Dreaming In Church

Humans are created as dreaming creatures and have been interested in the meaning of their dreams for thousands of years. This book offers tools and guidelines to help you work with your dreams as a practice of your Christian faith. Drawing on biblical and historical references as well as modern research, the book outlines ways to better understand your own dreams and gives practical advice for beginning and leading a dream group. The book also discusses how other contemporary spiritual practices, such as lectio divina, journaling, and meditation, can inform your dream work and vice versa. Dreams are not a secret code and will not necessarily improve your life forever, but they can serve as a valuable source of insights and inspiration in your life. This book will help you reach a deeper understanding of yourself and your faith through working with your dreams.

What is God saying to you in your dreams? Decoding Your Dreams is a beginner’s guide to understanding the true source of our dreams, dream classifications, and even dream symbols. This book answers questions like: Can we control our dreams? I used to dream all the time. Why has my dream life suddenly ceased? Should I pray for the gift of dream interpretation? What does it mean if I see people in my dreams who have already passed away? When do I share a dream I’ve received and when do I keep it to myself? Where does déjà vu fit into the world of dreams? Why should I pay attention to my children’s dreams? There are dozens of mentions of dreams in the Bible. From Abraham to Joseph, from Daniel all the way to Pontius Pilot’s wife, God has communicated with His people through dreams throughout recorded history. Why would God choose to speak to us while we sleep? Perhaps it’s because we are too distracted during the day to sit still long enough for Him to share the deep secrets of His heart. Jennifer LeClaire is convinced God speaks to us in ways that are very personal. At times he may use pictures, memories, impressions, or even a still small voice. Let Decoding Your Dreams help you embrace your Spirit-inspired dreams!

Why Waste One-Third of Your Life Only Sleeping? Have you ever wanted to receive wise advice about a business proposal, a relationship or a direction in life? Tonight you will have several dreams. Did you know they could contain the very advice you need? It's true. Join dream interpreter Cindy McGill as she shows you that sleep is so much more than just a time to rest your body. If you pay attention, you can uncover a secret weapon for success--and the keys to unlocking your full potential. Not only is it possible to remember your dreams, but when properly interpreted, they bring guidance, hope and strength to achieve what may seem impossible. Here Cindy gives you the tools for discovering and decoding these hidden messages, including § how to get the most out of your dreams § historical and present-day examples of life-changing dreams § common dream themes and what they mean § 3 steps to discover the genuine message from your dreams § a quick-reference guide to common dream symbols § how to reawaken your dream life Solutions to your problems can come on any given night. It's time to listen to what your dreams are telling you. "If you read with an open heart, I trust this book will broaden your understanding of this amazing source of insight and provide answers for your life's journey. My ultimate goal is to deliver encouragement and hope so that you can live out your life with purpose and strength."--Cindy McGill

In today's fluid culture, many churches are adrift--longing to reach spiritually thirsty people, but failing to make an impact. Have you noticed? Congregations are stuck or declining. Millennials and Gen Z are walking away. Volunteers and their generosity are drying up. Is your city, town, or neighborhood spiritually dry? Do you long to see more of the living water of Jesus flowing freely through your community, generating a fresh wave of ministry momentum? Buckle up: you're in for a whitewater ride! Liquid Church tells the fascinating story of a New Jersey church that began "on accident" and grew into one of America's 100 Fastest-Growing Churches, with over 5,000 in weekly attendance and more than 2,400 baptisms to date. Their secret? They harnessed the power of six powerful ministry currents sweeping across North America including: special needs, creative communication, ministry mergers, compassionate cause, radical generosity, and leadership development. With powerful stories and scriptural insights, backed by national research, Tim Lucas and Warren Bird describe dozens of fresh ideas, new ministry wineskins, and hard-won leadership learnings that resonate with rising generations in today's "show-then-tell" culture. Each chapter includes practical tools, real-life examples, and links to "Other Churches Making Waves" with cutting-edge ministry ideas designed to help saturate your city for Christ. Ready to dive deeper? Whether you serve a brand-new church plant, fast-growing congregation, or an aging ministry ready for reinvention, Liquid Church is an inspiring and practical guide for leaders ready to reach their spiritually thirsty neighbors--those who have given up on church, but haven't given up on God.

God Dreams provides church leaders with a practical tool to identify and build on your church's strengths for greater Kingdom impact.

Does your church make you uncomfortable? It’s easy to dream about the “perfect” church—a church that sings just the right songs set to just the right music before the pastor preaches just the right sermon to a room filled with just the right mix of people who happen to agree with you on just about everything. Chances are your church doesn’t quite look like that. But what if instead of searching for a church that makes us comfortable, we learned to love our church, even when it’s challenging? What if some of the discomfort that we often experience is actually good for us? This book is a call to embrace the uncomfortable aspects of Christian community, whether that means believing difficult truths, pursuing difficult holiness, or loving difficult people—all for the sake of the gospel, God’s glory, and our joy.

How do I know it's God? is one of the most commonly asked questions of new and mature Christians alike, and the aim of God Conversations is to both equip and inspire the reader and show them that hearing the voice of the Spirit is accessible to everyone who chooses to follow Jesus. Most Christians know that God speaks, yet struggle with how to recognise his voice in their everyday lives. What does God's voice sound like? How do we know if what we're hearing is from God? Stories of God talking to his people abound throughout the Bible, but we usually only get the highlights. We read; "And God said to Joseph; 'Go to Egypt'," and then; "Mary and Joseph left for Egypt." We don't get a blow-by-blow description of how God spoke. We don't receive a detailed explanation of how they knew it was God, and we don't get to see what was going on inside their heads as they acted on what they'd heard. In God Conversations, international speaker and pastor Tania Harris shares insights from her own journey about hearing God's voice. You'll get to eavesdrop on some contemporary conversations with God in the light of his communication with the ancient characters of the Bible. Part memoir, part teaching, this unique and creative collection of stories will help you to recognise God's voice when he speaks and how to respond when you do.

The demands of congregational ministry are many, the rewards sometimes seem few, and burnout becomes a real possibility. Small wonder, then, that churches become stuck in a state of arrested spiritual development. When the pastor is functioning in a survival or maintenance mode, the church's vitality is often the first casualty. Yet Wills's own experience demonstrates that churches can turn around; the wind of the Spirit can be felt anew. This happens when the congregation is infected by the vision of what God is doing in their midst--a vision which the leaders, particularly the pastor, must bring before them. In Waking to God's Dream, Richard Wills shares the spiritual disciplines and insights which he believes account for the transformation of the congregation he serves from a large church in decline to one that is growing and reaching out to its community in a variety of creative ministries. Detailing the steps and initiatives that led to this turnaround, Wills demonstrates how personal commitment on the part of the congregation's leaders and ministers have been the key to the work they have accomplished.