I would not think twice about it

Recently I read the article (entire article posted below), about World Champion Super Bowl winning head coach Tony Dungy. Dungy is a devout Christian which is unusual for a head coach in the NFL. He never raises his voice or curses like most NFL coaches do and recently he showed the world that success can be had with that approach. Dungy said something recently that really hit home with me when he talked about his son who committed suicide a few days before Christmas last year and how he dealt with the pain.

My brother committed suicide not so long ago and I still have not recovered and do not think I ever will. It is very painful to think about it and to this day I cannot bear to even look at a photo of him without tearing up. Dungy was able to return to work one week after the tragedy of his son because a friend of his asked him if he was sure that his son was a Christian and was in heaven. Dungy replied yes. The friend then asked him, knowing what he knows about heaven if he had the power would he remove his son from heaven? Dungy thought about it for a moment and then answered no he would not and that helped him deal with it.

My brother’s beautiful little five year old son who had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a remarkable inspirational personality died a horrible painful death from brain cancer. He did not go easily and went through three months of Hell on earth racked with pain from the cancer and sick from the chemo and his beautiful blonde curly hair all fell out. He weighed maybe thirty pounds when he finally died in my brother’s arms. I was there when he died. He looked up with those beautiful blue eyes and in a weak little whisper of a voice told my brother, “Daddy I want to go home”, and then he died in his arms. Two years later my mother whom my brother relied on heavily all of his life for support suddenly died of brain cancer. After the death of his son and my mother, his marriage disintegrated as did two subsequent marriages. He went from being one of the foremost and most highly acclaimed top salesman of the mega company for which he worked to being forced into early retirement for poor performance. He looked to drugs and alcohol to ease his tortured existence.

My pastor and I personally led my brother to Christ two years prior to his death. He had accepted Christ as a kid, but was not sure of his standing later in life. I know that I know that he found peace with God and was wonderfully saved that day. Unfortunately he backslid some and his life deteriorated again when he was besieged with a multitude of personal problems and when his third wife left him, he just ended it all.

I know my brother is in heaven today. His tortured existence is no more. He is with Jesus in paradise. Would I bring him back if I could? No way! For that matter I would not bring back his beautiful five year old son or my mother who are there with him at this very moment even though I miss them so bad that I hurt to my core. Yes ‘I’ miss them terribly, but ‘they’ are at peace. Soon enough when my mission and purpose on this earth are accomplished I will be allowed to join them and we will rejoice forever.

I cannot answer why bad things happen to good people, but I do know that things ultimately work out for the best for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. How sad indeed for those who are not Christians. Put your faith in Jesus today, won’t you?

Matt. 5:11
Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in heaven



“Spreading His Message”

They were there for breakfast, and they were there to cheer New York Jets
running back Curtis Martin. And it was Martin who received the Athletes in
Action Bart Starr Award Saturday morning. But the hundreds who gathered in
the fourth-floor ballroom at the Marriott Renaissance in Detroit, Mich., on the
morning before Super Bowl XL were clearly touched by the featured speaker.

That speaker was Colts’ Head Coach Tony Dungy.

Two hours into the breakfast, emcee Brent Jones introduced Dungy, who was
welcomed with a lengthy standing ovation. Dungy thanked the crowd, shared an
anecdote about Martin, and then told the crowd he was going to speak for about
15 minutes.

“It’s great to be here,” Dungy told the crowd My goal is to
have our team here one day and have a couple of tables with all of our guys
here. Because we have a special group of young men, a great group of
Christian guys. It’d be wonderful to have them here so you could see their hearts and
what they’re all about.”

He told them he was going to talk about lessons he had learned from his three
sons. The crowd fell silent. Then Dungy spoke.

Although this was a breakfast – and although at many such events speakers
speak over the clinking of glasses and murmurs from semi-interested
listeners – for most of the 15 minutes the room was silent except for Dungy’s voice.

He spoke of his middle son, Eric, who he said shares his competitiveness and
who is focused on sports “to where it’s almost a problem.” He spoke of his
youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital condition which causes him
not to feel pain. “He feels things, but he doesn’t get the sensation of pain,”
Dungy said.

The lessons learned from Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many. “Not feeling pain sounds
like it’s good at the beginning, but I promise you it’s not,” Dungy said. “We’ve
learned a lot about pain in the last five years through Jordan. We’ve learned some hurts are really necessary for kids. Pain is necessary for kids to find out the difference between what’s good and what’s harmful. “Jordan”, Dungy said, “loves cookies. Cookies are good,” Dungy said, “but in Jordan’s mind, if they’re good out on the plate, they’re even better in the oven. He will go right in the oven when my wife’s not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the pan out, burn his hands and eat the cookies and burn his tongue and never feel it. He doesn’t know that’s bad for him. “Jordan”, Dungy said, “has no fear of anything, so we constantly have to watch him. The lesson learned”, Dungy said, “is simple. You get the question all the time, ‘Why does the Lord allow pain in your
life? Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is a God of love, why
does he allow these hurtful things to happen?” Dungy said. “We’ve learned
that a lot of times, because of that pain, that little temporary pain, you learn
what’s harmful. You learn to fear the right things. “Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition that needs to be healed. Pain inside sometimes lets us know that spiritually we’re not quite right and we need to be healed and that God will send that healing agent right to the spot. “Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back to the Father.”

Finally, he spoke of James. (James Dungy, Tony Dungy’s oldest son, committed suicide and died three days before Christmas.) As he did while delivering James’ eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday spoke of him eloquently and steadily, speaking of lessons learned and of the positives taken from experience. “It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it,” Dungy said. Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time he saw him, on Thanksgiving. “I met a guy the next day after the funeral,” Dungy said. “He said, ‘I was there. I heard you talking. I took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the movies.

We’re going to spend some time and go to dinner.’ That was a real, real blessing to me.” Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James’ death relaying similar messages. “People heard what I said and said, ‘hey, you brought me a little closer to my son,’ or, ‘you brought me a little closer to my daughter,’

Dungy said. “That is a tremendous blessing. “Dungy also said some of James’ organs were donated through donors programs.” We got a letter back two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas, and now they can see,’ Dungy said. “That’s been a tremendous blessing.”

Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family’s church in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the funeral because she knew James. “When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration
and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to be a God,”
Dungy said the girl wrote. “I accepted Christ into my life and my life’s been different since that day.” Added Dungy, “That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind of made me realize what God’s love is all about.”

Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able to return to the Colts so
quickly after James’ death. James died on December 22, and Dungy returned
to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer was simple. “People asked
me, ‘How did you recover so quickly?”‘ Dungy said. “I’m not totally recovered. I don’t know that I ever will be. It’s still very, very painful, but I was able to come back because of something one of my good Christian friends said to me after the funeral.

“He said, ‘You know James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know he’s in
heaven, right?’ I said, ‘Right, I know that.’ He said, ‘So, with all you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back now, would you? ‘When I thought about it, I said, ‘No, I wouldn’t. I would not want him back with what I know about heaven.’

“That’s what helped me through the grieving process. Because of Christ’s spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there, at peace with the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that’s very, very painful. That’s my prayer today, that everyone in this room would know the same thing”


Written by John Oehser. “NFL Insider” Posted in February, 2006 at
www.colts.com



Phil. 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always
The Lord is near, do not be anxious about anything