A Brief Word on "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven"

I was asked by a friend of mine for my thoughts on the recantation of Alex Malarkey, the son of author Kevin Malarkey and the figure of the 2010 book "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven". I have been an open critic against these books (though this is my first time to write of them online) and I am encouraged by Alex's recantation and the subsequent removal of the book from Lifeway bookstores and from Tyndale's presses.

Let me start by saying this: I am not a fan of Christian bookstores in general. I've been to a few, namely bookstores connected to seminaries or Christian colleges, that contain solid material, but I have not been a fan of Lifeway, Mardel, and other such chains for a long time. I have friends who work at said bookstores, and I have nothing at all against them as individuals, but I have tried to go out of my way as much as possible to avoid purchasing materials from these bookstores.

Pulpit and Pen, with their Twitter movement #the15 (a movement I do NOT support for other reasons), has been going after Lifeway over the past few weeks in an attempt to get some of these "heavenly tourism" books pulled, and it seems that Kevin Malarkey's "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven" is the first to go. This is good. Lifeway, or any other Christian retailer for that matter, should never have picked this book up or any other book in the I-died-went-to-the-afterlife-and-came-back genre (including 90 Minutes in Heaven, 23 Minutes in Hell, and others). They might mean well by selling these books, but in their attempt to possibly encourage believers in the existence of the afterlife, they have undercut the authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures in the process. If the Scriptures were truly enough for our comfort, we would not need the testimony of others in this regard; the fact that these "heavenly tourism" books have sold millions of copies is a testimony of our nonexistent confidence in the Scripture.

Alex Malarkey's move is a brave one, and while there are some articles on the Interwebz that suggests that he and his mom Beth have been trying to get this book pulled for some time, it is disappointing that the Christian publishers had to wait until a recantation before recognizing the crap behind the book. The same can be said for the equally ridiculous Heaven is for Real and other similar books - must we wait for a recantation before we admit the obvious concerning these and other similar books? John MacArthur, in his book The Glory of Heaven, makes this point embarrassingly clear:

"For anyone who truly believes the biblical record, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that these modern testimonies—with their relentless self-focus and the relatively scant attention they pay to the glory of God—are simply untrue. They are either figments of the human imagination (dreams, hallucinations, false memories, fantasies, and in the worst cases, deliberate lies), or else they are products of demonic deception.

We know this with absolute certainty, because Scripture definitively says that people do not go to heaven and come back: "Who has ascended to heaven and come down?" (Proverbs 30:4). Answer: "No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man" (John 3:13, emphasis added). All the accounts of heaven in Scripture are visions, not journeys taken by dead people. And even visions of heaven are very, very rare in Scripture. You can count them all on one hand." (1)

Legitimate spiritual damage is being done in the promotion of these books and in the consumption of these books. Whether the authors intend for it to be or not, these books cannot co-exist with the Bible.  Either the Scriptures are sufficient, or they are not.

In short, good on Lifeway and Tyndale for deciding to pull the book, even though it took them way too long to get this done and they presently have shown no remorse for carrying the book in the first place. Hopefully this will open their eyes to see the BS that this book and other books in this lucrative genre are. This is a good step, but more need to be made, and more books need to be pulled.


(1): http://www.gty.org/Blog/B121018

Moving on from Young, Restless, and Reformed

I recently turned 23 a few weeks ago. A small milestone, and really not all that important a year or an age. But with a new year brings a new season of personal change.

Starting at a new school, getting deeper in my job, and closing an era of my life after four years of service has put me in a state of contemplation and reflection on my life the past few years and the life that is now before me. Things that I wish to change, things that I want to stay the same, and things that I want to see come about (i.e. marriage) run through my mind and, given where God has placed me in the present time, are examined. Undoubtedly, this means that my theology about God comes under a similar scrutiny, and over the past few months a conviction has arisen that I felt the need to write about: I am ready to move on from the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement. 

