Dale Cresap's blog

Are you wounded? Not all wounds are physical and visible. This is the common experience of humanity. Do you know anyone who has escaped unscathed? If it appears so they may just hesitate to make them public. I was wounded publicly for all to see. What do you do with your wounds? All of them start out as ordinary wounds, but they don’t have to end there. Mine started as an ordinary execution but I transformed them into sacred wounds for the redemption of humanity. Do yours seem mundane in comparison?

Moses saw a burning bush, and watched long enough to notice that the bush was not consumed. He realized that he was encountering me, and I told him to take off his shoes, for he was standing on holy ground, and this was an appropriate response. Have you ever stood on holy ground? Have you ever stood on ground that was not holy? You hold the doctrine of omnipresence. Does that imply that all ground is holy? If that were true, then what response would be appropriate? I don’t expect you to go barefoot everywhere. But you benefit by the awareness that I am with you always.  

You are familiar with the concept of default states. Do you think the default state of humanity is judgmental or non-judgmental? It is deeply embedded in human thought process to categorize, and to explain by cause and effect. Both of these things favor a judgmental approach. Are you familiar with the Biblical commandments against judging? Have you found these hard to put into practice? You have to overcome habits to avoid reaching judgmental conclusions.

Do you enjoy interaction with other people? Are you secure enough to hold serious discussions with those who hold other viewpoints? What is your objective in these encounters? Are you more interested in learning or winning? You can’t really have it both ways. Do you enjoy winning? Yet you have encountered others whose objective was winning and you did not enjoy this experience. You can learn from others without compromising your own beliefs. Are you willing to change your beliefs on the basis of learning new truth?

How free do you feel to criticize other faiths and others who disagree with you? How do you go about it? Have you seen a decline in civil discourse in your culture? Have you contributed to it? So many feel free to mock openly anything or anyone that doesn’t belong to their tribe. By this they acquire a bad characteristic that does not serve them well in reaching those beyond their group. You have real and significant differences with other world views and beliefs. This is normal but does not excuse you from loving them.

Has your spiritual growth caused you to outgrow friends? This can be a painful loss. Are you torn between wanting to move on and reluctant to lose your community? Have you ever had friendships wither even when neither of you has gone through a substantial change? Perhaps you are looking for more permanence in your circle of friends than is reasonable to expect. You are not the only person to follow a path of growth and I will provide you with new companions for this stage of your journey.

Do you see yourself as on a journey? Most people accept this imagery as an expression for the growth of their faith whether they like to travel or not. The Bible is full of terms like following me, walking on the strait and narrow road, and running the race set before you. Most people in motion have a clear goal in mind, called a destination. Your spiritual walk is different in that you are not moving toward a fixed point on the surface of the earth. Yet the terms and concept still apply. For here we have no continuing city but we seek a city with foundations in the heavens.

Have you noticed how many books there are today by people who have gone to heaven and returned to tell the tale? The authors write with great clarity and detail. Do you think these stories speak with authority? Visits to heaven are rare, but Paul did it, so you know it is possible. When he returned he referred to things that were unlawful to speak. How do you interpret the meaning of this? Do you think it was against the rules, or do you think that he was trying to confine to words things for which words were inadequate?

Are you attracted to those who are educated, beautiful, and well off? Everyone is attracted to the attractive. But I was the champion and advocate for the least of these. What does this phrase bring to mind for you? Honest poor people of good character who have suffered setbacks through no fault of their own, who are kind and grateful for your ministry to them? But those are relatively easy to love. What about those who have bad habits from having made bad choices? What about those who are without morals and character? Do you judge them harshly while ministering to the other?

Are you comfortable in challenging authority? Most authority structures are rigidly defined and so you know who is in charge. If it is a universal rule that people make mistakes, then this applies to those in authority as well. Does their position over you make you hesitate to point out their errors? It isn’t always your responsibility to correct them, but how do you respond when what they expect of you conflicts with your deepest values? The early apostles answered this dilemma with the question, should we obey God or you?