DREAM “KEEP BUILDING THE BRIDGE, DON’T GET DISTRACTED” March 8, 2020

I am back at the amusement park that Erik and I visited a month ago in a dream, the one with the blue arrows that came from the sky. This time I am with a large group of people who are building a bridge to the amusement park. I didn't realize in the first dream that the park is on an island or a "key" and a highway connecting it to the mainland is to be built. (Funny how keys keep coming up, huh?) I am flying(?) back and forth between the pieces of the bridge being built and watching the progress. The giant pillar pieces are already placed in the water and just the road needs to be laid across them. I am caught up with the splendor of the park as it is bright and beautiful even from a great distance. I break away from staring at it to notice everyone has stopped building the bridge and are staring down at a pirate ship down below sailing directly beneath the bridge. Everyone wants to attack it and blow it out of the water, so it doesn't damage the bridge. I try to assure everyone it is not a threat and its weapons are futile against modern reinforced concrete. No one listens and everyone dives off the bridge from way high up down into the water. I am able to watch their trajectory as yellow arcs follow their movement down like a video game. I float down to the surface of the water. Their extreme speed falling so far causes them to all cut through the water and sink dangerously deep so that they can't get to the surface with the oxygen they have. I am able to point and drag a square around them like on a video game, grab them and lift them to the surface and they all are safe. The pirate ship has sailed by. I knew the ship felt it had succeeded, not in destroying the bridge, but getting the construction to halt.

 

DREAM “EXPOSURE WILL LEAD TO EXPANSION” May 5, 2020
I was in a dream where we were sitting on a bed, the room had nice walls, very nice ceiling and then suddenly it began to rain.  I noticed it started to drip from the ceiling indicating there was a leak, but it got worse and worse until the ceiling collapsed in on us, then the walls.  The once nice pretty drywall was gone and the wood structure under it was exposed.  It was eaten up by termites, wood rot and was not even functional anymore.  Then the window next to the bed fell out of the wall into the yard below.  Light filled the room; it was bright and blinding, but we could now see all the damage that had been hidden for years.  As I started to climb into the ceiling, I noticed another door that was hidden, and I stepped into it.  It opened into a large warehouse that led to another warehouse full of old antiques and old custom cars, trucks and tractors.  It had been stored up for years waiting to be rediscovered.  I looked and saw a small driveway leading up to the warehouse, but it was overgrown and no longer viewable form outside.  I heard God speaking to me that this is a season of exposure, His rain will begin to fall and it will wash away the pretty facade that are hiding the ruin, the rot and all that te enemy has been doing behind the scenes.  The windows will be opened and even removed so that they can not shut out the Light that is coming.  But this is not to destroy you, it is an exposure that will lead to expansion if you will allow it.  For I have many things stored up for you as a people for such a time as this.

 

DREAM “CORN AND BIC LIGHTERS“ May 8, 2020

In this dream I was standing in the sanctuary of the church.  It was filled with many new faces, many more ethnic faces that I have ever seen before.  There was an excitement in the air when suddenly I saw a large crate in the right side of the church. It was like one of those large air crates that are dropped from cargo planes to bring supplies to troops.  In the crate I saw piles of ears of corn.  I pulled them out and began throwing them to others in the room and passing them out.  I through one to a man in the back but he didn’t catch it, he it just hit the floor next to him and he had to make a decision to pick it up.  I told the people as they held the corn to count the kernels as that is the allotted souls you would bring into the Kingdom.  I said, this is the harvest that is about to come in!  I then looked in the box and I saw two more items, but one items disappeared as someone came and took them,  I heard a voice say, that item was not for you but for another church.  The third and last item I saw was new cases of Bic lighters.  I pulled out the cases and opened them up and passed them out.  Suddenly I saw people light them one by one and they became as the light, with a flame coming out of the tops of their heads.  I heard this is the Holy Fire that each person will need in this season of harvest.  I then saw the video screen on the wall turn off, and I saw the room , ceilings and wall turned into one large video screen and began to show forth the most beautiful display of colors I have ever seen.  It came from the ceiling and flowed down like liquid to the floor.  It collected like water on the floor and came up to our ankles.  The floor became like a thick blue shag carpet that was saturated with this electric blue water.  I saw people jumping in it, playing in it with great joy and I even saw some people on skates skating through the slushy blue water as they glided briskly over it.  Suddenly I was a person outside in the street, he was almost dead, passed out, deceased and wearing a large diaper as he had lost all control of himself. His face was half gone as he had no chin, no teeth, not tongue in which to even speak or cry out. We carried him into the church and people gathered around in a group and took him from our hands and said, we know what to do for this one. They began to change him, love him and healing began to come to him. 

 

DREAM “KING OR QUEEN?“ August 16, 2020

I had a really deep dream that played out more like a movie.  I would wake up several times from the dream and then go back to sleep and then re-enter the dream where I left off.

To set the stage in the dream it was a shot of Amy and I in our normal lives.  Very unassuming, just going about the daily business of our lives.  The scene moves to far away distant kingdom like old England.  In this Kingdom I become aware that it is a smaller kingdom as part of many kingdoms within on enlarge Kingdom.

As the scene shifts, I see the small kingdom with no king or queen, as the thrown had been vacant for many years, they had lost their lineage line and could not agree on who would be the true king or queen.  Suddenly the scene shifts to an old library that a worker is in and he discovers a hidden chamber within the library that has a an ancient manuscript covered in dust from decades of being hidden.  In the book the true lineage of the King and Queen are revealed.  A decree is sent out to discover the lineage.  This search led them to down my family tree to my father who had passed away, so they came to my house.  They approached us and begged us to come to the kingdom that they represented and that we were the true heirs to this kingdom.  We were very reluctant to go as he though it was some sort of scam.  The scen now shifts back to us now arriving in the Kingdom.