It’s not that I think the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement has been a negative time of my life from me. Far from it, in fact; I have been blessed by it in numerous ways, and I have seen others blessed as well. It’s also not to say that I think ill of the movement; no movement within Christiandom has been free of mistakes or blemishes, and only the naive think that the YRR movement doesn’t have its shortcomings. Intellectual and personal immaturity is a common charge against the movement and I have (and will be) guilty of both. But just as one realizes that it’s time to begin swimming in the deep end, I have realized that, theologically, its time I grow up and move beyond TULIP, Piper, and all the other staples of this movement that I have identified myself with for the past few years. 

Swimming in the deep end is a scary thing. If you’ve not done it before, you undoubtedly realize you need help. Once I realized that there was more to my faith than TULIP and wearing the Calvinist badge - that the Reformed belief system goes much deeper and spans a larger horizon - the once-confident-that-he-knows-everything Calvinist realized that he is a guppy in an aquarium of sharks. Mostly nice sharks - but still sharks that can swallow you in one bite. 

So I dive into the aquarium of the confessions, of the creeds, of the history of the church, of paedobaptism and credobaptism (of which I presently hold the latter), of understanding the covenants, of many other things that I presently had not considered, and my mouth is silenced. I am not the expert in this area I once claimed to be. If anything I know nothing at all. Wrestling with the Westminster Confession of Faith, reading through Michael Horton’s “The Christian Faith” (which I cannot recommend enough), and struggling through Calvin’s Institutes with my church family has been one heck of a smack in the face of humility. Not that I have become pride-less, as my flesh would be happy to bring that out in me, but any confidence of theological boasting I once had isn’t quite what it used to be. 

I realize that, demographically and practically, I am still a member of the Young, Restless and Reformed movement. Whether or not others identify me with it is irrelevant to me. There is still  plenty of good hearted joking, rimshots and facepalming to be had (those darn "predestinated" jokes never get old or good). But, as far as my conscious before Christ is concerned, I am willing to re-enter the cage - albeit a much different cage from my Calvinist cage days - to submit myself to learning and listening, knowing that for every day I learn something new that there is a whole year of potential learning, falling, failing, and rising to be had. And not just learning for the sake of my own personal gain, but learning for the sake of blessing and benefitting others, sheathing the sword of debate only to draw it more infrequently than before. The old is gone; behold, the new slowly cometh.

Thanksgiving and Christ

Put the fork down. You have eaten too much already. Seriously, have you noticed your pants getting tighter with each spoonful of potatoes you shove in your mouth? If not, wake up. It's happening.

Today is a day where we are supposed to be thankful. But if there were one thing that we could be most thankful for, what would it be? Perhaps you are thankful for your spouse (for some, there is great wisdom in that answer). Maybe you are thankful for your job. Maybe you are thankful for your family or community. Maybe you are like me and are thankful for your new Xbox Live router that allows you to pwn n00bs with raw skill when your stats don't reflect you as 1337 (only nerds will get that last sentence).

All of the things that I just listed, though, have one inherited flaw - those things don't last forever. Eventually your spouse will die. You will lose your job, quit, or retire. Your community will change as time goes on. Someday Xbox Live will become obsolete. While we can certainly be thankful for these things, there is something that we can be thankful for that consistently and faithfully lasts forever.

Simply put, that one thing is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, which results in eternal life in a state of indescribable goodness. The oft-quoted verse John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life", is a verse that contains something to be entirely thankful for. In love, God gave us his son so that we would have eternal life - if you believe in him for forgiveness of sins. Nothing in this world is capable of trumping this gift of salvation, because it is inherently temporarily. The destination of salvation is not - the destination of salvation is inherently superior to every other thing in the world on the basis alone that it is eternal. In this life, there is evil and pain. Such things will not exist in heaven. A promise that we will go to a place to live forever completely free of pain and suffering if we believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior? What could possibly be greater - and should receive more thanks - than this?

