Warm-up Question: Have you ever been punished for something you didn’t do? Have you ever been let off the hook for something you DID do? How did it turn out?

Paul House has been on prison death row in Tennessee since 1986, after being convicted of the murder of Carolyn Muncey. He was scheduled to be executed next month, but now, after intervention by local attorneys as well as an organization called The Innocence Project, all charges against him have been dropped, and he is free to go.

Discussion Questions 

• Why do you think that, after 20 years, the House’s case was finally re-opened in 2006?
• Do you agree with the court’s decision to dismiss the charges against Paul House? Do you think he might still be guilty?
• How do you think House will adjust to his newfound freedom, after 22 years on death row? How different do you think his life is now from what it was in 1986?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 17, 2009. (Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.) 

• Acts 10:44-48
• Psalm 98 (4)
• 1 John 5:1-6
• John 15:9-17

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.
 
Gospel Reflection

In John 15:10, Jesus says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” Just a chapter earlier, in John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In both verses, the message is the same: love and obedience are inextricably entwined. God gave us a set of commandments. We are charged to follow them, every one, at all times. But at the same time, we know that we are doomed to fail. Every person on earth fails to keep God’s commandments. We may succeed in keeping most of them most of the time, but God demands no less than perfection. We must be holy, for he is holy. And, we simply can’t be that perfect.

God gave us his commandments to show us his love. They act as a mirror, to show us our sinful nature. We are unable to keep God’s commandments through our own power. And when we try to, we are merely servants, slaves to sin, striving unsuccessfully to keep God’s commandments because he told us to, fearing his wrath if we don’t. But then in God’s commandments we also see Christ’s love: the greatest love there is, laying down his life in place of ours, freeing us from the bonds of sin, so that we would no longer be servants, suffering God’s wrath for disobedience, but friends, with Christ’s love flowing through us.

It is only through Christ’s love that we are able to love one another. And it is only in Christ’s gracious love that we are able to keep God’s commandments. If we have Christ’s love in us — loving him and loving one another, and keeping his commandments — then Christ’s joy will be in us too. A joy shared among friends and all people. Our joy will be full! 

• How can we share Christ’s love with others? How can we show them both that God loves them, and that we love them?
• How do the actions of someone who knows he has been freed from the bonds of sin, to be called a friend of Christ, differ from the actions of someone who struggles to keep God’s commandments without love, like a servant trying to avoid his master’s punishment? How should we live our own lives differently, when we abide in Christ’s love?
• How is our freedom from sin, to become members of the body of Christ, like Paul House’s freedom from death row after 22 years, to rejoin mainstream society? How is it different?

 Activity Suggestion

Whether guilty or innocent by law, we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Pretend you have been given the opportunity to share the gospel with Paul House. Write a conversation with him, connecting the good news of Christ to the events in his life, and using his ordeal to illustrate God’s love, forgiveness, and justice for us. Use verses from today’s Gospel, and any other scriptures you think might be applicable, to tell him about Christ’s sacrifice for us, and our freedom from lives of sin — all sin.
 
Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me, and calling me your friend. Please help me always to abide in your love, that I may keep your commandments. And let your love flow through me, that I may spread that love to others, and love them as you also love me, that we may experience your love together and thus also your joy. Amen.

Contributed by Rod G. Boriack
Chicago, IL

Warm-up Activity:Give each person a piece of paper and something to write with. In one minute, write down the names of as many of your friends as you can. Follow-up questions:

• How many friends are on your list?
• How did you decide on who to list as a friend when under the pressure of time?

When we use the word friend or friendship these days, it may not be so easy to describe what we mean. There are friends, and then there are FRIENDS. Social networking Web sites like FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others have stirred up our understanding of what it means to be a friend or to be part of a community. FaceBook alone claims the following statistics:

• More than 200 million active users
• More than 100 million users log on to FaceBook at least once each day
• Average user has 120 friends on the site
• More than 3.5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
• More than 25 million active user groups exist on the site
• About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States

Just for youth and young adults? Think again… it’s estimated that FaceBook has seen a 276% increase in 35-54 year-old users in the past 6 months.

Never in history has it been possible to have so many friends and to keep in touch with so many people worldwide!

Discussion Questions

• How many of you have a FaceBook page or some other on-line social networking page?
• How many friends do you have on your page?
• What’s the best thing about being part of an on-line community? What are the limitations (if any)?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 17, 2009.

(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.)

• Acts 10:44-48
• Psalm 98 (4)
• 1 John 5:1-6
• John 15:9-17

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection 

In this chapter of John, Jesus spends some time trying to help his disciples understand what it means to be a friend, a follower, chosen by God — a disciple. It seems that he’s always trying to straighten them out. Love and friendship… what could be easier to understand?