We were overwhelmed by those who greeted us.  Many were ringing the bells and announcing our arrival, but I became aware that there were some that felt we were not worthy to be in this position.  They separated Amy and I from one another and began to make custom clothing, robes, garments and dresses for us both as they prepared us and dressed us in these new beautiful outfits.  I noticed that one of my sleeves were sown too tight and I had to break my hand through the sleeves to allow my right hand to be able to function properly as I would shake hands with people.

As I looked down I was dressed in a very bright white long garment that was embroidered with ornate colors on the shoulders and chest in a very elaborate design but most of the design was done in black.  As Amy appeared, she was wearing a beautiful white and golden color dress.  We walked in and among the people as many greeted us but many still yet stayed at a distance as they could not figure us out and some even rejected us and our lineage. 

We were overwhelmed at the great honor and love and respect that was shown to us by the people, but the more and more we walked in and among the people, we got a sense that it was all for show, not real, not completely anyway.  We saw there was more to this kingdom that was hidden, and we were about to see that hidden very quickly.

At this point the scene moves to two different scenes.  One scene focuses on my and the other on Amy.  In the scene that follows Amy, I was allowed to see as events unfolded.

 

Amy was taken by a horse drawn carriage to the city center.  As she stepped out of the carriage, she was confronted by the true nature of the living conditions on those in the city.  Most of the people appeared to be normal, but she pushed passed the parade and crown of people to the back alleys and back streets.  There she saw young dirty children running in the shadows.  They would huddle in corners, hungry, abandoned, and orphaned.  As she watched them, she saw them trying to play music on broken instruments.  They dug through t he garbage and found old broken drums, violins with no strings and many other items that they tried desperately to play a song and to sing as their gifts would allow but to no avail they were not working properly and it distorted the sound.  He saw many other kids in the city that were dressed nicely who were able to go to schools to teach them to sing and play and to get an education but not these lost kids.  As she approached them, she was warned to not get near them as they would get her beautiful garments dirty.  But she refused to listen as she was moved with compassion and embraced the children.  She asked them, why are you not allowed to go to school and be like the other kids?  They responded, because we have no address in this kingdom, we are homeless and abandoned.  She immediately mandated a decree that they were to use her address at the castle in the Kingdom.  That they were to write that address down and make a permanent change of address. 

Now when word got back to the castle of all that she had done, there were those in the kingdom that embraced it as a wonderful change, while many other scoffed at it as this had never been done before and was not proper.

The scene now shifts back to me as I am in the castle.  I walked around and noticed that there were some people who were serving but were being forced to serve in areas they were not gifted in.  They were miserable and they begged my to place them where they were called to be, but the powers to be in the kingdom would not allow it and if they asked to be transferred they were sent to even a worse position.  I said, well am I not King?  She then pointed to another structure in the kingdom near the castle, this was a large tower that rose above the castle with many windows at the top all around to view and watch the kingdom.  I was moved in the direction of this tower and I entered.  I walked up all the stairs to the top, but as I entered and climbed the stairs I was strongly encouraged to not go in there and to not climb any higher.  They wanted to keep me out of there so I would not see what I was about to see.

As I got to the top, I entered a large room that had two main chambers.  The first was like the reception area. Here there were servants that acted more like prisoners and they were not allowed into the inner second chamber.  The wall separating them was made of thick glass with large doors.  I was looked at with disgust and was asked what are you doing here?  I said I a.m. the King I have a right to be, here don’t I?  They were not sure how to answer as they were torn with allegiance to me as king but as they looked over their shoulders to the other chamber, I could tell they were afraid to speak.  My attention was now drawn into the second chamber.  As I entered, I was greeted my many in the room as if I were nothing, that I had no real power here as this was the true hidden power of this kingdom.  As I looked, I saw three sections of people.  It was an open room with windows all around overlooking the kingdom from a high place.  The first section to my left was a large area of sectional couches with many sitting, talking, scheming, cutting deals.  They were in a party mode with drinks and cigars but they were bartering deals over parts of the kingdom.  To my right was a large table like a huge dining table but abnormally large.  This crowd was small than the other about half, there were men and women sitting at the table eating piles of food in a very disgusting manner.  It was like the scene from the Lord of the Rings where the steward of the house was eating chicken and items in a gross manner while the hobbit sang a song to him.  I saw these people eating greasy chicken and food to the point they had huge overflowing stomachs from the gluttony.  I reached out to shake their hand and it left a greasy residue on my hand.  I was then directed to the back wall as the people at the table were too busy eating to talk.

On this wall a large row of very elaborate chairs sat and upon them different men and women that were dressed in fine clothing, jewels and gold chains about their necks.  There was a ranking system there too as the one in the middle appeared to be the man in charge.  I spoke with them on behalf of those in the kingdom where were not serving as they were called or gifted to do and they laughed at me and sent out an order to make it even harder for those serving and moved them around to even more hurtful situations.  It was like they had full control of the kingdom, who came, who went, who was raised up and who was lowered.  They looked at me as if I was nothing, they laughed at me.  As I saw that I was not welcome, they said why don’t you just go back be king and let us take care of everything else.  As I left, I was infuriated, I realized that I was not truly King as I did not possess the power to change this kingdom.  Before I left a servant followed me out and privately got down on his knees and begged for forgiveness for how I was treated and that he was not part of them or for them, but was a slave to the current system and could do nothing.  With the combined chambers I saw, felt and smelled an awful aroma of corruption, pride, and gluttony.  I felt as if I was looking a depiction of what church had become, those who had used power, money and affluence to better themselves and to grow their own tower in the kingdom to serve them and to not serve the people of the kingdom.

