Though I minister across a broad spectrum of the Body of Christ, there is a part of me, like the apostle Paul, that longs for the gospel’s message to greatly impact people of my own race, (Romans 10:1).  I said the sinner’s prayer and was baptized and raised in the African American church, and currently I am a member of an African American congregation, which could be considered a mega church.  Besides the black church having incredibly gifted musicians, singers and preachers, most people don’t realize there are more African American mega churches in America than those of any other race. I love the African American church.  It is with this love that I must share two dreams given to my 11 year old daughter and myself from the Lord.  

I must preface what I’m about to share, so that you can understand my heart.  These dreams were given during a time when the focus of my attention was not on the state of the church, African American or otherwise.  I’ve been focused in prayer on other pressing non church related matters.  I have a great relationship with my current pastors, (who are awesome) and their leadership team.  The spiritual filter through which I received these dreams wasn’t cluttered with unforgiveness, bitterness or other church issues. I said all of that to help you understand these dreams aren’t ones that I was expecting in my current season of prayer.  Though the dreams were about the African American Body of Christ, they definitely can apply to the Body of Christ at large, regardless of congregational size or race, across socio-economic lines.  With that established, here are the dreams and interpretations, starting with mine first.

Crowded House Dream

In my dream, I was in a house, and the owner of the house was an African American preacher.  He was showing the house to several people and myself, who were potential donors.  Inside the house were people who looked like they were in the last stages of cancer.  They were unconscious, lame, very thin and frail, and were all connected to artificial breathing or life support machines.  The preacher, who was very friendly and charming, said to us, “This is what your donations enable us to do.  Every time you give, you are helping us to support the life of someone connected to these machines.  Without the machines or your support, we wouldn’t be able to keep these folks alive.  The need is really great, and I’m asking for you to increase your monetary support, because without it, we can’t keep these support systems going for these people, who are so desperate.  Won’t you be apart of helping us?”

All of this sounded all right at first, until I noticed that there were patients everywhere.  They were crammed into every available space within the house. Every bedroom was full of people who appeared sedated, connected to breathing machines which, of course, caused their chest to go up and down.  I noticed as we kept walking on our tour, even the hallways were lined with unconscious cancer victims connected to respirators.  I opened the door to one of the bathrooms in the dream, and even in the bathroom were several unconscious cancer victims in cots, connected to artificial breathing machines. These victims were all over the place.  Each room was crowded, and the house was filled to capacity. Though this was starting to weird me out, I excused what I felt by thinking to myself, “Well, he sure knows how to make the most of his space.”

All seemed well, until I intently looked at one of the unconscious victims.  I was broken hearted about her being lifeless, watching her lungs expand, as she was connected to the breathing machine.  Upon inspection, however, I looked closer, and realized that had it not been for the machine pumping air into her, her lungs could not go up and down.  Then the thought occurred to me, “There is no way this lady can actually breathe without the machine.”  Then I realized, though I can visibly see this woman’s chest expanding, this respirator is not reviving her at all, but in actuality is only aiding the appearance of her being revived.  

Then it dawned upon me, this woman is actually dead!  Then I became aware that all the cancer victims in this house were really dead!  They only looked like they were alive, because the machine pumped air into them.  The preacher began staring at me, and suddenly I knew that his greatest fear was anybody finding out that these people were really dead and not alive.  Instead of their conditions becoming better, they actually had fatally deteriorated, and this preacher didn’t want anyone to know.  He made up lies and exploited these victims.  They only had the appearance of being revived because he needed their bodies as an excuse for monetary support.

Interpretation:

When I prayed and asked the Lord for the interpretation, he said, “This is the current state of several black mega churches.”  I began to weep as the interpretation began to unfold.  The Lord revealed to me that greed was the cancer that victimized and killed the people in the dream.  2 Peter 2:3 says,

“In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up…” (ellipses added, NIV).

