Prayer Request

I have received an urgent prayer request from two of our closest friends, Bill and Almie Sparling. I know some of you who follow this blog know them. For those of you who don't, they are very close friends who were with us when we pastored in Davis, California. Bill was our worship leader, a wonderful keyboard player and talented, anointed singer who was a huge blessing to the church and to us. Almie is a prayer warrior who somehow keeps Bill on the straight and narrow. We love them both very much.

The request is for their granddaughter, Justine. She needs healing.

So for all of you who read this and know how to pray, please lift Justine before the Lord.

Thank you.

Betty Hinman

Rusty sent this photo with the following message: "Mom(Betty) said it was great to see pictures of you and Peggy, so I took one of her to post . She is living here in Florida also and is doing good."

Betty is a special lady. She was one of the mainstays of DCA while we pastored there.

Betty, it is wonderful to see you.

Rusty and Kathy Jones and Family

Here are a couple new ones from Rusty Jones: "Our family Amy, April ,Katie, Josiah,Hannah"


And here are Rusty and Kathy. This was a very special family to us during our days of pastoring Davis Christian Assembly (DCA).

Calling DCA and ACC: Send News and Pix

It's been a while since I've had anything new from DCA or ACC alums. Send something!

Bill and Almie Sparling

Great shot for our DCA fans. Here's what the email said: "Hi, Ken. Here is a picture for you to post to you blob." Blob? Two more of my favorite people. Keep the pix and news coming DCAers. If I can't be your real pastor, maybe I can be your blog pastor.

Psalm 23: A Recitation

Bill and Almie Sparling sent this one in. A unique rendition of the 23rd Psalm.

Rusty and Kathy Jones

More from DCA. Here's some news from Rusty Jones: "we are doing good, getting older,but doing good. We have 3 grandchildren and one more on the way. We are still in love with Jesus as is our whole family."

Former members of DCAnglers will appreciate this photo and email quote: "We got into a school of redfish a couple of weeks ago and caught 21 in about 2 hours it was awsome! rusty"

Jackson and Susan Plauche

OK. Heard from Susan and she directed me to a place on Josh and Ashley's site with a pic of them. Here they are: two very special people to Peggy and me, as well as a lot of DCA alumni. (It doesn't look like they've aged any. How do they do that?)

From Susan's email: "Joshua is now 27.....hard to believe. He majored in creative writing and graduated from UT. He played in a Christian Band for several years, was a Eagle Scout & Captain of the wrestling team in high school. We have been very blessed to have him as our son."

Plauche News

Received info on the Plauche family from my days at DCA. Joshua, the little tyke I remember running around the church, is getting married. See their Web site . I lifted the photo from that Web site. It has Susan with Josh. Didn't find one of my old fishing buddy, Jackson.

From Gretchen Batis

Looks like it runs in the (Batis) family.

When Gretchen sent me this photo, she emailed this question: "Aren't you glad he is not still in the congregation?"

My answer: No way! If I was still pastoring I would welcome every Batis I could get to come through the doors. The Batises are one of my all-time favorite families.

Gretchen Batis Connects

One of the DCA faithful, Gretchen Batis, has her own blog ... with some excellent initial posts. Click on the "Boundaries" link in the Blogroll.

Davis Christian Assembly

Searching for members of Davis Christian Assembly from the years Peggy and I pastored there. If you were part of our congregation, or even visited while we were there, please send a comment and I'll add you to the Davis Christian Assembly Blog Roll on the right side of the page. Let's see if we can get the old crew reconnected. If you want to send pictures, news, etc., I will be happy to post them on this blog. Photos can be sent to my email, khorn@ag.org. If you want me to list your email address on the roll, let me know. I won't list it unless you give permission.

The winner ... Choochoonut

Mystery solved ... fast.

Choochoonut solved the mystery very quickly. See his post under the pic below. He correctly identified it as a thistle, though he was not quite correct in calling it a common thistle (also known as bull thistle). It is a bigger version called the musk thistle, or nodding thistle because it grows so tall and nods. But since Chooch is a west coaster, he probably hasn't seen this more prevalent Midwest variety. So I'm counting this as a correct answer!

The answer to the other question: It's a weed, a pernicious introduction from Europe that farmers and ranchers try to exterminate. Still, even though it's a weed, I think it is beautiful ... another indicator of the beauty of God's creation.