In his book The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel tells of 30-year-old preacher getting ready for what would be a major crusade. But despite his calling, the preacher was wrestling with doubts. He doubted whether or not he could trust what he read in the Scriptures. He was struggling with the philosophical and psychological questions people were raising about the Bible. For weeks he searched for answers, praying and pondering. Then one evening, in 1949, that preacher was walking in the San Bernardino Mountains. After much turmoil and confusion, he knelt to pray, Bible in hand. And he said, "Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word—by faith! I am going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be your inspired Word." And a few days later Billy Graham would begin the crusade that would launch him into one of the most powerful ministries the church has ever known.

Today many even in the church find themselves with doubts similar to those Graham had. We wonder whether Jesus is who Scripture says he is. We wonder if the life he calls us to live is truly the abundant life. We wonder if we can dare do what he asks. We know deep inside that a life that endures our inevitable struggles cannot be built on Jesus as merely a wise man or as one great religious teacher among many. It rests on acknowledging by faith that Jesus is the very presence of God among us. It rests on yielding to the authority he possesses as God's only Son.