Dale Cresap's blog

Do you consider the work of evangelism to be daunting? Consider the magnitude of the task. You are asking people to renounce their false ways and turn their lives over to me. You don’t have a promotional budget of millions to make this happen. Does it seem impossible? Yet you are not alone.  It is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin. Have you ever tried to do this on your own? How did it work out? I ask you to take part in an effort of ultimate significance, and your part is important. Never forget that but also never forget that this is a team effort and that I am doing the heavy lifting.

What are your thoughts about my return? Are you trying to figure out when it will be? You should know better. Are you preparing for it? What would that involve? Blessed are those who do and teach my commandments. Blessed are those who are awake and aware, with their loins girded and their lamps burning, when their Lord returns, for he shall commend them. John the Baptist was a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. He played an important part in my first advent. This role is just as important for my second advent, the position is open,  and I am taking applications. Is this a job you want to apply for?

What does righteousness mean to you? Regular church attendance and no sex outside of marriage? These are good things, but is there more to it than that? Do you consider all the people who follow these to be righteous? My church was not built until after I walked this earth, but I affirmed the principle of fellowship and also the sanctity of marriage. I spoke of many other things as well, to encompass all of life, including kindness, generosity, and love. The Pharisees were ‘righteous’ as described above, but I said that unless your righteousness exceeded theirs you would not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.

I criticized the Pharisees for hypocrisy and gave many direct examples. The Bible contains another example that was not related by me. Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver to betray me. This money was paid from the temple treasury. When the deed was done Judas changed his mind and attempted to return the money. His offer was rejected on the basis that it was blood money and could not be accepted. But it only became blood money when it was paid out of the temple treasury for that purpose. Those who are hypocrites about other things will be about money as well. Let your approach to money be an integrated expression of your love for me.

Do you like getting a tax deduction for the money you donate to my work? This is possible in some places and not others, and even where it is possible there are guidelines to follow. You may be able to get a tax deduction for money given to churches and to organizations dedicated to helping the poor, but not for money you give to the poor directly. Does this make you reluctant to give directly to the poor? Yet my word is clear about helping the poor whether directly or indirectly. Even if this is a valid distinction for your tax collector you can be sure there is a record of it in heaven.

Are you distraught when your team loses a game? What about when your candidate loses an election? You can make a stronger case that this is a more important concern, but to what extent will this be a dominant influence on your future? Is your life determined by circumstances and external influences, or by your inner state of spiritual awareness? I said that my Kingdom was within you. Do you understand this? Haven’t you seen people with great inner strength who are able to endure and overcome any circumstances they encounter? They understand this and you can too.

Would you agree that redemption is the central subject of the Bible? You know that I am at the center of the story and fulfilled a role that only I could in the redemption of humanity. Do you want to take part in the story? You can do so first of all by receiving the redemption I offer. But your involvement doesn’t have to end there, and it shouldn’t. Every act of obedience and virtue has a component of redemption. Those who believed in me I called to follow me. Don’t complain that you can’t do everything because you can do something. In every situation ask me what you can do to advance my redemptive purpose and listen for my response.

Does the Bible shock you? Or have you become so familiar with it that it has lost some impact? Consider the story of the prodigal son and the impact it would have had on the original audience. They would have been aghast at the request of the younger son, not surprised that things ended badly for him in the big city, and totally astounded that the father would take him back, and even more so that he would throw a celebration at his return. Has this story ever had this effect on you? My word is living and powerful. Open yourself to let it speak to you anew, to have the same impact it did on those who heard it first.

Do you take evangelism seriously? The Great Commission is one of the few commandments I gave my followers. When you encounter people, do you see yourself as having their eternal destiny in your hands? This is too strong a position to take, and too great a burden for you to bear. I ask you to do your part, even as a part of a team, or as a garden raised by joint effort. One plants and one waters and one pulls weeds. The one who gathers the harvest should not think that he did it all. Let your light shine, and be obedient in the moment to do your part, and trust the Holy Spirit to coordinate the effort.

Do you like riddles? How can a father not be a man? You think of a father as a male parent who must first be a man. Yet my word makes clear that I am not a man, but still describes me as a Father. Many people, and particularly women, find the masculine emphasis in the Bible to be disturbing. In the case of presenting me as a Father they are missing the point. In this case it is about relationship rather than gender. It is only in having a son or daughter that makes a father. Your faith makes special reference to the Father and the Son and rightly so. In a larger sense I am a Father to every man, woman, and child, for all are my children.