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funny_girl -> Your dream (3/26/2008 1:46:50 PM)

What was the biggest dream you ever had for yourself and do you feel that you were able to accomplish that dream or are you headed in the right direction?

I realize this thread could sound really arrogant but that's not my intent. We can give God all the praise and the glory for what He's done in our lives and let us rejoice together for the good work He's done through us, despite us! I don't want the praises of men, I prefer my heavenly reward so we're not talking about taking a bow but just having an opportunity to testify of God's faithfulness to us!



funny_girl -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 9:59:55 AM)

Let me ask you all a question as I'd like those with years of experience for advice.

I know someone that has always had a big dream for themselves. Watching this person grow and mature they've grown into a person of influence. One of their dreams is to pastor an influential large church. Starting a new work actually. My concern is that this person has never pastored a church over 100 people and have a past history of being a lone ranger. Over the past several years I've seen this person grow to and release others. They have administrative skills, captivating speaking skills, deep teaching and charisma. In the past they tried to plant 2 churches that never made it off the ground. If a person is making mistakes and learning from them, would you encourage this person to fall forward, learn from their past mistakes and go for it? I wouldn't want to live my life with regrets. Or would you encourage this person to try and cultivate the work they are in to it's fullest potential even though it's unlikely that the present work they're involved in could grow much greater than 200 members because they're working in a small community? To make their vision come to fruition, they'd have to begin a work where there are more people.



rcjames -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 11:04:37 AM)

Well so far I have accomplished every goal I have set out to do; and that includes Spiritual, social, and family.

Now my goal is to catch a 13 lb. bass before I go to see Jesus, so mabe my track record will hold.

quote:

Or would you encourage this person to try and cultivate the work they are in to it's fullest potential even though it's unlikely that the present work they're involved in couldn't grow much greater than 200 members because they're working in a small community? To make their vision come to fruition, they'd have to begin a work where there are more people.


I would not say that it could not happen. There is a small community a few miles from here (Pop. 130) and the local Baptist Church runs around 500 on Sunday AM. Trying to put man's plan and reasoning into play with a vision from God will just mess things up.

One just needs to be sure they heard from God correctly and then do what was instructed, nothing wavering, but full of faith. Not full of plans to make something come to pass.

Thanks
RC



funny_girl -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 11:20:15 AM)

RC, I think I know where you can get that bass! Ocean or freshwater? Freshwater- Lake Shasta, California! Seems to me that the bass come in to spawn up the rivers in Oregon, but I'd have to ask where, God's country!

Thank you for sharing your years of wisdom and advice!

I don't want to be cynical. I'd like to be an encourager if I know God's hand is in it. Sometimes a person just needs another person to believe in them to see their dreams/purpose become a reality.



dance4joy -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 11:22:53 AM)

God has a way of taking the dreams that I thought would make me happy and giving me better ones. . .and having said that, every dream that He has put in my heart has (and will) come to fruition.



rcjames -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 2:03:13 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: funny_girl
I don't want to be cynical. I'd like to be an encourager if I know God's hand is in it. Sometimes a person just needs another person to believe in them to see their dreams/purpose become a reality.


Please show us Scripture where it is a necessity for another person to believe in a person for the dreams/purpose to become a reality.

I could just be misunderstanding your premise.

Thanks
RC



nativemary -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 2:33:53 PM)

We are to evangelize. God is the One to promote growth. That comes in spiritual form. The size and influence of a church and congregation is unimportant to God.



funny_girl -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 6:04:01 PM)

hmmm, Ever heard the saying that a wife can make or break her husband in ministry?
Ever seen a successful person be successful without the support of others behind them believing in them? Isn't it Christ like to think the best of people and encourage those to fulfill their God given purpose? RC, think about the joy it would have given you or perhaps there was someone giving you encouragement when you had the desire to cross the border into territory that had never been explored. They spurred you on bringing out the best in you. It's so refreshing to meet someone that says I see what you're doing and I know God's favor is with you or He's delighted with your work. Hearing someone say, "I think you can do that". Spurring one another on to do His work. Maybe you've never had some come along and believe in you. That breaks my heart. God thinks the best of us! He loves us and wants us to shine for His glory!

I think that we are all given a measure of talent according to scripture and some are only able to do so much, but there are others that are able to accomplish more because they were made to. If God has only created this person to be able to pastor a church of 50 people, bless them for obeying the Lord, not comparing themselves with those who pastor mega churches because they followed the Lord according to His will. On the other hand, if they were made to pastor a mega church and they are content pastoring a church of 50 then they have cut themselves short of making a greater impact. They're like the one with only one talent and buried it. Jesus had the multitudes following him.