It’s maybe not as simple as it seems though. In the Old Testament there’s a passage in Isaiah where God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways.” In this week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus has something different in mind when he speaks of friends and love. He is thinking of a relationship that is deeper, more intense, and more committed than the disciples are accustomed to. Jesus is speaking of a friendship and love that is willing to sacrifice everything — including one’s life — for another person. It’s the kind of friendship and love that Jesus has for us.

Even today we struggle to really understand and accept the kind of friendship Jesus describes. We’re still unsure about what it means to follow Jesus’ example and what he is asking us to do. Maybe we even dig our feet in sometimes and say “there’s no way I’m gonna do that!” “Love my enemies or sacrifice my life for a friend — no way.”

But it is the way, and Jesus is asking us to make it our way.

Last fall, fast-food chain Burger King created the “Whopper Sacrifice” campaign, a FaceBook app that gave people a coupon for a free hamburger if they deleted 10 people from their friends list. The value worked out to trading each friend for about 37 cents worth of fast food. By the end of the promotion, people had deleted 233,906 friends from their FaceBook pages.

The marketing campaign is over, and the Whopper Sacrifice Web site now simply says: “In the end, your love for the Whopper Sandwich proved to be stronger than 233,906 friendships.” “Were you sacrificed by somebody? Send them an Angry-Gram…”

We can shrug it off as just advertising; it’s no big deal. On the other hand, what does it say about who we are and how we love each other?

Discussion Questions

• How would you describe the differences between how Jesus describes a friend and how we might describe a friend? How are our descriptions similar? What about our descriptions of love?
• What stands in the way of our considering every human being as a friend? As a neighbor? In today’s world — 2009 –what helps us connect with each other in ways that are respectful, caring, understanding, and even loving?
• How does God move us closer to each other through the sacrifice and example of Jesus?

Activity Suggestions

• Get in touch with a friend who you haven’t talked to or connected with in awhile. Tell them of your care and concern for them, and that you haven’t forgotten them.
• Use your social networking or on-line community page to mention the kind of love that God has for us. Encourage your friends to take the risk of living and loving like Jesus… post each other’s ideas of what it involves. Offer each other encouragement that also reflects forgiveness and patience.

Closing Prayer

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son. Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred that infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in love; and, through our struggle and confusion, work to accomplish your purposes on earth; so that, in your good time, every people and nation may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

(Prayer for the human family, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 79.)

Contributed by Matthew R. Nelson
Walla Walla, WA

John Breaux helped others using every opportunity possible. While he appeared homeless, he was known for his generosity. He would open doors for others, leave flowers randomly to cheer people up, and often brought food to people in need.

He seemed good natured and happy and rode his bicycle many miles daily, often picking up litter along the way to help keep Colorado beautiful, or stopping to pull weeds at someone’s home because it looked like they could use the help.

John was often mistaken as homeless in the suburban communities surrounding Boulder, CO. He had a bushy beard and often smelled dirty because he picked up and carried trash. He was missing teeth and slurred his speech.

Someone worried that a passing car might hit him, so they purchased a bicycle helmet for him. Others gave him clean clothes to wear for his comfort, which he gave away to someone he thought needed them more than he did. Once, he was handed a $50 bill at church. He put it in the offering plate.

Among all of John’s qualities and behaviors, his desire to be like Jesus stood out. He had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in his 20s according to a newspaper article.

Now, the communities he blessed with his giving are mourning his death. He had stopped to gather loose cans and pull weeds along a road and was struck by a driver taking prescription drugs for dementia. Nearly 2000 people attended his funeral. A memorial fund was set up in his honor. Said one local Lutheran woman, “We will miss him. He taught us that we can all be examples of God’s love.”

Read the whole story…

Discussion Questions

• Share an example of someone you know that uses his or her time, gifts, and talents to reflect God’s love… like John Breaux did. Why are they a good example?
• What are some of the simpler things we can all do that reflect God’s love? What are some of the more difficult?
• Does giving of your time, talent, and gifts seem like more of a burden or a responsibility? Does the giving we do require sacrifice every time?
• How important is it to be recognized publicly for giving, or is it more rewarding to contribute and help others without recognition? Why? What are your expectations when you help or care for someone?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 22, 2009.

(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.)

• Numbers 21:4-9
• Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 (19)
• Ephesians 2:1-10
• John 3:14-21

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

John 3:16. My Bible refers to this scripture as the gospel in a nutshell. It is not uncommon to see sports fans holding up signs with John 3:16 written on them, hoping that the poster might be seen by television viewers everywhere. It is a seemingly simple witness, recognized by many.