As I left the tower, I could no longer look at the kingdom the same way.  I could no longer look at myself as a King if I had no power to truly be a King.  I decided it was time to rally those to me that truly wanted a free kingdom, a true Kingdom, a kingdom that was in alignment with the king of all kings in the kingdom.

The scene now shifted to me walking out to a large group in battle array.  There were two sides, those who chose to fight for freedom and those who were too afraid to fight the powers to be.  I announced to all those standing that before we could move forward any further we first had to set the captives of war free.  I called for the most notorious of prisoners of war to be brought out.

They brought out a large cage that was metal and glass, it was lowered out of a large building that housed many more like it and it was on wheels.  It was like a mobile cage and you could see the prisoner inside.  The one thing I noticed about the cage is that it was not a correct representation of who was indie.  They had constructed the cage in such a way to make him look like a monster.  They had distorted him in an action position like he was lunging forward to attack.  They had put fake arms over his real arms that were really long and carry with claws.  They did the dame with his feet and they put a mask over his face and a bit in his mouth so that when he talked, he sounded like a monster.  As I ordered hi to be released a set of keys were handed to me.  There were many keys on the ring, some metal some glass, some triangular some very square, some elaborate some simple.  I struggled at first as I did not know what key to use.  I tried a few but they did not work.  I would have people warn me don’t do it, he will kill you, he is vicious and so on.  For years the powers to be had spoken lies over this man and persecuted him because he chose to fight against them.  They painted such a horrible picture of the man that it brought fear to anyone who would try to set him free.  As I found the right key, it was one made of glass.  As I turned it would bend to the point I thought it may break, so I had to do it very slowly as the lock was seized up from years of being unused.  Suddenly it unlocked and the man was released form this horrible chamber.  His feet and hand were bloody, he could hardly stand, walk or even talk.  He was very angry and had grabbed a knife in his hand.  Even though he could not speak I could see in his eyes what he wanted.  Revenge.  He was so full of anger, contempt and hate for those who had imprisoned him, he was bent on revenge.  But I stopped him and said.  You have two choices, go get your revenged, or let it go and be part of this kingdom revolution that will not only pay back the powers to be but will also set many more free like you.  He stood contemplating and I said, if you chose revenge it will kill you.  Finally, after some contemplation, he dropped the knife, picked up a sword, armor and garment and joined the ranks of those where readying themselves for battle.

I felt in my heart I had to make a decision, to embrace this war, or just go back being a fake king.  To put the kingship on the line for something more than just myself, to be willing to lose it all for the freedom of those in the kingdom.

The scene closes and I wake up.

 

DREAM – “TRANSITION” August 2020

I heard in a dream as I was waking up the Lord speak to me.  “You need to prepare the people both Heart and Mind for the Transition that I a.m. about to bring.”

 

DREAM – “NEW BATTERY NEW FUEL TANK” September 2020

In the dream I found myself on a mission for two things.  A new deep cycle marine type battery and a new marine fuel tank.  I was obsessed in the dream to find the perfect ones.  In the dream I had a vision about seeing myself in front of a mirror.  I looked horrible, old, out of energy, sickly, I felt like I was dying.  I looked over and saw Amy on a stage ministering to a crowd.  She was full of energy, full of life, and looked refreshed. I then flashed back to the old man.  He said, “You can not keep up with where I a.m. needing to take you”  He showed me a large marine Battery and then showed me a new fuel tank.  He said you need both to get you where you need to go.”  He said but in the fuel tank, you need a special kind that will balance itself out when in rough seas.  It will stay balanced and will not shift the fuel too much to one side or the other.  As I looked the fuel tank was situated on a boat on rubber balancing mounts.  As I woke up God began to give me the interpretation.  It was both spiritual and physical.  It was time to get my body and my spirit retrofitted with the new deep cell batter and the special fuel tank.  I have owned many boats and the two most used items on it is the battery and the fuel tank.  If you have no depth of power or the ability to retain that power for long periods of time, you will fail.  A deep cycle battery is different form a regular car battery.  They are designed the be discharged and re-charged many times.  They are designed to give you a charge for far longer than a regular battery.  In a boat, you will general have two, three or even four batteries, there really is no limit other than space.  The fuel cell is also a limit on to how far you can go, how deep you can go on the ocean without needing to return to port.  The more fuel the farther you can go.  I have had boats with 5-gallon tanks and others with 250-gallon tanks.  Fuel tanks also carry a lot of weight.  If you hit a rough wave and get tossed to one side or the other, the fuel can shift in your tank to one side or the other cause you to be off balance and cause your direction / trajectory to shift.  Many fuel cells in boat tend to go bad due to corrosion of the salt water.  They eventually get holes in them to allow fuel out and to let water in thus eventually leading to the boat motor to fail and be destroyed.

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DREAM – “EXPANSION” October 24, 2020

I had a dream where I saw two houses, older but very large.  I watched as both houses were picked up off their foundations on their small lots and picked up and carried to a new piece of land, a larger land.  On it was a new foundation already laid, but much work had to be done to fit the two large homes together upon their new foundation.  The foundation had to be altered to accommodate both homes.  A new basement access was also developed.  I saw at the tops of the foundation new large bolts that were attaching the homes to the foundation.  The main home was on the first floor but added to it was the second home that was the upper levels.  I saw our grand kids in the home sitting in highchairs laughing and playing with the lights and the doors they could reach.  As I opened up the door, I looked at them and they laughed as they were trying to get my attention to hang out with them and laugh.  I was very busy trying to watch the new foundation being laid and attached to the homes to all become one.  I think God was trying to tell me that I needed to enjoy the process and laugh a little.  God has been speaking to Amy and I about new things that God has been calling us to, but He has also been asking us to give some things up in the process.  I believed God is calling us to be one, fashioned together spiritually to see the differences in our callings but also to see how we fit together.  But in order for us to be expanded, we must be removed from our current foundations and shifted together to a new territory that will accommodate the expansion.  We too must also allow parts of our old home to be removed and then re-arranged for His greater purpose.  I am the lower levels, that’s the Apostolic and my is the upper levels, that is the Prophetic.

