It is not unusual for a person to complain about how things are, yet continue on the same path. The enemy has a strategy that has been masterfully crafted over many many years. I’ve become aware of it more recently. It is to put us in position ambiguity. Prevent the decision. If you want a good example how many times are you in a car and hear the conversation “what do you want to eat?” The conversation usually continues into “I don’t know what do you want?” If a person doesn’t decide then it go on into a frustrating, annoying, or even angry disagreement, but is it really a disagreement? How can it be a disagreement if neither side has proposed a place to eat? Would it not be better if one had said KFC and one had said Burger King, then you could discuss the reasons why you disagree and solve the problem.

Similarly the enemy wants us to live in the state of an unsolved problem of sin. So what is the best way to keep us in that state? I think it is the same as illustrated above, prevent any kind of position or decision from being made and then the problem cannot be easily seen and solved. The person becomes stuck in a position of ambiguity, sometimes even if their are numerous reasons to take a specific position.

In your dream you see that the demons have identified who the enemy is, and what their goals are. They have accepted this and are working to achieve it. The human side has an understanding of who the enemy is, just as all humans feel conviction against the enemy. However the humans are unfocused on the goal and have not really addressed any of the problems. Instead they go on living life and using the things they have been given to confront nothing or in vain attempts to achieve something of value for themselves. Of course this is all just a chasing after the wind. Your own struggle is within, it is if you should be the one to say everyone this is what we need to decide to do, and this is how to do it. The problem the people looked past was they were in real danger of losing any hope of being relieved from that oppression.

Their are other things I can glean from this as well. You can see a parable of people hoarding their talents and desiring one gift over another. I believe that God doesn’t ask the impossible of his people. I believe he gives us the things we need to love our neighbor, and to fulfill the great commission. How often do we set amused with our own gifts and resources, and maybe work to gain more of a particular resource instead of following the simple instructions he wrote out for us that tell us what we need. Your children were wise to prepare themselves properly.

Sorry, I’m running out of time to respond. Maybe I’ll get to more later.

We’re starting our homeschool curriculum tomorrow, so, be praying for us - and so, that may throw back the schedule on many new posts (or comment stuff) for a few days.

Aaron

The good guys had some awesome weapons, and they knew that the enemy was really tough, but they didn’t REALLY get ready for battle as a team. They were just individually getting ready. Sort of….

Hello……….Church, are you listening??

Obviously, the whole dream is about spiritual warfare in the end of the age (AKA today). Some parts that stood out to me were the single-focused human warriors, your boys’ choice in equipping themselves, and the demons’ strategies resembling your own.

First, the humans loading up with the tools that they most loved instead of diversifying could both be a warning and a reality check. It’s a warning in the sense that many chose to view their Christian walk and Jesus Himself through such small lenses that they miss more than half of who He is and who He created them to be. We think, “Oh, I’m a musician, so that’s my job in the Kingdom.” But as you said to your friend Anthony above, we have many tasks as followers of Jesus that cannot be neglected (ie. husband, father, worship leader, etc.) You must prioritize, of course; but you are also called to be many things at once. Abiding in Christ will help us fulfill all of our roles as well as focus on the main task of the hour. So many Christians beef up on things that they’re familiar with instead of searching out the deep things of God and growing diversely in their knowledge of Him. Short-sightedness leads to ill-equipping.

The reality check I mentioned related to the body of Christ. The Church can only be effective when it works together. As Paul describes, there are many body parts that have specific functions but cannot fulfill their job without the whole. Those loaded with armor and those with weapons must work together in the battle because each has different strengths. In the End, I believe that each member of the Bride will have a more complete and diverse set of equipment. But for now, many of us are laden with a specific gift and must rely on others in the body to fill in our gaps and train us.

Secondly, your boys are a prophetic picture of the End-Times Church. The younger generation coming will have a broader perspective of how to get the job done. They will know the tactics of the enemy and be prepared. The older generations will have to learn from their example.

