Dale Cresap's blog

Speaking of my own generation I said that they were like children playing in a marketplace. We piped and you wouldn’t dance, we played a dirge and you wouldn’t mourn. I celebrated too much for my critics, but the same people thought John the Baptist was too austere. Have you noticed that some people are impossible to please? They can find fault with everything. If you are disposed to dislike something or someone, you can always find a way. But this is unrighteous judgment.

Have you ever suffered from prayer fatigue? Prayer is more than mere words; there is strenuous spiritual effort involved. You saw this at my own anguished prayer at Gethsemane. Have you been led to believe that prayer is as simple as asking and receiving? Yet have you engaged your faith for something you really wanted and given up because the cost of the effort was too great? I am in a position to understand. Perhaps you can establish a budget for prayer as you do for money. This is a noble calling, and I will give you the strength to bear the burdens for which I call you to intercede.

Would you rather operate in an economy of abundance or one of scarcity? I have infinite resources and offer you abundance, but you live in a world that operates on scarcity. The consumer economy you live in tries to persuade you that you need what it has to offer, and that your life will be fulfilled if you have enough, but in this system there is never enough. If you can disengage from this you can learn contentment with the fulfillment of your true needs, rather than trying to satisfy them with things that cannot. This transition to an economy of abundance has the added benefit of giving you a perspective and impulse to generosity.

In the movies a lone hero will go in to face his arch enemy alone in the final scene. In real world police and military organizations an officer will call for backup in any situation where it is helpful for victory or to achieve an objective. Overwhelming force reduces risk. How do you view your spiritual encounters with enemies? Are you confident in facing them alone? You should view your own situation more as real life than a staged encounter for dramatic effect, and the Bible uses plenty of martial imagery to describe spiritual warfare. There is no honor in facing your enemy alone. Who do you call for backup?

Do you hold the doctrine of my omniscience? Do you believe that I know everything? You know that when you pray you don’t have to give me all the backstory and details as if you were informing me. Yet could there be another reason for going through these details in your prayer? It is one thing to recognize my omniscience as an abstract doctrine. It is another thing to pour out your heart to me with intention in the conscious awareness of my presence. It is not so much a matter of informing me but conforming you; reviewing your own situation from my perspective and knowing I am with you. Read the Psalms. I was pleased with David when he did this.

My word speaks of wheat and tares. You could think of tares as weeds sown by the enemy. Do you have any weeds in your own life? The story says to let them grow together and separate them at the harvest time. Weeds come in many types. Do you find it easier to identify the weeds in your brother than in yourself, or in the church down the street than your own? Do you think that these obvious weeds need to be pulled out immediately? The master gardener has not appointed you to this task. I will deal with your weeds in a timely manner and you can trust me to do the same for your neighbors.

Do you think of restoration as a Biblical concept? This term is in the Bible. It suggests a return to a desirable prior state. But what if there is no desirable condition to return to in the situation you are in? My work of redemption is greater than restoration because I can redeem things that never have been right. Don’t limit your thinking to what has been in the past. Behold I will do a new thing. Haven’t you already seen this pattern in scripture and in history? You are correct in thinking that my revelation and work are ongoing. If you can see this in the broad themes of history, can you also see it in the scale of your own life?

Have you read the Bible? Did you get everything available from it on the first reading? You can read it again and get still more out of it. Eternal truth is accessible on multiple levels. Do you value the insights of others, for the things that the scriptures speak to them, or do you use this as a basis for an argument about which one of you is really right? It is possible that you are both right, seeing different facets of the same gemstone. It is also possible that you are both wrong, if you just want to fight about it. I would have you to be receptive to the truth that I reveal to your brother.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? People recognize this distinction and most will readily identify with one category or the other, and categorize others by the same criteria. Have you noticed that the more people advance into spiritual maturity, the harder it is to categorize them? Have you seen such people exhibit the positive and beneficial traits of both sides while avoiding the negative aspects of both? I promised transformation for those who followed me. Do you realize what a strong promise this is? How often do you see an enduring change in someone’s basic character? Yet my disciples are being changed into my likeness.

Military officers have rank and soldiers know they must obey their orders on that basis. Corporate managers sign paychecks, and workers respect their authority if they want to get paid. Where is the authority of my church and in my church? Pastors have authority in churches but not outside, and churches operate by voluntary association. Spiritual authority doesn’t come by offices, titles, or credentials. I held no office and had no credentials. As far as titles I insisted on calling myself the ‘Son of Man’, which is not imposing by worldly standards. When challenged on my authority I sidestepped the question. Yet I have authorized you to exercise the same authority I did. For those who understand this it trumps all other power.