The lesson that has been hardest for me to learn: there is nothing to prove.

What we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about who God is and what God is like.

Take faith, for example. For many people in our world, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal, then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt. But faith and doubt aren't opposites. Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that it's alive and well and exploring and searching. Faith and doubt aren't opposites, they are, it turns out, excellent dance partners.

This is why for thousands of years Christians have found the cross to be so central to life. It speaks to us of God's suffering, God's pain, God's broken heart. It's God making the first move and then waiting for our response.

What we do comes out of who we believe we are.

The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God.

God has spoken, and everything else is commentary.