Mark Tabb, in his book, Greater Than Unconventional Thoughts on the Infinite God, tells a heartbreaking story that poses that question in a stark way. It is about a young boy in a rural area of Kentucky named Cody. Cody wanted to be a preacher when he grew up, just like his dad who was a pastor. Once or twice a week Cody would climb on top of a chair in the kitchen, pull out a Bible, and give his best sermon on John 3:16. He always used the same Bible verse. It was his favorite. "For God so loved the world," the verse begins, "that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Cody believed this promise, and he wanted to make sure other people had an opportunity to believe it as well. Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store with his mom or dad, he would ask the clerk, "Do you know Jesus?" He asked his teachers and the other kids on the playground the same question. That's what preachers do, Cody believed, and Cody wanted to be a preacher, just like his dad.

Mark Tabb attended Cody's funeral one snowy January afternoon several years ago. Cody was eight. Four days earlier, Cody died in a tragic accident. There lay Cody in a casket. His right hand clutched a rope. Cody loved tying knots. His favorite stuffed animal lay beside him, along with his Bible and a picture of his brother.

Mark Tabb reports that over two thousand people came through the funeral home in southern Kentucky the night before Cody's funeral. They all heard the same story of how Cody wanted to be a preacher, just like his dad. And they all heard the same question that Cody had asked friends and strangers alike: "Do you know Jesus?"

Tabb says he wishes he could report that a miracle occurred at that funeral and that Cody was raised from the dead just like Lazarus and given back to his parents whole. But it didn't happen. Still Tabb says he believes a miracle did occur that day. Cody's accident shook the entire community. As a result, everyone in town heard his story, and everyone in town heard his favorite question: "Do you know Jesus?"