I had a couple of very important dreams right at the end of 2007 that not only impacted my life but also proved to be very important to the direction of this ministry and prophetic of a time of financial difficulty just ahead of our nation. One dream had to do with my need to resign the leadership position within a church planting organization. The other was far more personal and sobering but both were a very significant wake-up call for the Church in America.

The first dream simply symbolized what I believe is today’s absolute need for Christians everywhere to “de-institutionalize” and remove themselves from all man-made, and in many cases, seductively deceptive forms of the faith. The second dream was just as blatantly confrontational but even more specific in its warning…

I was in a large, nearly empty room scoping out the dimly lit scene. As I looked around I noticed a single chair and placed my wallet on it as if to remember where I put it later. After moving about the room again for a period of time I came back to the chair only to realize that the wallet was no longer there. Just as I have done many times in real life, I began frantically searching about fearing I had either absentmindedly misplaced or foolishly forgotten and allowed it to be stolen.

After looking in the dark room for a while longer, I returned to the chair where, to my surprise, found not my wallet but a very familiar personal item I had not seen in many years. There in plain sight was a lapel pin that an old friend had given me (in real life) nearly twenty years ago. It was a Vietnam veterans “MIA-POW” reminder to never forget the soldiers who had not come home from that war!

Now the Lord certainly speaks to me in strange ways at times. This may seem a little weird at first glance and it was puzzling to me when I first awoke but after considering the images it began to make perfect sense. In fact, this dream took a couple of weeks to unfold completely as it has a few different layers of meaning.

First, the wallet is pretty obvious. The Bible says in Luke 12:31, 34, “But rather seek the Kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added to you…For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” So, the implication here is that I had lost track of my heart in that dark room of the world. That is exactly what is happening to believers, and ministers like myself everywhere today! The darkness of the world we live and do business in everyday is obscuring and stealing our hearts away from God.

Second, it is more that little significant that I found that old pin in the place of my wallet. “MIA” stands for “missing in action”, clearly describing one group of lost soldiers that do not return from a war. “POW” stands for, “prisoners of war” which describes what has happened to another group within the same war. Today, in the Church many are lost while others have been taken hostage in the spiritual battle for mankind.

Third, a chair normally represents a place of rest or position of authority. I believe the Lord was showing me that Christians have lost their authority to a large degree because we have moved away from our God-given position of rest in Him. Faith only works in that place. Leaning on Jesus, we find ourselves able to trust Him and believe in ways that re far beyond ourselves. When we lose this place we naturally strive and frustrate our progress.

When I first awoke from this dream it took me two days to get over the personal implications of it. I was discouraged to realize that MY heart could be in this kind of condition…especially after working so hard for the past year and a half to obey God’s call to move my family across the country to the very expensive northeastern U.S. to base our ministry! My thought was, how could this be?

It wasn’t until I was in the shower the next day that I felt the Lord speak to me saying, “Relax, the dream is not just about you! It is about the condition of and my concern for the Church.” Although I wouldn’t exactly say that was a relief (because I was still culpable) it was comforting to know God had not abandoned me to the reality of carrying the Gospel in dark places without His guidance and provision. I knew He was working with me to recover something more precious for the days ahead!

After a couple of weeks more revelation came. The Lord showed me one night after everyone in my house was sleeping how this dream represented the state of our national economy. I realized things were going to get more expensive in the future because we have lost our heart for God. I immediately shared this with my wife and close friends. The years since then have proven some of the worst in the history of America and many parts of the world! This dream was and continues to be a “red alert” for believers everywhere.

Finally, there is a little slogan at the bottom of this pin. It says, “Lest We Forget’. Maybe your heart has been “MIA-POW” and, like me back in 2007, you haven’t realized it. If so, this is the time to give it back to the Lord…the One to whom it has always belonged. God knows where we are at on the end-time “table”, so don’t forget to check to see for yourself! Get out of what is not driven by Him and get out of the dark. Let this article be your wake-up call for active duty in the end-time war that is upon us. Soldiers are needed who are fully engaged in the battle but not wounded and distracted by its effects. Be ready, Jesus’ is coming!