I'm going to encourage this person that I'm speaking of above to fast and pray to hear God's direction in their lives. I'm also going to encourage their family to join in.

Nativemary, I respect your opinion but I couldn't disagree more. Especially about the influence part. There is no where in scripture that God tells us not to influence or make a difference. Our purpose in life is to make a difference.

The Bible says to study to show yourself approved. We have a lot more responsibility than you stated we have. We reap what we sow. If we aren't sowing, you're right, there's nothing to reap.

We are the bride of Christ. Jesus warns us to be ready and watching for his return. Remember the story of the 10 virgins? Go back and read Matthew 24 and 25. It's exciting! Every little thing we do for the Lord DOES matter!



Cloak -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 6:14:59 PM)

That's a cool thread; thanks funny girl for starting it.

Honestly and proudly the most beautiful dream I've ever have to is dream about JESUS in my class where I did my B.A. I posted that once here on another thread. I wish I could transmit this info from there to here but I guess I am not savvy enough in these matters.

He was my teacher. At 1st I couldn't recognize that it was Him. However, His Genuine, authentic, warm, REALLY Humble behaviour made me curious to know who he was. Then I looked at His face, He had tanned olive-complexion skin with orangy color cloak and Roman sandals. He really looked like a cowboy.

When I looked at His sweet face...I uttered this is Jesus to which He smile so sweetly and meekly at me for recognizing Him.

My interpretation of the dream is that since I am following into His footsteps and want so much to become like Him; He showed up in my class as my teacher. That's not surprise since He is my role model and Greatest teacher I respect.

Up to today...I still wonder and ponder about that dream. [&:]

It was Unforgettable night and dream. I wish I could dream again about Sweet Jesus!!! Lord hear my Prayers![:(][:)]



Cloak -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 6:20:53 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: funny_girl

I realize this thread could sound really arrogant but that's not my intent.



No it is Not arrogant at all! In fact, God spoke to many people in the Bible thru dreams. He spoke to Joseph in the OT about what would happen in his life and future. God also spoke to Joseph, Mary's fiance and ordered him to take Mary and himself and flee to Egypt.

Dreams are mentioned in the Bible and I believe in them.

Dreams are one of the means of communications God uses to communicate His message with us.



funny_girl -> RE: Your dream (3/28/2008 8:42:15 PM)

I like to talk about dream, dreams, the kind we have at night but it's against the TOS to discuss the interpretation of dreams and I would like to respect the forum rules.

What I mean by dreams here in this thread are goals, vision or purpose for our life. What's your ambition? Who do you want to be when you grow up, LOL I'm 39 and I'm still growing up! hehe



nativemary -> RE: Your dream (4/3/2008 8:02:52 PM)

quote:

Nativemary, I respect your opinion but I couldn't disagree more. Especially about the influence part. There is no where in scripture that God tells us not to influence or make a difference. Our purpose in life is to make a difference.



I believe you misunderstood what I wrote. We are each called to spread the gospel. Now that is the difference we are to make. It is scriptural. Not spreading the gospel ourselves is unscriptural. It is not the duty of one person (pastor) to shoulder the responsibility alone. Saints are to gather together according to scripture. Forsake not the fellowship of the saints. We support one another then we go back out and spread the word Jesus brought to us. That should be the purpose of the church. And to worship the Lord. Praise Him. That is our responsibility. And,it should be done love.



li_marie -> RE: Your dream (4/7/2008 5:52:01 PM)

i'm quoting those and i'll be answering [;)]
quote:


What I mean by dreams here in this thread are goals, vision or purpose for our life. What's your ambition?



quote:

I realize this thread could sound really arrogant but that's not my intent. We can give God all the praise and the glory for what He's done in our lives and let us rejoice together for the good work He's done through us, despite us!

"
until recently i thought i wanted to work part time for a christian organization and part time in a secular work place. I believe working in a secular place is the right thing to do for a christian, i believe it's a mission place and i haven't changed my mind.

