Dale Cresap's blog

Have you ever heard it said that there are no stupid questions? This is not true. The Bible says that foolish and unlearned questions engender strife. I faced some stupid questions myself. Was it this man or his parents that sinned that he was born blind? In this case the answer was neither, but that the glory of God may be revealed in him. Don’t let your opponents dictate the terms of the debate. The right questions must precede the right answers. When the wrong questions are being asked, you are free to reformulate them. I frequently turned stupid questions into questions with redemptive purpose, and you can too. 

Do you regard yourself as successful and consider yourself happy if the circumstances of your life are pleasant and favorable? Who wouldn’t choose to be affluent and not afflicted if they had the choice? Yet this places too much emphasis on things external to you. For these things can change with no change to your real identity. The essence of your faith and identity are internal, as I said that my Kingdom was within you. Those who derive their sense of worth and purpose from their possessions you regard as shallow and rightly so. Basing it on status and achievement is no real improvement but I offer you the depth of a real identity in me. 

Do you like to travel? For most people, travel involves a round trip, because they have a home they return to. You find comfort and stability there. Yet I have called you to follow me, and this is a one way trip. Committing yourself to me gave you a home in heaven, and even though you return to the same place here to sleep at night, you have become a stranger and a sojourner in this world. And so you are on a journey to a place where you have never been, and there is no going back. Do you understand the depth of this commitment? It is called a walk of faith with good reason. You only get there by trusting me to guide you. 

Some things are disposable and because of their low value are intended for a single use. Yet some of these things can still be recycled for another use in a different form. Do you affirm the sanctity of human life? This means more than being opposed to abortion. It also means that people are not disposable. You understand that they cannot be thrown out like an empty bottle. If you realize their intrinsic value, are you willing to put in the effort to advance my redemptive work in their lives? If you are I will give you some for this purpose. In church you speak of salvation and transformation, but you can also think of this in terms of recycling people.

Are you better at winning arguments, friends, or souls? Do you see how there can be exclusivity between these categories? Which do you think are the most closely related? You may feel the need to make a strong and closely reasoned case for your doctrines. Your audience may be alienated by this approach. Proving yourself right may drive people away from you personally and worse, drive people away from me. If you understand that saving faith is based on a relationship with me you must speak the truth in love, in other words, speak the truth in a way that attracts your audience to me. He who is wise wins souls, and friends too. 

There are developmental stages of maturity for children. There are normal ranges for growth and ages at which they become capable of certain skills or thought processes. Do you assume that these milestones come to an end at adulthood? I view your development and maturity as a lifelong project and I want you to as well. In some cultures those who are mature are referred to as elders. This is a worthwhile goal that doesn’t happen automatically with age but it doesn’t happen without it. Seek to become more accepting and less judgmental that you may be a peacemaker and express godly wisdom.

Should churches ever change? There have been many changes in the assembly of believers and the practice of corporate worship since I founded my church. Do you see negative cultural influences creeping into the church? These changes represent compromise and are a valid concern. I told a story about new wine and new wineskins. The wineskin structure of the church has to be suitable to contain the new wine of my Spirit. Do not cling to old traditions and practices for their own sake when they are no longer appropriate for what I am doing today. My church should be constantly prepared to change in response to my leading. 

Do you feel compelled to rise to every challenge to the gospel? You are called to have an answer for every man about the hope you have in me. Yet this does include all encounters. You will face attacks from hostile and belligerent critics whose interest is in attacking rather than seeking truth. You are not obligated to engage with them, for in so doing you are reduced to their level. Even I, as the Living Word, on occasions refused to answer my critics, and even when I was on trial for my life. I promised to give you the words you need in every situation. Sometimes the way to follow my lead is to walk away.

You have my promise that if you seek you will find. You know this is true of salvation. Do you think that the process ends when you are saved? Do you understand that it applies to everything? For I have much to teach you even after you are saved. If you currently have some wrong answers and keep on seeking then you are on the path to the right answers. If you cease to be a seeker after you become a believer, how shall you grow and move on to maturity in your faith? You understand that I have called you to follow me. This implies that you continue to be a seeker even as a believer. 

Would you like your spiritual life to operate independently of the rest of your life? I taught you that if you came to my house to make an offering to me and remembered that if there was a dispute between you and your brother, to set your gift aside and go and be reconciled to your brother first and then come back and make your offering to me. You cannot practice your faith apart from human relationships and your daily business of living in this world. How do you put this into practice? You see me as a refuge and I will not turn you away, but your relationship with me is intertwined with your relationship with your brother.