BARRY MANILOW

Well, all right - this was just INEVITABLE here, wasn't it? After yesterday, I couldn’t resist. Unless you were present at second service Sunday morning with KATHY TROCCOLI, you won’t exactly understand this one -- and that'll teach ya to miss church. But it was kind of FUN, and a little SCARY, to stand on the KFA stage and sing part of Barry Manilow’s “I Write the Songs.” It has been SUGGESTED in the past that I might bear a vocal resemblance to Mr. Manilow, during his very BEST days, of course. I don’t know if I do. If you were there in second service, you can be the judge. But it was fun to ‘let down my hair a bit’ and go out on a ledge to be part of that. The whole thing was so far out of my comfort zone I cannot even TELL you – and I practically had to blow dry the armpits of my shirt when I got home yesterday afternoon.

I will confess there is a PART of me that wants to turn back the clock and wipe that from the KFA memory banks, but ALAS, it is now forever part of weekend service history. However, I WAS particularly gratified to see so many of you get into the ‘spirit’ of it by pulling out your cell phones and waving them in the dark while I was singing. You don't see THAT in church every day - and that's one of the things I LOVE about KFA.

And NOW, those of you who weren’t there yesterday for second service are saying, “What in the world!!?” But relax. We haven’t gone off the deep end. Not YET.

And be blessed.