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PROPHETIC WORD “GREAT EXPOSITION” November 10, 2020 
Prophetess Amy Mefford

In my prayer time this morning, the Holy Spirit spoke this loud and clear to me:
 “You are living in the moment of the great exposition. This is the biggest time of exposure this world/My creation has ever known! I Am exposing what the church collectively is made of what My people are made of, the hidden agendas and motives, the hidden sin. I am exposing defilement within the government from the local level to the federal, top to bottom. I have allowed and given much time for these things to be remedied in a collective and individual standpoint. I have warned and spoken through My Word and My Prophets. I have given ample time. Now the shaking begins. Be ready for what is to come! Be solid and steady in your faith! The proud will come toppling, the false humility exposed. The arrogant will be bought to their knees. BE READY! This will be a time of unrest like never before, but My children will be protected. Do not judge or condemn, do not operate in idle chatter. PRAY, LOVE AND BE MY HANDS AND FEET! Check your hearts, keep them pure. This is in My plan!”

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DREAM – “WE ARE LOSING THE LOST” December 1, 2020

I had a very detailed dream that struck me so hard as it stirred up many emotions of some of my experiences that I had while serving in the US Navy.  The dream was a snapshot dissection of The Church (As a whole) and Pastors, Church Leaders and Church attenders.  I will do my best to explain parts of the dream as God gave me the interpretation immediately as I woke up.  This dream shook me to the core, and I was awakened by it was such a deep heartbreak and tears for the lost, and those that are injured in the body of Christ. 

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Burned Out

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This first part of the dream, God was revealing to me a thought process of many Christians as they attend church.  In the dream, I found myself in a different time, an awfully familiar time where Amy and I served in church ministry at a church in Kentucky.  As I awoke on a Sunday morning, I remember thinking the way I have thought many times when first starting to serve in church.  I was not a senior leader, but just a lay leader at that time in our lives.  I just felt tired and worn out from going to our church and decided that I would not go today as they wouldn’t miss me anyway.  I had a very lackadaisical attitude about serving in church as I didn’t see as what we were doing really made a difference.  I decided that I wanted to go to other churches and try them out as I needed something new, something different other than the norm.  I also felt a sense that I just wanted to blend in with the crowd and not be there to give but to just receive.  I felt like too much was expected of me and I no longer wanted to be busy doing but just wanted to attend like everyone else.  I was asked, don’t you think we should let them know we will not be coming, but I replied, who cares, they really won’t miss us.

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Too Busy to fix what is broken

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The dream now shifted, and I found myself change.  I was no longer the lackadaisical feeling Christian; I was now on a mission.  I received a fire alarm on my phone with a map that led me to a Pastor’s home that I have known.  I do not believe the dream was necessarily about the pastors but more of a symbol of their position.  I was concerned for them and their safety, so I went into their home.  Upon arrival, I entered through a door that was left wide open, but no one was home.  I walked through the house and I noticed their house was in dis-array.  I had a picture of who they were in my mind but the way they lived was nothing like who they portrayed themselves to be.  There was clutter, trash, dirty clothes, dishes, and things scattered from room to room.  As I entered the bedroom, the bed was unmade with dirty worn sheet laid bare, the blankets and pillows scattered at the foot of the bed and onto the floor.  Above their bed was a ceiling fan that was smoking and sparking and was about to break out in fire which would burn their entire house to the ground.  I saw them in my spirit as they left their house that morning for church.  They were in a hurried rush as they were running late, thy looked exhausted.  They smelled the smoke and as they walked out, they heard the fire alarm going off but they walked right past it as if they didn’t hear it or smell the smoke.  They left for church anyway as if they had grown use to the mess, the smoke, the smell and the alarm.  I knew I had to find them and warn them about what was about to happen to their home.  I was then transported in the dream to their church.  Upon arrival, I found a flurry of activity by them and the leaders as they prepared for church.  I found the wife as she seemed really busy and frustrated as she was running behind and was frustrated with people in the worship team and staff as she was trying to motivate them to get ready for the service.  I waved at her to get her attention and I asked, can I please share a word with you about your home, it is of great importance.  But she rebuked me and shut me down as I tried to warn her and snapped on me and said “I don’t have time for this, I have a service to prepare for” and then quickly turned her back on me and went about her business.  I got the sense that she knew there was a problem but was embarrassed to acknowledge it and that the best way she could cope with it was to just stay busy in the doing of church.

As I walked away from her puzzled, I then shifted my focus again and my feelings changed. 

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Preoccupied with us

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This next part of the dream was focused on Amy and me as a couple, but we were not ourselves.  The way I felt and the thoughts I felt were different than what we feel.  I believe we were just representing many couples in church life today.  Amy and I were there to attend the service, but we were running late, it was crowded, and we were concerned about finding a good seat.  We found ourselves separated by the crowd; we became frustrated with each other as we seemed to be unable to communicate effectively as our phones would not work.  The more we tried to communicate with each other, the more frustrated we would become.  We spent most of the service just trying to find each other and I noticed that we were were so per-occupied with us, where we sat, how we looked and looking at our phones the whole time we were in church, that our minds were not on God, worship or the church.  It was preoccupied with us, what we didn’t have, what we thought we needed.  We were more concerned about where we would sit physically and not on where we sat spiritually.  I remember being more concerned about how we looked together on the outside, than how we actually were on the inside. I remember being frustrated with the other people in the church as we did not see them as individuals, but as just an annoyance.  I feel like this part of the dream represents many couples in the church that are so per-occupied with the wrong things.  We were not in a place to serve as we barley had it together in our lives just to show up to church was all we could do.  We were not there to be focused on God; we were their as it was the thing to do.  It was the check in the block for the week that made us feel better about our lives.  Our lives were so busy, our minds and thoughts were so preoccupied with things that we could not focus on the service.  We ended up spending much of the service wondering around the church looking for each other and a place to sit, but never comfortable enough to settle down.

