Dale Cresap's blog

The apostles prayed that they may have great boldness in presenting the gospel message, and they got it. They also got the trials and persecutions that came with that, and they were effective in spreading my message. Do you see the gospel message being proclaimed boldly today? Do you do it? Have you observed this and found it to be annoying? Set apart for the moment the fact that those who preach boldly make themselves outcasts. Is this method effective? Does it gain converts and make them disciples?

Do you long to share your journey with those who understand because they are on a similar journey themselves? This is a normal desire. It is not good for man to be alone. No one else can take this journey for you, but you can’t take it by yourself either. I know you need companions. How can you find them? Radar was invented to detect airplanes beyond visual range, and is still in use for this purpose today. Is there a human equivalent? Do you find yourself aware of and drawn to those who are at a similar stage on their spiritual journey? Have you ever been wrong about this?

Do you think of respect and dignity as being the same thing? There is an important distinction. You can give respect to other people, and you should, but you can’t give them dignity. That has to be generated internally. How much confidence do you have in your own story? Are you secure in your own identity, and able to conduct yourself with all that implies and the way it connects to your surroundings? Then you are living in your proper place and have acquired dignity as a result.

Good military commanders and good business managers care about the morale of their people. Do you think I care about yours? You are familiar with the passages about rejoicing. Is it enough to be given a command to rejoice? This isn’t a command that can be given arbitrarily. Isn’t it also necessary to be given conditions favorable for rejoicing? How hard do you have to look for reasons? You live in the same world as everyone else, and I make the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.

How much progress have you made in growth in the practice of your faith? Do you see spiritual progress more in terms of things you acquire or things you release? Both are valid aspects of spiritual growth but only one is usually emphasized. How do you view the things you have acquired? Do they facilitate your onward journey or impede it? The heavier the burden you carry, the slower you walk. Do you see your spiritual life as a journey? Do you see the parallel with carrying burdens? When you travel do you normally only take those things necessary for the journey?

When my disciples wanted me to take a more aggressive public stance I told them that my time had not yet come, but that their time was always ready. Do you see this as a universal principle for my followers, including you, that you are always on duty? Have your most effective opportunities to serve me been those that you have staged and arranged, or have they happened in a moment when you least expected them? And so you are charged to be instant in season and out of season. You don’t know when you will cross paths with someone who is receptive to your message of life.

Do you require proof for everything? This is a modern concept also described by those who adhere to it as being evidence based. This seems like a reasonable requirement, but is it? Is there anything you accept as true without proof? And this raises the further question, proof to whose satisfaction and what is admissible evidence, for these vary from one person to another. If truth is a larger concept than provability, then what criteria do you use to establish truth? Have you ever had something resonate with you and considered it to be true on that basis? Truth can be self-validating.

How do you deal with the concerns of others? Do you evaluate them by your own criteria and let them know if you think it is a trivial concern? It may be to you, but they wouldn’t bring it up if it was trivial to them. Other people don’t like being dismissed any more than you do. If you can truly alleviate their concern by insight and wisdom then you have released them from fear. Would you expect to have the opportunity to do this without showing the empathy and compassion of taking their concern seriously?

What does the Christian faith consist of? Do you see it as the affirmation of a list of essential doctrines, and diligence in preserving and conforming to the structures of your faith tradition? Don’t you describe your faith as a relationship with me? Does the above description sound relational? Have you noticed that the less that believers have a direct encounter with me the more they are committed to doctrine and structure and hierarchy and authority and titles and offices? Which do you think is of greater value?

Do you believe that I am a God of justice? This phrase is so commonplace among believers that it could be treated as one word, but it isn’t obvious at first glance what it means. Do you think of justice as retributive; consisting of punishment for the evildoers? Is there another version of justice? What about restorative justice which looks forward to redemption rather than backward to offenses? Would you be offended if others received restoration rather than punishment? What version of my justice do you see operating in your own life?