God places tools of faith and objects of faith in our lives to encourage us to continue believing the promises.

The length and power of the sword is dependent upon the amount of Word you have hidden in your spirit.

The day we start taking credit for the fact that he answers prayer we are in deep, deep trouble.

God is not a mindless dispenser of demolition techniques; he is looking for relationship with those who dare to trust him against all other odds.

The inescapable conclusion is that Washington was a Christian.

Thus, we need the Bible as the guide to enable us to transform and purify our hermeneutical principles. The circle from the Bible to systematic theology to hermeneutics to the Bible is not a vicious circle, but a spiral of growth and progress, guided by the work of the Holy Spirit in illumination.

When we open the Bible and read it, we are eavesdropping on an ancient spiritual journey.

Wisdom isn't about finding a quick answer key to life—like turning to the index, finding your problem, and turning to the right page so it all works out. Wisdom is about learning how to work through the unpredictable, uncontrollable messiness of life so you can figure things out on your own in real time. Both

Still, shifting my thinking on the Bible did not mean I was losing my faith in God. In fact, I had the growing sense that God was inviting me down this path, encouraging it even.

If God were a helicopter parent, our sacred book would be full of clear, consistent, unambiguous information to take in. In other words, it wouldn't look anything like it does. But if the Bible's main purpose is to form us, to grow us to maturity, to teach us the sacred responsibility of communing with the Spirit by walking the path of wisdom, it would leave plenty of room for pondering, debating, thinking, and the freedom to fail. And that is what it does.

Lord, help me let go of control. Help me die. Help me trust.

We have practically been conditioned to expect God to be our helicopter parent. And if for some reason we don't run to God to solve every little problem, from finding our car keys to deciding on color schemes for the nursery, we are told there is something deeply wrong with us spiritually. Phooey.