve spiritual growth.