We Are Sitting on an Evangelistic Gold Mine: A Call to Prophetic Evangelism
Creative Evangelism, Understanding Dreams Add commentsWe Are Sitting on an Evangelistic Gold Mine: A Call to Prophetic Evangelism
by: Doug Addison
Have you noticed nowadays that people everywhere are saying that they are spiritual but not religious? A recent Gallup poll found that over 84 percent of Americans are longing for spiritual connection. If you question these spiritual seekers, you will find that the majority of them want a touch from God, but they have not been able to identify with traditional Christian churches.
Acts 2:17-18 says that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit in a greater measure, and prophecy, dreams and visions will become more prevalent. With the sudden increase of interest in spirituality one can not help noticing that these verses are now being fulfilled. As God pours out His Spirit on people, they often become aware of their emptiness and they are motivated to search for deeper spiritual meaning in life.
One of the ways God is drawing people today is through dreams. Although not all dreams are from God, quite often God will give a person a dream that will cause them to search for the meaning. Unfortunately, many Christians have stopped valuing dreams and their relevancy to daily life. As a result, people who have dreams from God are often forced to get them interpreted through the New Age or psychoanalytic methods that cannot accurately interpret a dream from the Holy Spirit.
In Genesis 40:6-8 Joseph encounters two men who appear to be depressed. They tell him (verse 8), “We both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them.” People who have destiny dreams from God can often feel empty and adrift until they find the meaning of the night visions that seem to haunt them. Joseph recognized that interpretations to dreams come from God and that God’s people can give true interpretations to their dreams.
An exciting revelation for the Church today is that no one can interpret a dream from God except a Spirit-filled Christian. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 2:14. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
So if God is giving people dreams and the only ones who can accurately interpret those dreams are Spirit-filled Christians, it appears that the Church is sitting on an evangelistic gold mine. Prophecy and biblically based dream interpretation may currently be the most culturally relevant means of sharing God’s love to those people outside the church. Since this is what people are valuing, all we need to do is to trust that God will tell us what to say as we talk with people about their dreams and give them words of encouragement and destiny.
DOUG ADDISON is the founder of InLight Connection in Santa Maria, California and is the author of the book Prophecy, Dreams, and Evangelism. He travels worldwide helping people transform their lives and discover their purpose. Doug is a stand-up comedian and his training seminars include hearing God, understanding dreams and visions, and experiencing the supernatural. Doug also trains and leads dream teams and prophetic/power evangelism outreaches.
www.dougaddison.com
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June 29th, 2009 at 5:35 am
I do not believe you can equate what the Bible says is an outpouring of His Holy Spirit with the quest for Spirituality that is prevalent today. The quest for Spirituality today, if you read about what Oprah and her friends (Eckhart Tolle, Rhonda Brne, Helen Schucman, Marianne Williamson, etc.) are seeking after, is not in anyway connected with the God of the Bible. Today many people equate Spirituality with growth, experience, and authenticity. They want to be socially aware and Spiritually conscious. We must be very careful of Satan’s deceptive schemes, because that is what this is.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Lynn, sorry if I offended you. It really lies in where a person’s heart is. You believe that what I am doing is Satan’s scheme, but my heart and motivation is to help people receive Jesus Christ as their savior. That is the difference of what I am talking about and the writers you referenced. I would love for you to come on an outreach with me sometime and you’ll see what I mean! People are so hungry for God and we use dreams and prophetic words as a way to open up conversations, relationships and ministry. Blessings to you!
August 11th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Thanks Doug, that was awesome! =)
September 8th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Dear Doug: Are there some sound books on helping a person understand their dreams? I am often having dreams (2-3 a month) with images that remain with me and some are very unsettling. I would very much like to get some insight; any suggestions? Thanks.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Keely – there are not many good sound Christian books available. Here are a few good ones:
Dream Language: The Prophetic Power of Dreams by James Goll
Exploring the World of Dreams by Benny Thomas
September 18th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
dear doug, when you say that with the sudden interest in spirituality that these verses in acts are being fullfilled. Just because polls tell us that people are seeking “spirituality” does not mean that they are seeking anything of God. Alot of spirituality is very self centered and ungodlly. I do agree that many people are hungry for God and that we should go out and spread the word of God, but we do not alter the message of God by trying to be “culturally relevant”. The Bible is always relevant no matter what time or culture we are in.The world needs to hear the message of the Gospel and adding anything to it only adulterates the truth. You need to realize that all you need to do is put Gods word out there and God will do the rest, you don’t need to try to appeal to what the world values in order for people to take interest in the Gospel. With all the love there is to give, God Bless! Torrence “LOLO” Latoradorrb
October 10th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Doug,
I went to a church that did outreaches to people. A month ago, I discovered that the outreaches consisted of dream interpretations and “life readings” with no mention that these came from the Lord. Members spoke about the “Creator,” but not Christ.
While I believe in the gift of prophecy for today, if the gospel is left out, we will be seen as nothing but psychics.
With great sadness, I have left that church. The Lord made it physically clear to me twice, in the presence of other Christians, to leave that church.
Christ must always be the center, not dreams or “life readings!”
October 11th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Sharon,
The teams I have trained are supposed to be using these new approaches as “ice breakers” to get into deeper encounters. My question would be, are there deeper encounters happening or are they just doing dreams and life readings? Since we are dealing with a society that says, “I am spiritual and not religious” and are greatly hurt and offended by unloving Christians, I developed an evangelistic approach that allows a person to see that God is real and has real power. We are actually becoming missionaries where we gear our language for a person we need to reach. Using the name, Creator for God should only be done if you are at a New Age fair or a place where that is the common language. Unfortunately, many of the people I have trained have misunderstood my message. On the other hand, if this team is successfully getting into encounters with people and having the chance to demonstrate God’s love then they are being effective in God’s Kingdom. The more I do Prophetic Evangelism, the more I am able to master the ability to turn the corner and talk more about God and pray for people. We are all trying to reach a group of people that no one else can reach. We get judged for efforts but as long as our hearts are in the right place – we want people to encounter Jesus then it is okay to try new things. I would say to the team – go for it – and learn when to talk about Jesus and when not (Paul did this in Acts 17 on Mars Hill).