A place where the teaching style meets the needs of the
DYSLEXIC LEARNER Please call the office of Admission to schedule a tour. 678.756.8897
Our mission at GRACEPOINT School is to equip dyslexic students with the skills needed to develop into independent and confident learners, through sequential, systematic and multisensory instruction. Our goal is to instill in each child a lifelong desire for growing in wisdom and gaining knowledge of the Lord so that each may fulfill God’s purposes and bring glory to Him.
NEW LOCATION! 4
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570 Piedmont Road 678.709.6634 Marietta, GA 30066 gracepointschool.org
CONTENTS 10 COVER | ATLANTAFEST June 16th-18th is the 30th Anniversary of the Music Festival.
14 GOODLIFE TRAVEL Visit Callaway Gardens for the Perfect Recipe for Family Fun this Summer.
6 LOCAL EVENTS Find Upcoming Events Near You.
16 GUARANTEED FAILURE How Fear is Holding You Back from Accomplishing Your Dreams.
Publisher
Kristen Bland Damien Parodi Managing Editor Gabriel Bland Editor
Autumn Burr 8 GRADUATION The Blessing and Challenge of Graduation.
17 GOODLIFE RECIPES Try this Popular Southern Appetizer.
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info@goodlifemagazine.org 770.656.4400
12 TEXTING AND DRIVING Staged Accident Sends Message Home for Teens.
18 MEMORIAL DAY How Remembering the Past is Key to the Future.
Creative Director Damien Parodi
Graphic Designer Matthew Button
Media Assistant
Takkrid Deguzman
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COVER CREDITS GOODlife Magazine features TobyMac headlining for ATLANTAFEST who is celebrating their 30th anniversary. For the full story see page 10.
GOODlife Magazine is a monthly publication distributed throughout Atlanta and Metro Atlanta. Entire contents, including design elements and logos, are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any media without the express written consent of the publisher. GOODlife Magazine, LLC reserves the right to edit or reject any editorial or advertising content. Advertisers assume liability for content of all advertisements. All information herein has been checked for accuracy to the best of our ability. Not responsible for deletions, omissions, errors and or inaccuracies. 2016 GOODlife Magazine, LLC. All rights reserved.
Food Truck Funday - May 1st, 11:00am-2:30pm Due West United Methodist Church Third annual “Food Truck Funday” on Sunday, May 1st. It’s an event designed to bring people together in the community with food truck vendors, live music of the 70s, 80s, 90s, inflatables, face painting, and *this year* a classic car show. We believe it’s a creative way of reaching out to the community. Night of Prayer - May 5, 7:00pm & 8:30pm Mount Paran North, 1700 Allgood Rd NE, Marietta, GA 30062 Smoke on the Lake Festival - May 6 & 7 The annual Smoke on the Lake backyard barbecue festival takes place at Cauble Park on Lake Acworth. Taste of East Cobb Enjoy some music, food and fun at the annual Taste of East Cobb on Saturday, May 7 from 11 am to 5 pm at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. The event features delicious dishes from the some of the most popular restaurants in the area. While there, you can also enjoy great live entertainment, the Kid’s Zone with giant inflatables and hands-on activities, unique products from local vendors, and a silent auction. Swift-Cantrell Classic 5K - May 7, 7:30 am, Downtown Kennesaw, Outdoor Movie – Inside Out, Swift-Cantrell Park, May 7, 6:00 pm It doesn’t get much better than FREE, family-friendly movies in the park! Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out (rated PG) will be projected onto a giant inflatable screen after sundown. Arrive at 6 p.m. for pre-movie entertainment, giveaways and outdoor fun. For your comfort, bring a blanket or low-back chairs. The 26th annual Marietta Greek Festival - May 13-15 takes place at the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church. The event celebrates Greek traditions, culture and delicious Greek food. Backyard Campout - May 21 at 5pm to May 22 at 9am Event is at Swift-Cantrell Park. Enjoy camping under the night sky, with backyard games, field activities, discovery stations and campfire entertainment featuring professional storytelling, stargazing and s’mores. The registration fee is $20 for a 10’ x 10’ camp site. Advance registration is required. Participants will need to bring their own tent. One tent is allowed per camp site. Dinner and breakfast provided. 6
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Mount Paran North - B.J. Moffett Memorial Golf Classic, The Fairways of Canton Golf Club, Monday, May 23, 9:00am The Senior Adults of Mount Paran North host this annual event, and the proceeds help reach out to senior adults in our church family as well as the Canton and Marietta areas. Contact Lynette at 678-2853213 or Lynette@mtparan.com for more information. Riverstone Night of Healing Prayer - May 26, 7:00 to 8:30 pm 2005 Stilesboro Rd, Kennesaw, GA 30152 Memorial Day Ceremony - May 30, noon The National Memorial Day Association of Georgia is hosting this event at the Marietta National Cemetary, which honors our Veterans, both past and present, who served as well as those who gave their life for our country’s freedom. The ceremony features patriotic music, posting of the colors, prayers, a gun salute, as well as inspiring speakers. All Veterans as well as the general public are invited to attend. NorthStar Kidz Adventure Night – June 3, 6pm - 8:30pm As we go through Survival Mode in life, we need more than just any type of sword and bow. Kids, Kindergarten through 5th grade, will learn to build a life on Christ that not even the meanest Creeper can destroy!
