Dream, 6-22-08

I have had prophetic dreams in the past, by which I mean I’ve dreamed about future events that have taken place. In one case, I dreamed a teenaged girl I was working with had an accident on the road and flipped her car. The next day I told her I’d dreamed about her and we both laughed. When she left work I said, joking, “Be careful on them roads, wild girl.” She called about a half hour later to tell me my dream had come true.

Earlier in my life, when I was about 15, I dreamed about two women who attended my parents’ church. In the dream they murdered my parents, put their flesh in a stew, and began eating it. They stood over the big boiling pot like witches over a cauldron, stirring constantly. (No doubt the recipe for boiled preacher calls for constant stirring...ha ha ha.) I told my father about the dream and he said, “That is from the Lord.” At the time these two women were gossiping and stirring up a lot of trouble in the church, brazenly declaring their superior spirituality. They caused a tremendous rift and many in the church left as a result.

Another time I dreamed that my family suddenly had to move away from our favorite home in Southern Maryland. I told my parents about the dream. A week later, my mother told me my dream was coming true, as we were going to have to move. (To Delaware, as it turned out.)

I don’t talk much about things like this because the church--and I mean especially Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, here--is so far off track as far as God’s Word is concerned that they mistake things like this for spirituality, or place visions, dreams, angelic visitations, gold fillings and mystical experiences in higher regard than they should be placed. People erroneously (and sometimes subconsciously) think we need two or three dramatic confirmations about things God has already declared. And they forget that God will allow a “false word” or a lying prophet to show up to prove His people: that’s why a story found in 1 Kings 13 has always fascinated me.

Anyway, last night I slept with the kids in a tent we’d purchased to go camping in. (We set it up this weekend for a kind of dry run, just to be sure we know how to set up a tent and sleep in it before we get somewhere else and realize we’re idiots.) Before I went to sleep I was thinking about Jacob at Bethel, on the lam, sleeping in the open air with a rock for a pillow when he saw the vision of the angels ascending and descending the ladder.

The Dream

In the early morning hours, I had this dream:

Our church’s former assistant pastor was officiating a service at our church. I was sitting in the back, not really participating in any of the events taking place (like normal). Presently I became aware of a serious disturbance outside the sanctuary and rushed into the hallway. When I got to the hallway, all was dark and quiet. The doors in the hallway were closed. I opened the door of the nursery (the first door on the left), and there were several dead men on the floor, face-down. I could see the blueness of their necks and hands, and blood blossoming out from wounds underneath their fallen frames.

I closed the door and went back to the sanctuary. When the assistant pastor stepped off the podium and began to take a seat, I went over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. I told him softly, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but all your brothers are dead.”

He was visibly moved and at the point of tears as we walked to the nursery together and I opened the door. But the dead men had changed to several children I recognized from the church. They were lying in the same way, face-down, and they were dead, but also hogtied and gagged.

When I awoke, the picture of bondage and death in the dream left me feeling a little freaked out, but the meaning seemed obvious. I’m not sure what, if anything, God’s trying to tell me with it, considering it’s old news.

The Meaning

This would be clear to anyone who knows the history and current situation at our church, but I figured I'd offer a few lines about the symbolism of this dream.

The assistant pastor of our church was appointed and dismissed from service under dubious circumstances, without the blessing or input of the congregation or any communication whatsoever before the events occurred. He was not even a member of the church before being placed in his "pastorhood," which caused offense from the very start. This put him in a difficult position, and he often felt isolated and unsupported. He left as quickly as he came, causing many hearts (including mine) to grieve and question how his situation was handled from start to finish. He was a central figure in my dream.

Over a year ago, a men's group was started at our church with the understanding that the men were disconnected and inactive as members of our church. We felt that something needed to be done to rectify this problem: men needed to be unified to do the work of the Kingdom together, to lead and direct the spiritual pursuits of their families and the church. Consequently, questions were raised about how the former assistant pastor came to be placed in his position, how he came to leave it so quickly, and how our church chooses leaders to begin with. Questions were also raised about the role of women in church (though it was obvious that the role of MEN in church was the first thing to be worked out). As these two issues were confronted, a disintegration occurred, and the Word of God proved to be the dividing line.

The men were face-down in the nursery, bleeding; these were the "brothers" who were dead. The nursery symbolizes a place where new life learns to function, where little kids play, build things, fall down, laugh and cry. In this formative place, at the cusp of a world of new discovery, the men were wounded and silenced.

On the second visit to the nursery, the men had turned into children from the church. This speaks of the effect the silence, wounding, and demonic resistance toward men as leaders has on the next generation.