Today is Tuesday, June the 25th, 2024, and this is the Daily Article Podcast.

Today's article is written by Dr. Jim Denison and narrated by Chris Elkins of the Denison Forum.

Callie Weems was a nurse and the 23-year-old mother of a 10-month-old daughter named Ivy.

According to Callie's mother, Ivy was a constant source of entertainment and wonder to the new mom.

Then came last Friday when a gunman opened fire at a store in Fort Ice, Arkansas.

Callie died, helping to save the life of another victim.

Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hager said of her,

Instead of fleeing the store, she stopped to render aid in one of the most selfless acts I've ever seen.

Her mother explained Callie's motivation.

God gave her the strength to run into that store to help.

She was strong enough in her faith that if something happened,

she knew where she was going, and that was paradise. Yesterday, in response to ongoing clergy

abuse scandals, we explored perhaps the hardest question Christians must face. Why does our all-knowing,

all-loving, all-powerful father sometimes allow innocent victims to suffer

at the hands of people who purport to be ministers and leaders in his church?

We admitted that this horrific issue often causes non-Christians to question the validity and

relevance of our faith in such a God. As we respond today, let's begin with this fact.

If believers must account for the evil perpetrated by Christians,

skeptics must account for the sacrificial deeds of believers like Callie Weems.

Such deeds dot the landscape of Christian history,

from the founding of hospitals and universities to the abolition of slavery and the benevolence

of Christians in giving to charitable causes. However, a skeptic can reply in several ways.

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