VBS
Mount Paran North
Piedmont Church
Roswell Street Baptist Church
1700 Allgood Road Marietta, GA 30062
570 Piedmont Rd, Marietta, GA 30066
774 Roswell St, Marietta, GA 30060
June 13-17
9:00am-noon $30 per child For ages 3Â (by June 1), through kindergarten graduates Aftercare is available
770.578.9801
mtparan.com
June 6-10 9:00am-noon
770.422.2566
piedmontchurch.tv
June 6-12 8:45am-noon
770.424.9800
roswellstreet.com may 2016
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The Blessing & Challenge of Graduation by Alex Chediak
Choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15) High school graduation is a rite of passage unlike any other. You move from being treated like a child (legally) to being counted an adult, both in society and in any academic setting you might enter. Colleges aren’t even allowed to discuss your grades with your parents apart from your consent. Childhood is over. Adulthood beckons. How should you respond to the blessing and challenge? 1. Own Your Faith. If you come from a Christian home, you have benefited tremendously from a host of supportive circumstances (household rules, numerous protections, church life). Testing awaits as you enter the world. It won’t be enough to ride the coattails of your parents’ faith. If you’re not sure about Christianity, now is the time to settle the matter (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Christianity is a faith unlike any other because it’s based on historical events that were verifiable to thousands of people in Christ’s day (1 Corinthians 15:3–6, 12–14) — some of whom died for what they would have known to be false, had it been false. If you have doubts, ask away. The existence of God, the reliability of the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus being the only way to God — there is a wealth of material which addresses these and other questions. But do you want to base your life on Jesus Christ? You’ll soon encounter new opportunities to misuse God’s good gifts in ways that seem alluring — that seem to offer immediate pleasure. Will you believe the lie that God is a cosmic killjoy, out to rob you from experiencing the good things of life (Genesis 3:6)? Or will you trust that the One who made you knows best, that his rules are an expression of his love, and that his ways lead to your greatest happiness (Psalm 16:11)?
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2. Own Your Relationships. The Christian faith is lived out in community. So you’ll need to find a good church. Somewhere you can worship, learn, grow, and serve. Somewhere you can form friendships and where you can be a friend. Look at a few church websites before you leave home. Check out their beliefs, listen to their sermons, and be aware of their ministries. Make church attendance a priority early. It’s a harder habit to form later. At college, the easiest friendships aren’t always the best. To become wise, you need to walk (or do life) with the wise (Proverbs 13:20). Look for others who share your commitment to the things of God and faithfully invest in them. Relational evangelism is worth pursuing, especially at college, but make sure you also nurture friendships that strengthen your faith (Proverbs 27:17). We’re commanded to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16) — which presupposes we are salt and light. To make a difference in the world we must be different than the world. Holiness in lifestyle, combined with a gracious demeanor, provide a winsome alternative to the wasteland of hedonism and materialism that are rampant on college campuses and youth culture in general. 3. Own Your Decisions. Assessing situations, weighing alternatives, and thinking critically are like using muscles. Flabbiness comes from disuse; strength comes through practice. The next few years are full of choices — which college (or trade) to pursue, what to study, how to pay for it, and more. It might be nice if God spoke with an audible voice at each crossroads, but that’s not been my experience. We should pray (James 1:5). We should seek counsel from trustworthy people who know us (Proverbs 15:22). We should consider where we’ve been successful and what activities we enjoy, as these point to where, over time, we might be most useful in this world for the good of others and the glory of God. Panicked that you’ll miss God’s will? God wants us to follow him more than we do. His moral will is revealed in the Bible. His sovereign will is revealed as we live it. So make the best decisions you can based on sound judgment, accept the consequences, learn from any missteps, and trust God to shower you with mercy and goodness (Psalm 23:6). With God, no path is without difficulty and no path is without blessing.
