P r o p h e t i c

E v a n g e l i s m

B Y J OHN PAUL J ACKSON

GOD SPEAKS IN OUR

DREAMS
A POWERFUL TOOL OF EVANGELISM.

WITH SO MANY PEOPLE WANTING TO EXPERIENCE THE REALITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL, DREAM INTERPRETATION CAN BE

hen three Orlando, Florida, women Elsewhere in the mall that day another recently set out for their favorite mall, group of Christians was walking and praythey figured it would be just another shop- ing when they sensed the Holy Spirit pointping trip. And it wasuntil God invaded ing out a certain man. A thought arose in and changed their lives forever. their spirits: Hes struggling with loneliness. While the trio enjoyed lunch in the food They approached him and struck up a court, two of them listened as their friend conversation. Within minutes the man shared a dream she had the night before. invited Jesus Christ into his heart. They were perplexed. Did the Elated, the group moved on dream mean something? If it had and found a woman they felt the Prophetic a deeper meaning, what was it? Holy Spirit directing them Nearby sat two Christians, evangelism toward. They interpreted a dream who were also talking about for her and then led her to the listening to dreams. They turned to the three Lord. God while women. Do any of you have a A third group walking around sharing the dream you want interpreted? the Orlando mall felt the sensation they asked. of electricity in their hands and gospelis one The women looked at each interpreted it as a sign to pray for key to the next other. One of them stammered, someones healing. Upon seeing a move of God Yes. In fact, we were just talking woman with a withered hand and about it. a limp, they approached her and in the world. As the woman described her were soon praying for her. dream, the Christians silently Suddenly, the womans withprayed for Gods wisdom and direction. ered hand opened and her feet straightWhen she finished they offered her a spiri- ened! She was so excited that she accepted tual interpretation of her dream as well as Jesus on the spot. Gods encouragement. The woman was so During that weekend in Orlando, 14 touched that she gave her heart to Jesus, people came to know Jesus Christ, and sevright there in the food court and in front of eral were healed. The Christians were her friends. members of our Dream Teams, individu-

als who have been trained by Streams Ministries International in dream interpretation and prophetic evangelism. Last year we sent a Dream Team to Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympics. In a Starbucks coffeehouse one night, two team members were chatting about dreams when they looked over at a group of about 30 people standing in line. Does anyone have a dream theyd like to know more about? one of them asked.

to the next great move of God in the world. Prophetic evangelism is a great way to grow the church and to introduce Jesus to your unsaved friends. In the 1980s, my friend and pastor John Wimber, then leader of the Association of Vineyard Churches, coined the phrase power evangelism. He focused on the usefulness of signs and wonders, espeTRUE DREAMS ARE FROM GOD

A news agency journalist joined them and recounted her dream. When the team gave her the interpretation, she fell back in her chair, looked at her boyfriend and said, Wow! Did you hear that? Others had gathered and for the next several hours, the team interpreted dreams. In fact, during their stay in Salt Lake City, our team members interpreted more than 150 dreams. Real-life experiences like these have led me to the conclusion that prophetic evangelisma reliance on listening to the Lord while sharing the gospelis one key

cially miraculous healings, as a way to lead people to Jesus. Prophetic evangelism is the next step in my understanding of Wimbers vision. During the last 20 years tens of thousands have been saved through what he called power evangelism. I believe that trend will continue. But I also know that dream interpretation, words of knowledge and prophetic wordsprophetic evangelism, as I call it will help even more people come to Jesus. There is much scriptural foundation for this idea. God promised in Joel 2:28

that Your sons and your daughters shall Tertullian of Carthage, who lived in prophesy, your old men shall dream the second century after Christ, said, dreams, your young men shall see Almost the greater part of mankind visions (NKJV). When we read the con- derive their knowledge of God from clusion of that passage we find that the dreams. Jerome, the fourth-century theresult of prophesying, dreams, visions, ologian who translated the first Latin signs and wonders is to bring a harvest Bible, the Vulgate, was converted to Chrisinto the kingdom. tianity by a dream from God. Though many churches have embraced God has never stopped speaking to men the idea of Christians prophesying, they and women who want to hear His voice. In have not been as accepting of biblical fact, dreams are such a powerful means of dream interpretation. Thats unfortunate. communication that the enemy has tried The Bible teaches us that God speaks to us everything in his power to discredit and in the night. counterfeit it them. Elihu confirms this in Job 33:14-16: For Why do New Age practitioners have God may speak in one way, or in so little trouble with the idea of Dreams are another, yet man does not perceive dreams, and why do Christians it. In a dream, in a vision of the the ones who long to hear Gods such a night, when deep sleep falls upon voicedevalue it? God created powerful men, while slumbering on their this connection between His means of beds, then He opens the ears of Spirit and our spirit for a reason. men, and seals their instruction. communicaJeremiah and Zechariah critiS P I R I T C O M M U N I C AT I O N Biblical tion that the cized false dreams, because they dream interpretation comes as the enemy has knew the importance of true result of a growing relationship dreams from God (see Jer. 23:25, with God. A hunger for Him transtried 27:9; Zech. 10:2). lates into a hunger to hear and everything Daniel 1:17 tells us that, understand His voice. to Daniel had understanding in all True dreams from God genervisions and dreams. The young ate a curiosity in us, a question that discredit prophet ends up prophesying to were desperate to answer. We long and counterKing Nebuchadnezzar concerning to hear His voice. feit them. a dream he had. Every night, God whispers into the dreams of unsaved men and The impact of the revelation was so powerful that the king exclaimed, women. He seals the truth within their Truly your God is the God of gods, the hearts. Some will search the world looking for Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret (Dan. the key to unlock that truth. Many today are drawn to the New Age movement, thinking 2:47). Early church fathers and mothers the answer might be there. Others may go to dream interpreters readily accepted the validity of dreams as a way in which God speaks. First-century who operate in the perversions of Freudian Jewish historian Philo said that dreams and Jungian dream analysis, and they will are a way God gave to mankind to learn find no peace. Christians who hear and understand the voice of God hold the key about the spiritual world.

