favorite movies and lines from them

here is my list:

princess bride "i don't think that word means what you think it means.", "i am not left handed.", "stop rhyming. i mean it!" "anybody want a peanut?"





fiddler on the roof "you could die from such a man!", about wealth: "may You smite me with it, and may i never recover!"






a few good men "are we clear! ... are we clear!" "crystal."








the hunt for red october "submarines don't react well to bullets."







o brother, where art thou? "i'm for your's truly." "well i'm for your's truly" "well, i'm with you fellas."







tron "do you think we can merge with this memory bit?" "no."








shawshank redemption "i need a rock hammer.", "do you trust your wife?"







vision quest "i like men's hands."









the breakfast club "you mess with the bull. you get the horns.", "i'm not that prestine!"







ferris bueller's day off "hey, battah, battah ... suh-wing battah!"







top gun "i have a need." "a need for speed!", "i'm gonna take a shower. do you mind?" "yes! i mind! i'm hungry!", "goose, take me to bed or loose me forever!" "show me the way, honey!"




gone with the wind "you need kissing ... and real bad.", "it ain't fittin'! it just ain't fittin'! humph."







so what are some of your favorite movies, and lines from those movies?

things we really need to pray

i was reading a devo sent to me by my lovely bride, and it had a prayer of sorts in it. i want to share it with you, but i am going to give it to you in two parts, and not in the order that it came in the devo. i am going to give you what i think is the "real" part of the prayer first and then i will give the first part. let me know if this fits you, too:

And thank You for the things I don't want: the track marks on the carpet that remind me of loved ones who live here, the never-ending laundry that reminds me how you have provided for my family, the high power bill that reminds me I have a warm home, the taxes that need to be filed because it means we have income, and my exhaustion at the end of the day because it means I am alive and well. Please give me a contentment that is separate from my circumstances and my stuff. Please give me a want for what I have.

here is the first part:

Lord, thank you for the gifts you have given me: my family, my friendships, my church, my ministry, my home, my health, my time. Thank you for the opportunity to serve with You; the honor of serving You. I am grateful for the favor of your grace, the freedom of your forgiveness, the unconditional love and acceptance that I long for and the promise of your presence. Give me a "want" for the things of God.

does this sound like the real you, or does it sound like the you that you want to be, or is it not even in the ballpark?

i must be crazy

i say that i must be crazy because i have signed up to be a willing subject of horrible name calling, and my faculties are going to be questioned, and i am doing this willingly. however, i am going to be paid for it, so that will bring some consulation.

do you go to sporting events? who gets yelled at most? who gets questioned all the time no matter what they say? the officiating person, right? well, i will be attending a class to become a certified soocer referee in a couple of weeks. what am i thinking? i must be nuts, right?

well, i love the game, and i have done my share of yelling and questioning of refs in the past while attending my daughter's games, and i have always said to myself, "i could do a much better job than what they are doing." so i will be going to learn how to become blind, and unsmart. i won't have to work very hard at that last one.

so, pray for me to absorb and put into use the knowledge that i will be gleening.

do you have a favorite sport that you like to watch? have you ever been a ref, ump, or someone who makes the call before? what was your experience, if you did?

a prayer

Our Father, Who dwells in infinite light, above everything, we proclaim You as Holy, and we pray now that You will reign here in every human’s heart, even as You reign over the heavens.

We pray that You will give us what we need to survive today, and we’ll count on You to do that again tomorrow.

We pray that You will forgive us for all the ways that we fail to be Your children, even as we compassionately forgive those around us.

We pray that You will not lead us in over our head, but, by Your power, will deliver us from the one in control of this world.

So that in the fullness of time You should crush him, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess You, Who is now Lord, as Lord. In Whose name we pray.

Amen.

wouldn't it be nice if you were taught to pray like this?

Baptism: The Place Where God Acts

i thought this was so good i wanted to share it with you.

Baptism: The Place Where God Acts

(Good News from Lipscomb University, Vol. 1, No. 2 October 1998, p. 2)

Few doctrines have elicited as much debate and emotion through the centuries as baptism. Ironically, baptism was meant to be a mark of unity among believers (Ephesians 4). How sad that what God intended to be a beautiful symbol of one's participation in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3,4) has often been neglected altogether or - at the other extreme - emphasized as a work that we do to merit salvation.

Let me point out two concepts which must be emphasized to have an adequate doctrine of baptism.