I think thanksgiving will be the only holiday celebrated in heaven. After everything has ceased to exist and we find ourselves before the throne of God, I believe it will necessarily require an attitude of thanksgiving incomparable to anything else this world could deserve.

Happy Thanksgiving from Another Ascending Lark, and look forward to the second annual Albums of the Year posts coming in December!

Ponder This: An Unholy Response to a Holy Salvation

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 1 John 2:19-20 (ESV)"

For my daily devotionals, I have been picking apart 1 John verse by verse. Each day I move along, one verse at a time (sometimes two) and dismantle it as much as possible and then study it to apply it to my life. Today, as I was picking apart 1 John 2:20 (as quoted about with 2:19 for context), when I got down to studying it to apply it to my life, the Spirit spoke to me in a powerful way that I felt compared to share.

In my Intro to World Religions class, our teacher (who is one of the smartest Christians I know) started off the semester by defining "holy" and "profane", two words that should have great meanings to us as Christians. Profane, as he defined it, were things that were common, normal, not holy. Holy was defined as sacred, set apart, transcendent to what is profane. Those two words and their definitions came into my mind as I picked apart verse 20, when it says "you have been anointed by the Holy One". Most likely, what John was referring to by this is the inner regeneration of believers by the Holy Spirit, making an analogy to physical anointings in the Old Testament where oil was used to show outwardly an inner transformation by the Spirit.

With this in mind, a simple thought came to my mind: given what God has done in my life, a holy act of regeneration by a holy being, why does my response to that not take into account that it is a holy act? What God has done in my life and the life of every Christian is a holy act, so I am broken as to why my response to it is one that treats it as a common, normal work when it is anything but that. For the most part, my response to what God has done in my life is one that doesn't take into account how holy, sacred, set-apart of an act it was. My response to his holy act is one that is unholy.

Ponder with me: why is this the case? Why is my response, the way I live my life, so lacking? What must change in my life to where I am responding properly to God's holy work? Ask yourself the same thing.

Rick Cornish on Free Will

There is a handy dandy (but excellent) little theology 101 book called "5 Minute Theologian", written by Rick Cornish, which I have been slowly reading since the start of the summer. I have incorporated it into my morning devotionals by reading a chapter a day, which really does take about 5 minutes. I have found the following quote to be very helpful when talking about Calvinism and free will. Enjoy!

"Like a theological chicken and egg question, the central issue concerns what is logically first: God's plan or man's choice. How one approaches the issue defines the difference between two theological systems known as Calvinism and Arminianism. Calvinists begin with God's plan. Man's decisions and actions are the consequence of it. God's plan is therefore not dependent on man. Arminians, on the other hand, place man's freedom at the center. God's decisions are a response to His knowing in advance what man will choose. God's plan is therefore a response to man's initiative. A partial solution to this great paradox may be found in how we understand human freedom. Upon closer examination, we might discover that our will may not be as fully free as we usually think. But because we do make real choices, maybe we should call it "operational will" instead of "free will." Yes, I'm free to choose what I want, but I don't determine what it is that I want. Heredity, environment, and experience form my preferences long before I choose. If those earthly factors affect what I want, surely God can affect me even more. So, without hindering my ability to choose, God can influence my preferences, making it certain that I choose as He wills, while never violating my freedom. Paradoxical as it sounds, it's another part of the great mystery of God."

- Rick Cornish. 5 Minute Theologian: Maximum Truth in Minimum Time (pp. 106-107). Kindle Edition.

To Calvinists and Arminians: Have a Laugh

(Thanks to Mikel Del Rosario for the picture. Check out Mikel's blog at http://www.apologeticsguy.com/blog/)

In the midst of our intense and serious theological discussions, sometimes it is important to have a laugh at ourselves:

 

C'mon. You know this is funny. You have to laugh at this. Well, technically speaking, no you don't, because God could have predestined that...oh, nevermind ;)

The Greatest Commandment: What's Love Got To Do With It?

