Odd dream

[Slick888]

Let me start by first saying I signed up to these forums 4 years and never returned for some reason or another.(Actually suprised I was still signed up.) I'm not sure if I am in the right forums but I'm sure some one will lead me to the correct ones if these are the wrong ones.

I don't believe in God or anything or anyone else for that matter. I have nothing against anyone who does. I do like to in a way study religon when the mood strikes me. Well my dream last night struck me and I was kinda wondering what it was or even why for that matter. And since it was what it felt like I bring it to you. To the dream

I don't remember much. I do know most of the dream was my normal weird dreams. Something about a water dam and chinies jumping spiders. Think there was camping. I do remember at the end I was explaining to a priest (who was Mel Gibson btw and I have no idea why) about some who I saw go crazy and the seem to walk though a wall. There was a lot a blood on the guy but I wasn't sure why of that either but it seem it was supposed to be there. Back to Mel Gibson the priest. So I tell him this and he pulls to to chapel to talk. Well I lay in a pew and he sits in one against the wall. He asked me why I don't believe or have faith. Well I proceded to tell him. This is were is get weird even for me.

I hear/feel are loud dull bang and I can't move. All of the sudden I can't move and I feel weight on me. My arms are spread open and legs crossed at the ankles. Everything is turning or turned white with gold trim. Then I'm lifted it the air still in the same position. Mel Gibson face starts to morph in to someone I have never seen. I'm not sure if the man is happy, sad, laughing or crying. I'm am brought back down feet down. I was lifted pretty high. I am moved then feet pointing towards the x-Mel Gibson priest and moved thur him. At the same time I'm hearing a voice that I can't tell if its in my head or all around me. Its loud and some what scary. Very deep. I am scared but not frightened. As I'm passing thur the x-Mel I remember hearing "This is the way it is my son" or something to that matter. I remember "my son" without a doubt. Then I see a old black man and a young white boy floating and talking then I wake up. Arms at my side feet crossed. I try to remember what was said but it gone already.

Thats it. Kinda wondering what you guys think. Ask any questions I will answer them. Thanks.

 

[seashale76]

What do you think it means? Did the dream cause you to feel particularly convicted that perhaps there is a God? Is this something that perhaps you've been thinking about outside of your dreams and it manifested itself into your dreams?

None of us here can give you faith. However, if you ever decide you'd like to visit an Orthodox Church, I can certainly help you to find one in your area.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Slick888]

No didn't really feel anything special. I think its bad that I had a dream where I was frozen in a position that Christ was. But what was said makes no sense. I don't remember what else was said. The whole thing makes no sense. I don't make me believe anything. I was just curious what the chistian public thought of it.

I don't wanna go to a church. Not to put anyone down, but I think the church has been currupted by man. I do think that if there is a god, it would not need a church or worshiping. I think those are man made creations and have nothing to do with God. But thats another topic.

 

[DailyBlessings]

Where dreams are concerned, I feel that if you pull meaning from a dream, then that is what it means- I'm skeptical of the ability of others to explain my subconscious to me. It is an interesting dream you have had, and it seems to have had an impact on you, so I'm sure it is worth pursuing further.

The symbology of the Mel Gibson-y character reminds me of the "Laughing Jesus" of Gnostic tradition- ambiguous in emotion and gender, laughing as a another man (or an empty shell of a body) was set on the cross in his place. This was to be the final deception, the misperception that, once understood, allowed the Gnostics themselves to transcend the body and join the fellowship of the spirit. Perhaps that would be an interesting avenue for you to explore?

 

[Slick888]

That is very interesting. The Laughing Jesus. I can't seem to find nothing on this subject. All I can seem to find is a book on something completely different. Do you know of anything on this subject.

 

[DailyBlessings]

That is very interesting. The Laughing Jesus. I can't seem to find nothing on this subject. All I can seem to find is a book on something completely different. Do you know of anything on this subject.

The origins of this concept are found in the Apocalypse of Peter, one of the texts in the Nag Hammadi library. The book that you kept running into is probably the one that popularized the term. As far as good scholarly texts on the issue, I'm not sure I can think of one off-hand, but it's a question under much discussion here at my seminary, lately. Elaine Pagel's "The Gnostic Gospels" would be a good introduction to Gnosticism in general. I note that many Muslims also believe that a substitute died on the cross in Isa's place.

 

[Stinker]

Maybe your dream is an expression of your mind fighting to stay in logical naturalism, but your spiritual need goes directly against this.

Everyone who wishes to truly follow Jesus must cross this fantasically awesome threshold. Most back away and spend the rest of their lives wondering what would have happend if they had crossed it. The thought of surrendering one's entire being over to Jesus frightens a lot a people because they are afraid that this would be a sign that they have gone insane, or, that they would go insane if they did.

 

[kl_lorent]

No didn't really feel anything special. I think its bad that I had a dream where I was frozen in a position that Christ was. But what was said makes no sense. I don't remember what else was said. The whole thing makes no sense. I don't make me believe anything. I was just curious what the chistian public thought of it.

