Skipping Church

So for the last few months, Beth and I (and the kids) have been skipping church. Probably about 4 times over the last 3 months. It is funny because we have both made comments about being heathens cause we weren't sitting in a service. We don't do anything special when we don't go to church, just kind of relax and hang out around the house. This is weird for a youth pastor. I mean, really, we aren't supposed to skip church to just hang out. I believe we are just relaxing. Taking the day to relax and enjoy our day off. I know that from the moment we started at Covenant till we left, we probably "skipped" church maybe 4 times over an almost 4 year period.

Anyways, this just got me to thinking about church and truly what it means to go to church. Is the physical attendance the important part or where our heart is. How many of us think that God has a scorecard up there, with our names and attendance dates? I know there are people in the church that push it, like our salvation depends on our attendance. Please don't get me wrong, I believe the church attendance is highly important, but I also believe the most people in a church just go to church to be there, not to worship. To me, attending church is about worshiping God, learning from the pastor and fellowshipping with other believers.

Let me know what you think. What does attending church mean to you?

Remembering...

I blogged yesterday about the passing of Jimmy Haun, and how sad we all are that it happened. I know he is in a better place and pain free, so that makes it that much easier to deal with.

As I spent time talking to his son James, and then talking to my mother last night about it, I couldn't help but think of the weekend in October when my father passed away. In talking with my mom, we were discussing whether it was better that dad went quickly or if going slowly would have been better. I know my father and he wouldn't have wanted to suffer. He talked about it all the time and how he just wanted it to be over. He knew that he could be dealing with a long painful death with the history of bad habits he had. I would have loved to spent another day with my father, or even another hour of time where he could have talked to me, but I wouldn't do that if he was in any pain. I loved my father and would have given anything to spend more time with him, but I know that his passing fast was the best option for him and my family.

As for Jimmy, he touched so many lives within his 2 years of being diagnosed with cancer, I don't think he would have traded the pain for the experience. I know the family did everything to cherish the time they had together. The Haun family is one of the most influential families within their circle of friends that I have ever seen. They are all very close, and enjoy spending time with each other. I know up until the week before his passing, Jimmy was in Nashville to watch some of TNT, an event he probably never missed. The whole family was there.

I am not sure if I could have done what James, Jace and Josh did and watch their father fade. But then again, they got two years of time together of living life to its fullest with their father...

The Passing of a Friend...

I just got back from lunch and found out that a friend of mine, Jimmy Haun, has passed away. I have been thinking about him that last couple weeks. Jimmy has been a big inspiration to me and to others because almost 2 years ago he was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors only gave him 6 months to live. Jimmy fought the cancer hard, doing everything he could to stay healthy. I had Jimmy come and talk to my youth group last summer because I wanted them to see genuine Christianity from someone who was dealing with a life and death situation. Jimmy made an impact on him (like he normally did).

I am good friends with Jimmy's boy, James, Josh and Jace. James and I are very good friends. We have spent lots of time hanging out and joking. The entire family has faced this problem head-on. They knew that God was in it, no matter how hard it was to deal with.

**** I just spoke with James and the family is holding up. He said he was glad that his dad wasn't in pain anymore but also missed his father. I can completely understand.

Please pray for this great family and the pain they are suffering this morning. They rejoice that he is now pain-free and with his Saviour, but they will also miss their husband, father, and friend...

Rest in Peace Jimmy Haun

Remembering - 3 Years ago...

3 Years ago yesterday, my family and I experienced a life changing event, our house burned down.

On April 18, 2004 around 4:30am, Beth and I woke up to the small of a camp fire. I quickly dismissed it and went back to sleep, but she actually opened her eyes and realized that there was smoke in our house. She looked down the hall and saw the bright orange flames of a fire in our den. She immediately started screaming and woke me and the kids up. I tried to put out the flames with our fire extinguisher but that didn't work, so we started getting everyone out of the house. Luckily, once outside you couldn't see any flames, so our kids weren't subject to that horror.

Within a few minutes, we had friends on the scene who took our kids away while we waited for the fire department to get done. We stood there and just watched and listened as our house just burned up. Again, we couldn't see any flames but we know what was happening. After and hour or so, we were allowed to start looking inside the house. Everything was black because the house was pretty air-tight and smoke wasn't allowed to escape, so it just filled everything in the house. We lost all our furniture, clothes, toys, etc. Thankfully, we didn't lose any pictures we had.

It was hard going threw the house. The biggest tragedy that day was that we lost one of our dogs. We thought she got out with the other one, but realized shortly after the fire dept got there, that she didn't. I am grateful that friends were there because a friend named Joe buried her in the back yard, and I didn't have to do it.

The whole experience was life changing. We asked many questions of why it happened to us, and we never really found an answer. It has been hard replacing everything and with the help of church, family and friends we were given enough to get a good jump on furnishing on next house.

It seems weird in the fact that while I was growing up, I never really experienced any hardships. My sister had a house fire, but it was nothing major and I will in the 11th grade. But my kids, who are 8, 7, and 2, have experienced some major changes in their life. They had the house fire, have more several times, been to a couple different schools and church and lost their grandfather. My daughter still cries when we bring up the house fire cause she loved that dog. Both of them still talk about their papaw...

It is amazing what some people go through...

Welcome to Missouri!!!

I just wanted to give a shout-out to all the folks in Missouri who have been checking out my blog. Hopefully you are finding some stuff interesting. As time goes by these blogs will get into deeper subjects and will go along with things I am teaching in my youth group.

Argh, I can't wait for the next 3 weeks to go by. Our entire family is excited about moving and ready to be in our new place. The people in KC have been great and very helpful. We can't wait to begin this part of our life's journey.