Congratulations on Your Graduation. Godspeed in the Days Ahead. Grace be with You to the End. may 2016
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and better than ever !! The oldest and largest Christian music festival in the South is back, and right in our backyard! Summer 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of AtlantaFest – and it’s returning with plans and an artist line-up that are bigger and better than ever before! The threeday festival features top names in the Christian music industry, this year including TobyMac, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, Tenth Avenue North, Natalie Grant, and a long list of others that will make this year’s event the biggest yet. Founded in 1986, AtlantaFest was one of the first large-scale Christian music festivals in the
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country. Since then, it has grown into a frontrunner in the industry, paving the way for live Christian entertainment and earning its title as “THE Christian Music Festival.” AtlantaFest is returning this year under new ownership by Dr. Chris Leader, founder of Ignite Outreach and President of Food Aid International, and Teresa Ferraro, Director of Promotions and Social Media for The Q99.7. Dr. Leader has worked in ministry and international missions for over 10 years; Ferraro has served in Christian radio for years, working to help launch artists and to connect believers to positive, encouraging music.
Given his experience and background, Dr. Leader is excited to be grafting missions into the DNA of the festival. “When it’s all said and done, our goal for AtlantaFest is simple: to equip, encourage, and empower people with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Leader. Festival attendees will be packing 100,000 meals for orphans in Haiti with Food Aid International, sponsoring orphanages through Hopegivers International, and hosting a 5k to raise support for Whole Hearts, Matt Hammitt’s (Sanctus Real) foundation to raise awareness for child heart disorders. Ferraro, whose life has been dramatically
impacted by Christian music, seeks to see thousands of lives impacted in the same way. The three-day festival will be hosted at Strong Rock Christian School just south of Atlanta in Locust Grove and will feature 3 concert stages! Strong Rock is an impressive property, boasting 138 acres of land about 30 miles south of the city. The property includes a state-of-the-art baseball complex, extensive parking (including spots for RV’s), concessions, several well-kept practice fields, a fullscale gymnasium complex, a football stadium with a large main stage capacity, and yes, plenty of room for camping!
When asked about the venue, Dr. Leader said, “When I visited the property, I was genuinely in awe, shocked by how blessed we are to be able to work with Strong Rock. A new venue was something we were going to need to put serious time and thought into, but it became clear that it was something for which God had already orchestrated a plan.” AtlantaFest is gearing up to yet again be a voice of hope throughout the Southeast and across the nation. Maintaining its signature date in early June, the festival is scheduled June 16-18, 2016.
Purchase the following ticket options at
atlantafest.com/tickets General Admission tickets for the 3-day Festival Group rates for 10+ tickets One day pass for Thursday One day pass for Friday One day pass for Saturday
may 2016
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Dangers Texting Driving
of
&
Staged Accident Sends Message Home to Teens
On April 14th, the normally peaceful and orderly parking lot of Mount Paran Christian School was instead an unnerving scene of chaos and destruction. Across the lanes were two severely damaged cars, the broken glass and pieces of metal bridging the space between the two vehicles were evidence of a devastating collision. On this day, however, the first responders on the scene were not there to restore things from turmoil to order. This destruction, through a combined effort with Mount Paran and JPM Productions, was rather their orchestration. Over four hundred students and staff were present as local police, firefighters, ambulances, and coroners went through a live demonstration of the process of responding to a reenacted accident, one that had been
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caused by texting and driving. Deputy Chief Finley shared that while the number of accidents caused by DUIs has gradually decreased, the sad truth is that the number of accidents caused by phone distractions has increased significantly. Finley, while watching the fire fighters use the jaws of life to free a “trapped” actor from the inverted car, went on to say that for him, it all came down to one thing: “What we do hope and pray is that if we can save one of these children out here, if we can get them to think about what they saw here today before they pick up a phone, it’s all worth it.” After the presentation, students were given a time of Q&A where they asked questions about what they had just witnessed. One of the truly impactful lessons learned that afternoon was that
not only does it take time to properly help individuals who are in that kind of a collision, but as a few students who followed the ambulances to the trauma unit at Kennestone Hospital came to understand, for those who survive such an accident, it can mean a lifetime of recovery and rehabilitation, if restoration is even possible. Students walked away from the day’s demonstration with the weighty truth that behind the wheel of a car, it only takes one moment to irreversibly change the life of another family, not to mention those of their own. Driving is not something to be taken lightly, and the hope of days like this one is that students come to this realization long before they too say, “I only looked down for a second.”