First, baptism is part of the faith response to God's saving work in Christ. Consider Ephesians 2: 8, 9: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.

When some brethren respond, “but faith is not enough," they miss the point and role of baptism. This response positions baptism as some kind of "work" and fuels the arguments of its critics. Baptism is not a work of righteousness which we do; it is the God-ordained faith response to His grace- Titus 3:5 makes this point very' clear: He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Baptism obviously is part of the faith response God mandates for accepting the mercy He offers on the cross of Jesus.

It is a mistake to let a human define faith and its response. Much of Christendom has defined “faith” as “belief.” While belief is the core of faith, God has defined the way that belief is culminated or enacted. Consider the faith response God demanded at the wall of Jericho (Joshua 6), or when the Israelites were being bitten by poisonous snakes (Numbers 21) or when Naaman approached Elisha about the cleansing of his leprosy (II Kings 5). In each case, God dictated the faith response to release His power. In each case, the response was simple and powerless in and of itself. In each case, God demonstrated great power.

Likewise, baptism is part of the faith response God desires for accepting salvation. It is critical enough to be tied to the forgiveness of sin (cf. Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16). Because it is God's decree, it is not optional.

As beautifully stated by one writer, “Baptism is the initial and immediate step of obedience by one who has declared his faith to others. So important was this step that, as far as we know, every single convert in the New Testament was baptized.”

Second - and most important - is that baptism is where God acts. Far too frequently the focus is on what the convert is doing rather than on what God is doing. Baptism is not portrayed in scripture as a work one does. Rather, baptism is something done to the subject, not by the subject. Thus, the focus of a baptismal scene is not what the subject does but what the passive subject has done to him or her by God. Baptism is not self-administered. The human being's role is to present himself or herself as available to God's action. Thus it might be more profitable to think of baptism as the place where something happens rather than as a work one does,

Baptism is so often thought of as a work that those who affirm its crucial role in God's saving work are accused of believing in "water salvation" or "works righteousness." Perhaps thinking of baptism as the place of God's action rather than focusing on the means would help. There is no question about the importance of the place of God's action throughout scripture.

The water of baptism no more washes away sin than the River Jordan cures leprosy or the pool cures lameness. God is always the active agent, and the human being merely places himself or herself at God's behest.

In summary, baptism is both the human being's response of faith and the place where God acts-where He cleanses our sin and gives us the Holy Spirit. To emphasize God's action without the response would lead to justifying infant baptism (in which there is no free response on the part of the one baptized). To emphasize the response without God's action in the present leads to seeing baptism as a mere sign of something that has happened in the past. Both miss the mark.

Baptism is the unique moment where humble, obedient faith yields itself to the cleansing and empowering grace of God. It is not meant to be a focal point of debate, but the focal point of celebration as one is "clothed with Christ" (Galatians 3:27).

--Randall J. Harris, Instructor in Bible (Harris is now on the Bible faculty of Abilene Christian University)

free concert

a couple of days ago port city hosted new reign for a free concert. it was cool to have them here and give us a fresh look at what is going on in the college arena. i have a friend that goes to ocu (oklahoma christian university), and he, jeremy williams, knows caleb. its a small world, isn't it? speaking of small worlds, i have an awesome story to share later, but for now we will stick to the story about new reign.

we had visitors from pascagula's central coc (thanks for coming jd), and inner city coc. the total for all who came was near 100 or so.

please click on the link to their site and listen to their stuff, its good! we had a great time singing praise, praying, and fellowshipping!

do you know this guy?

have you seen this guy in public, or at a conference lately? some think he is like a church of Christ monk, because you can almost always find him wearing black. his name is randy harris, (no relation, but he has a great last name) and he is a professor at abilene christian university. he also teaches classes with mike cope at times there at highland church of Christ in abilene itself.

well, i am trying to get our shepherds to allow him to come and speak at port city. i don't know what subject to ask him to talk about, but everything i have heard him speak on was great. randy has a knack of making things sound logical to me. he also gets you to think of things in a different way than you had thought of them before he started.

i have quoted him on this blog before. i have really enjoyed what i have heard, and i have tried to apply it to my own life, as well.

song leading to communion

have you ever heard this song?

