A recent gracEmail titled "Boy Who Told Fibs About Heaven" told of 16-year-old Alex Malarkey's announcement that his book, The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven (co-written with dad, Kevin), was untrue. Alex never went to heaven, he now says, but rather as a six-year-old made up the whole story to get attention. The gracEmail noted three major elements in Alex's story that contradict biblical teaching--always a clear warning for discerning readers. The gracEmail generated double the usual number of responses, including one from Mark Albrecht of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mark is a delightful … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2015
image-bearer
"Physical with limits. Mortal by creation." Thus, we bear the Image. Mark of our Creator indelibly imprinted. Autograph of Maker certifying product. Personal inspection gained his high approval. He pronounced it "very good." His signature now spoiled and smeared, the image yet remains; reminder of our origin and of his rightful rule. He formed the human first from dirt; from stuff of earth at that. Dirt-creatures, clay dolls, men of mud--to earth shall all return. Yet live for now, for life we have, life breathed by Life itself. In-spired, spired-in, nostrils flared with spirit, breath … [Read more...]
Obedience and trust as fruit and root
When I was a child, we often sang a hymn that admonished us to "trust and obey," assuring us that "there's no other way to be happy in Jesus." The two verbs go together: we obey because we trust, and because we trust we obey. Trust and obedience are well-suited companions, but more. Related, but more. They live in symbiotic relationship, each nourishing and being nourished by the other, each simultaneously drawing life from and contributing life to the other. Trust initiates obedience, activates and motivates it. Obedience expresses, affirms, and confirms trust. Neither is found in its … [Read more...]
God, the gospel, and the nations’ obedience
When God chose Israel as his special people and covenant partner, it was his intention through them ultimately to bless the world. "By your descendants," God promised Abraham, "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). God blessed Israel so that, through Israel, all nations would be blessed. The chosen people prayed: "May God . . . bless us, that thy . . . [saving power] may be known . . . among all nations" (Psalm 67:1-2). Israelites who rightly understood their role as God's chosen people gladly invited other human beings everywhere to worship Israel's God, saying: "Praise … [Read more...]
Boy who told fibs about heaven
Titled The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, this 2010 bestseller from Tyndale by Alex Malarkey and his father Kevin Malarkey has sold more than a million copies. And why not, we ask, for a book that purports to tell the story of six-year-old Alex, who sustained head injuries in a vehicular collision that left him comatose for two months and paralyzed permanently. While in the coma, said Alex, speaking through his father, he died but eventually came back. Alex' adventures while dead include a trip to heaven escorted by angels, topped off by a visit with Jesus himself. This month (January … [Read more...]
GOD’S SECRET REVEALED
Long before humans existed, God already knew that they would reject him and fall into sin and death, and he graciously planned in exquisite detail how he would rescue them and bring them back to himself. God imagined these details for his own joy and pleasure in contemplation, but he told no one his imaginations in great detail. When the time was right and God actually pulled off this Rescue, it would bowl everyone over in amazement, but that was far in the distant future. For now, God had a secret that would be his alone. Even then, the universe was filled with millions of spirit beings that … [Read more...]