It’s a Western thing

The hangup with dreams is a Western phenomenon. The reluctance to accept Isa Dreams as a legitimate move of God isn’t peculiar to missionaries. The nature of this reluctance runs the gamut of denying the existence of the dreams to claiming that they are occult in origin. The Western church (that is, in Europe, America and Canada) is strongly influenced by an Enlightenment mindset which is highly skeptical of what it can’t explain. Far too many Christians in the West equate the supernatural with superstition.

Not everybody sees it this way. Expecting guidance from dreams is not unusual for people outside the West. The Bible’s milieu is Middle Eastern and is full of stories of dreams and their interpretation (see Scripture references). Clearly God used dreams in the Bible to get people’s attention and it is still happening today. Theological objections don’t impress people who have already had a dream! Let us pray like Daniel, who earnestly prayed for insight.

Dan. 9: 20-21 “While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill – while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.”

What do you mean by “repentance”?