But my dream is to actually leave my secular job to go into ministry full time.
I remember a friend quitting his photographer job saying it was a waste of time and walking into ministry. That was a few years ago and now i feel just the same. My job has not eternal implication - i mean, i can still share the Gospel to my workmates, but in ministry i will still be able to share the Gospel.
Listening to pastors assistants' 3 months ago, i realized that i wanted to work full time for a christian organization or/and a church. in my country you don't have many women working full time for churches unless they are married to pastors [;)] but i still want to do that. (i'm not married)(yet[8D]
)

i still have a year to go and i'll quit my job to go to seminary for a year.
I'm so excited. I have started to tell friends and even workmates.


my 'ministry' verse is 2 tim 4:5
make full proof of your ministry.

'full' for me now means full time all life long. i still remember heaing this verse 8 years ago and it just hit me. it hit me but i did nit understand it at the time. God worked little by little.

I'm also proud to have close friends quitting their jobs and security to go into ministry. I am proud of God using them for an everlasting purpose.
[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]



jive4005 -> RE: Your dream (4/11/2008 9:19:44 PM)

God has changed my dreams of youth. These days I want more of Him and the desire to preach (I'm in between preaching positions) is enormous. I guess God has me in His "wait-a-minute" mode. so be it. Gives me more time to re-write some of the old sermons.rev



BenQuebec -> RE: Your dream (4/11/2008 9:53:01 PM)

My dream is to live a life that honors God, so that on the day of judgment, I can hear what every Christian longs to hear: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of Your Lord."

Wherever we're at, no matter what we do as pastors or laypeople, we influence lots of people, whether we're conscious of it or not. My dream is simply to be the best ambassador of Christ wherever I'm at to whomever I'm with, no matter what I'm doing, beit for pleasure or for a living.



RJR_fan -> RE: Your dream (4/13/2008 6:02:30 PM)

quote:

What was the biggest dream you ever had for yourself and do you feel that you were able to accomplish that dream or are you headed in the right direction?


"The decades of our lives are small change in God's pocket. He can spend them on bubble gum, if it pleases Him." (John Manzano)

It's interesting to see God call forth a dream that has hibernated for a few decades, while the dreamer patiently endured the hard work of growing in maturity. Joseph had his dreams at age 17 -- then spent the next 13 years as a slave, a prisoner, a jail trustee. Then, overnight, he became the most powerful man in Egypt.

I know a guy whose charisma can be measured in negative numbers, who developed a fascination with the Turkish people and nation. Trusted elders politely informed him that he did not have the gifts and graces that go with being a missionary. People did not find themselves naturally attracted to him, for example. This was a hard word, but a good one, since it freed the dreamer to become a man, a provider, a father, a success in his vocation.

Fast forward nearly 30 years. His career has taken him into a city with several major universities. One of which has a "language partners program." He and his family have been given a few Turkish families to take into their home and heart.

Now let me tell on myself. The two most devastating spiritual disasters in my life came when I tried to seize something prematurely, before I had the character to profit from the desired opportunities.

Now let me tell on Billy Sunday. The "robber baron" capitalists of his day were worried about the way socialist notions were infecting the working folks. They hired him to vaccinate the American working people against socialism. Their money enabled him to start his broad public ministry a few decades of early -- and all it cost him was his children. The oldest, a daughter, died while he was on the road. The next three, boys, all fell prey to booze, broads, and boodle. Oldest son slew himself.

What doth it profit a man to have a million notches on his Bible, if his own family be forfeit?



RJR_fan -> RE: Your dream (4/13/2008 6:06:50 PM)

quote:

I'm also proud to have close friends quitting their jobs and security to go into ministry. I am proud of God using them for an everlasting purpose.


But suppose they are deserting the posts God has assigned them to? Suppose they are renouncing arenas where they can excel, in order to pursue courses where their gifts and graces do not equip them to excel? How many mediocre preachers can we support, when every year the number of pulpits available is approximately half the number of newly minted preacher boys looking for work?



funny_girl -> RE: Your dream (4/13/2008 6:56:48 PM)

RJR, is this true???
quote:

every year the number of pulpits available is approximately half the number of newly minted preacher boys looking for work?
In the US possibly, teach them Spanish and send them down here!!! The harvest is white but the workers are few! HELP!!!!



RJR_fan -> RE: Your dream (4/14/2008 7:38:17 AM)

quote:

In the US possibly, teach them Spanish and send them down here!!! The harvest is white but the workers are few! HELP!!!!


And who will pay the way for these young incompetents, if "really spiritual" people eschew real work? Did we create, in the evangelical subcultural, something closer to the Latin "Hidalgo mentality" than the Puritan respect for every honest calling?