for these wanderers. Prophetic evangelism are truly dependent on Him to lead us is about giving a human voice to the spiritual into all truth. And to truly hear the Lord, mysteries God has implanted in the lost. we need His peace in our lives. During my years of study, I have discovAll revelation comes from the Holy ered that God will give the interpretation to Spirit, who searches the deep things of a dream in any of four different ways: God. He chooses how He will give the God will speak the interpretarevelation to us. The Holy Spirit is the tion to our spirit in the dream. We will Spirit of peace, and when He comes, a awaken with the understanding of what residue of peace is left with us. the dream meant. God uses metaphors and symbols in our God instantly gives a dreams dreams. He is a visual, creative entity, and meaning. As with Daniel, the interpreta- He loves to wrap His wisdom in the mystion comes through an angelic messenger. teries of our language and culture. God gives the interpretation When we interpret a dream, we need during the process of recordto approach the metaphors in a ing the dream. First Chronicles dream from different points of Prophetic 28:19 says: All this, said David, view. Why did God choose to use evangelism the Lord made me understand in this symbol? Why not another? writing, by His hand upon me, all God is purposeful in everyis about the works of these plans. thing He does. As you interpret God gives us interpretagiving a more dreams, you will begin to see tions of dreams as we grow and patterns in how God uses certain human voice mature in our understanding of symbols in your dreams. to the His ways. Proverbs 25:2 says that, It is the glory of God to conceal a P E O P L E A R E WA N T I N G T R U T H spiritual matter, but the glory of kings is to When I am in a situation with nonmysteries search out a matter. Christians, I ask God to show me God wants us to meditate on if they are open to His Spirit or God has His mysteries. He places great not. If they tell me a dream, thats value on our searching for the spir- implanted in a good sign they are indeed open itual truths and insights that He to spiritual things. the lost. conceals like buried treasure. The moment you open your Often, we learn as much, if heart to the possibility that God not more, in the discovery process of speaks through dreams, you will discover interpreting a dream as we do in simply that many people near and dear to you have obtaining the dreams answer itself. The dreams and want an interpretation. As you more we learn, the hungrier we become. begin to embrace the ways God speaks to you, He will speak to you even more. I T S H I M W E N E E D God will not remove I have interpreted more than 40,000 our need for the Holy Spirit. It is through dreams in my lifefrom Christians and His wisdom that dreams are interpreted non-Christians. Not all were from God. and that we commune with God. Many were soul dreams and some Ive Even though there are biblical guide- encountered were impossible to interpret. lines for interpreting dreams, we need Im still learning every day about how Him, not pat answers or fixed rules. We God communicates this way and how

dreams can be used prophetically to evangelize the lost. Compared to where God wants to take us in His Spirit, were all little children. We have much to learn. This is the hour for prophetic evangelism for the light of God to shine on people who have waited for years for a resolution in their lives. This is a moment in history in which Christians can make a massive differenceone person and one dream at a time. As Paul wrote, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). We are standing on the threshold of a new spiritual awakening. I believe God is getting ready to unleash a powerful wave of prophetic evangelism, larger than any of us have ever dreamed. And with it will come a harvest that is unprecedented in church history.

JOHN PAUL JACKSON is the founder and chairman of Streams Ministries International (www.streamsministries.com), a New Hampshire-based nonprofit organization that offers courses on hearing God and biblical dream interpretation. His newest book is I AM: 365 Names of God (Streams Publications).

GOING DEEPER For further study on this topic: Dream by Mark Rutland (Charisma House) Dreams and Visions by Jane Hamon (Regal) A Dream Come True by James Ryle (W Publishing Group) To get connected with us and to purchase these and other resources, visit SpiritLed Woman online at www.spiritledwoman.com\goingdeeper.

WHEN ITS TOUGH TO SURRENDER

hen you come to the end of any season thats been hard, tough or heartbreaking, its usually as difficult to conclude as it has been to live. The end of such a time often becomes the start of a souls long night of restlessness, reliving the struggle and re-experiencing its pain. But into such days, moments or seasons of the soul, Jesus closing words from the cross speak a principle of discipleship laden with wisdom: Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit (Luke 23:46, NKJV). There is something sublime about Jesus final words from the cross. Though sometimes overlooked, their message points the way to wisely conclude any bad day, any trying experience: Place it into the hands of God and leave it there. There are dozens of life issues that call us to follow Jesus pathway in living through tough times, issues that are seldom as quick to pass as we would wish and that always call us to the cross to hear the Saviors words again, Into Y hands I commit. our Committing ourselves into His hands may be the key for some of us to enter a new dayor new yearwith newfound expectancy, notwithstanding the bad behind us. For Jesus, the end of it all finally was revealed in a resurrection. For you and me where surrender is truly madetheres full reason to expect precisely the same. Jack Hayford