Broken Things
Ken Young

Verse 1
My father's father worked this land
For many years I took my stand
But the plow is heavy and I can't hold on
To the legacy of the farmer's song
I'll remember the days
With the sun on the land
Wiping sweat from my brow
With a rough calloused hand
And the smell of the ground
Freshly broken and clean
Made by the one who still gives
Broken hearts new dreams

Chorus 1
O Lord who uses broken things
Who through broken clouds
Gives us sweet sweet rain
Who gives us bread from broken grain
O Lord make me stronger through broken things

Verse 2
Give me what I need not what I demand
Send me heaven filled hopes Not earth made plans
But the plow is so heavy and I can't hold on
O Father who cares fill my heart with this song

Chorus 1
O Lord who uses broken things
Who through broken clouds
Gives us sweet sweet rain
Who gives us bread from broken grain
O Lord make me stronger through broken things

Chorus 1
O Lord who uses broken things
Who through broken clouds
Gives us sweet sweet rain
Who gives us bread from broken grain
O Lord make me stronger through broken things

i plan to use it as a segue into the communion service i will be leading in a couple of weeks. do you think it fits? i chose it because of the comparison of how Christ was broken for us to give us the chance of being with Him and His Father one day.

the inevitable

(click on the image above to go to a more readable image)

so this is what happens when you don't keep up with your blog. this is what happens when all you do is read other people's blogs. sorry folks. i hope to do better like chris always pledged, but i hope to really mean it. i love you my brother!

what's been on my mind

wow, its almost been a month since my last post.

i have been thinking lately of how i wish i had known that ken young had scheduled the stream in franklin event for the weekend of the 2nd of july. i would've been there with my family if i had known.

see, i used to live in texas and for about 7 of the past 10 or so streams in the desert events in midland, texas, i had been there, and enjoyed the fellowship, singing, sharing, and the lessons form great men of God like rick atchley, jeff walling, lynn anderson, and the like.

if you have not ever attended stream in the desert, you have missed something great, and you would not have forgotten it.

this would be how the day would be at a stream event:

wake up, and head to the stadium for breakfast.
sing great praise songs with hallal and ken young for awhile, hear an awesome lesson, go to share groups filled with those like yourself just coming to see what they have heard about and what the church of Christ could be like every week, and then go to lunch and share still with your lunchmates.
come back for the afternoon session of singing, hear the speaker, go to share groups, and then go to dinner.
then the option is to either study with your friends that you came to the event with about the events of the day, or attend the evening event. the evening events were usually a concert of a singing group, or a comedian.
then go to bed and repeat the next day.

some say it is a couple days of church, but for me it was spending time with friends and praising, and praying. i really like it.

this was the first year of the event in franklin, and i sure hope that i hear about the next one. y'all want to go?

when i was growing up ...

... i used to ride my bike everywhere! i mean, to school, to the pool, to baseball, and soccer practice, to my friend's house and then go riding around the neighborhood or riding trails in the woods. i have a bike now, but its tires are rotting from lack of use.

... i used to go bowling, i forgot to add that in the previous list, on saturday mornings. i bowled in a league growing up, and then when i joined the navy. my ball, shoes, and bag were stolen when i transferred back from japan to the u. s. of a. almost 15 years ago. a friend of mine who owns a bowling alley (some may know who he is) has bought me a new ball, and has ordered me new shoes and bag ... as a gift. he said he is doing it because he likes to help when people enjoy doing things, but can't. after the ball had been drilled, and fitted, i was practicing with it, and 4 out of the next 9 balls were strikes. they were also in succession. too bad they were not all in the same game. my daughter and her friends were playing pool, and left their games on the lanes so i finished them.

... i used to go to the pool all summer long. i would get a pool pass to the base pool. i don't think i ever used sun screen. now i don't leave home without it. i even swim in a t-shirt now.

what are some things you did while growing up? these are just a few things that i did.

stuff and things

wow, what a great experience in leading my first adult sunday morning bible study! i was so anxious. yet excited. i was worried that i wouldn't be able to get my points across. i enjoy classes and studies where there is a lot of interaction between the leader and the audience. at one point i asked a question (one of four) and we were like 5 or 10 minutes into the 45 minute class, and i said, "this is really going to be a short class if y'all don't start talking." or something like that, and the class just busted out laughing.

this sunday i will not be here in mobile, because i am driving my daughter to arlington to do something awesome. she is sacrificing time with her friends on her first week out of school to go and work in the hot texas sun and work on houses and do yard work for people who can not do it on their own. i am so proud of her.

