March Madness... or is it Marriage Mangling?

Yes, it is that time of the year in which the NCAA men's basketball tournament is almost upon us. Shazzam! It seems just like yesterday that I watched a fellow-SEC member Florida claim the 2006 National Championship by chomping on the highly regarded Ohio State Buckeyes in football. Those Gators are pretty ferocious. I ought know since I have seen them over the last 35 years chomp on my beloved Auburn Tigers at times. BUT, not this year. We did manage to be their only blunder of their season. Even in basketball, the Gators won the 2006 NCAA championship. I digress for a moment due to my promoting of the supremacy of the SEC in major sports. However, just this week, I heard a giddy brother talk about the basketball tournament and how his 3 TV's would be in the den focused on the games. What?!? 3 TV's...? Sounds like someone is obsessed with the sports disease this week called March Madness.

Just a reminder to all of us that such extreme fanaticism can lead to dire consequences. Namely, consequences that can effect you marriage and family relationships. Don't e-mail me with shouts of the man is the leader and he can do as he pleases. (Yes, that is what one dear brother e-mailed me at one time in the past.) I am confident that God wants the men in our homes to turn of the set and make time for their wives and children, consistently! Remember men, you ARE the leader. Leaders best lead by example. So, I remind us all what God's great Word says when husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and for fathers not to exasperate their children.

With that in mind, you can watch a few... notice the word "few"and I will one more time wave the banner of the SEC teams by rooting for the highest seeded member, even though my beloved Auburn Tigers are far removed from it, ...

"GO GATORS!"

"I am lucky.... Hmmmm."

Today the interview with one of the survivors of the bus crash containing the students from a Mennonite college in Ohio issued the statement in the title of this blog. For a moment, this writer was quite perplexed that a student from a Mennonite college would make such a statement. Nonetheless, he did. Obviously, one could make unscrupulous statements in the midst of tragedy and disaster without thinking about the serious implications of what they just uttered.

For the last 24 hours, this writer has been on the phone with different individuals within our church fellowship seeking and receiving input as to the best way to help the victims of the storm disasters that have pounded our state on March 1, 2oo7. Families and friends have been interviewed and questioned by reporters that have made their way to the Enterprise area where the most damage was done in terms of lives lost. The visual images portrayed by our media representatives either by television or computer have been horrendous. The reaction by the victim's survivors are remarkable. Death and tragedy brings grief into one's life inevitably. People grieve differently. I can recall vividly on one occasion where I had the unfortunate responsibility to tell a mother that her youngest son, who was 38 years old, collapsed and died due to a massive heart attack a few years ago. Her reaction was very visible. As a matter of fact, this dear lady went into shock and required medical attention. I will never forget that afternoon as I helped her son physically lift her out of my van and into a wheelchair to enter the emergency room of our local hospital. I had never seen this kind of reaction in my entire ministry. What seemed like an eternity for me in that ER room was nothing compared to what her oldest son felt. Subsequently, with the aid of medical help, this church member made it through those next few hours and days, physically. You see this lady lost her husband and this man had lost his father just three months prior to this event. A family loses two of it's members within 3 months of each other. A rare, but a difficult tragedy, had occurred. This dear mother later went on to recover somewhat and the frequent question that she would ask me is "Why did this happen?!?" I did not have a simple answer. Of yes, I could have given her a brief and proper theological and doctrinal discourse as to the why death and tragedy entered earth. However, at the moment I sensed it would not be wise to try to answer the "why" question. I confidently assured her that God is the God of all comfort. His peace that he gives believers is essential in times such as this.

Troublesome is the thought that a student from an evangelical college would make the comment that he was "lucky" to be alive after some of his fellow athletes and students perished in a gruesome bus accident. No! He is not lucky. He is providentially blessed! God is sovereign. That means HE is in control. This student is alive because his earthly journey is not complete. Oh I know. One should not assume that all students of an evangelical college are believers. Therefore, it is possible that this student has not received the precious gift of salvation that is found in Christ Jesus alone. I pray that God will comfort him and the families and friends of those that perished in that bus accident.

You see. You cannot be lucky. No one can be.
It is written:

"Then Job replied to the Lord: 'I know that you can do all

things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.' "

Job 42: 1-2