Imagine the kid who "majors in minors," and attempts to "live by faith" while pursuing his secondary vocation ("witnessing") and ignoring his primary vocation (some form of real and valuable work). He can probably generate just enough income to survive on, but nowhere near enough to marry and start a family with. The shabbiness of his life is a poor advertisement for the Good News of the Great King. The longer he ignores the main thing God called him to do, the less credible his witness becomes.



funny_girl -> RE: Your dream (4/14/2008 10:59:04 AM)

What did he say???? [:D]

What's the solution RJR? More tent makers? That's ok with me! We're supporting our own ministry having stepped out in faith and boughten the house we live in, all the sound equipment and instruments. By the small base of supporters we have it's a miracle we are here. God provided a job for my husband here and that's really how we eat! You can NEVER out give God! You reap what you sow.



RJR_fan -> RE: Your dream (4/14/2008 6:33:13 PM)

quote:

What's the solution RJR? More tent makers?


A bigger dream, a bigger vision. Over the last 150 years or so, Protestant Christians have retreated from full-orbed Reformed theology into the fervid depths of their own psyches. "Revivalism" treats conversion as a goal, rather than as a beginning. "Revivalism" confines "the action" to the individual soul, and has little to say about the family, the church, the marketplace, the civil order.

The pattern of our lives is a serious part of our gospel. Will those who model themselves on us (and modeling is unavoidable) be people with a passion for excellence in their jobs? Or wistful preacher wanna bees, who dream of pulling money out of heaven by faith?

Do we have a vision big enough to energize the 99% of Christians who are not called to be preachers? Can we aspire to do Kingdom work in every sphere of life, through faith, obedience, and vision?

Suppose, just suppose, God delighted in calling families to start projects that take multiple generations to fulfill? Imagine an approach to evangelism that an entire home school family could pursue, such as befriending unbelievers from cultures where families matter more than they do in the USA?

When our church, for example, commissioned one of the elders to plant a church in Scotland, a prophet in our church asserted that his family was more than half of his message. In a continent that is exterminating itself, a family of six home school kids is a powerful testimony to faith in God, and in the future He intends.



funny_girl -> RE: Your dream (4/14/2008 9:38:04 PM)

quote:

Imagine an approach to evangelism that an entire home school family could pursue, such as befriending unbelievers from cultures where families matter more than they do in the USA?


Isn't that what we're doing?



RJR_fan -> RE: Your dream (4/15/2008 3:41:45 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: funny_girl

quote:

Imagine an approach to evangelism that an entire home school family could pursue, such as befriending unbelievers from cultures where families matter more than they do in the USA?


Isn't that what we're doing?


I envy those who are called to do front-line work in needy cultures, and invoke God's continuing favor upon your family and your mission. I dream of doing the same, in God's own time!



gmedifast -> RE: Your dream (4/16/2008 8:29:59 AM)

I Dream all the time, but lately have honestly been trying to find my way to the dreams. I am in a pressure cooker of a secular Job---it pays well and we need it to survive as we have had many harsh financial set-backs in the last 3 years. I am in this pressure cooker of a church---you have read my other post and life is a pressure cooker. I know this is not how God intended things to be. But I am working in ministry because that is what I am called to do. I stay put here because I know it is the ultimate training ground. I am trying to live by the principals we see with David---he was anointed king but it was years before he actually took the throne. I am trying to be like Joseph and despite my circumstances keep pressing towards my true position in life. I don't want to seem down, but I just need to vent. I really need some prayer as I am so tired. I have dreams but I don't know how to get to them.
In Christ.



walkin2e -> RE: Your dream (4/18/2008 8:27:19 AM)

Way back yonder in 1987, the Lord saved me and called me to work for him. My dream back then was to reach many for Jesus, to bring encouragement to the weary, and to help lighten someone's load.

I had an Uncle, the late Rev. Owen Rozier, who prayed with me shortly after I was saved. After our prayer, he looked at me, and said, "I see the Lord using you in a mighty way to touch many peoples' lives". A few months later, he went on to be with the Lord (I wrote a story about his homegoing..it can be read here: http://www.articleslog.com/2006/07/08/25552-gone-homegod-honors-the-faith-of-his-servants.html
I believe that my dream has come true, even though I sometimes feel like an "Elijah" when he was staying by the brook.

I also remember an old song, "Little is much when God is in it"(song here http://www.scripturesongs.com/Sounds/Fehr_2.mp3)...the verses speak about not laboring for wealth or fame, just do the job the Lord has given you.

May the Lord bring to pass all of your dreams.

Irvin L. Rozier aka walkin2e



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