Thirdly, the demon’s were using strategies that you had considered using. This reminded me of specifically the End-Times worship movement. Satan and all of his counterfeit moves will be very efficient and certainly resemble the real thing. The Church must get a revelation of the Truth and the strategy of Jesus’ return in order to combat the wiles of the enemy.

Perhaps this is all very straight-forward thinking. But I love how your dream paints a very real and vivid picture of how it might feel if we weren’t prepared. It scares me into a more focused lifestyle. I shouldn’t be afraid to rally the troops and tell them the Truth of the battle before us. Thanks for the encouragement your telling of this dream gives me.

Blessings,
Lauren

P.S. I miss your family!!

We’re still very actively praying through that, but, we are leaning towards “step one” as being doing worship and prayer in people’s homes, sharing the vision for ‘love for Jesus and Prayer (dialogue) with Him’ as being the ‘first priority’ from which all other spiritual fruit, ministry, impact, gifts, etc, flow. We see people inviting over people they are connected with, finding out what is on their hearts, and doing a mixture of worship and prayer around what is on their hearts.

[quote] “…what…am I going to be doing to help you in your ministry…”

Oohh… I hate the sound of “your ministry” - blah. So, let me re-word the question, “What does God want me to be doing in His Kingdom - and will any of that be along side of what the Lord is asking Aaron to do?”

I have told Robin and many occassions during the last 6 years (since I came out of full-time vocational ministry as a youth minister, worship leader, etc, and went back to school, started a business, and got a secular job) that I knew that I was in a season of learning how to relate-to and function-as someone who is working 60 hours per week, raising a family, and trying to maintain a happy marriage - all while still serving the Lord and advancing the Kingdom. I love 1 Corinthians 12:22 in the NLT: “In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary.” First off, though, being a husband and father, or a home-maker (male or female) is one of the most important ‘parts’ that any of us could ever be - so why do we view it “in the kingdom” as being somehow less honorable? Do we think that the Lord loved the tribe of Levi more than the eleven other tribes, just because they were required to be priests? Of course not. Not everyone is called to full-time ministry from a scheduling since… but we ARE ALL called to be full-time lovers, listeners, and followers of the Lord - whether that’s in the marketplace, the home, the nursery, the soundbooth, or the platform.

[quote] “…a great big Jesus concert…they get to go to whenever they want and not have to do anything…”

Let me assure you, the scariest part of all of this for me is that I know (and this is NOT false humility) that my ’skills’ vocally and instrumentally, and my depth of revelation is woefully inadequate to “carry” any meeting, or to stir people up emotionally just out of a great performance. The words the Lord keeps telling me is, “I am calling you to ‘voluntary weakness’. People will say that it is a lack of anointing, or maybe the vision isn’t right because they are not ’stirred enough’ - but I am asking you to cultivate a life of prayer that is not dependent on any hype or emotion… it’s a life that will constantly leave you wanting (and needing) more and more of Me.” That doesn’t sound much like a “great big Jesus concert” to me…. ouch.

[quote] “I see elements of this in your dream post.”

I hope that you mean that in the dream, you saw how ‘church’ becomes a social engagement, BUT that the Lord has layed out a full set of equipment for even the smallest and weakest of us, and that if we will just pay a little attention, He can use all of us - in unity - to overcome our spiritual enemies. I hope that the dream wasn’t making you feel less adequate - was that what you were saying? However, it was just a dream, even though I woke up with an intense sense of “woah - this means something”, and the Lord has used it, in complete conjunction with scripture, to show me a lot of good stuff.

Just recently, I have been thinking more about what the heck am *I* going to be doing to help you in your ministry. And moreover, what I can do to help the kingdom of God even outside of anything you may be doing in our area. I wonder how many people have that same thought. How many people think that with some sort of 24 hour prayer and worship in our area that it’s just going to be a great big Jesus concert that they get to go to whenever they want and not have to do anything? How many people think that because they have a regular job that they aren’t part of God’s ministry? I know that until recently, I thought that I was not a part of any of God’s work.

It is very easy to buy into the lie that you have no talents that can glorify God, and this belief easily leads to turning church into a social engagement. I post all this now, Aaron, because I see elements of this in your dream post.