“I dreamed the other night that I was thrown into a vat of blood,” the elderly preacher announced from the pulpit.

Sitting in the well-padded pew, I had believed that God had sent me to that tiny church about two hours from home to bring a message to the pastor, whom I had witnessed bringing a woman into the abortion chamber in Bakersfield to have her child killed that week.  But when I heard the preacher’s words it became clear to me that I was not God’s only messenger.

The preacher, named Marvin, continued.  “I struggled to get out of the blood, but the more I struggled, the more difficult it became.  Finally, the hand of Jesus came and lifted me out of the blood.”

Marvin interpreted the dream as a sign that God had taken away his consciousness of sin.  Turning to Hebrews 9, he emphasized the scriptural teaching that the blood of Christ has, once and for all, freed us of our sins.  “Ever since I had that dream,” Marvin said, “I am no longer aware of my sins.”

Obviously, I interpreted the dream differently than Marvin Continue reading →