Dale Cresap's blog

Do you see certain people as your enemies? You encounter those who are openly opposed to all that you believe in. There are several ways to view this situation. One is to think of them as your enemies. In this case you should love them as I commanded you to love your enemies. Another way to view this is that you have one adversary who is not flesh and blood and that these people are his captives. Do you see yourself in a battle against evil? In this case the prisoners of war held by your enemy are normally friendly forces.

How important is it to you to be right? How do you describe your faith? Would you say it is a relationship with me? So is it more important to be correct or to be connected? Do you see truth as a series of abstract propositional assertions, or do you see it as a living person? My revelation has been progressive and some who were commended in the Bible as heroes of faith held doctrinal positions you would not affirm today. I accepted them in spite of this because of the way they pressed in with what they knew and would not be denied. I will do the same for you.

Do you find that intelligence is highly rated in your culture? Everyone wants to be smart, and you have seen those who are not pretend that they are. Do you realize that there is something more important than intelligence? Asking the right questions is more important than being clever. You won’t get the right answers by asking the wrong questions no matter how smart you are. What if you pursue the right questions but have limited cognitive ability? Do not be discouraged. You have my promise that if you seek you will find.

Do you recall my statement that those who mourn are blessed? Does this seem obvious to you? Have you ever mourned and considered it to be a blessed experience? You have the promise that you will be comforted, and you do not grieve as those who have no hope, but does that help in the moment of mourning? The promise is written in future tense to those who shall be comforted, but have you found that you have to wait for this?

Do you see the benefits of having a direct encounter with me? In the beginning, before there was an organized church, this was the only way to experience me. Do you assume that this is no longer available since there is now a church? But this is not a valid assumption. Is it the longing of your heart to encounter me yourself? Have you found that this is not something you can arrange or stage yourself? You are in my hands but I am not in yours. Do not be discouraged.

Are you glad that you are under grace and not under the law? Does it sound too good to be true? Who would want a list of rules to follow if they didn’t have to? Yet how many people understand the implications of grace? For I invite those who respond to grace to have an encounter with me. Consider the accounts of those who did. They reported that they exceedingly trembled and quaked, or said, woe is me, for I am undone, for I have seen the Lord. But you are invited to this encounter at a higher level than Mount Sinai, for you have come to the City of the Living God.

Are you familiar with the theological terms propitiation and atonement and absolution? These are terms you normally only hear in church, and are unfamiliar to those outside. Yet there are terms they are familiar with that convey the same ideas, such as amnesty and immunity. Are you free to use terms like this to present my message? Do you want your audience to understand you? Specialized vocabulary can be used to exclude outsiders, but I want to include them. Consider my own words.

Have you had an encounter with me? This is cause for great joy. You can learn about me from others and from books, but knowing about me is not the same as knowing me. What was your response to your encounter with me? Are you attached to it in such a way that prevents you from moving forward? It would be a mixed blessing if your first encounter with me made you immune to more. You describe your faith as a relationship with me and that implies ongoing flow. I promised that those who continue in my word would know the truth and be free.

When you consider whether someone is young or old what do you use as a reference standard? Don’t you compare them to your own age? No matter how old you are, those who are older than you are old, and those who are younger than you are young. Since your age constantly changes this is not a fixed standard, but it illustrates the human tendency to be subjective and self-referential. Do you see the world around you the way it is or  the way you are? Do you desire to know eternal truth?

I said that in me there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. Can you comprehend how radical a message this was in a slave economy? The political concept of equality grew out of this, and although it was then claimed to be a self-evident truth, it wasn’t self-evident to everyone, and prior to the gospel message wasn’t self-evident to anyone. Can you see how this message would appeal more to the poor and oppressed than to the wealthy and powerful? Yet everyone benefits from the recognition of intrinsic human worth. This is the reality you find in me.