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Not serving due to hurts, offenses, and weariness

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The dream no shifts, as I am no longer a husband, but just an observer of the church.  I wondered around the church and saw many things that distressed me.  As I walked through the church, I could overhear peoples conversations and thoughts and I watched how they reacted to people that walked into the room.  I ran into another couple that I have known in the past. This couple are really great people and they served faithfully for may years but were aging as they moved into their 60’s.  I found them sitting at a table watching church happen, not actually serving anymore but there to be served.   They seemed to be satisfied with all that they had done over the years. Again, I do not believe it was about this couple but more of a representation of what I know about them.  I stood and watched them briefly and I could hear their thoughts as they made truth statements out of their hearts about themselves other people.  I heard them say “we have done enough, sacrificed enough, its now time for us to enjoy our life and do what we want.  It’s time to retire from serving others and serve ourselves for once.  We have done OUR part”.  This couple in real life had the perfect image, the perfect family, they were worship leaders.  They served for years faithfully and are great people.  Be there came a time that they stepped away from serving and retried to spend more time traveling and enjoying life.  I remember this couple as we took over a ministry reacted with great difficulty as we began to shake things up by way of the Holy Spirit.  They drew a line in the sand and said if we are going to become charismatic, then we are out.  Again, this a great couple, but they have grown accustomed to very controlled life and ministry. They spent their time serving in a box and would not do anything that made them uncomfortable.  The next thought I heard come out them was very ugly.  I saw them notice a family who came into the church that they knew form the past in another church or ministry.  I heard them say “Great, they are here, now we are going to have to find someplace else to sit and may even have to find another church.”  I felt their heart briefly and I they had a great frustration with these people as they had a run in in the past with them.  Something happened in ministry that caused them to see them differently.  They had no plans to try and make amends with them or forgive them.  They just wanted them out of their site.  They seemed to become very uneasy and again, were no longer paying attention to what was going on in the church service.  They focus was on their own feelings, their own desires and not on worshiping.

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Judgmental attitude

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Now the dream shifts again as I find myself in the café area where many gather to fellowship and drink coffee.  Again, this is not a church that I recognize, but it is a church.  I also do recognize many people from past churches that I have attended but there was a lot that I did not know.  As I walked into the café, I saw a family standing in suits and dresses as they were posing for a picture.  They were looking very well dressed and seemed to be happy.  I did not speak with this couple, but I could hear other people around the couple talking about them and the thoughts they were thinking about them.  These people stood around the family with smiles on their faces, but in their hearts, they thought many different ugly things.  I heard people think judgement in their heart towards them.  They said things like “they don’t have it all together like they act”.  This thought was not based in truth but based out of jealousy as their own family was not as happy as them.  I heard someone think “One of them is not even a Christian the son is a Mormon”.  They did not seem to have any love for him as they did nothing to reach out to him they did nothing to engage relation-ally to show him truth in love, but they just stayed in a place of judgement.  I heard another one think about another family “They only come here for the children’s church to drop off their kids”.  They seemed to have a per-disposed judgment on the family’s motives for being at the church.  And yet another thought “The younger one is only hear because he’s getting schooling for free”.  I was so saddened by the thoughts of the people.  They were so busy looking at other in judgment out of their own hurts, that the service continued on without them.  As I looked at them closer, through their own insecurities, they thought these things.  They were hurting, they were wounded, but instead of entering the service and focusing on God and His healing presence, they chose to cope by busying themselves with looking at the faults of others instead of addressing their own.  They chose to stay out of the service and stay on the fringes.

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I don’t need your help, I got this alone

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I was then moved to the parking lot area and the church appeared more like a large service auto repair shop.  I walked into the parking lot where I saw many people wandering around completely unaware that the service had begun.  They were smoking and talking, joking and laughing, they were standing next to their cars.  These people had shown up in their cars but did not seem to want help to make their cars and many of the cars were having mechanical issues, but instead of coming inside for help, they remained outside.  I got the feeling that they could get their cars fixed inside, but there were some that were under the hood of their cars working on them in the parking lot, they knew their car did not run right and they needed help, but decided to try and fix their cars themselves.  They just stayed in the parking lot.  One couple had even showed up in a truck pulling their own car that was not longer working.  They pulled it everywhere with them, but they left it on the trailer.  I noticed that the car had come untied from the trailer and was about to roll off, but they quickly jumped into action and tightened the straps to pull it back into position and then covered up the car with a tarp.  They were embarrassed that the car did not run, but instead of seeking help, they just got a truck and pulled their car to and from the church as if it ran fine.  They said it was a classic and they acted like it was in good running order, but they wanted to protect it as it was old and a valuable classic.  I remember seeing the car, it was a sporty red convertible two-seater made specifically for the couple, but they chose to pull it around with an old four door truck.  I believe this car was their purpose, their joy, their fulfillment, but it was broke, it needed repair, but they were too embarrassed to let anyone know they needed help.  They were so focused on not letting anyone near their car, that they remained isolated in the parking lot.