I don't wanna go to a church. Not to put anyone down, but I think the church has been currupted by man. I do think that if there is a god, it would not need a church or worshiping. I think those are man made creations and have nothing to do with God. But thats another topic.

No church is made out of bricks, stone or wood, that is just a building where people of faith meet. The church is the Body of Christ, so the Church is anyone who is a follower of Christ. We believe our bodies are the temple of Christ so it's not like Christ dwells in a building like He did in the Old Testament. I know what you are saying though, and think that many "churches" have been corrupted, but there are some places out there where the real church, the Body of Christ come to meet and while we're not perfect we still come together to encourage one another in our faith.

Oh, and God doesn't NEED a place of worship, He is God and can raise up stones to praise Him if He wanted to. The thing is, He loves us so much that He WANTS us to worship Him, so that we can be filled with joy. In fact everything He does is for His glory and for our joy, not such a bad trade in my eyes. He happens to be the creator of a mysterious, beautiful, unexplainable universe and everything in it. He's the one who would send His only Son to die on the cross because He couldn't stand the fact that our sins kept us from Him.

I'm no interpreter of dreams so this is all I have to share.

 

[suzybeezy]

Ok I'll take a stab at interpretting the dream. I do believe that God can use dreams to show us things.

I think the water dam represent holding something back. Based on what you've said maybe you're holding yourself back from believing in God. I think that camping may signify the wilderness, usually the biblical references to wilderness are negative: it’s a place of thirst, hunger, deprivation of all sorts. Quite often prophets wandered in the wilderness to be “tested” or “tempted,” thus making the wilderness a place of spiritual renewal. I think the Mel Gibson representation is pretty easy since he is so well known for his Passion of the Christ movie. And he's pulling you into a chapel - a place considered God's house, and he's asking you why you don't believe. You then you can't move - almost forced to see. You feel an experience similiar to the crucifixtion and the assention of Christ. Things turn white - which usually represents purity and righteousness. Gold is often referenced in the process of being processed with refiner's fire. "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire (tried and tested faith), that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed" Revelation 3:18


Mel's face morphs to something you're not familiar with, including is mood, as you are not familiar with God and his ways. When you're brought back down you hear him say "This is the way it is my son". To me this seems indicitive of God giving you a glimpse of his reality and saying this is the way it is, despite your efforts to not believe. The old black man, I think could represent old being your past and black signifying the negative aspects of human life. The youth of the boy would represent freshness and newness and white as we've said represents purity. So God is showing you with them floating by that he wants you to recognize the truth in him and your old negative life needs to be replaced with a new life in Him.

 

[childofGod31]

I read people's accounts of contact with demonic spirits, and they talked about feeling paralyzed (like they coudn't move) or that the weight was pressing down on them. It sounds similar to yours.

You don't believe in God. Because you think people made things up. But what if they are true? Don't you feel that you should at least figure it out? It's your eternity that we are talking about...

Let's say I am wrong, and there is no God, what did I lose? Only the sinful pleasures of this life and maybe some other pleasures because of persecution.
But let's say YOU are wrong, and there IS a God, what will YOU lose? Only the eternal life! The stakes are too high. It's better to believe and be wrong, then to NOT believe and be wrong.

I hope you will consider seeking God for your soul's sake.

For what profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?

 

[God-free]

Thats it. Kinda wondering what you guys think. Ask any questions I will answer them. Thanks.

So far, no-one knows why we dream. While we sleep our brains remain active. The human imagination can run wild during sleep. I doesn't really mean anything.

You don't believe in God. Because you think people made things up. But what if they are true? Don't you feel that you should at least figure it out? It's your eternity that we are talking about...

Let's say I am wrong, and there is no God, what did I lose? Only the sinful pleasures of this life and maybe some other pleasures because of persecution.
But let's say YOU are wrong, and there IS a God, what will YOU lose? Only the eternal life! The stakes are too high. It's better to believe and be wrong, then to NOT believe and be wrong.

I hope you will consider seeking God for your soul's sake.

For what profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?

What you have described is known as Pascal's Wager:

If you believe in God, and you're wrong, you lose nothing.
If you believe in God, and you're right, you gain everything.

and/or​

If you don't believe in God, and you're right, you gain nothing.
If you don't believe in God, and you're wrong, you lose everything.
​

There are many reasons why Pascal's Wager ought to be rejected. Far too many to discuss here without derailing the thread. I'll simply suggest that you look into what is known as Ockham's Razor.

~Barbara

 

[salida]

I think God is trying to tell you He exists. Your not here for nothing. In case you want to know more some how I'm a christian spiritually and intellectually second. Not because its my opinion but because there are objective evidence to support it - just like the sun and moon exists no matter what I believe about it. Yes, I have studied other religions, etc. As a start, there are books like The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell (evidence that supports the bible that would stand up in court) and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster (a former athiest). Plus, the Bible has hundreds of detailed prophesies in it and more are being fulfilled today. And www.reasons.org - about science and belief.