One time, as Christ was speaking with the Pharisees, he was asked to give the greatest commandment: 

"And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. Matthew 22:35-38 (ESV)

It's interesting to note that Christ told us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (the other gospel accounts of this quote sometimes include "strength" as well). In other words, we are to love God with the entirety of our existence.

I think we can make Christianity far more complicated than it really is. Christ gave us clear and simple (though not easy) directives on how to live our lives as followers of him, and he makes clear what the greatest of commands is. Love is the greatest thing we as Christians can do.

Christ was not talking about a love for:

• The church
• The Bible
• The Gospel
• Evangelism
• Philosophy
• Theology
• Apologetics
• Science
• History
• Arts
• Music
• Worship
• Marriage
• [fill in the blank].

Christ was talking about a love for God himself. Not the things of Christianity, God himself. Not rational argument or critical thinking, but God himself. Not even living a life of righteousness, but God himself.

Why would Jesus make an emphasis on loving God the most important thing we can do? Because when we love God with the entirety of our existence (heart, soul, mind, and strength), everything in that bullet list above will fall perfectly into place. It is only when we are in love with God first and foremost that everything above can belong where it should be in our lives.

In short, what does love for God got to do with it? Absolutely everything.

David Platt on the Bible and Church Leaders

"The Bible is not in a church leader's hands so he or she can give people answers to every question they have and guidance for every situation they face. Instead, the Bible is in a church leader's hands to transform people into the image of Christ and to get people in touch with the Holy Spirit of God, who will not only give them counsel for every situation they face but also walk with them through those situations. And when church leaders use God's Word for this purpose, then church members develop a healthy dependance on God's Spirit and a healthy admiration of God's glory."

David Platt, "Radical Together", pg 49

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Book Review: Reasonable Faith - Christian Truth and Apologetics

Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics by William Lane Craig

4 out of 5 Stars

Buy it: www.amazon.com


It's no secret that I am a fan of William Lane Craig. He is one of my heroes as an apologist, and one of the main apologists that inspired me to take up the field. While I don't see eye to eye with him on everything, it is his dedication to the subject of defending the faith in a Christlike manner that has inspired me to study philosophy, theology, science and history.

Yesterday, I finished reading his signature work, "Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics". It took me about 6 months to read this work, and while there were some parts that were over my head, the things that I learned from it made this book a very worthy read

First and foremost, this is not a suitable book to read for an apologetic newbie. To read this book, you will need to be at least casually acquainted with the fields of philosophy, science, and history. I consider myself to be a more-than-novice-yet-not-quite-intermediate apologist, and there were are few times when the subject material went right by over my head without a care in the world. This book, while it claims to be usable amongst laymen, is more for someone who is already involved in these fields. In other words, I would not give this book to someone who was just now getting their feet wet; I would give them something easier to digest. This is a pretty technical book, and it can be pretty difficult to read at times.

Reasonable Faith covers a wide range of issues. While notable absences include any discussion on the problem of evil and the creation/I.D./evolution debate, what it includes justifies the purchase of this book. Topics include how we can know Christianity is true, the absurdity of life without God (probably my favorite chapter in the book), the 4 classical theistic arguments and their objections, the resurrection of Christ, miracles, and more. It is all laid out in a systematic fashion that starts with basic theistic arguments (the various Cosmological arguments, the Teleological argument, the Moral argument, and the Ontological argument) and then moves to demonstrate Christian theism by focusing on miracles and then the radical self-understanding of Christ and the evidence for His resurrection. Each chapter opens up with a historical examination of past thinkers on this subject, which I personally found to be very enjoyable. He then moves on to discuss the subject and it's objections, and then ends each chapter with a practical application of how to put into practice what you just read.

