Andru Ball died four days ago and lies in a mortuary in Virginia Beach.  You can read Andru's obituary here. He was a wonderful young man who went on numerous mission trips.

What's unusual is that his parents, Drummond and Gail Ball, are still praying for him to be raised from the dead.  And, they've been praying for Gail's dead brother Tom longer than that.  Gail says, " One of my dear friends said that it was 'weird' to expect the raising from the dead."

A few days ago Gail showed up on my blog asking for prayer.  She introduced herself by saying, "My only son died in his sleep yesterday. My husband and I are believing that he will be raised from the dead."  She was encouraged to know that people like my friend Caspar McCloud had been raised from the dead.

A friend of mine knows the Ball family and thinks they're great folks. Some facts about them:

• Drummond is principal
  at an elementary school.
• Gail is a practicing defense attorney.
• Tom is an ethnomusicologist with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
• Andru is a paralegal.

Gail says: "Please feel free to share any or all of the above information to whomever you wish. God is up to really big things! We can't wait--we are standing and seeing the salvation of the LORD. This morning we gave the funeral home clothes for him to be dressed in--really nice suit. I felt confident that he would approve of his clothes at his raising.

Jesus gave us authority in Matt. 10:8 to raise the dead, but how many of us ever exercise it like the Balls are exercising it?  Will we scoff or will we seek God for miracles like this one? What are we to make of a radical like Jesus who sent his disciples out to heal, cast out demons and raise the dead, and what do we make of people like the Balls who take him at his word?

How do you respond?

Also, see: Raised from the dead in South Florida