however, mrs. k2 will not be going because she is the church secretary and there is no one qualified to take her place. she runs the church office by herself, and God forbid if she get sick. she gets calls asking, "where are you? and why aren't you at the church? i need you to do this." i better stop before i get myself into trouble, but anyway, her best friend is even more upset than me, because she will not get to see her, either.

i will return after being gone a week, and teach two sunday classes while jerre is out of town, then we will take turns on teaching this awesome class.

so its like this, i leave tomorrow for a week in texas, then come back for a week and then go out to lucedale, ms, to sleep in a cabin for a week with some boys and make sure they don't burn the place down, and maybe share some stuff with them, and they with me. i also get to learn and maybe teach and worship with some great people, my brothers and sisters!

what do you got going?

sunday morning class

well, i'm back from my business trip for awhile. this sunday i begin co-leading a class with one of our shepherds, jerre. the discussion will be over the book "the case for a Creator." i get to leadoff with chapter one, white coated scientists versus black-robed preachers.

have any of you read this book by lee strobel or any of his other works? i like his perspective on things being as though he was an aethist, and now he is 180 the other direction. here is a quote from chapter one that basically might be able to be said of most of us:

But there was also an undercurrent of something else: an inchoate fear of the future, of change, of new ideas, of cultural transformation. I could sense a simmering frustration in people over how modernity was eroding the foundation of their faith. "Many of the protesters," wrote the Charleston Gazette, "are demonstrating against a changing world."

this quote reflected how some of the citizens of west virginia felt concerning the changes in textbooks in the schools. the schools were going to have textbooks that supported evolution. do any of you remember when this started? i was in second grade so i don't remember what the textbooks looked like before the changes were happening. i was going to school in south houston until my 3rd grade year. then i had to go to school in the DOD system in panama where my dad was stationed.

could some of the feelings that were being shared by the citizens of west virginia be compared to how some members of churches feel about how things have changed in the past 10 years in churches of Christ?

d.c. times

well, i looked for a geocache, but the distances on my gps must've been off. when i got out of the car it looked like the 'cache was about a couple of hundred yards a way, but when i got on the trail and started walking ... that winding trail started to add up to at least half of a mile, and i am out of shape. plus, it wasn't a flat walk. it was up and down hills, and up and down hills. needless to say, i did not get to the 'cache.

i got back to my room and got ready for the game. i met michael about 3:00 and then we headed to springfield where we got on the metro. we had the option of taking the blue line all the way to the stadium station, or transfer from the blue line to the yellow line and then back to the blue line to save some time. we stayed on the blue line and stopped at the arlington cemetary. have you ever seen the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknowns? its a part of living history, in my book. i find it very awesome.

after that we got back on the metro and went to the united game. wow! that was so cool! the united have this section of cheering fans with drums and horns and cheering and jumping. its so cool, it must be like being at a game in europe. the stands of rfk stadium were shaking. if i make it back for business and the united are in town ... i'm going!! the score ended in a 1 - 1 tie, but the refs disallowed a goal because of an offsides that would've put united ahead. in my opinion there was no offsides. the ball came off the post and a united player slammed it into the back of net. bad call. oh yeah, ado had an AWESOME misdirection and faked a fc dallas defender out of his boots. it was cool!

then today i went to church at springfield coc, and they remembered me from wednesday night. it was neat. then i went to quizno's for my first time ever. that sandwich was great! then i walked around best buy for a couple of hours, and bought 2 u2 cd's; joshua tree, and war. then i drove by mclean bible church to get my bearings so i would know how to get there for their evening service. then i went to some stores around the church to waste some time.

i then went to the church to do some reading, and get a snack, and wait for the service to start. the service was like i mentioned in my previous post. i walked away stoked. the guy, todd, talked about the future release of the da vinci code, and how it is a book of lies, and total fiction. i got a neat hand out that will give some great ammunition to fire back at people asking, "what about this? and what about that?" from the book. the singing at the service was great, and i just had a great time. very freshing.

now i am back in my room blogging, and preparing for the week, and watching one of my favorite movies: forrest gump (imagine that, another tom hanks movie. i like tome hanks.).

wow, its been awhile

what makes this kinda funny is the comment from my buddy and friend chris. he left a comment on my last posting asking if i was "still there." i think that is funny, because i think he has posted less than i have lately. however, he's right. i have been slacking.

