The Dream Never Dies, Just The Dreamer

I dream of ministers who are willing to take risks for the sake of the gospel. 

A few years ago I was given the opportunity to speak in churches of all sizes all over North America. I was privileged to meet with Christian leaders from churches as well as from para church ministries. I found opportunities to talk with Christian college presidents and professors of religion. I spent hours with Christians of all ages and from all walks of life. 

We talked about the church and our hopes and dreams for this God-given institution we love so much.  We discussed our concerns and even ventured some suggestions about how it could be different.

In this post I want to dream a little about the church - about its leaders, about its mission and about the people we desperately need to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you would like to dream along with me.

I dream of a church that is more interested in repentance than in recruitment.

I dream of a church that is more concerned with the health of its body than the size of its attendance.

I dream of a church that will become less and less turf conscious.

I dream of leaders who understand that we will reach the lost world as we join forces, not as we isolate ourselves.

I dream of ministers who are bold, who are willing to take risks for the sake of the gospel. These will be servants who, like Jeremiah, have their hearts broken by the sins of their world.

I dream of Christians who are determined to be peacemakers in their local church, who will not tolerate contention and disunity.

I dream of a revival among young people. I dream of teenagers who will see that a call to full-time Christian service is as significant as any vocation in the world.

I dream of racial unity. God will not bless this nation spiritually until we can love each other sincerely as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I dream of a greater church of Jesus Christ that, although being a part of the world, will not be like the world.

I dream of a church that will take a stand for morality and righteousness, that will protect the unborn, confront injustice, and battle for the souls of our children and grandchildren. 

I dream of a church that will not surrender future generations to any humanistic culture that seeks to snare them.

These are some of the dreams I have.  I pray about them a great deal because I believe that dreams such as these are given by the Holy Spirit.

What are your dreams? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? I pray that your year will be blessed and that all your Spirit-induced dreams come true.  And if you ever get discouraged, just remember this: The dreamer may die, but the dream never will!

Comments

[Eric Moore]

Hello. My name is Eric Moore. I am not a pastor but have been involved in youth ministry before in several different churches. I like getting your pastor's weekly update because I like to know what is going on in the big picture. I'll give you a little background about me before my actual comment, which will be very short:

I'm 23, born in 84. I'm in school to be a spanish teacher, currently doing my semester in Spain. I have played the drums for a very long time and play every week in the bible study, since the study abroad program is a Christian one. I have respect for your title "Pastor to Pastor's" beccause I believe with it, you know what the big picture is and what needs to be done to reach the youth.

Thank you again for what you do. I hope your blog site gets more comments.