Many of these churches, like the house in the dream, are crowded with lifeless people, who have been “pumped up” or artificially resuscitated by hype for the sake of appearances and image.  Instead of the system or machine being there to support and empower the people, the opposite is occurring, and the people are there to support the money machine.  No lasting change has come into their lives, and the needy are used as an excuse for the monetary support of the machine.  In other words, these leaders are extending their influence and increasing their affluence, at the expense of other people’s pain and misery.  Pumped up by hype to give the appearance of life by the money machine, these people and their ministries have names that their alive, but many are dead, (Revelation 3:1).  Unfortunately, though the house is crowded, and the machine is running, all that is taking place is an artificial revival.  

Confirmation: Superdome Dream

The very next night, my 11 year old daughter had a dream that confirmed my dream.  In her dream, she was at the Superdome in New Orleans.  It was filled to capacity with African Americans, and an African American preacher was down front giving his sermon.  As he preached, he began to say, “OK, everybody, come on down and donate yourselves.  Don’t you want to donate yourself?  Like a game show host he then said, “Come on down!”

In her dream, the people had on helmets with wires and electrodes connected to them.  An elderly black woman came forward, and walked into a machine that was next to the preacher.  After she walked inside, the machine killed her.  The preacher then began to say, “Who else would like to donate themselves?”  My daughter said she watched in horror, as people began to get in line with helmets on and, one by one, walked into this machine that was killing them.  In the dream my daughter said she stood up and began to confront the preacher, saying, “Hey, what you’re doing is wrong!  You are killing people, and this is not right!”  The preacher then pursued my daughter, because she was exposing what he was doing.  He chased her out of the Superdome, and as he ran he turned into a giant.  As she ran, however, boldness came over her and she decided not to run any longer.  My daughter stopped and stood her ground, and when she did, she turned into a giant, and the preacher began to shrink to normal size.

She then ran back to the Superdome, and being a giant, she stood over it.  Placing her foot on top of the dome, she began to press all of the air out it.  Thinking that it was demolished, she removed her foot, only to notice that the Superdome was refilling with air.  She began squashing it again, this time pressing down longer, and when she removed her foot, it began to refill with air again.  This process was repeated a third time, until she finally decided to keep her foot down until all the air was gone from the Superdome and it was totally demolished.  My daughter said she kept pressing down in the dream until all the air was gone, and then suddenly the squashed Superdome turned into a star that emitted light in various directions.  As she kept pressing, the star’s light began to diminish and suddenly the star burst, the dome was destroyed and the dream ended.

Interpretation:

Stars represent angels, good or evil in the Bible, (Job 38:7; Revelation 12:4-7), stars also represent the godly influence and essence of God’s people, (Genesis 15:5; Daniel 12:3), God’s people are His stars, meant to shine in the midst of darkness, (Philippians 2:15), and use their light or influence to lead others to Christ, like the star that lead the wise men to Christ in Matthew 2:9.  Satan and the world have perverted this biblical understanding, and some people who have access to media exposure are wrongly considered “stars,” when in reality many are mere “celebrities” that build their own kingdoms and lead people ultimately to destruction, Satan or both.  When one of God’s stars falls, however, they become church celebrities.  Therefore, the Superdome in my daughters dream represents fallen “star” dome, or church celebrity “superstardom,” and the worldly mentality of some black mega churches.  

The inflation of the Superdome represents leaven or yeast, (influence), which releases pockets of air, as in the expansion of yeast in bread.  In the dream, my daughter had to squeeze out the air in the Superdome 3 times, which represents the 3 leavens the Lord told us to beware of:  The leaven or influence of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians, (Matthew 16:6; Mark 8:15).  Celebrity mega church “superstardom” is filled with the hot air of three things of which God is putting His foot down on:  Bloated hypocrites, puffed up egos and inflated pocket books.  There is only one Superstar, and it is Jesus Christ, the Bright Morning Star, (Revelation 22:16).

