We live in an age where church attendance or participation is optional in minds too many. Usually the option of taking oneself out is the preferred one. I have said over and over again: There are things Jesus wants to impart to you that can only be received through consistent, meaningful connection with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus rose from the dead annihilating the price of sin, and rose in the power of the Holy Spirit opening the door for the Holy Spirit to be sent to anyone who believes so they can live a holy life before God.  What does a person who believes this to the core of his/her being live like? That is the question. 

I will never forget the time I was working in my dad’s restaurant. I served people at a counter in those days. A lot of guys used to visit after the clubs closed downtown. They were party animals who went out at night hoping to find “chicks” for one night stands. Often they found them. Eventually these guys wanted to settle down and get married. Everyone of them hoped they would find virgins. I had to laugh.

I am completely fascinated with falling leaves. As they flutter to the ground I realize they have served their purpose and fall to the ground never to live again. It is ironic they do so clothed with colour. Individually, they are never so beautiful as when they fall and die. This fall it was not a leaf that fell but a man, specifically an unarmed soldier symbolically guarding Canada's sacred war memorial in Ottawa.

The whole premise of this is clear. The warmth, support and community offered by these churches has nothing to do with God at all. It is a result of human beings getting together to celebrate life and one another. It is the power of the human spirit that is at work here, not the Holy Spirit.