The news story recognizes John Breaux as someone whose identity was defined in several ways. While he appeared dirty and often smelled, he seized opportunities to give to others. While he seemed homeless, he made an impression in several communities and congregations that he visited, demonstrating servanthood to others. Children even referred to him as ‘Jesus’ at times.

Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, by dying on a cross so that through faith, we will have eternal life. But the cross is not the end of the story. Even before Christ was crucified, he exemplified God’s nature and desire for us through his actions in the communities and countryside where he walked, taught, preached, and healed. With every word and action, Christ called the people of his day to be God’s love to others.

With the guidance and motivation of the Holy Spirit, we receive the gift of faith which calls us to action. Like John Breaux, we have every opportunity to exemplify God’s love and sacrifice for the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”

Who will the Holy Spirit lead you to touch with God’s love this week?

Discussion Questions

• What kind of freedom or restriction do you believe you experience through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross? Why?
• John Breaux was stereotyped as dirty and homeless, yet he spent much of his time helping others or just being kind to people and his surroundings. Who have you stereotyped in the past? Did your stereotype of them prevent you from taking an opportunity to do something kind, or from leting them care for you?
• What needs do you feel are not being met in your community or congregation? What should be done? Who should do it?
• How do people outside of your worshipping community know that you are a faithful servant of Jesus? Do you conduct yourself differently? Why? Why not? What assumptions or impressions of your congregation do you think people have in your community or neighborhood?

Activity Suggestion

God’s love calls us to action as we reflect our faith in this world. Answer #1 individually, and then share your answers. Take a few minutes to do #2 individually.

• “As a faithful servant, and with God’s help, I try to…”
• Write an anonymous thank you card to someone you know (in your congregation) thanking them for the example they set for you. Mail them using the church’s address for the return address.Spend five minutes discussing needs that you think are not being met in your congregation or community. (Confidentiality might be in order if talking about your own congregation) 
  • Create a list following your discussion time. Title it: “Opportunities for Ministry.” Post it in your classroom or ask if you can print it in your church bulletin and/or newsletter.
  • If you ask to print it in your bulletin or newsletter, check with your evangelism & outreach committee or church council representatives to see if local organizations are meeting some of these needs, and whether they might need volunteers.
  • Make another list of the gifts, resources, and strengths your congregation and its members have to offer and put to use in serving the surrounding community. List the assets that your youth bring to the mix.

Closing Prayer

Close by praying the Lord’s Prayer together.

Warm-up Question: What would you do the day before becoming president?

One day before his inauguration, then president-elect Obama was spotted painting a wall of a homeless shelter. He also visited a medical center that treats wounded U.S. soldiers and a high school where students volunteered in different ways.

Of course, Obama’s actions that day were not a private matter of goodwill but part of an effort to shape the tone of his new presidency. Obama said in one of the many interviews he gave that day: “I ask the American people to turn today’s efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities, and their country.”

Whenever a new president comes into office, the nation experiences a push of hope. Suddenly, the future seems brighter and people assume that things will be better this time around. But can a single man really change an entire country? Obama’s call to volunteer was followed all over the United States this year and was covered by the international media. Now, it is up to his administration and, last but not least, to the stamina of the American people whether this movement of volunteerism can be sustained. The new president has high hopes. He urges the doubters to not “underestimate the power for people to pull together and to accomplish amazing things.”

Discussion Questions

• What, do you think, is the ideal way to spend the day before becoming president?
• Did you volunteer on Martin Luther King’s day this year?
• What have your experiences been in volunteer service?
• Do you think that volunteering for a few hours at a single place such as a soup kitchen or day care center can really change lives? How?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, February 8, 2009.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.)

• Isaiah 40:21-31
• Psalm 147:1-11, 20c (3)
• 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
• Mark 1:29-39

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Just two verses, 27 words, in the Greek original text of the New Testament, and 42 words in the English of the NRSV translation … This is probably the shortest miracle story in the Gospels!

A woman is in a house. She is bed-ridden because of a fever. Jesus is called to her. He heals her and she immediately goes about her business. This story is placed at the beginning stages of Mark’s recounting of Jesus’ public ministry, but it is not the first healing and not the first miracle that Jesus performs. Just before, he healed a man at a synagogue. And right after, Jesus is overrun by the sick and the possessed of the town including their relatives that bring them to him and ask for his help. It is as if Jesus circle of influence widens at this point. Only a few people witnessed the healing at the synagogue and this miracle in a private residence, but the news about Jesus and his amazing powers spread immediately.

