The Goal Line Stand

"And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." Ezekiel 22:30

College football fans across the country are preparing for the start of the 2016 season this coming Saturday. And in Alabama, it is especially impossible to ignore the excitement mounting. Our state has a rich football heritage, and there is hardly anyone who disagrees that in OUR state, football reigns KING. But why do we love the sport so much? What makes it so popular? I suspect entire books could be and have been written exploring the many aspects of the sport and why we, as a country, are so drawn to it.

My guess would be simply that football, for many, is like life. It is a struggle: an individual's perseverance and strength are tested at each play. It is teamwork: 11 players work together as a team to achieve something great that could not be achieved alone. It is strategic: a 100 yard x 50 yard chessboard where 11 pieces battle against 11 pieces for 60 minutes. And it is even, occasionally, danger: the players are willing to risk injury to achieve victory at almost any cost. Football is, at times, full of exhilaration, and at others, bitter disappointment. In preparation for the 2016 season, I re-watched the 1979 Sugar Bowl of Alabama vs. Penn State. Any football fan knows, no matter their football heritage, that this game featured what is perhaps the greatest goal line stand in the history of football. At first and goal inside the 10 yard line, #1 Penn State pounded against the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide defense. Penn State drove inside the 1 yard line where 11 opposing men took their stand to defend their state and their university. Names like Marty Lyons, Barry

Krauss, Curtis McGriff, Don McNeil, and Rich Wingo, forever remembered as some of Alabama's greatest players, were present among those standing half a yard from what looked to be certain defeat. The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who took their stand for righteousness. God continually raised up unlikely heroes of the faith who took their stands and are now seated in the grandstands of heaven in the Hall of Fame of faith. This Life on Wheels Word of the Week features a truly remarkable situation in Ezekiel. God was looking and calling for someone to stand: someone with the courage to stand in the power of the Lord against the forces of evil of their day. Sadly, there was none to stand and the nation suffered. When we at Life on Wheels read this passage, our hearts break. We know that we have been called to take our stand for life, and we do NOT want the Lord to declare that when He called, He "found none" who would answer. We have asked the Lord to use this ministry to save lives and share the gospel with as many who will hear. We are standing against the enemy, Satan, who would seek to kill, steal and destroy. We want to attempt something so great that it is doomed to fail if God is not in it, for we know that it is ONLY His power that can save. We are willing to park our mobile unit at the front line of Satan's attacks and, in the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, to STAND. Will YOU stand with us?