This is the summary of a dream I had on July 14, 2021. God has spoken to me and encouraged me through this dream over the last three years. I have only now felt free to publish this and talk about the meaning. This is PART 1. I will reveal some of the insights God has given me from the dream in subsequent posts.
I found myself standing in the center of a city. It wasn’t any particular city but it had elements of several cities I have been in. It was late in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve and I was looking at a huge restaurant located on the riverfront. The restaurant was open to the street on one side and had a patio open to the wharf on the river side.
The restaurant was packed with people seemingly having a wonderful time. The age group of most of the patrons was in their late forties to eighties. The music and ambiance were exquisite. There was not a seat left in the restaurant and it was apparent these people had come early to celebrate the New Year. I recognized voices coming from inside the restaurant, but got the impression these people did not want to see me or be seen by me. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to know each other well, as though they were regulars.
I knew instinctively that our church office was nearby and that my wife Janice had gone back to the church office to rest before we went home to celebrate the New Year. I knew it was time to find Janice and head home. When I went to the Church, I realized that the church office was located on the top story, the twelfth floor, of the building, which was one of the larger buildings in this small city. The first story of the building was a well-known national chain drug store. I got into the elevator and went up to our church office.
I found Janice getting up from a nap and went to sit on the couch by her. The winter sun was setting and our office had windows all around so we could see lights coming on all over the city. But inside the office, the lights were low. As my eyes adjusted, I began to see some of our most faithful leaders seated around the room. I was overwhelmed with thankfulness because I realized that they had been quietly praying for the city and watching over Janice as she slept. These people were of the same generation as me and those in the restaurant, but they seemed very different in character and demeanor. The words watchmen and faithful came to me later as I thought of these people.
Janice told me she had run out of a particular vitamin supplement that she needed and asked if I could pick it up. She told me that the first floor drug store would not have that particular supplement and I could only find it at a special health food store on the other side of the city. She took me to a window on the other side of our floor and pointed out a far away building. It was the farthest development on the edge of the city, way downstream on the river. I knew I would have to drive to get there.
When I went back down the elevator, I walked through the Drug Store to get to my car. I had an extremely frustrating time getting through the store. Not only did people keep jostling me, but my shoelaces kept breaking and I had to stop and replace the laces and re-tie them. It was bothersome, but I finally made it outside the building.
There was a raucous crowd out in the street across from the restaurant that I mentioned at the beginning of the story. The crowd in the streets were people in their late teen years (college age) up to people in their early forties. They were all yelling at the people inside the restaurant. Apparently, the people inside the restaurant had starting launching fireworks into the river. They were also throwing their plastic cups and paper products into the river.
The young adults were yelling, “Stop polluting the river!” There was outrage that the older adults were so insensitive to the environment. As I stood with the protesting crowd of young adults I heard them criticizing these “Boomers” and condemning their lifestyle. I found myself identifying with some of their concerns. The older adults were indeed polluting the river. But, I was struck by the idea that although they were critics and correct in their assessment, they had the wrong spirit and never got involved in making real change.
I also realized, like the people in the restaurant, they enjoyed being by the river, but both groups actually avoided getting into the river or actually navigating the river by boat. I made it through the angry crowd and into the parking lot and found my my car and set off for the store Janice had pointed out.
When I arrived at the health food store, I was very surprised at what I found. It wasn’t just a health food store, it was a training center for water sports. They had an amazing canoe livery and rafting center right on the river. The canoes were lined up by the hundreds and rafts were at the edge ready to be launched. Everything was state of the art and organized beautifully.
I went to the door of the health food store and training center. The large sign over the door said, “Dads Only.” The sign puzzled me because as I looked through the windows I could see men, women and children inside. When I entered the building, I found a large training center with hundreds of young men, women and young children. They were exercising and training for a great event on the river. The whole building was full of excitement and energy.
Almost immediately, a group of young men gathered around me. One excited young man grabbed me by both arms and proclaimed, “I have just become a new Dad! Do you know what it is like yo see a new child born? My wife and I have brought a new life into the world.” I answered that it had been many years, but I remembered my children being born. All the young men around me had recently become fathers and they all wanted to tell their stories.
They showed me where the pharmacy area was but I never did find the vitamin supplements. I knew that God had brought me there to discover a part of the city I did not even know existed! It was then that it hit me, all these young people wanted to talk to me. They never had opportunities to speak with people from older generations. They wanted to launch on the river and had been in training, but they were waiting for someone with experience to show them the way. I had been on and had led many canoeing and rafting trips over the years. I knew that I needed to come back and bring others with me.
When I woke, I knew it was a dream from the Lord. The colors and sensations were so real. I knew I needed to pray about the meaning. The Lord has brought me back to this dream again and again over the last couple years. I have processed the meaning with a number of people. There are personal applications for me from the dream. However, I believe there are general applications for the Church, especially in this moment in time.
Observations and Interpretation of the dream:
- New Year’s Eve – Speaks of the lateness of the hour spiritually and the time we have left to complete the work of God.
- The River represents the Church and also where God is taking the Church. The river is alive and is always there, but it is moving and going somewhere at the same time.
- There were four very distinct groups of people. Two of the older generation and two of the young adult generation/ emerging leaders.
The people in the restaurant, people of my generation were people who wanted to be by the river, but they didn’t want to get into the water. They had no intention of letting the River take them anywhere. They like the music by the river, the fellowship, and excitement, but they never really actually engaged the River or let God’s current take them. This spoke to me that although they liked what the church could give them, they were consumers. They did not want to connect to the river’s current which meant they were disconnected from God’s purpose and ways. They were packed in so tightly and had no room to welcome those outside. They were content to be with people they had known and had no concern for the people outside the restaurant. - The people at the top floor (our church office) were watchmen. People in prayer looking out over the city. The twelfth floor represented governmental authority of the church. People who are mature in one of the five-fold functions from Ephesians 4.
- The young rowdy crowd of critics were people that said they were concerned about the river, but did not engage the river. These were young people who had become critical of the church. They wanted to contend for the purity of the river, but also had no intention of actually getting into the river. They had become bitter because of perceived and actual injustices caused by the older generations. It also impressed me that unlike the people in the restaurant who were at least somewhat happy, these young adults were miserable and cold standing outside. They wanted to criticize the Christian Faith and Deconstruct the Church. They were correct in many of their assessments. The Lord warned me that until they allowed HIM to deconstruct their hearts, they could not really engage in their gifts of the destiny God had for them.
- The young men and women at the “Dads Only Center” were future fathers and mothers of the church. They were so excited about getting into the river and where God would take them. They were also excited about the new lives they were bringing into the Kingdom of God. I saw that these young people had energy, zeal, and courage, but they were looking for wisdom and people who could help them navigate their journey on the river. They were already obeying God in making disciples, but wanted to go deeper in being transformed and transforming society.
The Church needs spiritual fathers and mothers like never before. Developing leaders need more than INFORMATION! The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:14-17, “14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” ESV.
In Part two – What does it mean to be a spiritual father/ mother? Why is the message of spiritual fatherhood so important in this generation? How is God reforming the Church?