Dale Cresap's blog

Have you ever been betrayed by a friend? It is devastating to have someone you trust turn against you. I have experienced this myself. Yet this can happen with neither you nor they being aware of it.

Do you ever feel that you are under attack? You have a real adversary. He complained that I set a hedge of protection around Job that thwarted his attacks. I reduced the level of protection, but in a measured and limited way for a specific interval.

Have you ever heard someone say, ‘I can’t imagine a God who would allow suffering like that’? The real problem here is trying to make me fit their image. You were made in my image, not I in yours. You cannot reduce me to a level of human understanding.

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Have you ever heard about someone making a deal with the devil for their soul? Do you imagine that this is a formal transaction with documents and signatures in blood?

You see the intense commercial activity and indulgent excess that occurs at Christmas. Have you ever heard people lament about this and express a desire to return to the true meaning of Christmas? Have you ever said this yourself?

When a child receives a gift, what is their first response? They want to play with it or put it to use immediately. Yet on special gift-giving occasions adults will tell them to put it aside because there are other gifts to open.

Do you think of your car as a commodity? Or as part of your identity? These positions represent two extremes, but most people lean one way or the other. If you think of your car merely in functional terms perhaps you feel a stronger attachment to what you eat or what you wear.

Are you accustomed to thinking of presidents as the highest level of political power? In some countries a prime minister holds the corresponding office, but in most modern countries even the top official has limited power.

When you were a child did you look forward to gift occasions such as your birthday and Christmas with eager anticipation of what you would receive? As you mature into adulthood you become able to acquire the things you need by yourself.

Do you notice that people are becoming more interested and concerned about the nature of their food and where it comes from? I addressed this question long ago in the context of dietary laws, and in the eating of meat sacrificed to idols.