Why We Want the Checklist
We don't reach for formulas because we're lazy. We reach for them because a checklist lets you have the results of a relationship without the relationship. Israel wanted a king. The Pharisees wanted rules. We want a recipe. It's all the same fear underneath.
"Open My Eyes" — The Prayer Elisha Prayed for a Servant Who Thought He Was Surrounded
Elisha's servant woke up and saw an army. Chariots, swords, certain death. Elisha looked at the same horizon and saw something else entirely. Then he prayed four words for his terrified friend, and everything changed about what the servant was looking at, without anything changing on the ground.
God Won't Forgive That — The Lie Hiding Behind Mark 3:29
There's a verse in the Gospels that sends thoughtful Christians into panic at 2am: Jesus said there's one sin that will 'never be forgiven.' And you're terrified you've committed it. But that verse landed in a specific room, aimed at specific people, about a specific thing they were doing — and once you read the whole scene, the fear loses its grip.