Dale Cresap's blog

Have you noticed how quick people are to align themselves with a particular ministry? They like to inform you of the names of prominent people they identify with. It is not wrong to commit to a particular church or ministry, but this brings with it the risk of comparison, competition, and division. If I have called you to a particular place that means it is right for you. It doesn’t mean it is right for everyone. I have a plan and purpose for each of my children, and they are answerable to me to walk in it. This issue arose early in the church, when believers would say I am of Paul or I am of Apollos. I answered through Paul to affirm that I alone am the head of my church.

Have you noticed that the New Testament says a lot about Pharisees? They are not mentioned in the Old Testament. How many Pharisees do you think have actually read the New Testament? Wasn’t it written for Christians? Yet they are mentioned so many times. Could it be that these references and warnings were really targeted at you? Have you ever seen the same impulses and traits in your fellow believers? The Bible is my general and universal law. It provides warnings that are common to all. I warned my own followers to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which was hypocrisy. By inference you may assume this warning applies to everyone.

You have heard that cleanliness is next to godliness. This is possibly the most famous Bible verse that isn’t really in the Bible. Yet there is an easily understood parallel. You know that cleanliness must be a regular habit to be effective. It is not a single event, or something that can be attended to sporadically, but good hygiene will not secure your entrance to the Kingdom of God. Godliness is also a matter of habit and consistency. In the terminology of the Kingdom it is called faithfulness. If someone is not diligent about their hygiene it quickly becomes obvious in an unpleasant way. In like manner I notice when you are not diligent about godliness.

I told people to repent lest some worse thing befall them. Do you view this statement in a negative way, that things will continue to get worse unless you change? You could view the same principle in a positive way, that I begin with gentle and mild methods of correction. I do not escalate the methods unless it is necessary to do so. Have you seen this principle in effect in your own life when you face serious consequences for your faults? Are you aware that you could have avoided these if you had dealt with the situation earlier? Respond to my gentle promptings and I will have no need to use stronger measures to correct you. 

My word teaches you how to deal with your enemies. It also teaches you to be a peacemaker. Do you realize that these are the same thing? You don’t make peace by dealing with your friends. If you say that you have no enemies you deceive yourself. Do you think of enemies only as those who are opposed to righteousness, regardless of how they treat you? Yet I told you to love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you that you may be the children of your Father in heaven. This is what I did and I want you to follow my example as a child of God. 

True scientists are observers of the natural world. The foundational principles of science are observation and generalization so natural laws such as gravity, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism are accepted because they work rather than being derived from more basic principles. My laws are set forth in my word. You can accept their validity by faith as revealed truth, but do you not also see by observation that they work? Have you ever seen the righteous forsaken? I encourage you to perform your own experiments. Live according to my principles and see what happens. 

Do you affirm the principle of political equality? This states that all men are created equal. In practice you know that this is not mathematical equality, for all people are not the same, but it means that the same rules should apply to all, and no one should get special treatment due to their status or office. Do you understand that there is a Biblical equivalent? In my word I tell you not to seek to be called rabbi or teacher, for you all have one teacher, even Christ. This applies to other offices as well. I need people to hold positions in my church, but I want them to do it as servants, not lording their positions over others, but serving with humility and grace. 

Do you think of discipline in a negative sense, the punishment imposed upon you from without for your shortcomings? Look at the high-achieving people you know. Do they have discipline imposed on them, or do they impose it on themselves? They know that a life without discipline and structure is also a life without purpose, character, passion, and achievement. Those who run the race according to the high calling of God focus their efforts and keep their eyes on the prize. They cast off every weight that would hold them back and the sin that would draw them off track that they may run the race I have set before them as winners.

You don’t have to read my word very carefully to find my teaching against hypocrisy. I reserved my strongest statements for hypocrites. I warned against false facades and called some people whitewashed tombs full of dead bones. Yet this is the impulse of humanity. Do you know anyone who doesn’t try to present themselves in the most favorable light? The expression of having an image to uphold is common terminology, but if you ponder the meaning of it you should find nothing to admire in it. Do not be discouraged by this but consider the greatness of the good news of the gospel. I can transform your inner being so it is worth putting on public display.

Do you ever meditate on things you think you already understand? Most people do not take the trouble to revisit things they think are settled matters, but I would encourage you to do so. For even though the basic foundation of your faith is so simple that a child can understand it, these truths are accessible at multiple levels. It is beneficial for you to ponder them again, for I have more to show you. This is not to tear down your foundation, but to expand and enlarge it. Consider my Sermon on the Mount. Doesn’t it address simple concepts, and state them with simple logical structure and vocabulary? Yet what have you read that is more profound?