Dale Cresap's blog

Do you believe in the doctrine of omnipresence? Do you take it by faith that my presence is everywhere? David knew that he was fearfully and wonderfully made, and also that was no place he could go that I would not also be. If you believe this do you live your life the same way? For some who accept this as a doctrinal position live as if mail intended for me should be sent care of their church. Even when my time was not yet come I told my disciples that their time was always ready, and that I would be with them always. Let this be more than a doctrinal position for you.

Do you consider it important to be a good Christian? What about a good person? Are these the same thing? Do you know anyone who passes for a good Christian that you do not think of as a good person? What about the other way around? Being diligent and devout in traditional church activities is highly rated in church, but those outside the church will evaluate you by different criteria. A good reputation among those who do not share your belief structure and creeds is therefore more valuable and enduring than a good reputation in church. Can you be a good person without being a Christian?

When someone gives you a gift or does you a favor, do you say thanks? This is the bare minimum expression of gratitude, and something that even unbelievers do. Is it appropriate that you as the children of God should go beyond this? One approach is to pay back gift for gift, and favor for favor. It is important to be generous, but this is more a matter of keeping score than being grateful. There is a transformative approach to gratitude that goes beyond the acknowledgment of a gift at the time of receipt.

Do you love your enemies? You are called to do so. It is easy to love your friends, those who look and think like you, who hold the same beliefs and values. Too easy, in fact. Everyone does that. How often do the people you regularly associate with challenge your core beliefs? Do you avoid the people who differ with you in matters that you consider essential? Do they have to do something that is personally offensive to you for you to consider them your enemies, or is this enough?

Have you heard various scenarios for end-time events? There are a multitude of versions available, and all claim Biblical support, and all have fierce defenders. Most contradict the others. How can you determine which one is true? Can you accept the reasoning that none of them are? For I declared that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered the heart of man what I am planning. All of the proposed scenarios referred to above are products of human imagination and humanly comprehensible. The real one is beyond human comprehension.

Are you familiar with my parable about the wedding feast? Do you think that you are part of the story? Do you assume that you were one that was invited late from the highways and byways, or do you think that you got a proper engraved invitation in the mail far in advance? More to the point, did you identify at all with the guest who was cast out for having improper garments? It is easy to read the stories from the Bible and identify with the favored and chosen, but there is more to learn from them if you consider all aspects of the story.

Have you ever spoken to other people and said ‘We need to be more loving, (or to be less quick to judge, or take safety seriously, or any other suggestion)’? Is that what you really meant? Isn’t it easier to phrase it this way when what you really mean is that ‘You need to (fill in the blank)’? How many people are really eager to identify themselves as a part of the problem? If you are then you can use this terminology, but you should make it emphatic by going on to say that you include yourself in the offenders.

Do you want peace? Everyone does, but not everyone is a peacemaker. The most bloodthirsty tyrant would love to have no opposition to his wars of aggression, but without justice there is no peace. Where do conflicts come from? Everyone has principles and preferences, and you will find that those of others will conflict with yours. Do you find that more conflict arises from differences in principles or preferences? You shouldn’t abandon your principles in the interest of making peace, but how many of your preferences are you willing to release?

Do you take the Bible literally? Do you insist that everything be interpreted at face value? There are people of good conscience that view some things in the Bible metaphorically. Even I taught in parables. Perhaps this issue isn’t as important as you think. The most important thing is to understand and embrace the underlying transcendent truth that is the point of the story. If you miss that, what advantage is there to insist on the literal truth of it?  If you understand the story and incorporate the lesson into your life, then it isn’t as necessary to defend it as a literal account.

What do you think of as the first commandment? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and have no other gods? What about you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? That preceded any other commandment, and it was only one, rather than 10 or more. To keep it is to live in relationship with me, and to break it is to live according to your own reasoning. Do you think that one commandment is enough? You wouldn’t expect unbelievers to follow this commandment at all. How closely do people in your church follow it? How about you?