I've already mentioned that the material in this book, while certainly worth reading, can be technical and difficult at times. This isn't a bad thing, but when it is tacked on to what I believe is the biggest problem with the book, it makes the book a more difficult read. The biggest flaw that I find with Reasonable Faith is the length of the chapters. These are easily some of the longest chapters that I have ever read from any book- especially the first chapter on the existence of God. You should expect that it will take you a few sittings to get through a single chapter. While I can understand wanting to keep all the information under one heading, I wish he had broken down the chapters into various sections or something, because these chapters are so big that it is not feasible to read them in one sitting. That being said, that is really the only flaw that I can find with the book. Everything else about the book is presented in an excellent manner, and the material contained in each of these massive chapters is enlightening, stimulating, thought-provoking, and high-quality food for you intellect.

Craig's book is definitely a testimony to his passion for the Christian intellect, and his desire to equip the church in apologetics is certainly contagious - just look at me. Still, if you are looking for a easy introduction into apologetics, this is not the place to start looking. That being said, if you are an apologist and you haven't read this book, you will definitely want to add this to your reading list. This is a great work written by a great Christian thinker, and the impact that this book has had on the Church has been nothing short of incredible.

4 out of 5 Stars

C.S. Lewis on Ultimate Satisfaction

If there is any current trend in my life that I would be so eager to share, it would be that recently, I am starting to discover ultimate satisfaction in God, and that He fulfills my desires in ways that nothing else can. Events like Secret Church have only revealed this further and accelerated this change. And here is something C.S. Lewis wrote a long time ago that I can't help but think God showed to me when He did (during the Secret Church event) to further hit the hammer home. Reflect on what Lewis says and how it applies to your own life:

"If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that out Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far to easily pleased.

                                                                                                             - C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory "

The Importance of the Resurrection for Apologetics

I remember a few months ago, a good Facebook friend of mine, who is an atheist that I greatly respect, asked me: "What would it take to falsify your belief in Christianity"?

Another Christian, one who had been locked in passionate (but respectful) debate with said atheist friend listed, amongst other things, that if it could be shown that Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then that would convince him that Christianity was false.

I posted another comment in agreement.

Today is Easter Sunday. The rest of the house is asleep while I am headbanging and playing air guitar to metal legends Living Sacrifice. Such is the typical Sunday afternoon at my house. Yet for all it is worth, today is no ordinary day. Today is the day we celebrate the one event that, if true, is the single most monumental event that will ever take place in the entire history of existence: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that the resurrection is what will make or break Christianity:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith. In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (HCSB)

As an apologist, if there is one area I believe that every Christian should be an expert in, it would be the resurrection. I would argue that all other areas of apologetics (philosophical, scientific, historical, ect) are useless endeavors apart from the resurrection of Christ. If it did not happen, then apologetics would be the most delusional waste of time, as time and effort would be trying to spent justifying something that is not possible because the main ingredient - the resurrection - never happened. While the question of God's existence would still be open even if it could be shown that Jesus did not rise from the dead, it would demonstrate one thing: Jesus Christ is not God, and Christianity is a joke.

Am I suggesting that apologists all become specialists in defending the resurrection? Absolutely not. I am saying that every apologist (and for that matter, every Christian) should be well learned in the following:

• The failed attempts to try and disprove the resurrection: the swoon theory, the hallucination theory, ect.
• The Christian scholars who have written on the resurrection - and their atheist/unbelieving counterparts.
• An accurate understanding of the crucifixion timeline (and how to reconcile the divergent accounts into one seamless narrative)

As a novice apologist, I am learning more all the time. While my preferred specialty is philosophical apologetics, I am constantly learning and willing to learn. If anything, apologetics is a process - nobody turns into an expert into anything overnight. I think it would be well summed up to say that the more knowledgeable we are about the resurrection, the better.

This Saturday, I am showcasing the recent William Lane Craig/Richard Carrier debate "Did Jesus Rise From The Dead?" to my students. I am stepping down in about a month, and it would pain me if I did not do something apologetic related in my time here (if, after the summer, God's will is that I continue to work with the youth, then that will be a far more dominating focus), and given that it is Easter season, showcasing a recent debate on the resurrection seems like a pretty good idea. [rant] I think the church is shooting itself in the foot for not making apologetic training a priority - no, a requirement - for youth ministers to teach. The church wonders why so many Christians abandon their faith when they arrive to college, and I would openly (and fiercely!)  contend that it is because we do not focus on things like apologetics! [/rant] I have even received permission from my BSM leader to promote the event amongst our BSM college group, so my college friends can benefit from this as well. Needless to say, I greatly desire that apologetics become an active focus amongst the church today, and it has to start somewhere - why not during Easter, during the time which we celebrate that which is the most essential foundation to our faith?