Not ready to help rescue the lost

This is when the dream shifted into a military mode.  I found myself back in the Navy on board a large grey ship.  I got the sense that it was a large hospital ship but was also a battleship.  I got the sense that we were at war, but I noticed it was tied up at the dock.  When at war, the ships that remain tied up are sitting ducks, and very vulnerable to being attacked.  If a ship is not moving, it can not be steered and it can not fight.  (Just look at what happened at Pearl Harbor).  I noticed that everyone was busy doing their job, when all of a sudden, the ship shook, and it was like an explosion just happened.  I heard saw smoke and fire and I knew that many were injured below deck and were cut off from help.  As I walked around the ship trying to make my way to where the explosion happened, I noted that everyone just went about their business as if nothing happened.  I was in shock, I was hurt that no one seemed to care.  I started to run towards the smoke to investigate what had happened.  I could see through a small port hole into the interior of the ship.  I could see the damage and the people that were hurt. I saw a pile of bodies, fellow shipmates that were piled up, crying, yelling, screaming for help.   I saw their faces as they reached out their hands towards me begging me to save them.  Many others saw them too through other small port holes, but chose to turn their heads and walk away as they felt powerless and I even heard them think to themselves “What an I do, there’s nothing I can do.”.  These people were trapped, and fire was all around them consuming them. 

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Too much debris is blocking the path of rescue

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I tried to get to them but the pathway to rescue them was blocked with large old comfy couches and large wooden roll top desks.  These looked to be from the 70’s as the couches were like the old ones, we would take naps on at our grandparents’ home.  They were stacked up and packed in tight, I began pulling the couches and desks out of the way but the more I pulled out, the more there would appear in its place.  It seemed endless and I seemed unable to do it alone.  I found myself on a large elevator like the ones we had on an aircraft carrier I served in the USS Saratoga.  The elevator was there to lift heavy plans to the surface from the hangar bays so they could be launched on flight missions.  But the debris, the couches and the desks were blocking the way to save them.  Also, amongst the debris I saw burned out metal rolling serving trays that ere charged black.  They seemed to come from the source of the explosion that originated in the kitchen area.  This area was where the crew of the ship would eat together, called the galley.  Someone had made a mistake in the kitchen and through negligence caused the large explosion.  This shocked me as this damage was not caused by the enemy, it was caused by someone just going through the motions lackadaisically. When on the ship for 6 months at a time, it is easy to get so caught up in the routine, that you operate on autopilot. When doing this, we become complacent with what we are doing and forget how dangerous it is and become negligent in how were do our jobs.  This opens us up to cause great collateral damage at times, not on purpose, but none the less just as deadly.  Every 6-month cruise I took in the Navy, we would lose up to 5 or 6 people even though we were not at war most times.

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Serving Carts

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Let us take a break from the dream to address why God showed me the serving cart, the couches and the desks.  The serving trays are used to serve food to many people, they were mobile and able to carry many shelves loaded with food to the starving.  But they were now out of action due to being burned.  They could no longer serve or be utilized in the manner they were created for.  They could no longer feed the hungry.  I believe this was damaged at our church in the beginning, not because of the ability to feed, but we didn’t like those whom we were feeding.  They were the least of these, the down and out, the homeless, the needy.  They didn’t always smell nice, act nice or look nice.  In our church’s history, this was a focus but it came to an end and blew up overnight as a small group of leaders grew tired of serving them and didn’t want that image in the church any longer.  They grew uncomfortable with the mess and the smell, they no longer wanted to be a church for the “have nots” but a church for the “haves”. You see they focused on the haves of the church as they were the ones with the money, they smelled nice, looked nice and spoke politely. 

 

The Comfy Couches

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The comfy couches were the old ones you would find at your grandparents’ home, or your uncles house.  They were old and out of date but very comfortable.  They were the kind that as soon as you ate a big meal at a family get together, you just laid back in that old couch and would fall into a drifting slumber.  I used to see these couches loaded with my uncles with the ball game playing in the background but everyone was snoring and not really watching the game, but if you tried to turn it off, they would notice.  I feel like God is speaking to our way of life.  We have grown so lazy in our approach to ministry and seeking the lost, the hurting and the hungry.  We have grown accustomed to getting what we need to eat and then taking a nap and sleeping the day away.  It has become a typical Sunday where we go to church in the masses, leave unchanged and descend like locusts to the restaurants and then make our way home as that old comfy couch is called, beckoning us to come lay back and take a much deserved nap.  I feel like we have been doing this both physically and spiritually and in the American church for decades.  We have been doing our thing all week, we carve out a few hours on a Sunday to get the check in the block and then we go and hear a sermon, only to quickly forget what we heard even before we have left the parking lot.

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The Heavy Roll Top Desk

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The old oak heavy roll top desks have a much different meaning to me.  It represents office of authority; it represents man’s knowledge and study.  It can be opened or even closed by our own power and ability.  It is a status symbol of importance.  In many dreams that God has given me, I have always seen God sitting at an open flat desk with his papers and folders laid out.  He is a God who does things for all to see.  He doesn’t shut them up and hide what he is doing.  The previous leadership of our church was a very secret type guy, with lots of hidden secrets.  But in time they all came out.  The desk to me also represents Prayer and intercession.  I know what you are thinking, how can that remind you of prayer.  Well let me explain.  When Amy and I took over the church over 6 years ago, we had to face a battel with the previous pastor as he transitioned out.  He had a large office to the back of the church, and we noticed that there was no prayer room in the church, but God was leading us to get the church back to a place of prayer.  We tried to pray in the sanctuary, but they were too busy practicing for worship we would just annoy them as we had some that were very passionate.  We went through a great battle of exposure that God did for us that cleared the way for us to have a prayer room.  We decided that once the previous pastor moved out his office furniture we could then make it a prayer room as we had no need of an office and a door with our name in it, we desired a place for prayer more.  I won’t go into great detail about the transition, but I can tell you there was a difference in pastoral styles.  One was looking at ministry as a business and the other was looking at it as a calling.  Slowly the transition took place over many months and the old pastor managed to move out all his items from the office, except for an old oak roll top desk.  He refused for weeks that led to months to get it moved out, so it just stayed in the room making it difficult to utilize the room as a pray as a team.  It was left there with strict instructions that we could not touch it, or we would be sued if there was one scratch put on it.  It became very clear that it was not about the desk but about the control of leaving the desk in our way so we could not move forward with prayer in the room.  This was a frustrating time for us that eventually came to an end once we were able to get it out of the church. 

