"One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
As only God could predestine ...Five kids grew up on the same street on Avenue "F" in Redondo Beach. They all came from someplace else...
"Bo" from the frigid hills of North Dakota.
"Ahmed" from the Islamic urban sprawl of Dearborn, Michigan.
"Don" from misty Portland, Oregon.
"Filly" from the flatlands of East Texas
"Pete" from the dry and dusty winds of Ridgecrest, CA.
Their families all moved to Redondo at the same time because their Dad's were sought-after, experienced, structural engineers at Raytheon Corporation. The company was moving their major emphasis in El Segundo to satellite technology and they needed Senior Managers to help with the transition. Part of the relocation package was the rent-to-own of their 5 homes on the "Avenues". And dreams of sunny, warm weather and the fresh smell of salty air wooed them from all over the country.
In the month of July, five moving trucks showed up on Avenue "F", unloading each young family's furniture and life belongings. Within days the five boys: Bo, Ahmed, Do
n, Filly and Pete were riding bikes and Razors, throwing baseballs and shooting baskets. The moms were secretly hoping to keep the video games packed in moving boxes as the boys were enjoying the incredible sunny and warm weather!
Who would have known that the first few weeks of newfound friendship would be the foundation of a lifetime bond of brotherhood?
The innocent Elementary school years matriculated into awkward and odorous Middle School years. All five boys stayed close, watching out, protecting and defending one another, and sharing with one another the enigmatic secrets that only 14 year old boys have.
On an unusually warm winter Saturday the boys were combing the beach for stuff that the high surf tossed on the sand. Ahmed, the most a
dventurous of the five, dared the others to follow him and jumped into the water... "dolphining" the shore break to make it past the breakers. He didn't take into account what the high surf created the night before and on his third dive into the murky shore break, his head was stopped short by a underwater pile of sand.
Ahmed thought how strangely quiet it was floating face-down, lifeless in the shallow water. He felt no pain...he didn't "feel" anything. It was dreamy, peaceful and silent...until he was violently dragged to the sand berm by his four friends who were screaming for the lifeguards and asking if he was okay!
What followed were: sterile hospital rooms, stainless steel halos screwed into his skull, MRI's, multiple surgeries, excruciating physical therapy, experimental treatments, chin-controlled electric wheel chairs...and four friends who would hang out with him everyday.
They all graduated from Middle School together, the four friends joyfully pushing Ahmed in his manual wheelchair up to the stage to receive his promotion certificate.
The next year, at Redondo Union High School, Ahmed let go of his dreams to swim and play water polo for the Seahawks. And he turned to academics and the debate team. His friends wildly cheered as they watched Ahmed in the forensics competitions, he was especially intense (almost angry) in philosophical arguments about life.
In the spring of their senior year...when every 18 year-old begins to think seriously about life, the future, and spiritual things...four of the five friends found Jesus together at an Easter Celebration event that they were invited to by a neighbor. It was at this time that they began to clearly see the anger, bitterness and depression Ahmed was developing. After the Easter event Ahmed said, "Why do I need to have my sins forgiven? I didn't do anything wrong! God should be asking me for forgiveness. Look at what He did to me!"
And his friends couldn't...wouldn't...argue with him.
Throughout High School, Bo, Don, Filly, Pete, and Ahmed were inseparable. They did everything together; Lunch, Football games, Studying, Driving lessons. Their senior year they took the senior trip together and forgot about prom dates to go together and rent a special limo with a wheelchair lift gate.
The tragedy Ahmed experienced seemed to shape the future of his friends...
Don studied hard to get into the Premed programs in at UCLA (hoping to specialize in orthopedics and neurosurgery).
Filly was good at building things. He wanted to get his Contractors License and retrofit homes for the elderly and disabled. After all, He converted Ahmed's house by widening doorways, building ramps and installing a lift in his van so that Ahmed could go where ever the friends went.
Pete wanted to major in Political Science - hoping to one day be a Congressman so that he could be an advocate in legislation for the physically disabled.
Bo was a great swimmer and he wanted to be a lifeguard (at the beach, he was always keeping an eye out for hidden sand bars).
But none of their aspirations could take away the reality that their friend Ahmed would never walk again.
"One day as he (Jesus) was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick."
Luke 5:17
The summer after graduation, Bo, Don, Filly and Pete joined a Small Group at a local church. Their daily prayer was that Ahmed would find forgiveness and life in Jesus like they did. One night, at Growth Group, they read a scripture and discussed how God could heal the sick. And like the power being restored after a black out in the middle of the night...they all had an idea that was birthed out of the desire to see Ahmed join them in their spiritual journeys...without hesitation, they left the Growth Group...
They drove to Ahmed's house and strapped him into Filly's van and drove to where the healer was...
"Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd..."
Luke 5:18-19a
Bo said,
"Dang it! Everything was going great. Now what do we do?" Don was resigned,
"Even if we got in, will He have enough time to see us?" But the friends were desperate. Peter chimed in,
"If the Bible says that He can heal, we need to find a way." Filly walked around the perimeter of the house scoping out the best way to get in and get His attention. Then, after some thought, he said,
"I've got an idea!"
Ahmed stubbornly protested, but everything happened so quickly. Filly started up the generator, got some power tools out, rigged up some lines and...
"When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus."
Luke 5:19
This is what they came for. Getting Ahmed in and getting the healer's attention. By going in the crowded house through the roof, they got everyone's attention!
"When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.'"
Luke 5:20a
There was silence for at least 30 seconds...not a word was spoken...
The four looked at each other stunned...their prayer was answered...Ahmed found Jesus and his sins were forgiven!
But, there was one other thing hanging out there...
All five looked at each other and they knew exactly what the other was thinking, but no one wanted to say anything out loud... "Is it too much to ask for physical healing too?"
Then, like a director of a film announcing, "Action!" on a movie set... loud arguing and shouting broke out in the crowded house from people they didn't even know...
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE HERE TO HEAL THE SICK!"
"YEAH, THAT'S WHAT WE CAME TO SEE!"
"YOU'RE A FRAUD!"
"FORGIVENESS? RIGHT! I CAN'T SEE FORGIVENESS OF SINS!"
To stop the arguing some stiff, academics got everyone's attention...
"The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...."
Luke 5:21-24a
And not because He caved-in to the legalism of the academics, or to the strange,
"sideshow" desires of the crowd, but because He love and had compassion for Ahmed...
"He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They
were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
Luke 5:24b-26
QUESTION: What thoughts and feelings does this story bring up in your heart and mind? 
Caught (only) the sunset.