The miracle itself is done in the simplest way. Jesus does not do anything special, he does not pray or say anything. He just takes the woman’s hand and helps her up, a sequence of events that Mark’s readers will encounter again in Mark 5:41 and 9:27.

What is unique about this healing is that Jesus here performs a miracle for the benefit of somebody within his closest circle of friends. It is the mother-in-law of his first disciple, Simon Peter, the “rock” upon which he will build his church (Matthew 16:18).

What is the result of this healing miracle? The Gospel writers usually add a note that, after being healed by Jesus, the person in question is actually able to walk, stand, see, or whatever else he or she was previously not able to do. Simon’s mother-in-law does more than simply get up or stand on her own, or get rid of a fever. She is healed, gets up, and begins to serve Jesus and his followers. Of course, being good hosts is what women were supposed to do when guests entered the house. Yet, her “serving” is something special.

The Greek verb “diakoneo,” from which the term “deacon” comes, is only used a few times in the New Testament. Aside from Simon’s mother-in-law, it is applied to a few special women such as Martha (John 12:2), the righteous (Matthew 25:44), Paul’s disciple Onesiphorus (1 Timothy 1:18), and the angels (Matthew 4:11, Mark 1:13). What these special servants have in common is that they all serve Jesus: the angels wait on him after he has rejected Satan, Martha and the other women provide for him and his disciples, Onesiphorus proclaims his word. Doing “diakoneo” work is thus human and angelic business, providing for Jesus when he still walked on earth and making sure that his message is spread throughout history in every place.

Discussion Questions

• The term “servant” can refer to a person who does demeaning work or to somebody who needs to be praised for his or her willingness to put one’s own needs below the needs of others. Do you think that this expression is still a good description for somebody who works in the church or does acts of Christian charity or compassion? How do you understand the term today?
• Where does your church do “service” in the way the verb “diakoneo” is used in this passage? Where do you?
• Some scholars who studied the Gospel of Mark claimed that the disciples mention the woman’s illness to Jesus in order to apologize for the fact that Simon’s house is not inviting and that no feast is prepared. Do you think that the woman falls into the typical patterns of female behavior when she gets up from her sick-bed and immediately takes care of others? What do you think would be your first actions if you had been healed by Jesus?

Activity Suggestions

1. There is a pattern!
Healing stories in the Gospels often follow a certain pattern: 1) the miracle worker arrives, 2) the situation of the sick person is described, 3) the healing is performed, and 4) there is some kind of proof that the person was actually healed.

Find other healing stories in the Gospel of Mark and check which ones fit that pattern and which ones might deviate from it. For this activity, it would be helpful to provide a table with 5 columns and several rows. The 4 steps appear in the top row, columns 2-5. Students can then add the stories they found in the first column and fill in the details of each story in columns 2-5.

2. Deacons are …
Have your students read the stories mentioned above that use the Greek verb “diakoneo” and write a list of characteristics that identify someone as a “deacon” of that kind. Discuss what a modern person would have to do in order to be such a deacon and whether your students can imagine becoming such a person.

3. Divine Valentine
Have paper, scissors, ribbons, scrapbook materials, glue, and anything else available with which your students can make their own Valentine’s Day cards. Invite them to make “Divine Valentines,” cards that tell somebody that they are loved by God (this is one of the aspects of being a deacon, spreading the word about Jesus and God’s love!).

As they make their cards, talk with them about people who need to hear that God loves them. Either, leave it up to them who should receive their card or arrange for a special follow-up project where you take these cards to a group home, nursing home, shelter, or another place in your neighborhood where this message is needed. You can also leave it up to them whether they want to write a scripture verse inside (provide a few about God’s love) or whether they would like to add a personal note.

Closing Prayer

You are truly amazing, Lord:
You provide for us and guide our lives.
You give us friends and families that care for us and that we might care for.
But most amazing is that in your death and resurrection you became a servant for us. You died so that we may live.
Grant, that we can become your servants in turn:
That we can do your work on earth.
That we can proclaim your word.
And that we can spread the news of your love to people that have never heard it or experienced it. Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Claudia Bergmann
Eisleben, Germany

Granite Park soccer field in Atlanta has had to accommodate five extra teams in recent days, due to the theft of copper wiring from nearby Henderson Park. The wiring was ripped out of the light poles, causing $6,000 in damage, leaving the park without electricity, and leaving its resident children’s soccer teams without a place to practice at night. Granite Park has taken in the teams from Henderson, but the extra players make the field crowded and cramped, and the extra drive time cuts into the students’ time for homework and friends.

