Dale Cresap's blog

Have you noticed that in my word I spoke not only in declarations, but also in questions? ‘What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his own soul?’ I was not looking for information, but questions engage thought in a way that declarations do not. I invite you to ponder these questions for out of them proceed the issues of life. In school were you judged by the answers you gave? When you are out of school you are free to frame the questions yourself. Have you discovered that you are judged more by what you inquire of than by what you answer? Ponder the questions of eternity and I will reveal the mystery of faith to you. 

Students go to school to learn from teachers. The intention is to provide a structured curriculum in a suitable facility with qualified instructors. Everything is structured with deliberate intention for the desired outcome. Those who are wise find instruction in schools, but they find it everywhere else too. Not all students are grateful for the opportunity to be in school. Do you love instruction enough to seek it even when you are not in school? I promised that those who would seek would find, and this promise applies generally, but particularly to wisdom. You have only to ask of me, and then open your eyes and you will see it wherever you look. 

The commonly accepted notion of leadership is that there are a few natural leaders or officeholders who can get people to do what they want and the rest are followers who are subject to the leaders. I told my followers that this was the thinking of the gentiles, but it was not to be so among them, but that he who would be the greatest should be servant of all. All are able to serve. Does this mean that all are leaders? Even I did not seek to force people to follow me but I taught them that this was the way of life and invited them into it. In this way everyone should be both a leader and a follower.

My word teaches you to love others as you love yourself. Before you can do this you must understand the correct way to love yourself. Do you think that this means giving in to every childish whim? Children require supervision because they lack maturity and left to themselves will be in danger. A parent has the child’s true best interest at heart, and protects them, even from themselves. Therefore your love for yourself should be more as a parent for a child than of childish indulgence. If you are mature enough to understand and act on your own best interests then love others the same way. 

Some schools have low entrance requirements but the more prestigious the school the more exclusive and selective they are about applicants. In like manner desirable jobs attract many applicants and employers can afford to be choosy. These are important matters so applicants are highly motivated and those who are unsuccessful are disappointed. Whether you succeed or not you can take comfort in knowing that in the most important matter of salvation that I am not exclusive or selective. I open the door for whosoever will knock, and save all who call on my name. 

I told a story about old and new wine and wineskins. Even if you no longer store beverages in skins you should get the concept of contents and containers, and that the expansion potential of new wine required a flexible container to accommodate it, because it would burst an inflexible container. I spoke this to my disciples concerning the birth of my church, but this story illustrates a perpetual principle. Behold I will do a new thing. I am always serving new wine. The forms and customs of the past will not provide an appropriate container for it. Will you represent a vessel with enough flexibility to contain the new wine? 

You have my promise that wherever two or three are gathered in my name, that I am there in the midst of them. You can count on this, but I can do even more. Have I ever failed to show up just for you? For you also have my promise that I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Gathering in my name with someone else focuses your attention on me. Do you find this more difficult to do when you are alone? Yet if you do you will find that I am as present with you as at any other time. Since I am always present, you walk in light and truth if you have a constant awareness that I am with you. 

What is the essence of your faith? Isn’t it a relationship with me? Yet have you encountered believers for whom it seems it is a relationship with the Bible, with a church, or with a pastor? These are all good things, and those who love me love my word, and my people, and my shepherds. Yet loving these things is a consequence of loving me and not the other way around. I asked Peter if he loved me more than these. The story does not make explicit what ‘these’ were, but it doesn’t matter, and Peter was distressed nonetheless. Do you love me more than anything? This is the essence of your faith. 

Do you watch the news and pray according to what you see? This is better than watching the news as a detached and disinterested observer. Yet there is a still better way. Prayer is traditionally done in a closet. You can pray anywhere, but the principle of seeking me in secret that I may share my heart with you is still valid. Do those who produce the news have the mind of Christ? My Kingdom comes not with observation, but I will reveal it to my servants. The things on my heart for you to address in prayer may not yet be visible in world events, but if you look to me I will lead you to pray according to my eternal will. 

Everyone has an outward appearance, and this is your first impression of them. Is this all you see? You know that your own identity runs deeper than your appearance, and that this is true of others as well. You use the term essence to describe the true nature of anything as opposed to superficial appearance. You have one as well. Don’t you long to have people know and accept you for who you really are? They feel the same way. The most essential way of knowing is by the spirit. This is how I know you and this way of knowing is available to those who are spiritually alive. Look past the flesh which profits nothing to the true essence of the spirit in others.