Looking for the perfect recipe for family fun this Summer? Start with one of the nation’s premier family-friendly resorts. Sprinkle in more than 60 years of experience delivering an array of activities to satisfy and delight every generation. Add a dash of high-flying adventure in the form of an in-house circus troupe. Don’t forget the sandy beach…the floating water park…water-ski lessons…a nationally-acclaimed family golf program…one of the nation’s longest-running family summer camp programs and a host of other can’t-miss summer camp memory makers. Welcome to Summer at Callaway Gardens. This year, the Pine Mountain, Georgia, resort is making it easier than ever for families to share, smile, laugh and connect with each other whether they visit for the day, one night, or a week. Visits to Callaway Gardens include a myriad of activities for the entire family to be as active – or inactive as they choose. We’ll start early with the 57th running of the premiere water sports event Memorial Day Weekend – the Masters Water Ski & Wakeboard Tournament™. Spectators will be in awe watching competitors, who must be invited to participate, challenge themselves to earn the highly coveted title of Masters Champion. And, all the while those watching are playing in the lake, catching rays, and having a blast to kickoff Summer. Featuring all the thrills and chills of a professional circus, this talented troupe of Florida State University (FSU) performers delight audiences with jaw-dropping acrobatic acts on the trapeze and tight rope and skilled and entertaining performances on the slack wire, “bicycle-built-for-five” and teeterboard. There is also plenty of clowning around thanks to hilarious juggling routines of the Flying High Circus, to which admission is free with Gardens entry. The FSU student circus stars perform double duty for the summer as counselors for Callaway’s Summer Family Adventure Program, the nation’s oldest family summer camp. Offering a variety of activities that makes it a sort of “cruise on land,” the program includes hiking, biking, fishing and boating, tennis and golf, arts and crafts and more during the day. When night falls the fun continues with circus performances, campfires, movies, games and more. Of course, any good recipe for summer fun includes a healthy helping of water, and Callaway Gardens is no exception. Families can dive right in at the family-oriented beach at Robin Lake, featuring Aqua Island, a floating playground designed for the young and young at heart. The playground offers a trampoline for jumping; aqua totters for rocking and splashing; slides for, well, sliding; and climbing challenges that rise many feet above the water. On a daily basis, guests can add some adrenaline to their day with a visit to TreeTop Adventure. Two courses off dozens of challenges that easily occupy the family for hours, including a zip over 700 feet of water, and create memories that will last forever. For the little ones, the Sapling Course was especially designed to give them a flavor of the fun. Star-spangled fun will be the order of the day when Callaway Gardens celebrates the nation’s birthday in style with July 4th Star Spangled Beach Party. This highly- anticipated holiday tradition will include swimming in Robin Lake,
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miniature golf, shuffleboard, picnicking, paddleboats, and miniature train rides. The Flying High Circus will be in full swing with two special performances that day, and you can dance the night away to the sounds of the Swingin’ Medallions. Finally, you can cap your night off by enjoying the rockets’ red glare thanks to a traditional Fourth of July fireworks display. What better place to getaway and live the goodlife than Callaway Gardens. Conveniently located so close to Atlanta where you can enjoy butterflies, birds, zip lining and a beach every day of the Summer without spending days traveling. Callaway Gardens®, is in Pine Mountain, Ga., 60 minutes southwest of Atlanta and 30 minutes north of Columbus. For additional information, contact Callaway at 1.800.463.6990 or visit www.callawaygardens.com.
How To
by Craig Jones
Failure
It’s been said, “The brave don’t live forever, but the cautious don’t live at all.” Which one of these are you? Are you the type of person who’s willing to take a risk in life or do you tend to play it safe? I believe the answer to this question can reveal to us a lot about what our future holds. Every life is full of potential, but very few people actually live up to their potential. The reason most people don’t reach their potential is not because of failure, but because of the fear of failure. Most people are too afraid to step out and try anything new. Fear is a peculiar thing, because fear is not based on reality. Fear is based upon a possible outcome. What most people don’t understand is that fear is actually a twisted form of faith. Faith is trusting in what you can’t see. And the person who is driven by fear “believes” that something bad could happen to them, even though nothing has happened. If you can believe that bad things could happen to you, couldn’t you just as well believe that things are going to work out in your favor? When my wife and I moved our family to Kennesaw to start Abiding Church, it was a step of faith. We didn’t uproot my family, move to another state, and leave the security of a job, thinking that this would be a failure. If we didn’t believe it would have worked, we would have stayed in our comfort zone. But we knew that God was leading us, so we trusted him and took a leap of faith. It has been amazing for us to see the dream God placed in our hearts so many years ago become a reality. What are the dreams you’ve been carrying in your heart that you haven’t pursued because of fear? Most people settle into an ordinary life, when they could live a life of significance. The road to your destiny it not always easy. It will take a lot of hard work, but anything worth having is worth fighting for. I can’t guarantee you that every time you step out in faith, you will have great success. But I can guarantee that every time you let fear keep you from stepping out in faith, you succeed at nothing. I’ve heard it said this way, “You could shoot for the stars and fall short, or you could shoot for nothing and hit the mark every time.” So take a leap of faith, and follow your dream.