Granite Park also recently had to accommodate the teams from Gwinnett Soccer Association, who suffered a similar fate as Henderson Park. Copper thieves got away with about $100 worth of copper wiring — and caused around $8,500 worth of damage.

These are just the latest in a string of copper thefts around thecountry. Copper is highly conductive and very useful, making it a commodity that is very much in demand. Fetching a price of more than $4 a pound, more and more people are seeing copper electrical wiring as a source of easy cash. Other damages caused by copper thieves have included leaving entire neighborhoods without power, and shutting down radiation treatment for cancer patients.

Discussion Questions

• Do you think that copper thieves realize the damage they are causing, not just to property, but to other people? If they were shown how they are hurting others, do you think some of them would stop? Why or why not?
• Why do you think sports and athletic fields in particular are such a common target for copper thieves?
• What reasons do you think the people who run Granite Park have for taking in all these teams from the victimized soccer fields? Are they trying to be helpful, or do they have other purposes in mind?
• What measures would you take to stop copper thieves from striking again, either at sports fields or other places?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, October 26, 2008.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

• Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
• Psalm 1(2)
• 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
• Matthew 22:34-46

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Jesus’ critics had been conspiring together to trick him. They asked him a series of questions designed to entrap him and make him lose favor with the people. The Pharisees asked him about paying taxes, an issue on which the people were very much divided. The Sadducees asked him about the Resurrection, thinking they could trip him up and prove that it didn’t exist. But through it all, Jesus was able to keep his cool and respond to these trick questions with a wisdom that astounded the crowd.

And then a lawyer asks him the question in our Gospel lesson today. Another test of his wisdom and question-answering abilities, but at the same time, a very interesting and very important issue… which is the greatest commandment out of the ten? Let’s just say you had to pick one, Jesus; which one would it be? Are there some things that require more of our attention than others? Is it more important to honor our father and mother than, say, to refrain from bearing false witness against our neighbor? Which one will score us more points with God if we obey it?

Jesus responds, not with one commandment, but with two. The first is not surprising. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. God created us and gave us life, as well as the world to live in. Every breath of ours should be in praise to God for all he has given us. So yes, this is the greatest commandment. But the second — to love your neighbor as you love yourself — this is a bit trickier. As we know from the parable of the Good Samaritan, your neighbor is anyone who is in need, anyone whom you can help. In effect, everyone is your neighbor. And so we must love everyone, as much as we love ourselves.

All the other laws and commandments, all the other prophesies and teachings, all the rest of scripture, boils down to these two things. Is it a worse crime to steal something, or to kill someone? If you love your neighbor, you won’t want to steal from him or kill him. This is the key.

God gave us the Ten Commandments, knowing that in our sinful nature, we could never follow them perfectly. But a constant struggle and fixation to follow the law out of obligation or guilt is not what God wants from us. He wants our hearts. And so we serve God willingly and joyfully, not because the law says we must, but because we love him and want to please him in all that we do. And we honor our fathers and mothers and refrain from bearing false witness against our neighbors, not simply because the Bible tells us to, but because we love them. And to do otherwise to someone we love would be unthinkable, and hurtful to God, creator of all humanity and creation.

Discussion Questions

• Sometimes we all slip up, even when we love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves. When we do, how can we make amends with God? How can we make amends with our neighbor? How are the two related? What can we do to avoid making the same mistake again?
• How do you think the copper thieves of Henderson Park would benefit from hearing today’s Gospel lesson? Do you think they’d listen? What would you tell them? How would you explain the widespread consequences to other people as a result of their one action? Think creatively, how would you help or suggest that the thieves set things right? (This may not imply that they wouldn‘t be held accountable or suffer consequences for their actions.)
• If you could ask Jesus one question, what would it be? How do you think he would respond?

Activity Suggestions

Loving one’s neighbor means much more than simply not stealing from them or killing them. Find some active ways to help out people in the community that you otherwise might not pay attention to.

• Who are they?
• What actions, caring, or relationships are meaningful and helpful for them? And, what better way to learn more and gain a deeper understanding for someone than to sit down and talk and listen with them. Create a safe and trusting environment in which a guest from the community can come and talk openly with your group about their life and faith. (e.g., a recovering alcoholic or drug abuser, someone unemployed, a single parent, someone who has been in prison or is on parole, a Muslim, a person with a life-threatening illness, etc.)

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, be with me in the coming week. Help me to serve you always from a loving and joyful heart. And help me also to love those around me and be there for them whenever they need me, even though it’s not always easy to do. In your name I pray. Amen

Contributed by Steven Alloway
Granada Hills, CA