I think what God is speaking in the dream about the desk is that we have allowed too much of our own control and agendas to get in the way of helping rescue the lost.  I have been in some large churches and seen many very elaborate large pastoral offices that were stately and awe inspiring, and the prayer room, if they even had one, was usually an afterthought space.  I have even seen them to just use the storage space. The problem of many churches is less to do about the people and more to do with the leaders.  All things flow from the top down, blessing as well as curses.  Too many churches and leaders about running a church as a business or even make it a place to promote their own financial stability and not about the Father’s business any longer.  They have become heavy with the workings of man and are standing in the way rallying a church to save the lost.  Prayer has to be the first response to any rescue, but before prayer can be affected, we must first clean out the prayer room.

Are we really ready for the Harvest we have been praying for?

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I then focused my attention on the crew.  I was so angered that they just stood by and witnessed this great explosion, they could see the men and woman that were trapped through small windows, dead, dying and burning.  But, since they were not organized and they were confused and they felt unequipped to do anything, they decided not to do anything.  As I looked around at the crew, I could hear their excuses some out loud and some through thoughts.  I saw many ranks and positions and also just as many reactions to what happened.  I saw many pretend to not see the damage done nor the hurt and dying people in the flames.  They would walk by shielding their eyes as they would think “If I don’t see it, I don’t have to do anything about it” I saw several officers talking to each other about having a meeting to discuss what to do as they hid behind the rules and regulations (Religion) of doing church that they would not be moved beyond the lines of acceptability out of fear.  They hid behind this reasoning to excuse their own lack of action to help.  I ran around the ship and gathered a small crew to help in efforts to save our fellow shipmates.  As we began to pull the couches, burn food trays and desks out, they just seemed to be more and more stacked up.  We were trying to throw the couches and desks off the elevator about a 10-foot drop but some of the officers stood in the way.  They refused to even move out of the way to make room for the debris to be removed.  One looked up at me and said, “you cannot tell me what to do I out rank you; you will not tell me to do anything.”  I replied, “if you don’t move, I will drop this on your head, you have been warned.”  This person would not help and would not help due to pride.  As we cleaned the debris from the hallway, we noticed it would pile up at the bottom under the elevator causing the elevator to not function property. We again asked many fellow shipmates on the ground to help clear out the trash and debris, but many just stood there and looked at us in a very nice neatly pressed uniform.  They felt they were above getting their hands dirty, they felt it was beneath them even though ironically it was physically above them.  They had become so accustomed to a higher rank and position and they were so careful as to not get their uniform dirty or tarnish their golden oak leaves on their collars, or mess up all their medals and ribbons on their chest.  They were so consumed by their uniform and position, that they remained unmoved to help and just stood in the way of those where were trying to help.

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Harvesting the Lost is dirty work

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In the dream we finally made a way into the room with those that were injured, burned and being burned.  The elevator still did not function properly because of the debris so we had to climb up to another level and try to lower down the hurt and injured.  I remember feeling so upset, so hurt, so angry that I had to fight my own shipmates to get this rescue efforts underway.  I remember yelling, crying and even cursing at them to get them motivate to move and put forth a hand to save those injured and, burned and burning.  When a small group of us finally reached them, the room was full of death, fear, and a smell of unimaginable level than many could not go in as they lost their stomachs and refused to enter the room as they held their mouths and noses and retreated back outside the ship.  I saw two try to pick up a person who was badly burned and their skin came off in their hands causing them to vomit in disgust. They wined and complained so loudly that it caused all hope of rescue to leave the room as the others that were injured heard their words of disdain for their condition.  Several to the injured were covered in feces and urine, they were naked mostly and some only had partial clothing on them while others only a sheet to partially cover them.  As they began to try and lower some of them down to the elevator platform, they dropped some of them on their heads causing further damage to them and even killing them as they could not stand the stench or even look at their naked bodies covered in the feces and urine.  They did not want to touch them as they felt it would get on them and their clothes.  They looked at them as if diseased, filthy, and contagious.  I became so angry that all the effort we spent to get to them and now we were dropping them and causing more damage to them because we were not accustomed to the odor we were smelling or the sights they were seeing.  I heard them say, “This is not my job, this is not what I signed up for” or even “It’s too late, they are too far gone.”

In the dream I was so broken, so hurt that we were completely unprepared for what just happened.  It took us by surprise and many people acted differently, but it all corporately led to us loosing many of our shipmates being lost for good.  I heard many say, “It’s too late and we might as well just let them go as there is no way we can save them”.  It seemed it was easier to turn our heads and let it happen or pretend it did not happen all together. 

Our church once had this mantle of saving the lost and feeding the least of these in the building we are currently in now.  But when we took this church assignment the church had moved to a smaller building across town to hide from the down and out, the least of these, the homeless and hungry that were beginning to come through the door.  It made the church uncomfortable as they did not want to mess up their Sunday clothes or their freshly laid carpets and blemish less new chairs.

