Articles
Does God Use Dreams?
by Mike Allen on August 13, 2019Hello Body of Christ on Cape Cod,
Joel 2:28 (ESV) 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
During Sunday's service I saw a couple walk into our church and sit down and listen with rapt attention throughout the entire service. After the service they quickly marched up to the front of the sanctuary to tell me their story.
This couple lives in the area, and the wife is a nurse and is from Thailand and the husband had been a Marine stationed in Japan. They're married now and live in our region. The wife then proceeded to tell me the story that she received a dream of Jesus this week appearing to her, in radiant glory. She showed me a picture on her cell phone of a stock photo from the internet with Jesus in radiant glory in the skies, and said, "it looked just like that." She knew it was real and knew she had to come to church to hear about him, so they both came to Lighthouse. She said she felt the morning's message was just for her. I asked about their faith journey and he is a lapsed Catholic and she is beginning to seek the things of God. (I did not feel it was the right time to ask if they wanted to accept Jesus at that moment, but had given a very personal salvation invitation during the sermon.)
With eyes shining and hearts open, they said they will be back.
An interesting thing the wife told me was that Jesus doesn't need our help in running things, he's got it under control.
An amazing story.
While I'm not exactly a charismatic or pentecostal or whatever labels we use, I do believe in the Bible, and I believe God's promises. I know that God has spoken in many ways, especially through His Word. These are the kinds of stories we hear about in the revival happening throughout the Middle East. Does God still speak today through visions, dreams, or other means? I believe we serve a good Savior whose Word is True. I believe He still speaks.
We can take great encouragement from His promises: 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God is good all the time. He is on the move. And He invites us to be a part of His grand story of salvation.
Stay humble, love often, and seek His face daily!
Pastor Mike Allen
Lighthouse Christian Fellowship
Sandwich, MA
backJoel 2:28 (ESV) 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
As a pastor passionately committed to the faithful exposition of God's Word, it has been my privilege to see many people come to saving faith in Jesus Christ in the past 35 years of my ministry. I believe in Jesus, and I believe in the Bible. I am blessed to have gotten to preach these last 21 years here on Cape Cod. It is a real privilege to get to preach God's Word. I'm also grateful for the fellowship we share as His Bride in our region.
As you know we've all been praying and fasting and humbling ourselves and seeking God for these many years, but I have to say I'm embarrassed that I'm still surprised when God answers in unusual ways. I do not want to be a "functional atheist," and I really do believe God is at work in amazing and supernatural ways... Yet this Sunday showed me, once again, how very good God is.During Sunday's service I saw a couple walk into our church and sit down and listen with rapt attention throughout the entire service. After the service they quickly marched up to the front of the sanctuary to tell me their story.
This couple lives in the area, and the wife is a nurse and is from Thailand and the husband had been a Marine stationed in Japan. They're married now and live in our region. The wife then proceeded to tell me the story that she received a dream of Jesus this week appearing to her, in radiant glory. She showed me a picture on her cell phone of a stock photo from the internet with Jesus in radiant glory in the skies, and said, "it looked just like that." She knew it was real and knew she had to come to church to hear about him, so they both came to Lighthouse. She said she felt the morning's message was just for her. I asked about their faith journey and he is a lapsed Catholic and she is beginning to seek the things of God. (I did not feel it was the right time to ask if they wanted to accept Jesus at that moment, but had given a very personal salvation invitation during the sermon.)
With eyes shining and hearts open, they said they will be back.
An interesting thing the wife told me was that Jesus doesn't need our help in running things, he's got it under control.
An amazing story.
While I'm not exactly a charismatic or pentecostal or whatever labels we use, I do believe in the Bible, and I believe God's promises. I know that God has spoken in many ways, especially through His Word. These are the kinds of stories we hear about in the revival happening throughout the Middle East. Does God still speak today through visions, dreams, or other means? I believe we serve a good Savior whose Word is True. I believe He still speaks.
We can take great encouragement from His promises: 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God is good all the time. He is on the move. And He invites us to be a part of His grand story of salvation.
Stay humble, love often, and seek His face daily!
Pastor Mike Allen
Lighthouse Christian Fellowship
Sandwich, MA