In the dream the helmets with the electrodes represents the helmet of salvation, (Isaiah 59:17; Ephesians 6:17).  However, this helmet is meant to protect our mind as we “work out” our salvation, rather than control our mind to “work for” our salvation.  These helmets also represent the manipulation used by some of these leaders that coerces people into trying to earn God’s approval and acceptance. Galatians 3:1 says, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified,” (NIV).  The message of people donating themselves into the machine represents the legalistic and humanistic messages preached by some churches.  It is a message that denies Christ finished work, requiring their followers to sacrifice themselves for salvation.  It’s like the story of the little girl who put up a lemonade sign which read, “Free Lemonade, only 25 cent!”  When told she needed to correct her sign, the girl responded “It is correct, because after all, if it doesn’t say it’s free, then no one will buy it!” Unfortunately, some treat the gospel the same way with a “Salvation is free but ministry is expensive” attitude that causes people to have a works mentality and attempt to earn their salvation.  Salvation is a gift and you can’t earn a gift, (Romans 4:4-5; Ephesians 2:8-10).  We may donate our money, but we don’t sacrifice ourselves for salvation, because one sacrifice for sins has already been made, once and for all, thru Jesus Christ, (I Timothy 2:5).  Hebrews 9:15 says,

“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance-now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (emphasis added, NIV).

As we saw in the dream, a salvation works mentality may keep the religious machine going, but it will kill you spiritually!

The preacher who became the giant represents those who have exalted themselves and defy truth, along with anyone who stands against them.  They will pursue others who speak against them, to ensure that their machine keeps being fed, (2 Thessalonians 2:4).  

Feet represent the gospel and shoes of peace, (Ephesians 6:15; Romans 16:20), and God is raising up peacemakers who will confront what is going on and reconcile, which is different from a peacekeeper that only covers up and pacifies.  My daughter represents a generation that is willing to take a stand.  She became a giant in the dream, representing that once this generation takes its stand, God will exalt them above His enemies of the cross, (Matthew 23:12, Philippians 3:18). Her rising and the preacher shrinking represents Psalm 75:7, where God puts down one and raises up another. When those who God is raising up begin to stand for the word of God, it will reveal the lack of authority and lack of biblical substance some church celebrities really possess.  

Stars also represent influence, and if they don’t change, the light from these lamp stands are about to diminish, (Revelation 2:5).  Celebrity “superstardom” is about to burst, because a mega God is putting His foot down thru a holy remnant bride, (Romans 16:20).  God is wrecking the machine, and for some if they don’t repent, they will lose their influence, among other things.  Favor is about to shift toward those who will stand up for the gospel, and take a stand against celebrity-ism and the religious machine. For some the game will be over and the show is about to come to an end.  

I do not think God is against marketing strategies and the like when they are used in the right context and with the right motivation, nor is He against the church using TV or other media.  What I do believe He is confronting is celebrity-ism.  

Let’s take a moment to summarize the differences between man’s “celebrities” and God’s “stars”:

•    Celebrities entertain people by saying what they want to hear. Stars provoke people by proclaiming what God says they need.
•    Celebrities are swayed by public preferences and compromise. Stars are rooted in principles and unwavering conviction.
•    Celebrities hire public relation firms to hype and protect their reputations. Stars have died to self and therefore to their reputations; they know that any light they have is God’s light shining through them.
•    Celebrities seek worldly success. Stars pursue godly significance.
•    Celebrities use people to serve their authority. Stars use their authority to serve people.
•    Celebrities use their influence to impress society’s “somebodies.” Stars use their influence to empower society’s so-called “nobodies.”
•    Celebrities seek crowds and crowns. Stars seek God and lay down their crowns; when God exalts them, it’s because of their humility.
•    Celebrities build their own kingdoms. Stars build God’s Kingdom.

Celebrities may influence a fashion trend or a catchphrase, but stars are building an unseen legacy in eternity that can influence generations to come on earth. You can either be a bound celebrity, enslaved to people’s opinions and the kingdom of darkness, or you can be a star and rule and reign with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)!