Bring May flowers

Some days seem to just amount to being awful. I don't know why. It seems like everything evil waits until it has backup to make an attack on us. Yesterday was one of those attacks.

Yesterday, my mom went in for an MRI. She's had bad health for as long as I can remember. They wanted to check out something in her brain. At this point, nothing surprises me with her. She's always under more duress than any person should have to undergo. But this instance was especially hard to deal with... it was affecting her mind.

So I had that on my mind on my way to school. I didn't even leave the driveway and my wife called me, "Babe! There is a tornado coming! You need to come back inside."

"Relax," I told her, "you freak out to easily. Everything will be fine." And I was on my way to school.

I went in the library and sat down at a computer to start my research for a project. Not fifteen minutes later, we got text messages from the school telling us that we were to take shelter because the tornado was heading our way. We all took cover, and the first thing I thought was, "Steph..." Her safety was the only thing on my mind, but I very well couldn't leave and try to drive on the highway. The tornado seemed to be taking the freeway directly towards our house.

Well, after waiting in the lower section of a secure building, we were all released back to our work... only to receive another text message about the tornado coming back.

Once again no harm came to us. The alert was lifted, and we went back to our work. As I was sitting over at my computer, I looked over at the guy at the computer next to me. His face was stone, "She's dead..." he muttered.

"What?" I couldn't help but read his email. LBC put out a mass email telling us that one of our fellow students was found dead in her apartment that morning.

Everything else that was bothering me that day got put on the back burner. I knew the girl. Not well, but well enough to have a conversation. I couldn't believe that she was gone.

There was a somber mood all over campus for the next few hours. I was included in the sorrowful crowd, but then something miraculous happened. I was walking between the trees, and I smelt something that normal Lancaster county atmosphere drowns out: flowers.

Lancaster is known for having poor air quality and quite a bit of fertilizer lingering in the air. It was really nice to smell the freshness of spring for once.

Then I realized that the only way I could smell the flowers was for the storm from the tornado to wash the air of all the junk that normally floats around in it. Then I started thinking about the girl. No matter how horrible the situation is, she is in Heaven now with her Lord, our Lord.

Then I started thinking about my mom. Everything's going to be okay... some way or another.

To church or not to church

We all have our own ideas of what a dysfunctional family looks like. One thing we can agree on is that a dysfunctional family is one that does not function properly. They argue incessantly, do not know anything about each other, and frankly do not care. I cannot even fathom the idea of living that way. The home I grew up in, though imperfect, was functional. My parents acted selflessly, and my brother and I did not always try to kill each other. My new family life (that being my wife and I) is similar. We are honest with each other, and we (almost) always put each other first. What would happen if I just decided to stop coming home every night?

You may be thinking, "Uh... you would be an idiot." You are correct. A family needs to spend as much time together as possible. You cannot help someone with their problems if you are not with them.

Now let us take a look at your own life. You probably have some sort of family, whether broken or not. You would agree you need to be with them.

Now let us take a look at your bigger family. I do not mean let us add the uncles and aunts into the mix... although they might be part of it. I am talking about church. Would your family be able to survive if you spent as little time with them as you do with your church?

Humor me for a second. When you were saved, were you saved into some sort of "personal Christianity?" For some of us, we think that way. We have our own little "personal walks." Let me tell you... that is a load of bullocks.

Yes, you were saved as an individual. But once Christ brought you in, He did not bring you in to your own little room separate from everybody else. You were saved into a community, a family. God said that it is not good for man to be alone. God gave Adam a wife to be with. The wife was not given to man primarily for procreation. Woman was given to man primarily for community.

"But I do my own personal devotions!" That is great. Now talk about it with someone at church who needs to hear it.

"I watch TV preachers! That should be good enough!" Well, it is not. If the function of the church were simply just to learn, there would be no point of Heaven.

When the church started, Acts 2 says that they met together daily in the temple. Daily! We think going to two services on Sunday is too much. Trust me, only in community can a Christian grow. If you are not in Christian community (i.e. church) as much as possible, you will start to decay in your Christian walk. You are part of a body, and I have never heard of a finger that continued to grow after it was cut off from its host.

So, is not going to church a sin? The simple answer: yes. The complicated answer: yes.

As always, if you leave comments, I want scripture. Not just simple American negotiation: "Well I think blah blah blah..."