I understand his anger.

His mom died when he was six. He "rode the rails" to Texas from Mississippi at 14.

He could tell the Bible story of the Prodigal's homecoming -- where he got back to the father, and all was well. My grandfather lived with insecurity, and an extraordinary level of anger. No farm equipment ever got "cussed out" more than his.

And no family ever had to work harder. His seven children were in the cotton fields from dawn to dusk.

And my grandmother had the job of holding the world together for the family. She provided the unconditional love.

My grandmother was one of the saints of the world -- but I never saw her in church. She went some before I was born, when her children were younger. I think she would have gone all her life, but my grandfather would not go -- and keeping the world settled for him was protection for the family -- and the dishes.

The only time I ever saw my grandparents in church was at their funerals.

I wondered recently -- how would the world of my family have changed if my grandfather had gone to church? In church, the Prodigal's homecoming could have become a living experience for him. In church, he could have encountered the security of God's grace, which always holds, even when the crops fail.

And what about your family?

Who is it in your family that makes it hard for the rest of the family to go to church?

Who in your family sets the bad example, lives the negative witness?

You know -- every child should see every parent that have in church regularly.

I know a lot of people who "plan to start someday."

Perhaps even my grandfather had that in mind. But years pass. Time runs out. The damage done.

It's time for you and your family to be in church. the time to start is now. Worship somewhere Sunday.