Dale Cresap's blog

My word says that in me you live and move and have your being. Do you accept this as a matter of doctrine? Do you experience it as a lived reality? This statement implies that I am present and constantly involved in everything that concerns you; in every aspect of your life. Have you experienced this truth in fleeting glimpses? As you become more spiritually aware, do you see it more and more? You are immersed in a spiritual world that is real even when it is unseen. I promised to send the Comforter to lead you into all truth. This awareness is a large part of that truth.

Do you ever wish you were in a position to do Christian ministry full time? How do you spend your spare time now? Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Do you think of treasure only as money? What is more valuable to you than time? The way you spend your money says a lot about you, but the way you spend your time says even more. People who are able to organize their time and spend it effectively tend to have enough money to do what they need to do.

Have you heard of actors becoming typecast? If they play the same type of character consistently they may be well suited for that role, but considered less versatile for other roles. But this phenomenon isn’t limited to actors. Some people intentionally identify with certain characteristics or interests they have. The urge to establish an identity is powerful and present in every person, but there is a risk that you will typecast yourself and limit your versatility. What do you identify with? I have given you a destiny.

How many faith traditions are you familiar with? Have you noticed that many countries and regions have a dominant faith? Even if you never visit those areas, you may encounter individuals who are members of that faith. Does it seem to you that people practicing their faith as individuals in a minority follow their faith more graciously than when they have majority power? How do you think your faith looks to them? Would they see the same principle in effect concerning Christianity? I have commissioned you to preach the gospel message to every creature.

Do you find it easier to love people who agree with you and are kind to you, and harder to love those who are disagreeable and mean? That comes as no surprise, but then it isn’t much of a sacrifice either. There should be a distinction between those who live by faith and those who do not, and I pointed out that even sinners love those who love them, so there is no special recognition for that. I have called you to love your enemies, and do good to those who despitefully use you and persecute you.

Do you have a “graduate degree” in Christianity? Many believers take their faith seriously enough that they make a diligent study of it over a period of many years; more years than they spent in formal education. This is worthwhile and admirable. Have you noticed that academics speak to each other in terminology that the layman doesn’t understand? One risk of the increase of knowledge is that it makes your faith inaccessible to outsiders. Don’t assume that they are familiar with the terminology that you are so accustomed to.

Are you familiar with the passage that says you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? It is easy to memorize and just think of it in terms of your whole being, but you can also unpack each item. To love God with all your heart and soul addresses the passionate aspect without which love cannot exist, and these are mentioned first for a reason. Yet your mind is also involved in the full expression of love, and you can practice your faith with intellectual rigor, but there is still another part. Love is not content to be idle and passive.

Do you have a staff of servants? Most people associate this practice with the very wealthy, but even those who are only moderately affluent pay others to do farm work, drive trucks, pave roads, mount tires, and hundreds of other similar tasks. The people who do these things serve you. I demonstrated to my disciples that I was their servant, and told them to go and serve also. In doing this I inverted the social order of my time, and it would invert the social order today too. Does it seem to you that everyone serves in some way and is served in others?

When you partake of communion, what passage of scripture is most commonly used? Are you accustomed to hearing, do this in remembrance of me, or so let a man examine himself? These are valid and applicable to the situation. What about except you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man you shall have no life in you? This is just as pertinent and applicable but rarely used because it is so offensive to human sensibilities. My own disciples were offended and some of them quit following me but others remained because I had the words of life.

Do you think of marketing as a worldly means to make people buy things they don’t really need? As a means of employing deceit and subterfuge for profit? Do you think marketing has any place in church? Let us re-frame the question. Is it acceptable to present eternal truth in a way that connects with audiences you encounter? I thought so, and Paul did too. He presented the gospel message as a declaration of the unknown God. He also said he would become all things to all people that he might by any means save some.