As I type this post, I have been listening to Living Sacrifice's masterpiece-of-a-comeback album "The Infinite Order". It is now the closing track, and as the beautiful acoustic guitar intro fades into an epic and emotion lead riff, I close this post with the following lyrics. If Christians can understand and comprehend the importance of the resurrection and defend it, then there will be no need for lines like this:

You have a new way
Is it a better way?
Once I saw you proclaim
Now there's slight disdain
Why keep that title, what has changed? Is God so different?
Why keep that title, what has changed? Is He not the same?

Love is present, grace abounds
What happened here? Was the world so enticing?
Denial is treachery hard to reconcile
Call it for what it really is
Don't make excuses
Call it for what it really is
Go ahead apostasy

"Ye shall have the attitude of a puppy dog"

When out in public, if people ask me if I have any siblings, I tell them I have two younger brothers. I know that I am lying. Indeed, I do have two younger brothers, but I also have a younger sister as well. You see, in my house, the puppy is a child.Yes, somehow we arrived at the notion that Abby = child.

Abby is the kind of animal that models a life that Christians could learn from. I know that the previous statement sounded crazy or insane, but just hear me out. She is a dog that models a series of behaviors that, once you simply transpose them to ways humans can understand them (as great as science is, it still hasn't produced the Universal Bark Translator), a Christian should also model. Allow me to present some examples.

1. "Go" is the word that she absolutely loves. If you tell her "Abby, let's go!", she will bolt to the back door making sure she can make it to the car. It's gotten to the point that all I have to do is look at her with the keys in my hand, and she knows to go. She doesn't know where she is going, but because Austin-dog (she becomes a child, and the people get demoted to dogs. Awesome, right?) tells her that we are going somewhere, that is a good enough of a reason to become a super happy butt-shaking dog. I wonder what would happen if I started living my faith like that. God tells me to "go" and instead of whining or putting up a fight, I would instantly and gladly go wherever God is taking me. I don't know where I am going, but because God tells me that we are going somewhere, that is all I need to know.
2.  Abby has a foe that occasionally walks by the house. We call her Nemesis-dog. When said dog walks by, Abby instantly becomes a siren, and getting her to shut up is hopeless. Yet when the front door is open, she just sits by the screen door and waits. Waits for what, I dunno, but the front door is one of her favorite spots. When she sees someone coming to the door, she runs to grab a bone (we haven't figured that one out yet), then starts shaking her butt in anticipation of this person who is coming over. It doesn't matter who the heck it is; if it's Daddy-dog, Mommy-dog, Travis-dog, Parker-dog, or a total stranger, she is always ready to greet people. I wonder what would happen if I treated the other people in my life the same way. What if I treated strangers the same way I try to treat all of the people I know in my life? What if I greeted visitors of my church or youth group with this kind of enthusiasm?
3.  While Abby has a playful side, she is known to be a protector. If Travis-dog starts yelling at Parker-dog or Parker-dog starts fighting with Travis-dog, Abby will usually step in and try to break up the conflict. Granted, often times she causes more problems than she fixes (she is a dog, after all), but she is at least trying to make sure nobody hurts each other. She will stand and face the aggressor and bark in her commanding voice, and we often imagine her saying something like "You! Stop! It! Now! I'm! Warning! You!" I wonder what would happen if I make an effort to be a peacekeeper like Jesus described in Matthew 5:9. What if I was willing to get in the face of my friends or my students when they start doing things they shouldn't do?

Abby is just awesome. But the God who created dogs is just even more awesome. He uses the simple things to teach important lessons.