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I’ve seen this play out in real life events

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As the dream moved on, it brought me to a very painful time in my life as I served aboard the USS Saratoga in the Mediterranean Sea in 1992.  I the dream I was allowed to re-live that night.  We were on the aircraft carrier and since we were not in a time of war, we spent most of our time preparing for war by playing war games with our allies.  We split many ships in two teams, a brown team and a green team.  We played these games with our allies to include Turkish, Greek, French and Spanish ships.  We pretended to be at war, we played a game of hunt or be hunted.  At about 2 a.m. I was working in the Intelligence Center of the ship and we located three Turkish ships approximately 2.5 nautical miles from our position.  We passed on that information as they were our enemies for this war game we were playing.  As they passed on the information to Fire Control, they targeted the ships and lined up 6 Seas Sparrow missiles in position to strike.  This was all supposed to be a simulation, it was a war game, just an exercise.  We had all been out on a long 6-month deployment and our hearts and minds were not on the exercise or mission at hand.  We were all thinking about pulling onto a port of call on a small Spanish Island full of sand, sun, and fun.  We were going through the motions and became very lackadaisical in our approach to this training mission.  We forgot that we were on a peace keeping mission to keep the waters free and clear of danger, we forgot that we had a greater mission at hand that we were being prepared for.  As they began to target the ships, they realized that the guy who was to launch the missiles was still in bed.  Again, this was just an exercise, we were not really going to launch 6 missiles at our allies.  As the young shipmate was bright to fire Control, he was sleepy, he was just woken up and the information he was given he thought was real.  They had failed to issue the command “Exercise, Exercise Exercise” statement with every command.  This young man was tired, and he was trained to not ask questions, he was trained to do his job without question.  He pushed the button and launched two of the six missiles.  He replied, “Birds Away Sir”.  That is when all panic set in.  As I stood there watching the video cameras outside the ship, I felt the ship shake and I saw the missiles launch, I saw the glow of them leaving the ship, then I saw the explosion on the horizon.  I was in shock, we just launched two missiles at another ship, our friends, our allies, men and woman my age.    My heart sank, and pandemonium engulfed the ship. They managed to stop the other four missiles from launching, but now we had to decide what to do next.  We had not trained for this, this was unexpected, this was unprecedented.  There was confusion and chaos in all ranks. 

A plan must be made, we must be prepared both physically and spiritually

Finally, a plan was made to go into rescue mode and fly our helicopters over to them to try and save them.  The ship we struck was dark, but on fire, we had struck the bridge and killed the captain and XO with the first missile, the second struck their armory and blew the ship apart.  We were in fear as we did not know if the other two Turkish ships would retaliate out of confusion.  We did not speak their language, we had communication barriers, we just blew them up and killed many of their shipmates and knew we are trying to board them in the dark in the midst of the confusion.  We were there to help but would they interpret out intentions correctly?  They did manage to evacuate the wounded and dying back to our ship as he had to clear out all the debris form the hangar bay via the large elevators.  We had to become coordinated as we had to have teams moving planes, boxes, supplies, teams working the elevators, teams in helicopters, we had to call on the medical staff on all the ships around us to set up a mash style triage unit in the ship. 

A call went out on the intercom asking for those with specific blood types to give their own blood to hep save those that were dying.  The scene the hangar bat was horrific, many bodies, missing limbs, limns missing bodies, body bags stacked up, many burned, many dying.  The smell was unimaginable, the sight was horrifying.  Some in the teams were so moved by what they saw they went into shock, others stood by on the side lines not knowing what to do, while others staying in their racks pretending that this didn’t happen.  Some could not stand the sight of all the blood, missing limbs or the sight of many people who had defecated on themselves.  But in the end, we managed to save all we could. 

In this real-life scenario, I had to live, I had to experience, ai had to decide to either roll up my sleeves and help or pretend it didn’t happen.  I feel the church is about to face one of the greatest revivals it has ever experience, but we are unprepared for it as we have lived mild lives as Christians.  Are we prepared to get our uniforms, dirty, are we prepared to lose our rank and medals for the lost, dying and hurt?  Are we prepared to love the most unlovable that you will ever encounter?  Are you ready to get your hands dirty, give blood, be OK with touching the feces of those who are not your own kin?  Are we prepared to work together with other ships to accomplish the mission that is at hand?

A call to Action through Conviction

As I woke up this morning I was in tears, I cried and grieved, and I was convicted and convinced that we are not ready for this level or rescue.  But my heart is so broken and moved to the lost, dying and burned that I saw in that room.  I was moved to action as I realized that we have wasted too much time already and its time to get into position and be made ready like an Emergency Room Triage staff is readying themselves as they get the call that they are about to receive many dying and injured who are in need of a savior.  In both the dream and in my real life experience there is a common theme, there was smoke in the Pastors house and the alarm was being sounded, there was serious lack of planning and confronting of issues that need to be dealt with, there was an array of distractions from pride, judging and arrogance that limited action, there was negligence that took place form alack of focus and a lackadaisical attitude that led to many of our allies being lost.  I saw the church her people were exposed in a way that scared me, it upset me and I realized hat the real enemy in the church is us, not Satan, its our ignorance of how important our mission is to save the lost.  We have forgotten that that’s our only mission, its where the church was created.  But due to be per-occupied with business, titles, positions, meetings and programs, we have built a weak church that is not prepared for War, it is not prepared for what must be done must start in our hearts, in the prayer rooms, in the bedrooms, and in the store rooms of the church.   We have forgotten that we are here to work with other churches to accomplish the greatest harvest the church has ever seen. 

2nd Confirming Dream

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As I woke up and even before I could write this dream down, I received another dream from one of our leaders that brought such confirmation to God making this very clear to us.