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Craig and Janna Jones are the senior pastors of Abiding Church located in Kennesaw, GA. www.abiding.church
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Memorial Day, as Americans have come to know it, began in the years immediately following the Civil War. But until World War II, most people knew it as “Decoration Day.” It was a day to decorate with flowers and flags the graves of fallen soldiers and remember those who had given, as Lincoln beautifully said, “the last full measure of devotion” to defend their nation. It was a day to remember what the honored dead had died to defend. A century and a half has passed since Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, effectively ending a national nightmare that filled over 625,000 American graves with dead soldiers. Since then, other international nightmares have ravaged the world and put more than 650,000 additional Americans into war graves in Europe, North Africa, the Pacific Rim, Asia, and the Middle East.
REMEMBERING IS FOR THE FUTURE Memorial Day is an important national moment. It is a day to do more than barbeque. It is right and wise to remember the great price some have paid to preserve the historically unprecedented civil and religious freedoms we Americans have the luxury to take largely for granted. But the importance of Memorial Day is more for our future than it is for our past. It is crucial that we remember the nightmares and why they happened. We forget them at our own peril. The future of the United States depends in large amount on how well we collectively remember and cherish what liberty really is and the terror of tyranny. There is a high cost to forgetting. In the words of George Santayana’s famous aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
A MEMORIAL PEOPLE Christians, of all people, understand the crucial importance of remembering. Christians are “memorial people” because the whole of our faith depends upon remembering. Those who persevere into the glorious future are those who remember the gracious past. That’s why God has surrounded us with memorials. The entire Bible itself is a memorial. We meditate on it daily to remember. The Sabbath was a memorial to Israel’s freedom from Egyptian slavery (Deuteronomy 5:15), and the church switched it to Sundays as a memorial to Christ’s resurrection and our freedom from sin. Israel’s great gathering feast days were memorials (Exodus 13:3). And now each time a local church gathers, each Lord’s Supper celebration (1 Corinthians 11:24–26), each baptism, each Christmas celebration, and each Easter celebration is a memorial. Remembering God’s past grace is necessary to fuel our faith in God’s future grace for us.† This makes the memory one of God’s most profound, mysterious, and merciful gifts granted to us. God designed it to be a means of preserving (persevering) grace for his people. We neglect it at our own peril. The future of the church, globally and locally, and of each Christian depends largely on how well we remember the gospel of Jesus, all his precious and very great promises, and the successes and failures of church history. Scripture warns us that if we fail to remember, we will be condemned to submit again to sin’s and hell’s enslavement (Hebrews 6:4–8). Such warnings are graces to help us remember. So as we commemorate Memorial Day as Americans, let us do it with profound gratitude for the extraordinary common grace given to us when men and women laid their lives down for the sake of America’s survival. And let us remember the past evils that we may not repeat them in the future. And as Christians, let us make every day, as long as it is called today, a memorial day (Hebrews 3:13). Let us “take care lest [we] forget the Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:12). Let us “remember Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:8). 18
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Ingredients: 1 can (15 ounces) of Goya® Black Beans, rinsed and drined 1 small onion, finely chopped (about ¼ cup) 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped 2 tablespoons of olive oil 2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lime juice ¼ teaspoon garlic salt ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper ½ teaspoon ground cumin ¼ teaspoon black pepper 1 package (8 ounces) Philadelphia® Cream Cheese Toppings: 1 green onion with top, chopped 1 teaspoon each of chopped red, yellow, and orange bell peppers Mix all ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to over night. Be sure to mix periodically during margination. Spread cream cheese on a serving plate, spoon the black bean mixture with a slotted spoon evenly over the cream cheese. Sprinkle the green onion, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers over the black bean mixture and on the edges of the serving plate. Serve with pita chips. About 12 servings.