here's what has been going on lately for me. well, i'm in the d.c. area for business for the next week. one of the good things about being here is that i am planning on going to see the d.c. united play fc dallas at rfk. i am going with a co-worker.

wednesday night was cool. i went to church at the springfield church of Christ. mike cope blogged about it a couple of months ago, and i went to visit them wednesday night, and i plan to be there sunday morning, too. while i was there i think just about every guy i spoke to went to harding university, and some of them said that they thought they might know my cousin's husband (greg), and ryan.

then sunday night i plan on trying to link up with some old friends from arlington. they go to mclean bible church. i have visited with them in the past when i have been in the d.c. area for business. everytime i visit that church i come away stoked. there services are awesome.

what's been up with y'all? i might even try to get in a geocache before i head to d.c.

mantras, pt II

today (in this God soaked moment of life) ...
... i will be incompetent.
... i will be fully present to the person in front of me, and to the Lord over me.
... i will be Christ to others.
... i will see Christ in others.

these are the mantras i like best. here is why:

today (in this God soaked moment of life) ...
... i will be incompetent.

i will not rely on what i think i know. i will rely on what God has given me.

today (in this God soaked moment of life) ...
... i will be fully present to the person in front of me, and to the Lord over me.

almost self evident. don't you think? give the person that is talking to you your attention. give them your time.

today (in this God soaked moment of life) ...
... i will be Christ to others.

we need to be Christ to others. now that one is self evident. we are to show the world who Christ is by living as Christ would live here on this earth, because we may be the only Christ they have seen. now i am not saying that i am Christ, but we are to live as He would.

today (in this God soaked moment of life) ...
... i will see Christ in others.

we are to see Christ in others, because we are to treat others the way we want to be treated, and we are to love them the way we want to be loved.

i just wanted to share these with you. this may sound like a re-run (i've posted on these before), but i wanted to share them again.

mantras

do you know any mantras? do you go by any mantras? here are some that i think are good to go by. let me know what you think they mean, and i will share with you later what i think they mean.

today (in this God soaked moment of life) ...
... i will be incompetent.
... i will be fully present to the person in front of me, and to the Lord over me.
... i will be Christ to others.
... i will see Christ in others.

these are my favorites. btw, i can't think of any others, so that is where you come in. how would you define the mantras above, and what are some mantras that you know?

tradition

... tradition should be allowed to be itself; that is, the living voice of the very human church as it struggles with scripture, sometimes misunderstanding it and sometimes gloriously getting it right.

Taken from: N. T. Wright's

The Last Word, pp. 117ff.

i read this in mike cope's blog this afternoon. i was privileged this morning to precide over one of the greatest traditions that our tribe follows; communion.

i love communion! i think that it is the central act of our worship service, and the honor to lead the congregation in something that Jesus did for His disciples, to me, is awesome!

i remember the first time i took communion. it was minutes after my baptism. i was a little confused by what it was, because i had never partook before, and brother howard (fyi, i don't call people brother or sister so-and-so because i think we are who we are. that is my opinion.) served me. i don't remember his first name, that is what everybody called him, so that's how i remember him.

i also remember taking communion once on a saturday. what do you think about that? it wasn't sunday, and i didn't die from a lightning strike afterwords. come to think of it, Jesus served in on a thursday, if memory serves me right.

the communion i remember was served individually to all those participating. the servers stood at the front of the sanctuary, and we came up one by one from a line formed leading up to them. the server handed me the piece of bread, and looked me in the eye, and handing me the bread, said,

"ken, this is the body of Jesus Christ, broken for you."

tears welled up and fell from my eyes. then another server handed me the wine, and likewise, looked me in the eye, and said,

"ken, this the blood of Jesus Christ shed for the remittence of you sins."

WOW!! what a Savior!! what a tradition!!

we did a communion service similar to this at park row one year, and can you believe it, some people who you would think that would be against it said, " ... that was very nice. why haven't we done that before?"

what are some traditions that you can think of that if they were not done the way remember doing them they would not be legitimate?

are you desperate?

have you ever been desperate? what were you desperate for? was it ever for your health? more specifically, was it a life or death thing?

last night my wife and i visited a small group meeting with our friends paul and pam. i didn't have any preconceived notion other than having a great time of sharing and fellowshipping. i got more than that.

the discussion centered on these verses:

When Jesus went back across to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. A leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, came and fell down before him, pleading with him to heal his little daughter. "She is about to die," he said in desperation. "Please come and place your hands on her; heal her so she can live."

