SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Tyler Brennan, 42, a regional sales director, told reporters he has been unable to determine for approximately seven months whether his financial advisor, Craig Wendell, 55, is referring to the stock market or the sovereignty of God when he repeatedly instructs Brennan to “trust the process.”

The ambiguity, Brennan said, began during a quarterly review last August when his portfolio dropped 11% and Wendell responded by closing his laptop, folding his hands, and saying, “Tyler, we walk by faith, not by sight.” Brennan said he waited for further clarification. None came.

“His office has a Bloomberg terminal and a framed Jeremiah 29:11,” said Brennan. “There’s a whiteboard with what might be asset allocation models or might be a prayer list. I genuinely cannot tell. One column just says ‘bonds’ and another says ‘grace.’”

“I asked him if I should diversify and he said, ‘The Lord has already diversified your gifts.’ Then he moved 12% of my portfolio into emerging markets. I don’t know what’s happening.”

Wendell, who holds both a CFP certification and a lay elder position at Grace Point Church, declined to comment on individual client relationships but told reporters that “sound financial planning and sound theology are not as different as people think,” a statement that did not clarify anything.

Brennan’s wife, Jenna, 40, said she accompanied her husband to a meeting in January and left “more confused than when I walked in.” She added that Wendell opened the meeting with a devotional and closed it with a pie chart, “both of which were compelling, and neither of which answered my question about the Roth IRA.”

At press time, Brennan had received a voicemail from Wendell that began with “Be not afraid” and ended with an S&P 500 forecast.