One of my oldest friends just sent me these pictures. That is my dog James that I was given when he was only 4 weeks old. James lived to be 13. I fed him Kal Kan dog food his whole life exclusively. He eventually got a cancerous tumor on his neck and I had to put him down. I was in deep pain for 3 months solid after that.

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This is a picture of me at 19 years old. A typical Jesus Freak of the day. I turn 59 this month. Life has passed so quickly. I lost a friend that I have known since I was sixteen just last week. Makes you reflect on your own existence.

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The one thing that I miss the most is the genuine moving of the Holy Spirit. Not the 'pretend' moving of the Holy Spirit, but the really real event. Those were some of the best times of my life. Every second of every day was so full of divine appointments!

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Today I see a dead church full of it's self. Pretending that nothing has changed. As if it still had it. But those of us who were in on the last truly great outpouring of the Spirit of God know better. We just can not be fooled.

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You never forget the real deal once you have experienced it.

While I helped build the Calvary Chapel mother ship back in 72 James was always there with me. Everyone knew and loved that sweet collie. He was so alive and ready to chase after anything that was thrown.

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James was never around non~Christians for the first four years of his life. I would work at Calvary Chapel with him during the day and be around Christians during the night. One day someone at work came up to me and said, "David, James is freaking out on a man around the corner."

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I went there to see what was up. James was stiff and all bristled up and barking loudly at the man whom he had cornered against a wall. Turns out that the man was a non~Christian who had wandered onto the job site looking for someone to ask when the apts would be finished. James had never seen a non~Christian before and instinctively knew something was not right with him!

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I told the man that we were building a place for Christians to meet together and worship Jesus Christ.

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I got the privilege of leading him to the Lord Jesus. How weird that James made a distinction between saved and unsaved people.

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I hope that I will see James again one day. There are animals in heaven, Jesus is mentioned riding a white horse in the Bible.

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Thanks Tony Meston for the memories!

Love David