I wrote this book for people who live in the Borderlands of Belief, a phrase first suggested to me by the writer Mark Buchanan. In regions of conflict, armies on both sides patrol their respective borders, leaving a disputed territory in between as a buffer zone, a "no man's land" belonging to neither side.

In matters of faith, many people occupy the borderlands. Some give church and Christians a wide berth, yet still linger in the borderlands because they cannot set aside the feeling that there must be a spiritual reality out there. Others find it difficult to articulate why they believe as they do. Perhaps they absorbed faith as part of their upbringing, or perhaps they simply find church an uplifting place to visit on weekends. But if asked to explain their faith to an atheist, they would not know what to say.

To me, the great divide separating belief and unbelief reduces down to one simple question: Is the visible world around us all there is?

In attempting to answer it, I begin with the visible world all of us inhabit. What rumors of another world might it convey? From there, I look at the apparent contradictions. If this is God's world, why is this planet so messed up? Finally, I consider how two worlds — visible and invisible — might interact and affect our daily lives.

I am at times a reluctant Christian, fully aware of all the reasons not to believe. So then, why do I believe? Read on.