Jesus went with him, and the crowd thronged behind. And there was a woman in the crowd who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors through the years and had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she was worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched the fringe of his robe. For she thought to herself, "If I can just touch his clothing, I will be healed." Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel that she had been healed!

Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

His disciples said to him, "All this crowd is pressing around you. How can you ask, 'Who touched me?'"

But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and told him what she had done. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. You have been healed."

jairus is desperate as we begin reading the verses, and he gets to talk to Jesus! he shares the story about his daughter, and Jesus is going with him to heal her. imagine ... imagine Jesus is coming to your house to heal your child who is sick, and you're sick with grief over you child. jairus must be excited!

then Jesus stops. i can only imagine what is going through jairus' mind. maybe something like this, "hey! Jesus, we're not there yet! why are you stopping?" however, Jesus stops and asks, "who touched Me?"

remember Jesus is gaining popularity, and He has crowds where ever He goes, and He asks, "who touched Me?" imagine what the disciples are thinking, "well, everybody. anybody could've touched you Jesus."

now to backtrack a little here, there is a lady (and remember how high in society women were) who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years ... 12 ... years. that's a long time, y'all. not to mention how women were treated while they dealt with something like this thing on a monthly basis. remember women were not able to socialize during that week, if i'm not mistaken, and then there was a time that they had to go through before they could come back into society. so this lady has been out of society for 12 years. she's out of "touch". she was an outcast. do you think she was desperate. darn tootin'!!

think of this too, have you ever given blood before? can you go out and play basketball, or softball, or whatever after you give blood? well, you're not supposed to, because you may pass out, and cause yourself harm. this lady has been "giving blood" for 12 years!! you think she might be sapped? even with her condition, she braves the crowds, and pushes through, and thinks, "if i can only touch the hem of His robe ... i can be healed." WHAT FAITH!! WHAT PERSEVERANCE!!

now back to the story, this lady has touched Jesus. how many other healings do remember the person being so bold as to touch Jesus? she is desperate, y'all. she thinks He wouldn't do it, or the crowd would shew her off. i think she does it on her own, because she feels she has to.

now jairus is thinking, "who does she think she is stopping Him from going to heal my daughter, and Jesus even calls this lady his daughter?!" come on, do you really think jairus is just standing there patiently? i think not. the group last night didn't read the other verses that followed where jairus learns that his daughter is already dead. its too late. now how do you think he feels? i don't know, but i am pretty sure he is not happy, but Jesus takes care of that.

this story makes me think of the leper. who says to Jesus, "if you want to heal me ..." what was Jesus' reply, remember the answer is the same in all three of the synoptic gospels that have this story of the leper, at least its the same verbatim in the version of the bible i use. it reads, "I want to."

that is Jesus' answer to all of us. we have to want it. we have to ask. He wants to. what did He say to the woman He healed? it was her faith that healed her. why didn't the others that were crushing around Him get healed? they didn't have faith. they probably wanted to have the feather to put in their hat, so to speak, of having been with Jesus. He tells her that her faith has healed her. what a great faith. don't you want that kind of faith? i do.

oh by the way, the scripture was mark 5:21-34 nlt.

i miss my friends!

i'm sitting here in the church office after preparing the media shout presentation, and while my wife and daughter, and some of the other ladies prepare for 2nd annual "Sale To Save" yard sale, i am thinking about all my friends we left in texas.

its been going on two years since i moved my family to l.a. the move had so many good things going for it, though: i got a raise, kristin got a new chance to meet new friends at a new high school, we got to live closer to family relatives. i can't think of anything else right now, but i'm sure there are some other good things about this move.

however, the move ripped the close relationships that dorothy and i had created, with the grace of God, apart. i can't drive down the road 5 minutes to see greg, or ryan. i don't get to play basketball on monday nights with earl, chris, and my great hawaiian friend (some friend if i can't even remember his name, huh?). dorothy doesn't get to see her best friend deedee anymore.

i miss giving them big hugs, and worshipping with them, and studying with them.

i traded a 45 minute drive to work, and a five minute drive to church for just the opposite. please pray that i will be comforted. i'm sure that i will be alright later.

pray that i can build similar relationships here at port city, but i need some of those relationships to be right down the road. e-mails and blogs are just not the same.