ESPN's Top Ten plays

It was ESPN's number one among its Top Ten plays for over the weekend. I
saw it yesterday morning and was frankly moved to tears. Jack Hoffman, a
7-year-old battling brain cancer, was given the handoff in Saturday's
Nebraska Spring football game. He ran 60 yards for a touchdown (see it
here). Everyone, the offense, the defense, and those on the bench ran
behind him and congregated in the end zone in celebration of the boy's
accomplishment. 60,000 fans at Memorial Stadium stood up and cheered.

Jack is on a break from 60 weeks of chemotherapy, and he has undergone two
surgeries since doctors discovered the cancer two years ago. While the
tumor has shrunk, time will tell how this ends for this courageous little
boy. Meanwhile, he and his family have a memory for a lifetime. To me, the
most touching part was how the entire Cornhusker team rallied around this
sick little boy.

The church of our Lord is the most important institution on earth. To be a
part of it is to be in the place where all spiritual blessings flow (Eph.
1:3), to be in Christ (Gal. 3:27), and to be part of God's household (1 Tim.
3:15). Of the myriad of blessings, Christians are part of a family. When
one of our family members is sick, hurting, suffering, spiritually
struggling, has fallen from Christ but returned to Him, or in any other way
finds himself or herself in a battle bigger than themselves, God designed
the church to rally around that one and support them. Paul urged supporting
the weak (Acts 20:35). The writer of Hebrews urges us to "strengthen the
hands which hang down, and the feeble knees" (Heb. 12:12). Long ago, the
prophet said, "Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble" (Isa.
35:3).

Nothing is more moving to see than the church family rallying around a
fellow-Christian in need of help. I know I am not alone in feeling this
way! May we always feel comfortable enough to invite others into our lives
to help us as we struggle to overcome and make heaven our home!


Neal Pollard