Many people don't want to believe in anything because they may not want to be accountable for anything. Not believing in anything doesn't make it go away and won't. Again, I have no idea why you don't believe in anything - only God knows the heart.

Yes, I know why we dream. If a person doesn't dream they will die-this is scientific fact. Our brain is like a filing system and it records our thoughts - in otherwords, its recording your life. Plus, your mind has to be rested. Also, I dream because God speaks to me this way also. How do I know this? My dreams have showed me great details about someone in my life and then it proves itself in reality -its prophesy in my life occasionally. Or God has shown me a date someone was going to pass away - and it was that date - this has happened a few times. In the Bible it says they will see visions, dreams and prophesy. I end up in the dream area more.

 

[unkern]

Unfortunatly your making a judgement about God based upon the people that "say" they know him and dont. The bible describes to all those people Jesus will say "depart from me you workers of iniquity" and also how the bible speaks on lukewarm christians being vommited out of the mouth of God. Like kl_lorent said a church is a group of people gathered to talk about christ. The definition of Worship is a sacrifice of obedience.

 

[Stormy]

Have you ever heard of or watched the movie "The Passion"

It is about the Crucifixion of Christ. It was directed by Mel Gibson.

Indeed.. if you know nothing of the movie, your dream would be a very odd coincidence. But one way or the other, watching the movie may bring clarity.

 

[hlaltimus]

To understand your dream, (but only as far as you should understand it,) you will have to calculate upon more than one influencing factor and not study the dream solitary or by itself alone. It will never be understood as far as it should or could be understood unless you study this dream as a corporate experience composed of at least three separate items for study:

#1 - The dream itself
#2 - The inspiration of the dream
#3 - The capacity or need for the dream

The natural study of the three to first pursue is, (of course!) #1 the dream itself, but let's be cautious here and suppose first that this dream had it's #2 inspiration or origin from either God Almighty or Satan, and both are possible for humanity on the whole generally speaking. God can obviously impart dreams into the very human minds that He has created and still owns as their sovereign Creator, and do so in either believers or even in unbelievers as in the case of Pharaoh, but Satan is famous for being the grand, original counterfeiter of practically everything the God has ever done and this must also be considered as a possible source for this dream...to be safe. An example of this later case I cannot specifically find in the Scriptures although the Bible does say quite clearly that Satan can communicate to the human heart, (and therefore to the human mind as well,) as in the case of Ananias in Acts 5:3a

"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit....' "

Why, we can't even get past the first three chapters of Genesis before Satan appears, (under the form of a serpent,) communicating to a human being and this desire and ability of his we must grant he still maintains. Now, we do not as I say actually have an example of a satanically inspired dream to study in the Bible to my knowledge, but as the Scriptures do record a fair number of Divinely inspired dreams, we can then extract the key similarities amongst this God originated and legitimate group and then deduce or conclude back upon the dream as being spurious given it does not carry with it either any or all of these common similarities. One, single deviation from the biblical standard will be sufficient grounds for you to heave out the entire dream as being suspicious and untrustworthy in nature and so send back into the darkness of nightime from which it emerged to utterly confuse you. Now if I could think of one, common and relevant trait which has stamped all of the dreams which are recorded in the Bible from God Himself, I would select the English word, "Order." Even somewhat confusing dreams such as the two given to Pharaoh in Joseph's day had unity and consistency between them. They were both confusing as far as what they meant, yes, but they were not confusing as far as the smoothness of the language used, the orderliness of the dreams in general and the non-disorientated flow of the dreams where no one part was utterly out of place and at odds with another. They had unity and order of constitution. This your dream lacks and for that reason I would personally toss it out and consider more worthy illumination than one so suspiciously odd, fearful and unsettling from start to finish.

However, all is not lost! Why would either the Lord or Satan send you such a dream in the first place? I offered my pet terrier the end of my lunch this afternoon and it methodically consumed everything that I gave it to the exclusion of the vegetables which it left upon the plate! It's a dog...It lacks a digestive capacity for lettuce, etc. and so I ordinarily won't even bother feeding it garden selections. I don't think that this dream that you have had is entirely a coincidence of nature. It would appear to me to have had an origin in an outside party that is trying to communicate to you, and this party would have never done that if you did not first possess a capacity or need, (#3 factor,) for revelation. Toss out this dream just to be safe and then start feeding this undeniable, inner capacity that you have been endowed with with the spiritual revelation of truth that comes from the one and only Holy Spirit of God. I know that this isn't your current conviction, but it doesn't change the fact that you still have this capacity and if you don't fill it up with the benevolent, truthful and benign Holy Spirit of God, someone else will capitalize upon your capacity or need for revelation who you would much rather not get to know. This certain "box" for spiritual communication from the divine realm must be filled by someone...Not may be filled. Make a wise choice here and start in with uncontestable, biblical truth.

If you have a need to fly, then heed the manufacturer solely and disregard all other divergent opinions. You don't need them.