--- id: 20150601_old_friends title: BLOG - Old Friends category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: friendship-as-sacrificial-presence sentiment: Grateful emotions: - Grateful - Reflective - Warm keypoints: - Busyness often makes us ignore the value of friends who once steadied us - A true friend sacrifices without expecting repayment - During Dean's cancer treatment, Lonnie Ball filmed his son's games and brought the tapes to the hospital - That friend was remembered as "Jesus with skin on" - God blesses people with a few friends who sacrifice time and money summary: > Dean Rush warns that busyness makes us forget friends who once bolstered confidence and gave hard advice. He defines true friendship as sacrificial presence without repayment, then thanks Lonnie Ball — who filmed his son Ryan's basketball games and drove the tapes to the hospital during Dean's cancer treatment — calling him "Jesus with skin on" and affirming that God gives a few such friends. tags: - blog - human-resources - friendship - sacrifice - cancer - gratitude - lonnie-ball - biblical-wisdom - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2015-06-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2015-06-01_old-friends.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2015-06-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/old-friends source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/old-friends site_category: Human Resources archive_month: 2015-06 description: > Dean thanks sacrificial friends — especially Lonnie Ball, who brought game tapes to the hospital during cancer treatment — and names such presence as God's blessing and "Jesus with skin on." --- # Old Friends **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/old-friends](https://deanrush.net/blog/old-friends) **Archive month:** June 2015 · **Site category:** Human Resources > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean recovers the forgotten value of friends who bolster, advise, and sacrifice — then tells a hospital story of presence so concrete he calls it "Jesus with skin on." The enrichment below does not replace his gratitude; it shows the wider biblical frame for friendship as costly love. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Friends who steady and counsel are a gift | Faithful are the wounds of a friend (Proverbs 27:6); iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17) | | True friendship sacrifices without a ledger | Greater love lays down life for friends (John 15:13); love does not insist on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:5) | | Presence in suffering is Christlike | Bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2); weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15) | | God provides a few such friends | A friend loves at all times (Proverbs 17:17); two are better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10) | | Gratitude should be spoken aloud | Give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18); encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24–25) | --- ## Dean's article ![Handshake image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/images/article/handshake-152812__180.png) We often ignore the value of friends. We become too busy with life to remember the times in the past that friends were important to our very being. I often try to remember those incidents in life when someone stepped in and either bolstered my confidence when I was down, or provided some sound advice, even when I didn't want hear it. A true friend cares enough to sacrifice for you and not expect return payment. They are just there when you need them and they only want to help you hurdle over a problem or recover from a challenge. I am so thankful to have had a couple of people like that in my life. > **Scholar sidebar — Friendship without a ledger** > Proverbs 27:6 and 27:17 honor the friend who wounds in faithfulness and sharpens character — including unwanted advice. John 15:13 and 1 Corinthians 13:5 push further: love spends itself without demanding repayment. Dean's definition — sacrifice with no return invoice — is classic biblical friendship, not networking. When our son was in high school he played basketball and I loved to go to watch the games. We had a common bond with basketball. As a dad, I was very proud of his ability to make the most of the competition and teamwork. During his senior year in high school, I was diagnosed with Small Cell Adreno carcinoma (very serious form of prostate cancer). I spent much of that winter in the hospital and couldn't attend many of Ryan's ballgames. We had a friend who attended the games in my place, video taped the games, then drove them to the hospital so I could watch them the same night. Few men would have gone to the trouble to show that friendship and caring. We have talked about him as "Jesus with skin on". Lonnie Ball, where ever you are today: THANK YOU FOR BEING A TRUE FRIEND. I believe God blesses us with a few friends who care enough to sacrifice, even when it costs them time or money. > **Scholar sidebar — "Jesus with skin on"** > Dean's phrase is pastoral theology in street clothes: the body of Christ showing up where Christ Himself would (Matthew 25:36–40; Galatians 6:2). Lonnie Ball did not cure cancer; he refused to let a hospitalized father miss his son's senior season. Romans 12:15 — weep and rejoice with others — became a VHS tape driven to a hospital the same night. Naming Lonnie publicly fulfills the gratitude Scripture commends (1 Thessalonians 5:18). --- ## Takeaways 1. **Busyness erases gratitude.** Dean admits we often ignore friends who once held us up. 2. **True friends sacrifice without repayment.** Presence and help are the point, not a favor bank. 3. **Hard advice can be love.** Friends who speak when we do not want to hear still serve our good. 4. **Lonnie Ball embodied Christlike care.** Game tapes delivered to a cancer ward made friendship tangible. 5. **God gives a few such friends.** Costly loyalty in time and money is a blessing to notice and thank. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? Do not let busyness erase the friends who sacrifice for you — thank them, and recognize such presence as God's gift, even "Jesus with skin on." ### Why the hospital basketball story? Because it proves friendship in action: when cancer kept Dean from Ryan's games, Lonnie Ball filmed them and drove the tapes to the hospital the same night — costly love with no invoice. ### Key verses to read with this post - **John 15:13** — Greater love lays down life for friends. - **Proverbs 17:17** — A friend loves at all times. - **Proverbs 27:6, 17** — Faithful wounds; iron sharpens iron. - **Galatians 6:2** — Bear one another's burdens. - **Romans 12:15** — Weep and rejoice with others. - **Ecclesiastes 4:9–10** — Two are better than one. - **1 Thessalonians 5:18** — Give thanks. ### A simple practice This week: (1) name one friend who once showed up when it cost them, (2) thank them by name if you can reach them, (3) ask who might need you to be "Jesus with skin on" in one concrete errand. ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for questions such as: *What does Dean say about friendship? Who is Lonnie Ball?* Answers should keep Dean's story primary and use scholar notes only as biblical scaffolding.